EDIT: Added more words than just boy, I left some of them though. I'm not good at descriptions so I'll just leave them be.
Howdy, I'm sure most of you were expecting this to come out the next month but nope! I have to get this out now because there is a good chance I won't be able to do anything with it for the summer since I'm gonna try for a job and I wanted to get this out quickly. As such I locked in for the last ten days and have been mostly focusing on this and that's why it's here now. I would like to say this is a combat-heavy chapter but I'm not exactly happy with the fight but every time I looked at it this was all it could be really so yeah, I hope you enjoy.
-OtherwiseR00K
Arthur grinned at the computer showing the work he'd managed to get done in a remarkably short amount of time. Most people would take close to two hours to get the CCT account processed and finalized but for one who had a hand in refining the tower and even worked on it in his younger years in Atlas so he could brute force his way through without a hint of suspicion. It was better to create a real one instead of faking it so the information he wanted leaked would not come under suspicion if the account was completely faked. All in all the CCT account took 12 minutes.
The next thing was setting up the message board account and then finding the specific location where he'd release the information. The news board itself, an amateur news bulletin anyone with a smidge of journalistic knowledge within Mistral knew was a goldmine for articles. Arthur knew this and was taking advantage.
Arthur was out to cause his own brand of chaos, maybe even a little vigilante hacking as well, just to add a little spice to his post. Arthur had decided to dive into the CCT a little deeper and dig into a few of the members of the Mistral Council. Specifically the corrupt ones.
Now this could be seen as counterproductive in the grand scheme of destabilizing Remnant as his mistress wanted. After all, criminals and corrupt politicians are some of the best ways to divide people. However, if you wish to divide the more powerful individuals in a Kingdom, you go after the corrupt.
Arthur decided to do just that. So he added a little bit of his own narrative, one he was sure the Mistral Times would at the very least runoff, if not use it as a blueprint. The Mistral Council was hiding the atrocities of these terrorist attacks around Anima but not to keep the people calm, no, they were doing it for profit.
It wasn't even completely false either. Arthur had found a few C-Mails between some of the Mistral Council and some smaller dust companies in Anima. Basically, there were dust deposits under a few of the locations where the Church operated, this was well known to the Church as they used them to feed their weapons.
Now, the fact that they were speaking with these companies wouldn't have been so bad even if they were released months ago the public wouldn't have thought much of it and just viewed it as typical. Dust was a needed resource and any deposits were valuable to the Kingdoms. The SDC was as powerful as it was for a reason after all.
This was where Arthur's narrative came in. Arthur was spinning the idea that the corrupt members of the council were using this terrorist group to destroy settlements that had dust deposits underneath. The terrorists would destroy the settlements and they would buy up the land and start mining.
Arthur frowned as he looked at that word. Terrorist. The name wasn't what he wanted to use as he'd planned on giving their interloper trouble but using him would be too much of a leap in the eyes of the public. The Black Swordsman, as unimaginative a name as one could be, was a hero in the eyes of the Anima settlers after all, and any dirt to his name wouldn't be applicable. It also had the chance of invalidating the narrative he was spinning so it was better to just leave it.
His narrative would sow enough discord anyway.
Arthur minimized the tab and opened another that was connected to the Squire's vitals. Arthur had made sure to connect a heart rate monitor to the boy to keep check on his vitals so he could track what the boy was doing. A raised heart rate meant he was most likely in combat and Arthur could track how long he was fighting.
If the boy died he'd record how long it took for his vitals to flatline and if he survived he'd base the time it took off the boy's own accounts. Arthur was aware of what the Knights could do and aware of what the squires could handle. He wasn't sure if the Squire was going to survive but if he did it was a welcomed outcome. If not then Arthur and by extension, the Church would know how strong the Interloper was.
Arthur simply had to wait.
Arthur took the tab showing the vitals and put it in the corner of the screen while opening the project he was still working on. He might as well get some things done in the meantime.
-Lemon's Manor-
Shirou stared down the cultist in front of him, analyzing his posture, scars, and the history of the blade he had in his hands. Unfortunately, that didn't give him much as the longsword was forged only a week prior and this was its first outing. It did give him the name of someone he'd be looking into as soon as possible though.
Arthur Watts.
Apparently, that man had been the one to bring the boy here within a bullhead in the warehouse district but Shirou didn't have much confidence in finding the man there. He was most likely just a pilot for the squire and would have left soon after. It didn't matter at the moment though.
The squire was the one in front of him, not Watts and the squire was what he needed to focus on. They were different from the cultist members he'd dealt with before, he could tell that just by the fact he was capable of masking his presence before he struck. If it wasn't for his mind's eye the siblings would be dead.
Shirou couldn't underestimate the cultist but he wouldn't assume anything either. That's why he stood with Bakuya and his pistol, to gauge the boy and figure out what was needed. If they had aura, he'd trace Gae Dearg. If they were fast he'd pin him down with Medusa's chains. He'd use what was needed.
The boy finally moved and he moved quickly. He blitzed toward Shirou and swung the sword down onto him, Shirou sidestepped the swing and fired his gun at the boy's head. The boy moved quickly and moved the guard in the path of the bullet before spinning the weapon and slashing at Shirou.
Shirou deflected the sword with Bakuya, a small shower of sparks marking the clash. Shirou once again fired at the boy who once again moved the blade blocking the bullets with the flat of it. The boy blitzed forward and slashed at Shirou making him have to jump over the blade and fire at the same time, this time the bullets impacted the boy but his aura didn't shatter.
The squire stumbled back from the shots, however. His aura flashing dangerously, the boy even seemed confused for a moment before directing his glare at Shirou who shoved his pistol into his coat and traced Kanshou just as the squire came back around as fast as before and slammed the blade down on his spot.
The blade sunk into the wood as Shirou dodged and then slashed at the squire. The boy was hit by the first slash from Kanshou but the boy used the sword's handle, swinging himself around it just as Bakuya missed. The boy came in for a kick to Shirou who simply blocked it by putting Kanshou and Bakuya into an X block.
Shirou pushed the boy back who was still holding the sword handle and used the momentum to tear the sword from the ground and spin into another slash toward Shirou. Shirou jumped over the swing but kicked down as the sword passed beneath him forcing it to the ground and landing on it. This forced the boy to drop the sword.
Shirou backed up as the cultist attempted to punch him, the wind that came with those punches told him they'd probably hurt. The squire jumped up and came down with an axe kick, Shirou jumped back to avoid it. The squire came down but instead of the heel driving itself into the ground, the boy landed on his foot and bent his leg before springing back toward his sword. The young cultist snatched the sword up and ran away from Shirou.
Right at the two siblings who had been rooted in place since the start of this fight.
Shirou quickly dismissed the married blades and quickly traced the chain dagger, throwing it forward. It shot toward its target and it was soon wrapped around the boy's torso, his body snapping forward with his sudden stop.
"Get out of here!" Shirou yelled at the siblings. Roman jolted, which made Neo visibly wince in pain before Roman carried Neo out of the manor as Shirou held the boy back from the two. The moment they were gone Shirou wrenched back the chain making the cultist fly toward him but the boy wrapped his arm in the chain and pulled at an angle that sent him back to the ground.
The moment he hit the floor the boy tugged the chain and Shirou allowed himself to be pulled but dismissed the chain dagger and traced Gae Dearg in its place. Shirou thrusted forward as the boy attempted to block though it came too short.
Gae Dearg pierced directly through the squire's gut.
Shirou was surprised though when the boy's hands lashed out and grabbed him by the throat attempting to strangle him. Shirou let go of Gae Dearg, grabbed the boy's arms, and pried the gauntlets off him. Shirou swiftly raised his leg and kicked the boy forcing him back with Gae Dearg still lodged in his gut.
The boy tore the weapon from his gut with seemingly no pain registering from the wound. The boy flipped the spear into a throwing stance and hurled Dae Dearg back at Shirou who simply watched the boy. Shirou dismissed the spear as it got closer, making it disappear before it hit his face.
Shirou noted the wound in the boy's gut wasn't gushing normal blood, instead a black liquid was streaming out and dripping to the floor. This and the fact the young man wasn't even reacting to the pain a gut wound can cause raised how dangerous he was to Shirou. That also made him think back to what the boy said earlier about being a Knight hopeful. He wondered what a fully-fledged Knight looked like.
Shirou threw those thoughts to the back of his mind for now. He had to deal with this boy and hopefully learn something from him.
The boy finally moved and rushed toward Shirou. Shirou traced and spun Gae Dearg into a ready position but was surprised to see the boy tear off one of his gauntlets and thrust his now bare arm forward, allowing the same black liquid to pour out of his pores and cover his arm. The next moment feathers were being shot at Shirou.
Shirou twirled Gae Dearg using it to block the razor-sharp nevermore feathers. The boy came in closer and jumped up in an attempt to punch Shirou from above, Shirou moved Gae Dearg to block the punch with the shaft.
The punch connected and Shirou could feel himself sinking into the wood floor beneath him, a small cracking noise giving more credence to this. The boy was certainly strong but he wasn't anywhere near a Servant's level. Shirou pushed up, making the boy go airborne for a moment before twirling Gae Dearg and hitting the boy with the shaft of the spear hard enough to send him flying into a wall and crashing through it.
Shirou rushed forward, jumping through the hole with Gae Dearg already poised forward to strike at the boy. Shirou nearly strikes the boy but the boy is able to roll out of the way just as Shirou landed, Gae Dearg piercing the floor where the boy once was. Shirou let go of Gae Dearg and whipped out his pistol firing at the retreating Squire. Each shot hit true but it didn't slow the boy down, even with the bullets punching through the now auraless boy.
The squire is able to get through the hole and grab his sword, he spins around and slashes at the air with enough force to make a shockwave fly at Shirou. Shirou grabbed Gae Dearg before dodging out of the way and then threw the spear directly at the boy. A second later the spear once again found itself piercing the boy though this time where the lungs were.
The boy spat up more of the black substance but otherwise kept standing. It confirmed something that Shirou wanted to know about the boy, throwing Gae Dearg was just how he'd confirm it. The boy had a healing factor, most likely due to the substance that pervaded his body. The squire was modified, similar to how a Magus modified their own body or the bodies of others for their research.
Shirou figured with this information he wouldn't learn anything from the boy. The religious zeal and the modifications pointed toward the boy being completely indoctrinated with no hesitation to carry out whatever his master ordered. Shirou wasn't going to play around anymore.
Shirou dismissed Gae Dearg, its ability to cut through magic was useful but not useful for this situation. Instead, he traced its yellow counterpart, Gae Buihde. The boy's healing wouldn't do much against a spear that forced the concept of mortality on any cut by its blade.
The boy grunted as Dae Dearg vanished allowing the black blood to run from the wound. He looked at Shirou, now holding Gae Buidhe, and let a smirk grace his bloodied lips, "My goddess' holy gift runs through my veins, heretic. Your struggle is futile and your tricks pathetic! You'll tire eventually and once you do I'll run this sword through your chest."
"Your goddess' gift is nothing but an experiment," Shirou scoffed, "Your gift has stripped your humanity from you and turned you into nothing but a puppet for a monster wearing the title of god. It's a joke I've heard once before and it wasn't funny then."
The squire growled, baring his blackened teeth and switching his grip on the sword for his left hand while allowing feathers to grow on his right forearm. The boy then charged forward, a roar sounding from his throat as he shot the feathers forward.
Shirou spun Gae Buidhe, already knowing how this would go from the previous assault. The boy came closer as Shirou continued blocking the projectiles with no issue and soon the boy came in close enough for a swing. The boy swung the sword with all his might aiming at Shirou's throat.
Shirou ducked under the strike and spun to his knees, twirling Gae Dearg with him until he stabbed forward into the boy's knee. The weapon pierced and Shirou twisted it violently, tearing the ligaments and muscle holding the bone together. The leg was torn off and the boy fell to the floor.
Shirou made to finish the boy off but the blood began bubbling. A small flock of crow-sized Nevermores burst forth and attempted to skewer Shirou but he simply jumped back and threw the spear down, the tip piercing the ground and making it stand there, and traced Kanshou and Bakuya.
He threw Kanshou into the flock, the spinning sword a saw cutting through the Grimm. It flew in an arc as Shirou slashed at the ones diving at him as if to delay him. Kanshou eventually flew back to him, cutting through more of the flock as Shirou finally cut the last one down.
Shirou looked back to the boy and dismissed the married blades. He walked toward the Squire, who was trying to reattach his leg, grabbing Gae Buidhe on his way. The boy looked up as Shirou made his way over, a hint of confusion and some desperation on his face as he continued trying to reattach his leg.
"Something wrong? Did your monster abandon you?" Shirou taunted.
"My goddess has not abandoned me!" the maddened squire roared, "I can still feel her blessing course through my very being!" he made to say more, and then his eyes landed on Gae Buidhe.
"You, only one thing could block her blessing," the boy snarled, "You bastard of Ozma! You think you can just cleave your way back to your status after what he did to her!"
"Ozma?" Shirou questioned, more to himself than the Squire as he hadn't stopped raving and continued demeaning this Ozma. Shirou had heard that name before, well read of that name before. In a few of those journals he found it made mention of Ozma in disdain, he'd wondered who they were but had written it off as irrelevant. It didn't matter at the moment though, he wouldn't get anything out of this cultist anyway besides a bunch of insults like his rave was going now.
Shirou swiftly twirled Gae Buidhe as the cultist raved on and then plunged the spear directly through the squire's forehead. The boy's face spasmed slightly, his mouth opening as if to speak and his eyes widening but then his eyes drooped shut and that was that.
Shirou ripped Gae Buidhe from the dead knight hopeful's head but didn't dismiss it just yet. He wanted to be positive the squire was dead so he waited for a moment, ready for the boy to possibly snap back up but nothing happened. Shirou finally dismissed Gae Buidhe after another few seconds of waiting.
Shirou wasn't just going to leave the body though, he had no idea what could happen if he left an obviously experimented-on body to be found by the snobs of the quarter. If he were a better magus he could just snap his fingers and poof fire but he wasn't, he was a third-rate magus with something he was really good at. So he went with the more modern option.
Shirou unslung his gun case and kneeled down to open it up. Inside was the Remington, some ammo, the current cultist journal he had on him, and the segmented pieces of a burn dust IED. Shirou took that from the case and placed it right next to him, then he closed the case and slung it over his back before going back to the IED.
He quickly reassembled it and made sure the timer was set to about three minutes. Shirou then placed the IED directly on the corpse and made his way toward the door. Once that IED went off, the body would be incinerated, and with any luck the manor would burn down as well.
Shirou exited the manor and spotted Roman and Neo still in the courtyard. Both were looking down at something near the exit and as Shirou got closer he could make out the head of a blonde woman and the rest of the corpse lying nearby.
"What are you still doing here?" Shirou asked.
This startled the two, making Roman jump slightly and Neo hissed quietly in pain. Roman looked at her in quiet apology before looking back at Shirou, "Well, uh, we don't have anywhere else to go. There's also a very good chance Lil' Miss is going to have us hunted down for what happened here and your actions at the Aieger."
Shirou could see where this was going, "You think you're safe with me around?"
"Y-yeah, I saw what you did at the Aieger and to the people guarding this place. Me and Neo are all we really have and we just want a chance to get out of Mistral and off Anima entirely. Start over somewhere else where no one knows us."
Shirou thought it over. He had most likely ruined what these two had with his actions, even if he was sure Malachite would have tried to sell Neo anyway. He did feel responsible for their current situation and could get them far away from Anima. He was heading to Mantel, which was pretty far from Malachite's influence.
"Fine-"
Boom!
An explosion went off behind him, it was somewhat muffled by the manor's walls but was still loud enough to scare the siblings and he could hear confused screams coming from the quarter.
"Follow me then." Shirou walked past the siblings, "You'll need to pull your own weight until you get to where you're going."
"Argus."
Shirou stopped and turned around, "Argus?"
"That's our best bet," Roman says, "Argus is the farthest port from Mistral and is co-run by both Mistral and Atlas, though Atlas has the stronger pull. If we can get to Argus, we can go anywhere from there. Plus I may be able to get Neo checked up on."
Shirou was, admittedly, a little surprised they were heading in the same direction as him. They'd split off on destination though, he doubted they would head to Solitas as the tundra wasn't really welcoming to criminals. Atlas especially.
Shirou looked away from the siblings, the sound of sirens ringing off in the distance denoting the response to the fire rapidly consuming the manor. He wouldn't be too surprised if some of Mistral PD were on their way too.
"Come on," Shirou says as he begins walking forward, "we need to get out of here."
The three walk off, avoiding the police and firefighter response team that arrived in bullheads soon after.
-Warehouse Quarter-
"Such a shame," Arthur murmured as he looked at the vitals he'd been monitoring, having just flatlined. The Squire had been killed in what Arthur assumed to be a fight between him and his target. Seemed their interloper was better than the Squire.
Arthur had kept the possibility of the Squire failing in his mind but was surprised the boy had actually failed. Now it wasn't impossible for the Squires to fall, they didn't have the same level of modifications the Knights had but when a Squire was sent out most of the time they succeeded in their mission. Only the likes of STRQ or those like them have ever truly dealt with them, at least from what he was able to gather.
The fact this interloper could deal with a Squire was enough to give Arthur a clue on how to deal with them. It also made him weary of the man, the feats he'd undergone by derailing any plans for Mistral had already proved his skills but to know he could wipe their settlements off the map was different compared to wiping out a Squire. It painted a deadly picture for Arthur Watts.
Ultimately it wasn't his concern, yet. He'd completed his task and within the next few hours, Mistral will be expelling several members of its council on criminal offences. The uproar from this would cause the Grimm to be more attracted to Mistral making more Huntsman and Huntresses called in to handle it.
Maybe even an increase in recruits for Sanctum Academy. That may play into what he knew of Salem's plans perfectly.
Arthur checked his work one last time and then shut the computer off. He rolled his neck and shoulders, stiff from being in the same position for so long, and stood up. He snapped his fingers, the rings glowing as he did so, and the bullhead began starting up.
Arthur made his way into the cockpit and idly flipped a few switches as he sat down and grabbed the pilot helmet he used. He checked the fuel, checked the engines, checked the landing gear, and then he was off.
The people he paid for the warehouse will close it up a few minutes after his departure and none will be the wiser to his presence. Just the way he wanted.
So, the first thing is the Squire. The reviews mentioning his impending stomp were correct but I wanted to try and make it longer so Shirou could scale the boy on his level of threats and he did exactly that. With that, you also get an idea of what Salem can do to these people under her thrall and an idea of what makes the Knights so dangerous. To clear up any confusion about them all I'll say is that the Squire's can give teams like STRQ a run for their money so what do you think a Knight could do?
The second is Roman and Neo going with Shirou to Argus. They will only be there until Argus and then they'll part ways but they do it because they want to make sure they survive getting away from Lil' Miss Malachite. That is their main objective.
The last and final thing is Arthur Watts. I had fun with him in these last two chapters as theirs something about the guy that just spews gold in every scene he was in. I can only hope I gave his character and mustache justice and you all enjoy his scenes as well.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and I'm gonna grace you with an Omake because I'm bored and feel like doing it. Don't expect them to be a constant thing.
-Omake-
Blake Belladonna ran. She'd run once before, from Adam after that train attack but this one felt worse. Like she was running from her only chance to make things right, which she was. She didn't have a destination, just the conclusion she had to run.
Her teammate and heiress to the very company Faunus despised, Weiss Schnee had started bad-mouthing the White Fang and Faunus in general. The words were like nails on a chalkboard to Blake, she couldn't stand someone who benefited from Faunus suffering saying things like that. In her anger, she'd revealed her heritage.
"Maybe, we were just tired of being pushed around!"
Those words had spilled from her lips without her realizing for a moment and when she did, she saw the look on her team's faces. The confusion and shock adorned openly on their faces allowed her to get away unimpeded. It was so easy. Just the same as when she fled from Adam.
Finally, she stopped and looked up to see where she'd run. The Beacon Academy Courtyard, more specifically the statue that sat closer to the building. A stone statue depicting a hunter protecting the innocent bystander behind them from something not depicted.
Blake stared at the statue, her hands unconsciously reaching for the bow placed on her head. She gripped two loose strands of the bow and pulled, making the bow come undone and revealing her cat ears to the open air. She holds the now undone bow in her fist as she looks up at the statue.
"What was even the point?" She whispers to herself.
"The point was you'll head back to the dorms as it's past curfew," a baritone and dry voice said behind her.
Blake whips around to see the Head of Security in Beacon Academy standing a little away from her with his arms crossed and an unamused face. His molten gold eyes were boring into Blake's own amber ones. Shirou Emiya if she remembered right, he'd introduced himself on the day they all arrived at Beacon.
Blake was confused as she hadn't even heard the man approaching. She prided herself on her hearing as it had saved her and her comrades many times in the past so it unnerved her that someone could just sneak up on her without a sound. How had he done that?
"What are you doing out here, Belladonna?"
Blake froze under his intense gaze and went upon her instincts telling her to run. She quickly looked around for an escape route but Shirou shut that down quickly.
"If you run from me, I'll simply press this button and the guards and faculty of Beacon will be alerted to your status," Shirou revealed his scroll which he now had poised under his thumb, "It'll give your student profile, description, and reason for detainment if you even take a step in a direction that isn't the dorms."
Blake stood stock still as the threat registered. Even with all she had, Blake was fully aware that she wouldn't make it out if everyone came down on her. Instead, she simply sagged in defeat, her arms limp and her shoulder sagging down with the ribbon drifting to the ground.
Emiya was still staring at her, his face not softening at the miserable expression she was surely wearing. Blake momentarily wondered if those rumors of him being an experimental Atlas robot had any credence.
"You had a fight with your team, I'm assuming?" Emiya asked.
"Why do you think it's a team problem?" Blake snapped back defensively.
"You wouldn't be avoiding the dorms otherwise, plus those tears paint a picture."
Blake widened her eyes, wiping at her eyes, and noticed the moisture. She'd teared up? Why was she crying? Did she really care that much about this? She wiped her eyes again and looked back at the dorms, specifically the window to team RWBY's dorm which still had a light on.
"Would they even give me a chance to explain myself?" Blake questioned.
"I don't know. Your teammates consist of the SDC heiress who obviously has issues, a blonde hothead who has given Goodwitch more work than she wanted, and the peppy weapons enthusiast who gained entry two years early. The best thing you can do is go back, at the very least it will spare us all the headache of having to hunt you down."
Blake simply nods, wondering why she'd even attempted to run. It never brought anything good to her, especially when she was easily dragged back into it by a few comments by Weiss. She turns and takes a step toward the dorms before realizing something.
Why hadn't Emiya reacted to her ears?
"Wait, why aren't you surprised at my-"
"Ears?" Emiya says, cutting her off, "Ozpin doesn't let anyone into the academy without a background check. That bow does little to hide who you are if you don't even change your name, Belladonna. He let you in because he believes you have pure intentions. The fool likes to look at the bright side of things and wishes for you to be one of them. Don't break that."
With that Emiya walked off, disappearing around a corner.
Blake stood in place for a moment. Her mind went a thousand a second before she smacked her cheeks and sighed. She could think about that later, she had her team to talk to.
Thank you for reading.