Chapter One: Archangel
Dr. Jasper Slate POV
"Tell me about the Archangel Program?" The Atlas investigator asked, my blank extension studying the Interrogation room, not that I could see much due to the only light above my head. The question must have lingered for a bit longer than I had intended for because the person intricateing me called out my name, "Dr. Slate?"
"Why," I started looking at him trying to make out his features in the dim lighting, "You already know everything." This man must not have read the files the Atlas Imperial Intelligence had confiscated from my lab because he just gestured for me to continue.
And so I did with a reluctant sigh, "We were at odds with the Grimm, that normal huntsmen and huntresses were unable to best in combat, so the Atlas military hired me and a select few other scientists to figure out what the next step in securing the survival of humanity." I said recalling the events, "So I figured that in order to fight monsters, we had to create monsters of our own."
ARC-091 "Midnight" POV
The forest was almost too quiet, "Midnight," The voice of a young girl finally broke the silence, "what if they find us?" She asked, worry laced her voice.
I looked over at her, she had dark crimson hair with a strip of silver running through it, and narrow slate blue eyes. I looked away and just stared at the small fire I had made before I replied to her question "I don't know Ember." Normally I would fight, but they were older and stronger. We were just kids, barely even fifteen.
"I say we use our training," another voice said, male this time. I looked in the direction of said voice, the boy's long jet black hair was tied into a wolf cut, strands of silver also weaved through his hair, hatred covered his dark green eyes. "Why else would they mutilate our bodies and turn us into weapons?"
Ember looked down at the fire, I could tell she was afraid. "They'll take us back to that awful place if we do." She said fear lacing her voice.
I just looked into the fire watching the flames dance around the wood, I didn't show it but I was afraid as well. "She's right Blaine besides, we wouldn't last long enough in a fight with those soldiers." I said my voice was hollow. "I'll take the first watch, you two get some sleep." I said quietly.
They both nodded and layed down on the hard cold ground…
Four years later…
I wiped the trace amounts of blood from my lip, "Come on, that's all you've got," I taunted the man in front of me. He wore a black tank top with black combat pants and boots, his gray shaggy hair stuck to his face from all the sweat, his red eyes bore right into me, no doubt from his anger. "My grandmother hits harder than that."
"Shut up shit stain." He said as he rushed me.
I waited until the last minute to doge out of the way from his attack, before hopping on his back and wrapping my arms around his neck placing him in a choke hold. He tried to wrestle me off, shaking his body and trying to grab me by my head. Tightening my grip I felt him start to slow down before I kicked off his back sending him into the wall of the area, "Come on Gray, how many times have we done this little dance?" I asked, dodging another punch from him, "Because I lost count."
"I said shut up!" He yelled as he grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me against the wall. "I'm going to enjoy breaking every bone in your body." He snarled walking up to me as I gasped for air. I looked at the monitor on the wall above the arena, my Aura was dangerously low, if I took another hit, it would no doubt shatter.
I spat a chunk of blood, the dark crimson was a subtle reminder that my semblance was useless in this fight. I grabbed a handful of sand that covered the arena and threw it into his eyes. He yelled out in pain as I got up and rushed to tackle Gray while he was disoriented. As he fell with a THUD I got on top of him and threw punch after punch after punch, his blood started to stain the sand on the ground but I didn't stop until someone pulled me off of him.
"And it's all over folks," a voice came over a loudspeaker "It was a close fight my friends, but Midnight keeps his title as the undefeated champ…" I left the arena before I could hear the Announcer finish his big speech.
Five minutes I entered the makeshift locker room and I heard the voice of my sponsor, "There he is," He exclaimed clearly glad that I made him money, "Say your talent has benefited both of us…"
"Don't," I cut him off, opening up my locker and grabbing my jacket, "You said 'This is Your last fight kid' so I'm done I just want my money so I can move on."
Before he said anything else I walked past him. The halls of the building were covered in graffiti. The building had once been a dust warehouse belonging to one of the many Dust companies before being either bought out or shut down by the SDC. As I got up to the betting booth the woman behind the counter already had the envelope with my share of the bets, grabbing it I gave her a small nod in appreciation.
As I was walking away from the booth I noticed a familiar face, his fire orange hair covering his right eye, the eye that was visible however was dark green, and touched with eyeliner. He wore a white trench coat, with a gray scarf tied around his neck, and atop his head a black bowler hat with a red trim and feather sewn on. Behind him was a short brown and pink haired girl, she wore a very similar outfit, except for the jacket she wore was cut showing black corset, here eyes were two different colors, one Brown and one pink, similar to her hair.
Neapolitan POV
Something felt odd to me, first was that Roman wanted to come to Mistral, the one place we both knew that was dangerously risky for him, and second that this Midnight was essential to Roman's plan, I didn't even know what this kid looked like. "Damn it Roman." I thought.
"There he is," Roman said startling me, I looked to the person he was talking to, he was tall compared to me, but somehow just barely shorter than Roman, his long blue hair was tied in a messy ponytail, and his piercing Purple eyes glared at Roman, clearly not happy seeing him. He wore a long black sleeveless jacket showing his slightly muscular arms, he also wore black combat pants and matching Combat boots. I looked back at Roman, the smirk on his face made it clear this man was probably Midnight, "Just the man I was looking for." Roman continued.
"Fuck off Roman." The man I presumed was Midnight said as he shoulder checked Roman, this action pissed me off. I nearly grabbed my reaper from my parasol, and I would have if Roman hadn't placed his hand on my shoulder.
"You know I would," Roman started, "But I heard from a little Bird that you used to be a soldier." As he finished Midnight stopped right in his tracks and turned to face Roman, his eyes filled with a mix of anger and fear. 'So this is why Roman needed him.' I realized.
Midnight POV
I just stared at Roman, trying to read his expression. Even though his cocky expressions I knew he was desperate, why else would he risk his life and show up in Mistral, Li'l Miss Malachite put out a hit on him awhile back, I never knew why. "And a Spider told me that Li'l miss Malachite has put a price on your head." This made him drop his cocky smirk, making me smile in return.
""So that's how it's going to be." Roman said, giving two small pats on the smaller girl's shoulders. And on que she pulled out a sharp hidden reaper from her parasol. She started to rush me trying to stab, slash, or pierce me. Her agility was impressive.
I quickly Dogged each one of her attacks trying to find my moment to place a well armed hit, but it was difficult. She was too fast for me to place a single strike, hell she landed a couple of well placed strikes completely shattering my Aura. As my Aura dissipated she kicked me, sending me to the floor, just as I was getting up she put the tip of the blade at my throat.
"So Roman," I started not taking my eyes off the girl, "Care to introduce me to the kid?"
He gave a small chuckle "Meet Neapolitan, my partner in crime," he said walking over to us, "And Neo meet midnight."
Neo pulled the Reaper from my neck and sheathing it in her parasol before placing it over her shoulder, and gave me a small cocky smile. As I stood up and brushed the dust off my jacket, "So Midnight," Roman started "I'm in a little predicament, I have racked up quite a bit of debt.."
"I want twenty percent, " I Interrupted, I was also quite desperate, mainly due to the Counsel agreement to join the growing Empire. My plan was going to hide out in Vale for a while, but I didn't have the money to do so. "And I need half that upfront."
Roman sighed, "And why is that exactly?" he asked, rubbing his eyes in clear irritation.
I just gestured to ALL of me, I may have been a Soldier in the Archangel Program, but I never underwent the full augmentation process. "I need Equipment." I lied, I had weapons, but I need something more.
An hour later we were in a shady alleyway with a group of three black marketers. Neo had used her Semblance to descise both her and Roman. They all wore similar outfits except for their leader who wore a long black and red leather Jacket with black jeans and worn black leather boots. He gestured to two of his henchmen, who were holding a large military case. "This is state of the art Atlas Tech, so it should be of use." The Black marketer said opening the case.
As I looked at the content of the large case it was just standard Imperial soldier armor. Except for one item, a tactile black and silver skull shaped mask. As I picked It up to place it on my face the Black Marketer grabbed my arm. "Relax," I said venom laced my voice, "I want to see if you're legit." He pulled back his hand, nervousness clearly taking hold.
As I slipped the mask over my face the HUD immediately came to life, it displayed my heart beat, and Aura levels, as well as a built in ammo counter for any weapon registered to the mask. As I pulled it off, I placed it back into the container, "Ten thousand for the whole case." I said In a robotic tone
"This is state of the art tech," the Marketer started, "twenty-five hundred thousand…"
I cut him off by raising my hand, "This armor is standard issue, each piece is about 60 lein," I was making a low estimate for the sake of saving for dust, "Now the only piece that is actually worth what you say it is is the mask."
The black marketer froze, his shock evident for just a few moments before he quickly pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it straight at me. "Are you accusing me of lying?" His voice was laced with tension, his hand trembling slightly. I turned to Neo and Roman; their smug grins spoke volumes. Returning my gaze to the black marketer, I offered him a smirk of my own. His reaction was swift; he took a step back and used his other hand to steady his aim.
