A/N: The rating might change. I'm still unsure if I want to add
gore or not. Also, I'm experimenting with POV's.
The travel from Patch to Vale was a short one. At least, for him anyway. It took him two days and one night to take him where he is now. Sitting on the tallest building he could find, Colby swung his legs freely as he looked at the wallet in his hands. Junior and his friends sure work fast. It took some convincing and small threats but it worked. Maybe if he hadn't drowned himself in video games, he could've been a famous actor or maybe even a singer. Colby considered the latter when he was still young, but the self-confidence he had in himself back then was like finding water in the desert.
He put away his wallet and manifested a swirl of Blacklight in his palm; weapons felt unconventional for him since he was the weapon. Then the teen thought of what other people would think,
~MonStER… KiLLeR… LUnaTic!~
True, but those were not very nice words. Plus, a weapon couldn't hurt. He would be able to fit in and not look suspicious to others. Another thing was that he needed – no, wanted – the handicap. Now he regrets leaving Patch for two reasons: one is Yang, and the other is Ruby. Since she was essentially a weaponsmith, asking the scarlet reaper to help make a weapon for him was a no-brainer. The thought caused Colby to slam his fist in frustration, cracking the stone underneath and sending a stray piece onto the sidewalk. The young man quickly retracted his feet and sat with his legs crossed, he then peered his head slightly over the edge waiting for the unfortunate person or group to forget about the pebble.
Colby let loose a heavy sigh and lay on his back, gazing at the stars twinkling above him. He liked this type of quiet, not a single noise, just the wind blowing. It would be much better on grass than the concrete he was lying on, with a tree off to the side.
~With someone special?~ Alex blurted out, a grin showing underneath his hood.
'You were lucky Dana still considered you her dear brother.' Colby shot back with a glare, "At least you still had someone.' A frown replaced his smile. The looks on his parents' faces were something that's been burned into his soul. He was still their flesh and blood, but the fact that a plague writhed inside of him made him feel like a freak to them. There's always a catch with superpowers. He was about to fall asleep when the sound of sirens filled the green-haired teen's ears, shooting his eyes open and catching his attention. "Finally, something to distract myself with." He stood upright and stretched his limbs, hearing the satisfying crack of his bones; Colby adjusted his hearing to peep in on the cops' radio as he began running alongside their car on the rooftops.
~This is Officer Han, we got wounded here! All units respond! Code 10-10 Downtown, Vale Central Bank! Shit!~ Shouted a man, what followed was screaming and gunshots before going static once more. Colby picked up the pace and ran at half his max speed, arriving just minutes after listening in on the Officers. The whole place was devolving into chaos. At the entrance of the bank behind the pillars, a group of masked individuals were firing dust bullets at the Police, who were taking cover behind their cars, periodically shooting in the hopes they hit a target. Colby looked down, then back at the shootout, he could just jump in guns blazing but a part of him denied that notion. He favored the latter and swung across the street onto the bank's roof.
After landing with relative ease and dusting off his jeans, the green-haired teen opened his palm and manifested strands of biomass, It squirmed and stretched, popping alive with numerous eyes. Colby observed it momentarily before shoving his arm down a ventilation shaft.
Working quickly, the eyes navigated the vents and found their leader in under a minute through twists and turns, cooping up at the second-floor vault with goons guarding the outside. Retracting the appendage, he raised an eyebrow, putting a finger to his chin as he sat down legs crossed. Why did they steal money? Weren't they supposed to be stealing Dust? Then again, they did look different from Junior's henchmen, so maybe these were just regular robbers? But that wouldn't be possible with how many there were, including the dead bodies.
He thought of all the possibilities and came up with nothing. At first, the teen thought it was the White Fang, but again, the differences were many. Another candidate was the Hana Guild, but those guys were back at Mistral. And so his thoughts remained inconclusive. Colby put it in the back of his head and stood back up.
"Wait, how am I supposed to fit in there?" Thinking out loud, he stared at the slightly broken package unit before him. A moment passed by, a bird cawing overhead. Then something clicked. Because of his size, he wouldn't fit. So, Colby tried something he hadn't; reducing himself into a little blob.
He closed his eyes as Blacklight sprung from his feet to his head: A pulse, it shrank to where his waist would be, another pulse, it began taking shape, then the last one released a bit of loose biomass. Colby opened his eyes. He smiled; the teen was amazed that it worked, and there weren't any side effects. Yet. He looked at his red feet and black, stubby hands. Shifting Blacklight a bit changed his color from black to pink. Wasting no more time, Colby squeezed himself through the small opening with difficulty.
Colby crawled out back to normal with a disgusted look on his face, 'Ugh, I hate vents, they make them look good in the movies.' He mused, cleaning himself of spiderwebs and dust bunnies. He fished the headphones from his pockets as Blacklight wrapped him in a cocoon. Seconds passed, and out he came with a different look. Colby's green mop of hair was gone, with it turning to a shade of orange. He forgone his clothes in exchange for civilian clothes but hid his face with a mask of Blacklight. He took a deep breath and made a sick smile creep to his lips, a shiver running down his spine. Colby walked through the bank basement, coming out from a flight of stairs in the loading cargo. He then made his way towards the main hall. Opening the door, Colby stopped in his tracks.
The young man whistled as he slowly spun around, taking in the beauty of his surroundings. Vale Central Bank is unlike all the other banks he'd seen. The interior still looked lavish despite some rubble littering the floor, with bodies of staff and criminals alike strewn all across the floor, painting the walls and tiles in red splotches and puddles. The place made him feel like Midas with all the expensive furniture around the bank. Then the shooting outside stopped, which intrigued him and made the building eerily quiet. The atmosphere became tense, but that didn't erase the utter ignorance on his face as music blasted into his ears.
Alex wanted a fight, and he would get just that. A moment later dozens of robbers surrounded him from all sides, some of them pointing guns at him from the second floor. They shouted at the stranger to get down on the ground. The tone of their voices was confident, cocky even. Seeing as he was outnumbered. However, the smile on his face never left.
The long silence that came after put some of the robbers into a state of unease. He stood there, still as a statue. Suddenly, Mercer formed the head of an axe in one hand and jumped the closest criminal to him, chopping the man's head clean off. If they weren't scared shitless before, they are now. Only a few hid it well. The criminals fired their weapons, which proved ineffective; their bullets consumed by the virus. Nonetheless, they continued their assault.
Alex swiftly grabbed the head of the next robber and flung his body to a group firing from above. The bullets tickled, and it was getting annoying. He released a web of Blacklight and caught a hefty amount of the thieves. They screamed in agony as he consumed, sending a shiver of satisfaction through his veins. Snaring another, he spun around and used the man as a makeshift flail, before smashing him to the tiled marble floor, cracking the man's bones to pieces. He wanted to laugh but didn't want to take his chances. He snapped the neck of another, letting their lifeless body slump to the floor. Mercer grabbed the criminal's rifle and opened fire on those in his line of sight. Hearing a click! From the weapon, Alex scoffed before he flung it to someone on the second floor, knocking out teeth and their consciousness.
Outside, Officer Han and the rest of his fellow policemen remained vigilant with their weapons up but were rather confused. Why did the criminals retreat inside? They could be preparing an ambush, though that wouldn't make sense. It could be that they were escaping.
Just then, gunshots and screaming came from inside. Taking the opportunity made by a Huntsman, they moved in with E.S.U teams and some S.W.A.T. They weren't going to take any chances.
"What do you want from me!?" Screamed the man, crawling backward as the individual in front of him walked slower than a snail. He and his boys have planned this heist for months, instead of them getting rich, and spending their spoils on a faraway island, It all comes crashing down because of a huntsman, and a violent one at that. The fear he was feeling was almost incomprehensible. It felt like he was a kid again, cooped up in a room alone with a stuffed toy, the lights turned off, and the windows open. It felt like a nightmare, he could handle seeing a dead body or two, but all the blood, bodies, and guts the Hunstman left in his wake. It wouldn't be right to call him a Huntsman. Monster would be a better term, a beast in human skin.
He stopped walking when the man's back hit a corner of the vault. Alex bent down to his knees and looked the man directly in the eyes. Fear has the man's heart racing, he wouldn't be able to answer him properly; he was on the verge of tears too.
"Who do you work for?" Mercer asked in a calm and authoritative voice, "I won't kill you, that is if you answer me truthfully." He paused for a moment, "Again… who do you work for?" The head honcho stammered and quivered under his gaze.
"H-Hei Xiong goes by the nickname "J-Junior", H-he's the manager of a C-club in the shady parts of Vale." The man raised his arms as more beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks. Ratting the competition out to a huntsman was a low blow, but he valued his life at that moment more than ever. Alex narrowed his eyes for a second before helping the man to his feet He breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could walk away, Mercer whispered to the man,
"Tell them Grimm got inside. I was never here. Thanks for the info." The teen stepped aside and let the man pass and walk towards the stairs, the man felt hope for a meager three seconds, after which Colby let out a spiked appendage and tore a hole through the man's chest. He wanted to scream but his lungs were nowhere to be seen when he looked down. His head whipped back to Colby, the man's eyes bloodshot red and wide as plates.
Alex shrugged, "I said answer me truthfully. Shame, you could've lived for another day." He then proceeded to consume the man, taking his identity and memories, all flashing in the blink of an eye. Finn Cobblepot. 'A distant relative of yours Penguin?' Mercer mused with a chuckle. But before he could skim through Finn's memories, the doors of the bank were smashed open. He peered over the railing and saw dozens of police officers. 'Well, time to bounce.' He flexed his legs and jumped straight through the main skylight, sending shards of glass everywhere. The officers pointed their guns too late and were forced to brace for the shards, lest they want their faces cut. He landed back on the roof and started running.
Once he got far enough, he ran a hand through his hair – which was now back to its normal shade of green – and questioned Alex, 'What the hell was that? I told you to 'Practice Moderation,' not kill them like you're in a goddamn slaughterhouse!' Colby mentally screamed.
~What? Don't blame me, you're the one who decided not to let me out! I've been pent up ever since that agreement we had when you were sixteen.~ Alex shot back. Colby didn't have a rebuttal. Instead, he threw his arms up in exasperation. 'You're fucking troublesome you know that?' Colby replied with a joking tone and a hearty laugh.
~You don't need to remind me, Coby.~
After a quick rest, Colby began running. He didn't know where, though he had a vague idea. He just needed some s'mores and a ukulele. Hopefully, Ozpin was asleep.
A/N: Hello again! This chapter's a thousand words shorter than the first because in four days it's back to the school grind. I don't want to get piled on with work so I'm cramming hard till the eighth of January. Like before, I'll release a new chapter in a few weeks. The next chapter won't focus on fights, It'll be like a break or something.
See ya next time!
PS: For those who couldn't notice it, Officer Han's name is from a color named "Han Blue."