I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.
The professor revealed a past that once was; a dead world where darkness and DOOM, conquered over all. Every hero that stood up died. All except one.
The dragonslayer stood amidst the ashes of the kingdom, and decided to do the unthinkable. He sought the Eternal Dragon of Time, and slew it, in a desperate attempt to set everything right.
The young warrior had to chuckle. The answer was always dragons to Galanoth.
]|[
Beatrice and Adam were laid on cots side by side, with medics swarming them. An IV line was attached to the black haired woman's arm, and bandages covered the right side of her body. Fortunately for her, her aura protected her from the worst of the burns, but it was still enough to put her on death's door. She was lucky that the star that hit her didn't just immediately turned her to ashes.
Beatrice lost a lot of fluids thanks to her burns, and the medics immediately worked on replacing her volume to prevent her heart from failing. There was the same problem for Adam.
"Brothers damn it Adam, keep it together!" One medic said, furiously trying to resuscitate Adam. The bull faunus' heartbeats were irregular; the shock had interfered with the normal rhythm of his heart and messed with the fluids of his body.
"His potassium is too high! Shit, if only Beatrice was awake right now!" The medic said. "Someone get me some calcium right now!"
As they worked on stabilizing their leader. Beatrice's eyes slowly opened…
]|[
"Alright. Here's the map of the underground." Johnny said, pinning the map he had acquired to the wall. They had moved from the storage space to his room. The two were still slurping on the chicken soup and listened on. "Bombs were planted here and here…" He pinned the areas on the map. "The White Fang even had planted bombs on the shore here." Johnny pointed to the edge of the drain of the sewers to the ocean. "Any ideas?" He asked his two new collaborators.
"Absolutely no idea." Torchwick said between spoonfuls of soup. "Doesn't look like there's a pattern to it, but then again, you only showed two areas that you gound the bombs at." Neo shook her head no as well.
Johnny nodded. He took out a large amount of scrolls for somewhere and dumped them on the table. Torchwick and Neo's eyes widened in surprise at the trick. "What the-?! How'd you do that?!" The thief said in surprise. "You a pickpocket, too?" He had to ask.
"They weren't nailed down in the White Fang base." Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, the scrolls have pictures of the map as well, and has some instructions where and how to plant the bombs." He picked up one of the scrolls, and pinned on the map the place where it said to plant the bombs for 'Squad 26'. He sifted through the scrolls one by one, until he finished pinning the areas he had on the wall. "There. See any patterns?" The adventurer asked.
Didn't look like there was a pattern though, but one area…
"Why are the bombs grouped much closer there?" Torchwick pointed to a cluster of pins near what was White Fang's HQ. "They blowing up a much larger wall or something?"
"That's another thing. I don't even have an idea why they're trying to blow up underground tunnels and the darn sewers of all places. What in Zeuster's name are they going to do? Block up toilet flushing and flood Vale?" Neo threw a spoon at him from the tasteless joke he said while they were eating. "Ow. Okay, sorry."
"I still have no idea. Even when we were working for Cinder, she didn't say much about what the she was using the Dust for." Torchwick rubbed his chin in thought. "She sis have some of it moved out to Mountain Glenn, but…"
Okay. That was new to him. "Mountain Glenn? What was she going to do with the Dust there?" Torchwick shook his head.
"No clue. You blew up the Dust before we can move on to the next phase. Remember that?" The thief sneered at Johnny. Johnny snorted at that.
"Wasn't me. More like, she…" The adventurer pointed at Neo, who feigned a look of innocence, batting her eyes at the two men. "…activated a Dust crystal and threw it at the cargo crates of Dust. Lead to the chain reaction of explosions."
"What?! Neo!" Torchwick groaned into his hands. Neo stuck her tongue out and hit herself softly on the head with a fist, in a 'silly me' gesture. "You told me he was the one that blew it up!"
Neo signed quickly with her hands. "Yeah of course you lied I got that." Torchwick rolled his eyes. Neo signed more at him. "How does self-defense equate to bombing an entire district?!" Neo also rolled her eyes at her partner and pointed at Johnny, who watched the two with amusement. "Right. Yeah, magic demon that eats souls, got it."
"Ayo?! I'm not a demon though?" Johnny frowned at the thief. "And I didn't eat your souls. I just…sealed your fates, that's all." He smiled sheepishly as he said that. Yeah, it actually does sound like a deal with the devil, doesn't it? He thought. Although, Nulgath would most certainly fit that bill better. He remembered his old Archfiend master who had a knack for making contracts and equipment. His deals with Nulgath was more like work contracts than actually selling of his soul though.
"Yes, because that sounds better." Torchwick said sarcastically. He raised his right hand, with strange lettering inscribed on it in a circle, glowing a faint purple. Neo looked at her own hand, tracing a finger across the seal. "You literally branded us like cattle."
"That's just an emblem of…an organization I'm a part of. A mark of our contract. Nothing that would damn your souls to the void, I promise." Johnny smiled a winning smile, and the criminal duo looked at him suspiciously.
Johnny coughed into his fist. "Anyway! Going back to what Cinder's plan…" He quickly changed the topic. "Why did she want to move the Dust there to Mountain Glenn? Was she trying to blow up something there? Some mining or something?"
Torchwick shrugged. "I wouldn't know. And it wouldn't make sense either. There's nothing there except ruins and shit tons of Grimm. It was already destroyed, what would she even try to blow up further? I think the White Fang would know a lot more about that. They were the ones in there waiting for something from Cinder."
"Dust, the White Fang, the Grimm…" What else is Cinder obsessed with? "What else did she have an interest on?"
"She was interested in masquerading as a student in Beacon, for some fucking reason." Torchwick said helpfully. "She and her little backup dancers was disguised as Haven students. So she was looking for something at the school?"
The Maidens. Amber. Right, that was a thing she wanted. Her cover's blown though, so how would she even reach the academy right now? Some kind of disguise?
"If Cinder wanted to reach the academy, somehow, without being seen and in disguise, how would she do that?" Johnny voiced a hypothetical question aloud. Torchwick's eyes widened, and turned to look at Neo, who was slurping the soup directly from the bowl.
"That… That's why she wanted Neo…I would guess." Johnny turned to look at the thief, urging for a clarification. "Neo's semblance…She can use it to disguise herself and turn invisible. It makes her perfect for infiltration operations. I don't understand why Adam and Beatrice wanted to take me along though."
"Isn't it obvious?" Johnny answered the thief. "It's so they can ensure Neo's obedience." Neo's eyes widened in horror. "Probably why Adam was going to hack off one of your legs so they can keep you around as hostage."
He let the two crooks stew with that thought for a while. "Well," Johnny broke the silence. "I'm gonna go to Beacon for a while, check out whatever Cinder wants up there. You two," He pointed to his new minions. "Go pickpocket more of these scrolls from the White Fang, and pin them on the wall where you found them. If you have a way to take the bombs out, do so. If you can't, just leave them to me and pin the locations on the map."
The adventurer looked at the map in thought. "If we're lucky we can find out why their bombing underground tunnels in the first place."
"Uh, I don't know if you know this, but the White Fang hate us right now." Torchwick said. Neo signed quickly, and Torchwick translated. "And Neo says she's still recovering."
"Then go after you get your strength back. And aren't you," He pointed at Torchwick. "Supposed to be some kind of criminal hot shot? Why're you scared of some thugs?"
"Even this master thief can't face hordes of mutts charging at him from all sides." Torchwick spat back.
Johnny scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic. You crawled through the sewers too. Surely you'd have seen them roaming in squads of three or four. You can take them out easily." He sighed. "Look, just go and be careful. I'm off to Beacon. There's food in the fridge if you come back after. And uh," Johnny smiled at the two. "Do not try and exit the city limits. That's part of the Contract. Trust me, you do not want to try and break that chain." Torchwick and Neo shuddered at the reminder of their place right now.
With that ominous warning, Johnny left his two scared minions behind and headed for Beacon.
]|[
"Have you heard of the Dragon Faunus? I saw the pictures being shared around the forums."
"Nah mate, that's obviously not real. Didn't you hear the fact that a normal human anatomy does not allow a person to fly like a bird?"
"I mean, he is a unique faunus, so he must have some unique anatomy, right?"
"Brothers above, I hope that that's what you mean by that statement."
Teams RWBY and JNPR listened on the chatter in the cafeteria, just filled with rumors about a 'Dragon Fauns', 'bat-man', 'Winged Beringels', or other some such garbage. They all saw the pics; it was practically on every news site in the internet. Some conspiracy theorists took that as a sign that the Grimm were now evolving at a much faster rate than the scholars could track, and a sign that a great disaster of an invasion was impending. The more level-headed arguments were that this could be just some hoax; just another fad on the internet that has everybody hooked. And the arguments for it were pretty solid. The physics of it wouldn't work, unless the person on the picture were just free falling and using their wings to glide around.
The people who saw Johnny fly during the Wyvern Invasion knew who it was though. The man with a black cap who had helped people evacuate and fought off the Grimm and the Wyvern itself. Then of course, the students themselves who saw Johnny himself during the fighting. Team RWBY knew it was Johnny they were talking about.
"Man wouldn't it be so cool if you can fly?" Jaune said while picking through his lunch. "That could've probably help me during initiation." Pyrrha giggled remembering how they met.
"Hoho. Imagine the things I could do if I could fly." Nora said dreamily. "I could just fly up in the air and ride the lightning again! Then it would make a pretty big boom when I land back on the ground! Like that guy in that video game that uses lightning!" She cackled, thinking of the possibilities.
"Nora, the lightning would kill you first." Ren said. Nora waved him off. "Meh. I survived one lightning strike, I'll do it again."
"You got hit by lightning?" Yang said with amusement. "Must've been a…shocking experience, right?"
Everyone groaned at the obvious pun. Nora recovered pretty fast though. "Yep. It was how I unlocked my semblance. That was a craaaaazy Thursday." She said.
"Nora certainly does have a point." Pyrrha thought. "Imagine the tactical advantage one can get just by changing your elevation by command…"
"Alright, calm down there champ." Yang rolled her eyes. "We really don't want to imagine you getting any more advantages over us mere mortals in a fight." The flustered Pyrrha blurted out an 'I'm sorry!' at that.
"So Faunus could also be of mythical creatures…" Ruby thought. "I kinda guessed he was just a bat-faunus when we first saw him."
"Wait. You guys saw him?" Jaune said. "When was this?"
"Oh, you remember when we got to the fighting first? We saw him flying over the civilians when we touched down in our Bullhead." Ruby said. "He was the guy that killed that dragon Grimm too."
Team JNPR's eyes widened. That guy? He was like a local Beacon legend now! Rumor has it that the guy also visits the headmaster's office once in a while. Nora herself vibrated excitedly in her seat.
"That's the guy that has those cool chains!" Nora said excitedly. "He was chanting like a wizard too!"
"What kind of semblance must he have to be able to do those things?" Ren rubbed his chin in thought. "Some kind of semblance that could open portals to store items? That would be a useful ability."
"He's trouble is what he is." Yang crossed her arms. "Remember what he did in the sewers?"
The two teams sat in silence remembering the gruesome state of the corpses as delivered by the news. It seemed that tragedy after tragedy has been arriving in Vale these past few days.
Ruby shook her head. "I still don't believe that. Uncle Qrow also said he wasn't the one who did it." Yang conceded at that. If the guy was somehow a colleague of their uncle, they couldn't be that bad, right? Didn't mean Yang would trust them, though.
"Things don't add up about him. If his semblance were those chains and portals, then what was the things he did with the smoke and that loud explosion?" Blake mentioned.
Weiss nodded in agreement. "His ability to use elemental attacks is…prodigious to say the least. He was somehow using both ice and fire dust in concert." The heiress said. Seeing Johnny's ability to control that much in combat was, enviable, to a Dust user like herself. Not to mention the amount of Dust that his attacks must use to do all that… It would use up her supply here at Beacon fast.
"We saw that. He was almost creating a storm of fire, ice, and wind. All at the same time." Pyrrha remembered. "It was like he was raising a blizzard, a tornado, and a firestorm all at once. It was a fearsome display."
"And the clones!" Nora added. "That was crazy! He could make these clones of himself that could also fight!"
"Clones, inventory space, elemental attacks…" Yang listed. "Are we sure this guy isn't a video game character or something?"
Blake snorted. "It does seem unreal."
"Maybe he's a wizard?" Ruby said. "And all the stuff he can do is magic?"
Weiss scoffed. "Come now. His abilities might be pushing the limits of what we understand, but surely it could be a combination of a semblance and Dust somehow?" Even as she said that, Weiss wasn't so sure.
"Hehe. Well, I am something of a wizard." A voice said from the head of the table. They all turned to look who it was. Team RWBY's eyes widened. It was Johnny! The man himself gave a mock bow, tipping his black baseball cap.
"Hello kids." The adventurer greeted, stealing a french fry from Jaune's tray as he did so.
"You?!" Team RWBY said. JNPR just kinda stared at the adventurer, still almost not believing his feats.
"Me. Just visiting Beacon, off to see your Headmaster." He waved at them goodbye and walked away. "See ya around."
Stunned for a moment, the two teams was silent at Johnny's sudden appearance. Jaune recovered first. "He really doesn't look like a Huntsman." The blond leader had to comment. "He looks more like he's about to attend a rock concert or something."
"Is he a teacher here at Beacon too?" Pyrrha had to wonder. "Someone visiting from another kingdom?"
"No he's…" Yang scratched her head in thought. "…Just some guy that got involved? I mean, I think he works with Ozpin and our Uncle in investigating the White Fang." The blond brawler said.
"Speaking of investigating the White Fang…" Blake interjected, changing the topic. Her leader smiled and rubbed her hands together.
"Alright guys, you ready for our 'activity' for tomorrow?" Ruby told team JNPR, who all nodded back eagerly. Ruby cackled. "Excellent…"
]|[
"…And that's the whole thing I found underground." Johnny said, letting a portal drop a canister bomb gently into the table. "No clue what they're going to do with that though. Can't quite grasp what good would bombing bunch of underground tunnels would do."
"Curious indeed. And concerning." Ozpin said. He turned to Ironwood. "Would you be able to send more into the tunnels to finally raid their base? Cut off the head of the hydra, so to speak. Perhaps we don't need to divine what they're going to do next, just that we stop them from doing it."
Ironwood nodded. "I'll send who I can." The general was fully in on this plan. They have to head the White Fang off now, or else they wouldn't be able to handle whatever it is they're planning next. Vale was…at a really precarious situation after all of the things that happened these past few days. Chaos would ensue if the White Fang interfered with their plans.
"Another thing as well. Cinder knows that your Maiden is here." Johnny said gravely. All eyes on the room turned to him, alarmed. "She's planning to infiltrate the school. Probably her main objective, anyway." The adventurer removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair. "She really wants that power, doesn't she?"
Qrow narrowed his eyes, his grip on his flask tightening, threatening to crush his drink. "I think I'll stick around here and guard Amber then, if she tries anything." Glynda beside him nodded as well.
"I'll stay and guard too. She won't be able to handle at least three veteran huntsmen after her." The blond professor said.
"Should I send the Ace-Ops to Beacon then?" Ironwood offered. "They could offer more defenses for Amber."
"No." Ozpin shook his head. "No need to leave your kingdom untended. I'll be staying here as well to deal with Cinder, if needed."
Johnny left out Torchwick and Neo in his report. No need to lay all the cards in the table. They would be his aces; no one would suspect!
"How about you Johnny?" The headmaster snapped Johnny out of his thoughts. "What would you do now?"
"Maybe I'll head to the sewers myself, see if I can't find Cinder first. Or find out what they were planning, maybe I'll get something out of exploring." The adventurer replied.
"Just be careful." Ozpin said, turning his scroll around for everyone to see. A picture of Johnny flying through the skies. "People are starting to notice you. Soon, you might have people after you, now that you're upsetting people on the underground."
"C'mon, what's the White Fang or Cinder going to do? Send an assassin at me?" Johnny scoffed. "They're going to have to spend and waste a pretty penny to get a killer to fail at taking me out."
"Just don't be reckless. Even with magic, you can't be invincible." Ozpin said, with a hint of melancholy in his tone.
"Are you really a faunus?" Qrow asked. "Where are you hiding your wings?"
"No. I'm not a faunus. I just…" He thought for a bit, trying to think of an explanation how he can use the Elemental Dracomancer's powers. "…use magic to channel the powers of some Dragons back home."
"Dragons exist back where you come from?" Qrow said incredulously. Johnny smirked.
"Oh yeah," The adventurer had to chuckle. "They most certainly exist. Don't make contact as much, but they're…hidden in plain sight." Johnny said with a knowing grin.
]|[
The White Fang couldn't believe their eyes. Beatrice, through the pain of her un-anesthetized burns, stood up shakily from her cot, gritting her teeth. "Give me something to eat and drink. Now." She growled at some of the medics, who nodded quickly and rushed off. Beatrice dragged the IV stand with her as he walked to where Adam was laying down. She took a stethoscope from a nearby medic and listened in. "Kinda irregular…" She muttered.
"Anyone here have my wand?" She asked some of the White Fang. One of them left the room to fetch the weapon. They came back with a little broken baton and a cracked-open star. "It was destroyed when we found you." The brown haired faunus said.
Beatrice sighed sadly at the state of her wand. She shook her head. "Anyone with yellow dust? Someone give some to me right now." She ordered. The same brown haired faunus left the room to fetch for the requested item. Beatrice focused on her want, realigning the star and the baton end, and clicked them together until the wand was whole again. The Dust inside was totally gone however, and the cartridges were cracked.
The dust wasn't still in there yet, so Beatrice focused her efforts on the still unconscious Adam, closing her eyes to focus, and put a hand on Adam's chest. She used her semblance, the same one that got her through her career as a doctor, and restored the fluids and their component electrolytes to their proper compartments. It wasn't a proper fix for Adam, but she'd get right on that.
"We already got calcium for Adam." The medic said, pointing to the IV stuck to Adam.
"And his potassium is still climbing. Let me focus." Beatrice snapped, not turning away from her work. "Adam will get a v-fib if we don't fix this now. Luckily for him," Beatrice gritted her teeth in focus. "I'm still alive."
"I got the dust!" Someone yelled. Beatrice nodded. She let her palms up from Adam. It was good enough for now. "We really need to buy a defibrillator in case I get knocked out again." Beatrice winced at her own hubris. It was a weakness that their group relied on her so much for medical treatment. They should at least get a team of doctors for their group.
She took the cartridge of Yellow Dust and stuck it in the broken wand's chambers. The broken star tip crackled weakly, but powered just enough by Beatrice's control.
"Alright Adam." Beatrice chuckled darkly despite the danger her comrade was in. "Get ready for Remnant's worst defibrillation!" She stuck the star to Adam's chest, and shocked the bull faunus' heart.
"AAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" Adam screamed, and his singular eye shot open. Beatrice let go of the wand, smiling contentedly at the shit she just pulled off. Adam panted his breaths out, clutching his aching chest.
"Well, well Adam. Welcome back to the land of the living." Beatrice laughed. They get to fight another day, and that man would pay for not killing her. She'd make sure of that.