Adam closed his eye to block out the setting sun as his hand twitched with indecision beside himself. The two men in the car with him had continued their conversation as though we wasn't even there after initial introductions, and the boy found himself growing angrier by the minute. Thoughts of Raven being injured by the goliath in the back seat filled his mind, and it wasn't until Hazel's tone abruptly changed to one of surprise mid-sentence that Adam was shaken from his violent thoughts.
"What in the hell is… slow down!"
Leonardo obliged by slamming on the brakes and causing the vehicle to skid to a stop as it veered slightly off to one side of the road. There in the headlights were two motorcycles parked sideways, blocking the road while facing each other. Adam's heart leapt as he noticed a familiar silhouette of feline ears outlined by the blinding headlights upon the woman that sauntered toward their vehicle. Without hesitation, he unbuckled his belt and got out of the car, taking his katana with him.
"Kali!" he exclaimed with a confident smirk. The girl stood with a hand on her hip and clad in her usual combat outfit of a white leather jacket with a black tube top beneath, matching pants, and a long, tail-like black belt with a tied-off section that hung behind her down to her black knee-high boots.
"Adam," she replied with a smirk of her own as Leonardo and Hazel exited the vehicle behind her friend. "Things are probably about to get a little messy, so watch where you're standing."
The faunus boy nodded and quickly moved to stand at Kali's side. He blinked in surprise as he watched both Bartholomew and Yatsuhashi step into the light from behind a second motorcycle. The leader of OKRA paused to push his glasses farther up his nose before taking his place next to Kali, while the far larger boy moved to stand at the end of the lineup.
Bartholomew wore his usual puffy white turtleneck and black formal slacks, with his collapsed mace hanging at his side. Yatsuhashi had an olive-green robe with matching plate mail gauntlets, greaves, and a tiered shoulder pad on his left side. The exposed right half of his chest and shoulder revealed a sleeveless black top beneath the robe, and his pants were a deep, earthy brown. On his back was a huge two-handed sword inside of a leather sheath that hung down to his ankles. The blade looked to be about as wide as his bulging biceps, and the boy kept a hand behind his head upon the hilt as he stared down Hazel.
"…what exactly is the meaning of this?" Leonardo began as he stood close to the hood of his vehicle. He blinked in surprise at the assembled teens and took a step backward, causing his rear to impact the car. "Kali? Why are you here…?"
"I'm here because of him," the girl said with a defiant nod toward Leonardo's partner in crime as she folded her arms over her chest. "Hazel Rainart, right?"
"Right," the man confirmed as he cracked his knuckles. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag and wandered into the road. Who are you, and what do you want?"
"Hilarious," Kali mocked as she narrowed her eyes and turned her attention to Leonardo. "You hired this asshole to put a hit on Raven, didn't you?"
Leonardo began to sweat as he backed slowly around the hood of the vehicle and made his way closer to the driver's side door.
"Is that what you think is going on?" the man asked before taking a hard swallow. "You're here because you think I'm working against Raven?"
"We're here to ensure that our teammate makes it home safely," Bartholomew corrected as he gave Leonardo a stern look over the rims of his glasses. "There doesn't need to be a fight here. Get back in your vehicle and drive away before this becomes… complicated."
Kali raised a brow and smirked as Hazel looked her up and down, his face twisting into a sneer.
"…wait… you're friends of Raven's? And a cat faunus was the one responsible for putting my sister in jail…"
"Mm-hmm," Kali agreed lightly as she tilted her head to one side. "Why, are you thinking of doing something about it? My schedule's clear."
"…this is about to get complicated, isn't it?" Yatsuhashi deadpanned as he widened his stance and drew out the first few inches of his sword.
"Somehow, I knew that it would," Bartholomew agreed as he raised a hand to rub at his forehead. "Kali, please don't make the situation any w-"
The sound of screeching tires interrupted the boy's sentence as Leonardo's car rapidly began to reverse down the road before turning into a wide, meandering spin.
"You son of a bitch!" Hazel yelled after the retreating car as it began to disappear down the pavement at high speed. The man gritted his teeth and growled ominously as he reached a hand into his fringed leather vest while still glaring daggers down the road.
"Looks like your partner doesn't have your best interests in mind," Adam pointed out as he watched Leonardo's taillights grow smaller in the distance. "This isn't a fight you want."
"Isn't it?" Hazel said darkly as he remained facing away from the quartet and brought his arm back down to his side with a clenched fist.
"Adam, be cautious," Bartholomew warned. "Taiyang warned us that this m-"
Again, Bartholomew was interrupted as Kali drew her twin pistols and fired off a pair of rounds for Hazel's back the second the man began to turn toward her. The speeding projectiles collided with a raised forearm coated into bulbous stone, and plumes of dust accompanied by small rocky fragments flew from the surface of Hazel's protected skin.
"The blonde boy warned you, did he?" Hazel questioned as he fixed his eyes upon Kali once again. He withdrew a crystal of grey dust from his vest and clenched it tightly in his other hand, only for more rock to manifest down and around his entire forearm in a protective coating. "How fast do you think the law will get here if you call now?"
"We should go," Bartholomew suggested as he took a step backward. "He's a wanted criminal backed into a corner, and we are mere first year students, regardless of the four-to-one odds. Be sensible!"
Kali opened her mouth to answer, only to have no time to speak as Hazel approached her with a furious charge. The girl continued to fire wildly for Hazel's chest, causing his aura to ripple violently as he closed the distance on her. After several seconds, the faunus girl ran forward to meet him and two massive spectral arms of azure light sprouted from the small of her back. She caught Hazel's stoned-coated fists within the palms of her ghostly hands and worked herself into a deadlock as the man continued trying to push forward with all of his might.
"Holy… shit…" Kali exclaimed as she began to slide backward along the pavement while emptying her last two shots into the man's chest. "Guys, he's strong! Really strong!"
Yatsuhashi let out a spirited yell as he brought his giant claymore down upon Hazel's forearms in a mighty blow. The weapon bounced straight off the rocky surfaces before Hazel wrenched one arm free from Kali's grip and used it to knock Yatsuhashi off to the side with a powerful hook. Suddenly, Hazel yanked his arm back toward himself and pulled Kali along with it before trying to use his free hand to throw a haymaker for the girl's face. The faunus ducked just in time and slid past Hazel to end up behind him, where she began to reload as Adam and Bartholomew ran in to join the fray.
"Again, we should go!" Bartholomew protested. "He's fighting to kill!"
The boy whirled his mace and depressed a button upon the hilt in the middle of the spin. All at once, spikes protruded from the surface of the spherical head of the weapon as the shaft telescoped outward in a pistoning motion to send the weapon sailing for Hazel's chest. Again, the man deflected the blow before raising his arm to catch a slash from Adam as the faunus dashed in. Wilt bounced harmlessly off of the man's protective coating and caused Adam to stumble backward as he cursed, while Hazel merely let out a booming laugh.
"Then go!" Kali yelled from her position behind Hazel as she trained her firearms upon Hazel's back. "I can't use my semblance to its full power with you guys here anyway, and you and Adam are not up to a fight like this! Take him, call the cops, and get back to campus!"
"I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone!" Adam hissed as he sheathed his sword and ran forward once again. He caught a punch from Hazel with the side of his sheath, and an ominous trail of red aura began to bleed from around the hilt of the blade. Adam drew his sword once again in another diagonal slash, only for Hazel to pull his fist back for a heavy punch.
Yatsuhashi cut into the action with a quick shoulder tackle into Hazel's arm before it could move forward. The blow was enough to unbalance the larger man, and the teen leveled his sword toward Hazel in a two-handed grip.
"Go, Adam," Yatsuhashi boomed. "Kali and I will handle him until the police arrive. You can fight another day."
"But…!" Adam began to protest, until Bartholomew shot him a knowing look over the rims of his glasses.
"This isn't the time to fight for Raven's honor, or your own! Your chance to impress her as a mentor will come another day. You have much left to write, and he outclasses us both. Don't be stupid."
Adam opened his mouth once again, before he clenched his teeth and let out a low growl instead. Without another word, he turned on his heel and began to run for one of the waiting motorcycles, only for Bartholomew to mirror his motion and begin his own retreat. Just as the leader of OKRA had turned, however, the rocky protection around Hazel's right hand faded away to nothingness and the dust crystal within his grip fell to the pavement. The man reached out and grabbed Bartholomew by the collar and yanked him backward, causing Kali and Yatsuhashi to pause their attacks.
"Not so brave now, are you?" the giant of a man taunted as he transitioned his grip to settle around Bartholomew's neck. Hazel gave the teen's throat a painful squeeze, and Adam turned at the sound of his friend crying out in strangled pain. "One more bullet in my back, kitty cat, and I'll snap him in two."
Kali's pistols smoked softly as she trained them on the back of Hazel's head.
"…Barty. Start running, the second you get up. Sorry about this."
Without another warning, an odd sort of choking sound rang out along the road as a swirling point of sheer force appeared behind Hazel's back. Just as suddenly, one of Kali's ghostly appendages snapped its fingers and the point exploded, sending both Hazel and Bartholomew flying past Yatsuhashi to land upon the pavement in a roll. Bartholomew's glasses tumbled off and shattered in the middle of the ensuing struggle, and he barely managed to slip from Hazel's grasp before beginning to make a run for the motorcycles.
"Go, get on!" he yelled as Hazel quickly got to his feet and began to give chase. "And call the police!"
Adam hopped onto the bike as he was told and scooted backward, only to freeze as he watched Hazel reach out for Bartholomew once again. Instead of Bartholomew's neck, his fingers clasped around Yatsuhashi's sword as the boy slid between Hazel and his target.
"No," Yatsuhashi said simply as he braced his free arm against the flat of the blade.
Hazel's grunt of effort was drowned out by the sound of the motorcycle engine as Bartholomew and Adam took off into the dusk, their single taillight leaving a streak of red far behind Yatsuhashi.
"…so that's how it's gonna be," Hazel mused as he released his grip upon Yatsuhashi's sword. Another bullet crashed into his left shoulder from behind with enough force to cause the man to stumble forward as his vest ripped. He turned to see one of Kali's pistols glowing grey with borrowed stone dust, and he let out a chuckle. "You're a pretty irritating opponent. Good on you, girl."
"Yeah, pissing people off is kinda my thing," Kali replied with a gentle tilt of her head. "The two of us are good enough to hold you off until the fuzz gets here. Your move, jackass."
"Let's see," Hazel said pensively as the remaining stone around his left arm dissipated and he held his dust crystal aloft. "How about this?"
Before either of the teens could process what was happening, Hazel dropped his aura and plunged the raw crystal directly into his right side, just above the hip. The man's aura rippled back up his body as he flashed a wicked grin, and plates of flowing stone began to coat his exposed flesh in a creeping wave. His aura crackled a violent, unstable yellow as the rocky plating finally reached his neck and head, rendering him almost like a statue with perpetually moving rocky skin in appearance.
Yatsuhashi slowly lowered his arm as he brought his sword around into a two-handed grip and held the blade before himself again, looking visibly distraught.
"How… you must be in agony…"
"I don't feel pain," Hazel replied, his voice harsh and full of strain from the effort of breathing within his living armor. "My semblance renders me immune t-"
A pair of harsh pings rang out as two bullets slammed into the back of Hazel's head and sparked off into nothingness somewhere upon the road.
"…seriously?" the man questioned as he turned and gave Kali a hateful glare.
"…I had to at least try!" the faunus said with exasperation before twirling her pistols into the holsters at her sides. "But I guess guns are a no-go, huh?"
"Remember, we needn't win this- we need only buy time," Yatsuhashi said calmly as he began to circle his opponent. Kali mirrored his motion from the opposite side as she cracked her knuckles in front of herself, and her ghostly arms copied the motion.
"Right. I'll blow holes in his armor, you do the stabby. Sound good?" the faunus asked with a coy smirk.
"Sounds like exactly my sort of plan," Yatsuhashi replied.
Hazel didn't bother to acknowledge the conspiring students as he turned and began to run at Kali. Again, he threw a hard haymaker for the faunus, only for the girl to catch the punch in one of her ethereal fists. Hazel's momentum caught her off guard and she skidded back along the asphalt as her other arm of bright blue landed a palm strike into the center of Hazel's rock-covered chest. A point of force manifested upon the man's torso, and Kali slipped off to one side as she released her grip upon his fist and snapped to detonate the trap.
Another massive explosion of force detonated at point blank against Hazel, only for a few small fragments of rock to fall from his front side. His vest was briefly exposed by the blast, but it was only seconds until the flowing rock around his entire body rushed in to close the hole as the man let out another condescending laugh.
"Far, far too weak," Hazel taunted. "How many of those can you manage before you blow your aura, kid? That one was weaker than the first!"
Kali's feline ears drooped and she took a step backward, looking nervous.
"…um. Yatsu? Not good."
Yatsuhashi replied by letting out a long, echoing yell as he smashed his claymore into Hazel's exposed back, only for the blade to ricochet off of the man's armor ineffectually. He tried a stab with no greater success and took a few steps back as his face twisted into a mask of exasperated confusion.
"There's got to be a time limit to this!" the boy complained as he shook his head. "Even if he doesn't feel pain, injecting raw dust into the b-"
Yatsuhashi stopped talking as Hazel spun and threw out a backfist for the boy's head. He barely managed to duck in time before attempting a rising shoulder tackle into Hazel's chest. A few flecks of stone fell from the man's skin, and Hazel threw a haymaker into Yatsuhashi's gut in response. The burly student clutched at his stomach and let out a wheeze as he began to retreat, while Kali manifested a pair of explosions near Hazel's legs. The swirling points detonated and sent a spray of rock flying about, both from Hazel's armor and the craters she left in the surface of the road.
"Careful!" Yatsuhashi warned as he spun out of the way of another strike. "How many more of those can you manage?"
"… a couple!" Kali called back as she gritted her teeth in determination. "I think his armor's thinning a bit! Focus on one point!"
"Center of mass," Yatsuhashi replied immediately. He straightened himself and swung his sword with all of his might into Hazel's chest, earning a few chips of stone for his effort.
"Yet another plan," Hazel mocked as he shook his head. The man simply turned away from Yatsuhashi and let another blow bounce harmlessly off his back as he turned toward Kali. "But it won't work if she can't use her semblance. Blowing that much aura at once, I'd say she's about two punches from dead. Let's find out."
Kali sucked in a breath as Hazel began another charge. Once again, she ran toward him, though she casted a swirling focal point of energy upon the ground near herself as they were a mere ten feet apart. The faunus snapped her ghostly fingers as she leapt into the air, and the resulting boom caused her to fly clean over Hazel's head as the man swung wide with both arms to try to trap her. Kali landed next to Yatsuhashi with catlike grace before breaking into a full sprint.
"Plan C! D? Who knows, keep him busy!" the faunus called lightly.
Yatsuhashi merely gave the girl a nod before rushing Hazel down as he turned to face the pair. The boy advanced with a flurry of sword strikes, using the momentum of the bounces from Hazel's skin to spin into the following blows with even more force. For once, Hazel was forced to backpedal against the series of blows, and he cried out in frustration as he tried to look for an opening.
"Enough!"
Yatsuhashi's aura shattered in a dazzling sparkle of deep green as Hazel's rocky fist connected squarely with his jaw in the middle of a diagonal strike. The force of the blow knocked Yatsuhashi clean off his feet and his sword went clattering along the pavement as its owner did much the same. Hazel advanced to step upon the boy's chest, only to pause and look up as the sound of a roaring engine caught his attention.
Kali sped forward upon the remaining motorcycle, her jaw set and eyes steely as she raced along the pavement toward Hazel. One of her semblance-enabled arms reached down to grab Yatsuhashi's fallen sword as she dipped the bike to one side, and the faunus righted the vehicle just in time to throw out a speedy strike with the blade against Hazel's shoulder as she drove past. The force of the blow knocked Hazel off of Yatsuhashi immediately, and the man went flying off along the road as Kali brought the bike around and placed one foot onto the pavement as she struck the ground with the tip of her borrowed sword.
"…cute," Hazel growled as he balled a fist and crashed it into the asphalt, making a small crater. Significant chunks of stone began to fall from around his face and neck, and long, creeping cracks ran down his chest and arms as his aura flickered dangerously. "But how is your boy going to defend himself now? Or are you going to run?"
"I'm not Leonardo," Kali replied coldly before revving her engine. "And I've got plans. Big plans."
Yatsuhashi held his jaw as he stumbled to his feet and moved to meet his friend. He cracked his neck dramatically as Kali rolled up beside him and handed the boy his sword once again.
"You alright?" the faunus asked.
"…no. Not at all," Yatsuhashi admitted.
"Yeah. We should go," Kali said firmly. "But before we do… I need you to do one thing for me."
"Hm?" Yatsuhashi asked as Kali leaned to whisper into his ear. "…you're kidding."
"Alright, enough of your stupid plans," Hazel spat as he pulled himself up from the ground and rolled his neck. "This time, it's your move… and one of you has no aura. Impress me."
Yatsuhashi turned and ran straight for Hazel while letting out another battle cry. Hazel merely chuckled and broke into a run of his own, while Kali waited and revved her engine. When the men were about twenty feet apart, Yatsuhashi suddenly dipped low and turned around before bracing his arm against the flat of his blade once again and planting the tip firmly against the pavement.
Before Hazel could process what was happening, Kali screamed across the road and sped directly onto Yatsuhashi's sword, using it as a ramp. Yatsuhashi braced himself with a grunt of effort as the faunus flew up and over his head and brought the motorcycle down onto Hazel, crashing into the man's chest and pinning him to the pavement. Man and machine skidded harshly across the rocky ground, sending sparks, pebbles, and trails of aura across the road as Hazel's dust crystal slipped from his side and clattered into the grass at the side of the road.
Yatsuhashi stood, sweating profusely as he hobbled over to check on Kali. Amid a cloud of smoke and dust, the faunus sat triumphantly atop her vehicle, the front tire planted firmly upon Hazel's sternum as she smirked down at him. The faunus folded her arms atop the handlebars as gave Hazel a flirtatious wink, only to pause as the man returned her smile and broke into a loud, wheezing laugh.
"You… you are insane," Hazel praised, his voice full of reverence before he broke out into a coughing fit. "What in the hell…"
"And you are under arrest," Kali replied nonchalantly as Yatsuhashi joined her side.
"…he's not wrong," Yatsuhashi pointed out with a grimace. "You could have killed both… all three of us with that stunt."
"But I didn't," Kali sang as she turned her grin on Hazel. "Dunno about you, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable like this until the cops arrive. Then, we c-"
Yatsuhashi bristled as a long, low howl echoed out from the tree line. Kali's ears swiveled toward the source of the noise, and then both of the teens turned toward the forest on the opposite side of the road. A pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared between the trees, and then another. Countless others joined the first two sets, and an alpha beowulf emerged from the forest to begin to stalk across the road.
"Shit!" Kali swore as she looked to Yatsuhashi. Without hesitation, she pulled hard on the handlebars and pivoted her bike off of Hazel's chest. "We can't fight that many on a good day!"
"And there are more coming…" Yatsuhashi replied, his voice full of fear as he watched more eyes than he could count appear from within the trees. "But… to leave a man to die?"
"Go," Hazel ordered as he stood. Though his stone armor was gone, the man appeared no more than inconvenienced from his battle with the students. His clothes were torn and caked with filth, but not a drop of blood was visible anywhere upon his features. "Get out of here. I'll hold them off until the cops arrive."
Yatsuhashi hopped onto the motorcycle behind Kali, and the pair gave Hazel one last look before speeding off down the road. Wordlessly, Hazel reached into his tattered vest and withdrew a bright red crystal of dust before blowing a dirty, soaked strand of hair from in front of his face.
"Stop."
Hazel's eyes went wide at the sudden voice, and he did as it ordered. The voice seemed to come from everywhere around him at once and was a commanding and distinctly feminine tone. He shivered and felt his breathing quicken as he looked around himself, only to realize that the command apparently hadn't been meant for him.
All of the grimm had frozen in their tracks, each of them remaining in place as they stared at and through Hazel. Each of the creatures held its position perfectly as the entire stretch of road around Hazel seemed to darken all at once. The man spun around to look behind himself, only to find nothing. His hand quaked as he tightened his grip around the dust crystal, only to feel a freezing touch upon his shoulder that caused all of his muscles to lock up immediately.
"…you won't be needing that," said the mysterious voice in a far softer, far closer tone. The woman's touch felt like ice upon Hazel's flesh, and he dropped the dust crystal onto the pavement as though on command. "Turn. Face me."
Hazel continued to shiver as he slowly turned, only to lock eyes with a woman unlike any he had ever seen. Her skin was snow-white and corpselike, with black veins running up her exposed arms and the flesh of her face. She wore a long, jet black dress, and the perfectly straight hair that she wore draped down and around her shoulders was nearly the same shade as her skin. What should have been the whites of her eyes were a deep, soulless black, and her irises were a blazing blood red.
"Who… w-who are you…?" Hazel stammered as he took a step backward.
The woman merely smirked and blew out an amused breath before shaking her head and clasping her hands before herself. With a single slow blink, she offered Hazel a smile that in a way seemed both endearing and predatory.
"My name is Salem. I've been watching you, Hazel… and I like what I've seen. I'm building an army, and you seem like just the sort of man I'm looking for…."
Hazel's eyes flicked from Salem's to a spot down the road where a long line of flashing red and blue lights had appeared. The procession of cars held his attention as they drew ever closer, and he cleared his throat as he began to shiver once again.
"Uh… ma'am… here might not be the best place t-"
Suddenly, Salem's head snapped to the side. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the approaching police vehicles before her expression twisted into an amused smirk. Slowly, she raised a pale hand skyward, until her arm was high above her head. The first of the police vehicles pulled to a stop mere feet from her, and she spoke again without moving her eyes from the young officer who exited the car. The woman in blue immediately raised her pistol as she caught sight of the endless grimm flooding the road, and her hands began to shake as she trained her firearm on several individuals, unable to decide her priority target.
"Hazel," Salem said softly, her eyes still locked upon the officer. "You don't particularly like law enforcement, do you?"
"…no ma'am," Hazel said softly as he followed Salem's gaze, feeling uneasy. Another officer emerged from the squad car, and several more vehicles parked just behind the first.
Salem's smirk turned into a full smile.
"…then I think you're going to enjoy this."
Author's Note:
Now there are three more chapters left in Volume 1. This one got massively extended, because the thought of Kali using a motorcycle as a weapon was too much fun not to include. Next chapter will be much shorter, but the one after that… hoo boy.
-RD