Little late, but happy new year, pretty hard cranking this one out. I'm quite proud of it, I hope that you enjoy reading it as well.
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The void consumed everything around him, as far as he could see. Shadows devoured the light, consuming even the darkness present. In an instant, the shadows flickered away revealing the dorm room, a standard one in Beacon academy.
Kaiser sat at the foot of his bed, staring into the mirror. His eyes pointed at the reflection of the cast covering his arm, it bothered him. He tried not to look, instead focusing on the darkness he cast on the room.
Shadows stretched to every edge of the room, even reaching past the door and bleeding into the hall. Kaiser had been practicing his semblance, slowly improving it over the course of the year. It had gotten to the point where he could make his room pitch black, what he really wanted to do was to expand his reach and test the limitations of his power.
It wasn't an overly powerful semblance, better suited to stealth situations. If applied right, however, it could be an incredible tool to have at his disposal.
Perhaps, there was truth to semblances being the manifestation of one's soul.
The darkness began to flicker, a sure sign that he couldn't handle exerting his semblance any longer.
Squeezing out the last bit of effort, Kaiser shrouded his dorm in shadows once again.
It felt nice being pushed to his limits again, like he was capable again. Once his body and mind wracked with a strained feeling, he let go of his power.
The room began to return to its original lit state, revealing the light source to be from the ceiling fan that hung over Kaiser's head. The fan swiftly whirred, blowing a cool breeze around the room. Having enough of the small gust of wind, Kaiser turned the fan off, glad that it maintained room temperature.
All thanks to his new window.
Kaiser was incredibly skeptical at first, Kane bragged about a lot of things even as he was clearly bullshitting. As it turned out, the assassin made for a decent handyman, Kaiser couldn't even tell that he'd dove out the window.
There was a clattering noise coming from his bathroom, and the door clicked open.
"I gotta tell you, the one of the best parts about being with you probably has to be low wait times to use the shower." Yang came out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, and a relaxed smile on her face. "Ruby showers in the morning, Blake takes too long at night, and Weiss showers both in the morning and night!"
"What else is good about being with me?" Kaiser asked hopefully, he hung onto her every word like a lifeline. It was odd really, the boy who had nerves of steel in life or death situations was a nervous mess around someone he felt this intensely about.
"Well, between someone that listens to my problems, a good drinking buddy, and a decent sparring partner…" She eyed the arm in the cast, her voice departing from its usual playfulness. "At least when you get that arm fixed up." She missed the wounded look that Kaiser had at the mention of his arm as she gently ghosted her hand over his shoulders. She got up on the bed, her knees sinking into the mattress behind him. "But if I had to say what my favorite thing is…"
An arm wrapped around Kaiser's neck, and he was promptly pulled down onto the bed. He hardly struggled, he didn't want to. With Yang, he was safe, his natural instinct hadn't even reacted when he would have thrown anyone else over his shoulder. If there was any doubt, it was reassured as he heard her giggle softly.
"You smell like mint." Yang pressed her head into the back of his neck, her breath clinging onto Kaiser's skin. "Can I kiss you?" She didn't receive a response yet, instead, he turned around on the bed to face her. Immediately she noticed slight redness in his cheeks, and the averted crimson eyes.
"If you want to." Kaiser managed to mumble out.
"Way to play it cool, Kai." Yang giggled again, leaning in to press her lips to Kaiser's. "I still think it's cute."
Kaiser reciprocated, trying to give as good as he got. Alas, his inexperience could not be supplemented by any dirty tactics. He was fully and truly out of his depth, left breathless by someone who knew more, lived more. "Are you staying over tonight?" A hopeful gleam in his eye, it swiftly straightened out at Yang's apologetic face.
"Sorry, I haven't slept in my bed for a couple days now, I don't think I can use the friends from signal excuse." Yang placed a hand on the side of Kaiser's chin. "I'm fairly sure Weiss and Blake know already, but Ruby's starting to ask questions."
"I see." Kaiser closed his eyes, thinking of the agreement he had made with Yang soon after they solidified their relationship. Kaiser did not want any excessive attention from his classmates, especially after he was one of the few huntsmen that came close to dying during the breach. The others took it as an opportunity to boast about their close brush with death, Kaiser wasn't interested in the extra scrutiny. That would come down on him more if people knew he was with one of the most sought after girls in Beacon.
Yang, simply, didn't want Ruby to know because she would inevitably tell her dad. He was, as Yang put it, "protective."
Kaiser had seen firsthand how "protective" Qrow Branwen was of his niece. If they weren't on assignment together, he was sure Qrow would've kicked his ass all over Vacuo instead of snarking at him the whole way before they had reconciled. He could only imagine what Yang's dad was like.
But if that meant Yang not being able to stay over for another night, Kaiser contemplated marching into her dorm to spill his secrets.
It irked him how much he felt like a lost dog wanting to follow its owner.
"I'll try to stay over in a couple nights, just gotta let the heat from my team die down." Yang rubbed circles into Kaiser's non-casted arm with her thumb.
Kaiser flashed a comfortable smile, one that made Yang reciprocate. "Don't worry about me, go back to your team."
"You're sweet." Yang got up from the bed, leaning over Kaiser, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Once she got confirmation on that, she stood up and walked towards the door. She called out to him one more time as she stood in the doorway. "Hey."
"What's up?"
"Dream about me, ok?." A smirk appeared on her face, as she faced the boy laying on his side.
"You got it." Kaiser returned the smirk with a light chuckle, he gazed affectionately at her, watching as the door clicked shut. The spark in his eye faded slightly, the smile he had starting to straighten.
He wouldn't dream of her, he wouldn't dream of anything if he was lucky. Sleep rarely came easy to the boy, with all he'd gone through, his body rejected the notion of leaving himself unconscious and vulnerable. If he was lucky, sleep would be empty and black and would leave him more tired than he had been before he closed his eyes.
Yang had a soothing presence around him, allowing to sleep marginally better than he had been for weeks.
Kaiser shook his head, he managed to get himself too attached to Yang in very little time.
Come on! He lived roughly 18 years without much help or comfort. He should be able to get peaceful sleep on his own!
Kaiser screwed his eyes shut, then relaxed to let his body decompress, slowly drifting asleep.
/-/
Chaos exploded all around him, distorted screams had filled his ears. His whole body felt like it was on fire, his legs felt light even though it felt like he was advancing forward.
Another warzone, another frantic battle for survival, another enemy to take out.
Kaiser's sight cleared up a bit more, making it clear what he was seeing.
Roman Torchwick, the gentleman thief, was charging at him.
Just like that day, Kaiser charged forwards as well, not that he had a choice. No matter how much he intended to move, he couldn't change direction.
All Kaiser could do was watch as he re-lived what happened at the breach, bracing himself for what happened.
A glimmer started to catch his attention, the sun reflecting off of something. A second later and it jetted towards him at incredible speed, his subconscious filling in the gaps of what his peripheral vision captured that day.
Time seemed to slow, getting closer and closer, Kaiser's heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Before suddenly-
Kaiser cried out as he shot up in bed, hand clutching at his chest. He shakily sighed as he pressed his palms onto his eyes, he'd opened his eyes to a dark room.
He'd been having this same nightmare for a while now. No, nightmare wasn't entirely accurate, more like being locked into the past. But this had been the first time he could see it so clearly now, almost every detail carved into his memory.
Kaiser sat up on his bed, pressing his feet down onto the carpeted floor.
As pathetic as it sounded, just having Yang around was netting Kaiser better sleep. The very first night she had left for her dorm, he immediately got plagued with another memory.
God! What is wrong with me!
Kaiser stepped across his room, making it to his bathroom. His hand reached for the door knob, intent on splashing his face with water.
A step out of sync fully woke him from his grogginess, more steps, more than one person.
Kaiser looked at his window, the moon in full light, it couldn't have been later than 2:00 in the morning. Sure, it could've just been his classmates coming back from a night out on the town, but Kaiser was already on edge from what he'd woken from.
Periodically, the steps had stopped, as if they were visiting each room. Then they began again, which Kaiser timed until they stopped again. Instead of his bathroom door, his hand shot to the door leading to the hallway.
Patiently, Kaiser turned the knob, dragging the lock back at an excruciating pace. If he let go at this point, a click would sound and the people outside would see him. With the knob turned, he very gently applied pressure, opening the door just a sliver into the hallway. Although he knew it was for the best, he was already wishing he'd just gone back to sleep.
Two, maybe three people, dressed in dark combat uniforms. Kaiser immediately pegged them for spec ops soldiers or something similar. He watched as the soldiers placed a small device at the bottom of each door, as these devices activated, Kaiser could hear a muted hissing sound.
Pressurized gas!
The devices were shooting some sort of gas into the dorm rooms, and the operatives were making their way down to Kaiser's room.
Thinking quickly, Kaiser went to his closet, grabbing a towel and a shirt. He stuffed the towel into the crevice between the bottom of his door, and the floor. There'd be no way for any gas to get into his room, but just in case, he draped the shirt around his face as well to filter out any toxins. It wouldn't be too effective, but it'd be enough to buy him some time while he came up with some sort of strategy.
The footsteps came closer to Kaiser's door, and the device was set down and activated. The gas hissed into his room, but the towel stopped too much from entering.
Kaiser thought for a minute, he could make some noise, bang on the wall that separated his and team JNPR's wall to wake them up. If they got out into the hallway, it'd be just enough for him to get out and overwhelm the operatives. They wore no clear insignia, Kaiser couldn't guess what they were here for, which made it all the more riskier.
Three quick thumps to the wall, that was all Kaiser could afford before alerting the soldier in the hall. He made it back to his door waiting to charge, a soft clicking noise quickly making his heart race.
They're picking the lock!
Of course, why pretend like he wasn't the target! Kaiser grit his teeth, thinking of his next steps, he went straight to his window, where the curtain rod was held above the window. He slipped the curtains from the rod, running back to his door with his coat that he picked up from his desk.
Kaiser knew for a fact that it took roughly 30 seconds to pick the locks here at the dorms, something he verified within his first week of arriving. He only had ten seconds left, he placed the curtain rod in front of the door frame, then quickly wrapped his long coat around the rod after tying the sleeves around the rectangular doorknob.
The door clicked open, it creaked a little as the soldier on the other side pulled his door open. It stopped immediately, only sparing half an inch, the coat stretched taut as the curtain rod grappled onto the doorframe. It was shoddy work at best, but an outward opening door was so much harder to barricade than an inward opening door. The coat went slack and immediately went taut again, the operative was desperately pulling at the door.
That coat can take bullets, it's not going to rip.
Kaiser reassured himself of this as he went back to his desk, pulling the drawer open, he found what he needed in there.
The KA-BAR tactical knife given to him long ago…
Kaiser's weapons were stuck in his locker, his coat was keeping the operatives out and all he had was a regular tactical knife.
Team JNPR hadn't come out to explore what was happening, he had to assume they were currently out of commission, along with the rest of the floor.
Even using his scroll or his mask to contact anyone was out of the question, they wouldn't make it in time.
Kaiser leaned against his desk while facing the door, readying the knife to charge. He'd have to be twice as aggressive to make up for the disadvantage the broken arm left him.
The struggle with the door became more frantic, the curtain rod being jerked from side to side. They'd soon figure it out and would likely try to make the rod fall sideways, making entering as easy as just pulling the door open.
The struggling stopped, now they'd try the other way.
Shadows fell over Kaiser, ones that he hadn't conjured. He turned around, expecting the moon's radiant glow just outside his window, instead of a black mass swinging feet first into the glass.
Kaiser's vision filled with shards of crystal as he had been kicked across the room, one more operative had rappelled down the side of the building just to swing kick the unsuspecting boy. Kaiser's back hit the wall, he looked up to see the lone operative stand on his desk.
"I just got that window replaced!" Kaiser kneeled on one knee, taking stock of his surroundings.
The operative was lean, broad shoulder, and currently stalking towards Kaiser after unlatching the rope's carabiner from his belt.
Kaiser spotted his tactical knife, it lay two feet ahead of him. He lunged forwards, aiming to grab the knife. The operative must've predicted that, as he'd kicked the knife away. The black steel clattered away somewhere where Kaiser couldn't reach it, he quickly pushed off of one knee, jumping up into an uppercut targeting the operative's chin.
The operative back stepped right before impact, and he moved back in when Kaiser's uppercut reached the peak of its motion. The operative pushed his palm onto Kaiser's face, slamming the boy against the wall.
Kaiser was left stunned with his head against the wall, the booming headache leaving him in a state of shock. Kaiser ducked and dove forwards half a second later, just barely managing to avoid the curtain rod swung at his head from around the corner.
The window operative let the other three masked soldiers in, they surrounded the exit, stopping Kaiser from thinking he could get past them.
Instead, Kaiser turned around and started running, he could go out through the window. The landing wouldn't be pretty, but he could-
Kaiser was yanked back, stepping in time to avoid stumbling. The window operative was suddenly in front of him, rearing a punch back.
Kaiser slipped around the punch, his one good arm aiming it to counter the operative's rib cage. Kaiser crumpled before he could, another operative stomped his leg behind the knee. Kaiser lay on the floor, gasping in pain at having landed right on top of his cast. Kaiser's mind ran 100 miles per hour, these guys were more than a match for any special operations operative. It wasn't Zodiac, if they would come in this brazenly, then they wouldn't bother hiding their insignia. This was someone new!
Kaiser sensed movement above him, turning to see the window operative about to stomp on him. Kaiser rolled under the bed, fitting seamlessly in the gap under the bed, only readjusting himself when he managed to pop out to the other side
Standing back up, Kaiser gazed hopelessly forwards as another of the operatives standing in front of him. Kaiser prepared himself into a ready stance, quickly avoiding a flurry of strikes the third operative aimed at him.
Kaiser inhaled deeply, intent on striking back while shouting a kiai. The kiai would serve to get him breathing properly again and tightening his core to strengthen his punch, hopefully, it would wake up anybody nearby as well.
The window operative came in vaulting over one of Kaiser's beds, quickly striking Kaiser in the throat. Kaiser stumbled back, choking on air as his back crashed into the wall. Panic was slow to set in, but when it did, Kaiser began to breathe erratically. He was greatly outnumbered, in both people and usable arms. No amount of cheating would even the odds, Kaiser had to remove himself from here now!
The entire room went dark, momentarily disrupting the operatives. Shrouded in shadows, Kaiser juked to the left, the only direction without any operative blocking his way. He dashed towards the door, bracing himself to tackle the fourth operative guarding the doorway. Both were sent crashing into the wall of the hallway, Kaiser was the first to recover, quickly knocking out the fourth operative with a hard punch to the jaw.
Kaiser continued his mad dash through the halls, looking for the nearest staircase. He reached the opening to the stairs, two hands reached out and shoved him, causing him to stumble in his sprint and hit the wall. He lashed out, kicking the operative who had followed him out, he managed to get a good hit in with the operative jumping back. It didn't take long for the operative to recover and throw a wild punch. It took less time for Kaiser to slip past the strike, using his good arm to latch onto the operatives punching arm, swinging the soldier around into the staircase.
The thunderous sound of someone falling down some stairs filled Kaiser's ears, he watched as the soldier reached the bottom of the steps. He threw a backhand fist at the next soldier who charged at him, only for the soldier to duck into a tackle, slamming Kaiser against the wall. Before Kaiser could react, he was punched hard in the stomach, he doubled over. Giving no trouble for the attacking operative to kick Kaiser down the stairs, his body thumping against each step along the way.
Kaiser's body wracked with pain as he lay sprawled out at the bottom step, his arm felt like needles stabbed into where his bone had been broken. He faced the man he had thrown down the stairs, still knocked unconscious. Kaiser strained to turn his head to the operative at the tops steps, beginning to step down towards them.
No need to make him walk the whole way.
With burning muscles and a screaming body, Kaiser got up with his good arm holding him steady.
It was a pain to get up that first step, Kaiser watched as the operative leaned against the stairs, just daring him to go up.
On that second step, arms wrapped around Kaiser's neck, stopping him completely. Kaiser growled and thrashed around, the downed operative was up again, and holding something out.
Kaiser barely glanced at the item before it was jabbed into his neck, a needle, which was pushed further in as the operative injected Kaiser with its contents.
The effect took hold immediately, as Kaiser was released and he stumbled to his knees. He placed his hand on the steps, his fist clenched. Mustering up what little energy he could, he lunged into a crouch, going up a couple more steps toward the operative holding the railing.
The punch he threw hardly made the operative budge, the drug sapping Kaiser of any strength.
The operative grabbed Kaiser's collar, preventing the boy from hitting his head onto the steps.
Kaiser felt himself being dragged down the stairs as his eyes fluttered closed, his vision faded to black.
/-/
Soft cold earth, it's what Kaiser had woken up on, his hands digging into the soil- nearly turned mud, where was he?
Sitting up, Kaiser felt the cold breeze against his skin, rustling sounds all around him. His eyes needed to adjust to the darkness, the full picture coming into view.
Kaiser was in the Emerald Forest, the once shimmering green leaves now rustled a dark jade in the night. Shock raced through his system, he scanned his surroundings, looking for any sign of the grimm.
Somehow, none were around, Kaiser still felt wary about walking around the forest. He started moving the moment he was upright, looking for any direction back towards the dorms. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he did know one thing.
Whoever these people were, they knew who he was. The entire time, the soldiers were always a step ahead of him. From establishing two entry points in case Kaiser barricaded himself, to taking his ability to breathe in order to prevent him from fighting properly.
Every step pressed Kaiser's feet into the soft and chilling grass, his breath coming out in a cloud of vapor. Kaiser stuffed his shivering hands into the pockets of his pajama pants, his head sweeping the forest landscape.
Kaiser abruptly stopped to look back, seeing his progress from where he had awakened. Even after waking up from his post-drug nap, his senses were working overtime, picking up the slight layer of sound on top of his own footsteps.
Kaiser continued as normal, walking toward what he thought was the direction of the dormitory. Trying to figure out his next move, he tried to keep track of the footsteps out of the corner of his-
Kaiser stumbled to the floor, he must have tripped on a rock. The boy started coughing, the cold starting to affect him. The steps approached, faster and faster, until they were near. Kaiser lashed out with his leg, sweeping the soldier who had come back for another round, the soldier falling down after the shock of Kaiser striking out with surprising speed.
Kaiser threw himself on top of the soldier, his fist geared back to punch the soldier. His knuckles dug into the soldier's mask, shocking the soldier into action as Kaiser snaked his arm around the soldier's neck. The soldier thrashed, attempting to buck Kaiser away, before he went limp. Kaiser kept holding on, the soldier flailing his arms and body around, he felt the strength seeping out of the soldier's body.
Kaiser was weak, tired, and fighting off the dregs of whatever sedative he'd been administered.
The perfect combination to make someone look like prey, which Kaiser fully utilized to his advantage.
While it wasn't the plan to trip over whatever he did stumble on, he did plan to feign an opening for his stalker. Now the soldier was knocked out, Kaiser could get a clue of what this was all about.
Pulling off the cotton mask, Kaiser was faced with a man who had short dark blue hair; he could've passed for Neptune Vasilias' older brother. Things were beginning to make a bit more sense, he tried to not let the familiar man bother him. Instead, Kaiser patted the man down for anything he could use. His hand settled on the man's left pant leg, where he found a small handgun, an unusual looking one at that. It was hard edged, missing the grooves and texture on a normal soldier's kit. Kaiser weighed it in his hands, trying to get accustomed to the feel of it, eventually pointing it to the sky.
If Kaiser had woken up from the drug injected in him, then surely, the people in his dorm would have the gas flushed out of their systems by now. He hoped to wake someone up to get a search party going, if only to get home faster.
Nothing happened as Kaiser pulled the trigger, in fact, the trigger wouldn't even budge. Kaiser cautiously inspected the firearm, checking to see if the safety was on, it wasn't. Looking at it more closely, Kaiser could see intricate wiring on the sides.
It was a smart gun biometrically coded to the owner's fingerprint, in other words, useless in Kaiser's hands.
Kaiser huffed as he grabbed the magazine from the gun, throwing the bullets into the night, ensuring the gun wouldn't be used against him.
The crunch of the branches and shrubbery were the only company that Kaiser had for a while, until he started feeling that same unnerving sensation he always did when he felt he was being watched. He didn't know who it was, or where they were, or if they were there at all. There was a solution to that, and it had been hooked to the belt of the soldier that Kaiser had knocked out a mile back. Holding up a small device to his mouth, Kaiser flicked a switch, and spoke. "Radio check, I'd like to be left alone, how copy."
The distant crackle of radio communicators was heard behind him, and Kaiser shot off into the night like a bullet. He'd taken the downed soldier's communication radio, and used it to hear any nearby radios equipped by the rest of the unit. The other members of the unit were stalking him, until he had made a run for it. Frantic footsteps followed him as he ran, Kaiser knew one of them was close behind him.
A bush rustled in front of him a good distance away, emerging from it another of the soldiers, this one brandishing a combat knife. Kaiser narrowly avoided the swing of the blade, veering sharply to the right, the soldier with the knife began chasing him as well. Leaves crunched under the rapid flurry of runners cutting through the Emerald Forest, Kaiser saw a flicker of light up ahead.
A fist cracked across his face, he'd been struck in the head by the soldier with the knife. Even as they ran, the soldiers fought like hell. Kaiser saw the next strike coming, ducking and keeping his running straight, he felt a hand latching onto his shirt. The soldier behind him had caught up while the one running alongside him had run on ahead, the soldier squeezed Kaiser's cast, sending shocks of pain throughout his body.
Off of pure instinct and adrenaline, Kaiser whipped around, slamming his other elbow into the soldier's head, swiftly knocking the body off of him.
The light ahead held an orange glow, somebody had set up camp in the Emerald Forest, with any luck, it was one of Beacon's staff or maybe even some of his classmates throwing a party.
It was none of those things, evident as he saw the knife-wielding soldier up ahead, readying himself to strike. Kaiser was too close, there wasn't time to turn or stop without being in striking range. If he couldn't avoid it, he would have to go right through. Kaiser put all his strength in his legs, going faster than he ever had, fire reflected in the soldier's blade, Kaiser saw the knife strike before it had even happened.
Kaiser crashed right into the soldier, using his good arm to deflect the blow milliseconds before the soldier and he barreled into the ground. There Kaiser lay, by the fire, no energy left to even fight off the soldier if he got back up. Kaiser turned his head, seeing someone sitting on a log by the campfire, the suspicions he held since unmasking the first soldier now confirmed. Too exhausted to even feel anger, he tiredly began to speak.
"Why'd you fix my window if you were just gonna break it later?"
Martin Kane, the assassin who disappeared from Kaiser's life only to come back and break his window, was nonchalantly sitting on a log throwing papers in a fire. "That was my mistake, I didn't think my squad would choose both the door and the window when I came up with this exercise." Kane patted his hand on a space on the log next to him. "Sit, you're getting your clothes dirty."
"What do you care?" Kaiser dragged himself up, his body screaming in protest as attempted to stand up. Kaiser looked to his arm, the knife the soldier held was stabbed into the cast, clearly Kaiser hadn't deflected well. "You're given command of your own unit, and suddenly you're hunting me down- agh!" Kaiser had gripped the knife by the handle, it had been dug in a couple centimeters deep, it was a good thing it was a couple inches off from where his arm had broken, or else it would've reversed all the progress that his aura did on his arm. A swift jerk and the knife was out, tip slick with Kaiser's blood. "You break into a huntsman institution and subdue a whole floor of students, for what? A training exercise for your team?"
"The exercise wasn't just for my guys, Kaiser." Kane looked over some more documents, passively listening to the boy.
"What?" Kaiser croaked, he sat across from Kane, the fire separating them both.
"Felt like you needed a wake up call." Kane looked up to face the boy, his brown eyes melting like chocolate in the fire's light. "Ever since the breach, you've been doing nothing but sulking in your room."
"How would you know?" Kaiser challenged, eyes staring back in an accusatory manner.
"That's what these reports I've been reading have been telling me." Kane tossed another set of papers into the fire, watching as it burned to ash. "What's wrong man, that's not like you. I used to have to stop you from training yourself into the ground, something must've happened if you're in this much of a rut.
"I don't know, Martin." Kaiser sighed, his nerves settling now that he was able to rest. "I could've done a million things differently, and I wouldn't be in this situation. I was too focused on trying to just catch him."
The words were left unsaid, but Kane picked up on his meaning almost immediately. Kaiser thought that he should've killed Roman from the get go, without any opportunity to let him surrender.
"Maybe if you came at us head on and tried to kill us, you might've passed my team's ambush in the dorms." Kane scratched his chin, looking contemplative at the fire, ultimately shrugging. "If you're thinking of upping your game and completely changing your way of fighting, then, I can't really help you."
"What are you saying?"
"I have nothing left to teach you, anything I would teach you now would be a watered down version of what I learned." Kane looked out into the distance, spotting some of his squad members sullenly walking towards the campfire. "Are you even sure about this? I know you've killed before, but killing in the heat of battle and killing indiscriminately are two different things."
"I can't even defend myself properly even at 100%, what am I going to do if there's another breach? I won't be able to do my job as a huntsman to help anyone." Kaiser cradled his head with his good hand, shielding his eyes from the fire. "I need to finish what I learned from you."
"I already told you I can't teach you the way I was taught." Kane mumbled pensively into the fire, suddenly facing Kaiser. "But, there's someone in Vale who can."
"Evon Argent, right?" Kaiser huffed, the grandmaster assassin coming to the forefront of his mind. Kaiser never felt so outclassed as when he faced the man who trained Martin Kane, even more so than facing Martin Kane himself. "I'm desperate, but I'm not crazy. He'd probably try to kill me for breaking his arm, or I might die just from the training."
It was tough enough to get over his paranoia around Kane, someone who had no ill intentions towards the boy after their first encounters, Kaiser even having saved the life of Martin's younger brother. The thought of being around Evon Argent, who had attempted to kill both Kane and Kaiser without any feelings involved, didn't quite appeal to the spy. He'd have to watch his back constantly, his thoughts and instincts consuming him.
"It's your call, Kai, Argent already sent you the invite to join his night class." Kane stood up, walking towards the downed soldier, he dragged him upright and sat him slumped against the side of the log. His mood lightened, he turned to Kaiser in amusement. "How'd you even figure out that it was me breaking in your dorm?"
"One of your guys." Kaiser loosened up his back, feeling the pressure of his bones begin to crack and pop. "I took his mask off and recognized him from when he tried to snipe me through my window a couple weeks back."
"Don't mind Richie, he's just bitter that I chose you over him for the Goldenrod operation." Kane dismissed Kaiser, addressing the person who had come up, that being the sniper in question. "Richie, we were just talking about you."
Richard Stone wordlessly walked up to the campfire, glowering at the boy as he sat down across from the assassin with nothing more than a grunt.
"So, you're Ross' hidden blade?" A feminine voice called from the distance, the last soldier that Kaiser had shaken off trudging up to the group. Her mask was off, revealing wild red hair and a wicked grin. "We've all heard the stories, and your numerous monikers. Agent Inferno? Emperor of Espionage? You're a lot younger than I imagined, I thought you'd at least be as old as Commander Kane." She extended a hand out to the boy she was talking to, he made to extend his own, but a jolt of hesitation prevented him from doing so. "Sorry about the home invasion, the commander wanted to run us through some exercises."
"Speaking of." Kane took control of the conversation, calling everyone's attention to him. "The ambush portion of this exercise was a success. I'd like to give special credit to Aureo Lin for the idea of breaching both the window and door."
Kaiser could feel the silent self-satisfaction coming from the soldiers, sans Aureo Lin, presumably the soldier Kaiser crashed through.
"But, that was when Kaiser had no idea you were coming after him, which isn't always going to be the case with our targets." Kane's voice grew gruff and authoritative, something Kaiser never knew the assassin could pull off. "The people we'll be going after will always be aware of the target on their back, which makes the failure to recapture Kaiser here something that cannot be repeated." Kane gestured to the boy, making sure that even the unconscious Aureo Lin was paying attention. "There's nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal, and we're gonna get called on to take on a lot of pests."
"So what do I win?" Kaiser absentmindedly asked, he was locked in a staring contest with Richard Stone, who had decided to look at Kaiser with contempt.
"Ah, well, the fact that your arm isn't more broken right now should be enough." Kane reached into his bag that was placed at his feet, taking out a small bag. "I think now should be a good time for lunch, we have to accustom our bodies for night ops." Kane plucked out a couple small plastic packages, MRE's were packed with each of the soldier's. Kane had been in the middle of heating up his ration pack before slapping a package to Kaiser's chest. "Here, a consolation prize for losing the ambush exercise."
Kaiser looked down at the vacuum-sealed graham crackers, he muttered back. "I wasn't prepared for it."
"That's the point of an ambush, I was just teaching the unit how to do proper recon and breaching." Kane dismissed him flippantly, typing some notes into his scroll. "If you couldn't keep up, then, that sounds like a you problem."
Kaiser stared down at the desert ration, its wrapper crinkling in his tightening grip. It was his problem, if he hadn't been so defensive, if he hadn't been so weak, he wouldn't be sitting on this log with Kane. And to a further extent, he wouldn't be in this cast. Kaiser grit his teeth.
He wouldn't be this weak again.
/-/
"Gunfire was reported around 2:00 in the morning in Mantle; bullet casings were found on both sides of the street." Albert Ross paraphrased the information written in the file. "Multiple bullet casings were left in multiple areas from both sides."
"A gunfight, two groups, could be organized crime families fighting for territory." At 15, Kaiser had been learning to hypothesize past events from the police reports, even if they didn't have the full context. He was as close to eager to make his assumption as someone like could get.
"Not quite, Kaiser, do not get ahead of yourself." Ross huffed, his eyes scanned the paper through his wireframe glasses. "Multiple bodies were recovered, one of them was a Valean man, he died in the gunfight. The peculiar thing is, that he had a tattoo on his chest, signifying his allegiance with an extreme nationalist group from Vale. The Knights of Vale, they seem small, but it's hard to tell their member count."
"Why would a Valean extremist group be operating here in Atlas?" Kaiser crossed his arms, hoping for more insight on the matter.
"We believe they were there for the purchase of experimental dust, specifically manufactured by the Schnee Dust Company." Ross slid over photos of cargo containers in warehouses, one of them seemed to be missing. "As you know, the Schnee Dust company suffered a break-in and theft of a large quantity of this dust."
"Do we know what kind of dust it was?" Kaiser looked at the photos, the break in was clean and done quite quickly, likely a professional job.
"The Schnee company has refused to reveal the type of dust that was being made, they still want to retain company secrets." At this, Ross frowned, being left in the dark was something he disliked. "A company appointed expert ran a test on the dust residue left from the gunfight, he was able to match it to the stolen container of dust."
"So we're looking at missing experimental dust, an extremist gang, and no hint of what they could be targeting." Kaiser settled back into his seat, continuing to look over.
"Not exactly, in the past weeks, the Knights of Vale have released statements condemning Atlas council member Chrysan Marigold and his propositions to end the peace treaty with Vale." Ross thought aloud, letting Kaiser into the Spymaster's thoughts. "It's unlikely to go through, and even if it does, Atlas would need a valid reason to start conflict with Vale. We won't know until the upcoming Atlas council meeting, I'm afraid."
"Unless we start our own investigation, where shall we start?" Kaiser stood up, he was ready to ship off to wherever destination that Ross needed him to be.
"We should start with Chrysan Marigold, he's the only piece of this puzzle that is out in the open." Ross didn't need to say more, Marigold was bait for this operation, stick to him long enough and he could attract the Knights of Vale. From there, we can gather information on what they plan to use with the experimental Schnee dust." Ross slid a folder over to Kaiser, to which the boy cracked open immediately. "You will be going to the Marigold estate to attend a charity gala, under assumed identity, of course. Gather what Marigold might know about the Knights of Vale, in the file you'll find a new identity. I'll send in another agent as your cover, is that understood?"
"Understood sir." Kaiser nodded, turning around to walk out the door.
/-/
Kaiser pointed at a target, and fired, hitting another target. The gun in his hand, an extension of himself, the next target would go down just the same.
A loud buzz broke Kaiser out of his concentration, forcing him to look at the timer.
"Oh, it looks like you just fell short of the target count." The man running the game booth announced with faux sympathy, he gestured to the scoreboard that indicated that Kaiser had only managed to shoot down nine of the ten targets. "I'll let you try again for five lien."
The Vytal festival was in full swing, people bustling all around, many crowding different vendors' stalls. Excitement crackled in the air in the aftermath of the tournament's beginning matches, and everyone was celebrating by partaking in the festivities.
Kaiser should've left after the first round, perhaps even the second. Regardless, he fished a five lien chip out of his pocket, slapping it onto the counter. Normally, he was above petty games like this, ones where he knew the odds were stacked against him. There was only one reason why he continued with this, and that reason gazed down at the boy with malicious intent.
Standing at just over four feet tall, weighing just shy under two whole pounds. With fur as black as the night and ivory white stitched onto its back, the creature hung over Kaiser's head like a rain cloud.
It was a stuffed animal, a beowolf to be more precise, that was designated as the top prize at the booth.
Kaiser raised his arm, preparing to shoot, one eye closed for a more accurate shot. He had special plans for the prize, ones that involved being gifted to a certain blonde.
"Man those matches were crazy, is that what they've been teaching you here, Kaiser?" Martin Kane leaned up against the booth's table, mentally noting Kaiser's trajectory.
"Just in combat class." Kaiser mentally agreed, his heart rate sped up seeing each of the team's matches, the combat expert in him analyzing and reacting to every blow and counter. He'd paid special attention to team RWBY's match, watching in amazement as Yang entered close combat with the opposing teams brawler.
A magnificent display of power and technique, it looked more like a performance compared to the quick and lethal fights he was used to.
"Didn't see you on any of the brackets, why's that?" Kane scanned the surrounding fairgrounds, eyes flitting from face to face.
"I might've pissed someone off." Kaiser trailed off under his breath before readying the next shot, just barely missing the moving target.
"When aren't you pissing someone off?" Kane looked out into the crowd of the fairgrounds, people milled about, looking normal as can be. Among them were the people out of their element, soldiers of Atlas walked amidst the crowd. Martin Kane could have identified them a mile away by their gait alone, making them more obvious was their pristine white uniforms. "Who was it this time?"
"Some guy on the council, Mallard Winchester." Kaiser got off three shots with the pellet gun, none of the targets were popping up and he only had seconds left on the clock. "Beat up his son's team during lunch, he was adamant on banning me from participating in the tournament."
A low whistle came out as Kane teased the boy, eyes subtly tracking some of the Atlesian soldiers nearing the two. "Somehow, you managed to beat up the son of a council member who has ties to Ross and the IPS?"
Kaiser slapped down another couple lien for another round. "How was I supposed to know that he had connections?"
"You weren't." Kane turned around, watching impatiently as Kaiser continued to struggle at this carnival game, he turned his back to the soldiers closing in. "It's these sort of things that only ever happen to you, I'm starting to think that you're bad luck."
"No argument here." Kaiser grit his teeth, the alarm buzzing, signaling another loss for the boy.
"You are egregiously bad at this." Kane slapped down another pile of lien, turning to the booth operator. "I'll cover this one." He swiped the toy gun from Kaiser's hand, opened the chamber, and loaded it with plastic pellets. The targets came up in three rows, trapped in a frame that was held up by some shoddy looking woodwork, nails were hastily hammered together and stuck out like needles in a pincushion. "Used to play these a lot as a kid, just watch." Kane started shooting the second his time started ticking down, knocking down the targets one by one.
Kaiser watched with rapt interest, watching his friend utilize his assassination tactics for something as casual as a carnival game. Kane was always unbothered by his work, easily able to separate both parts of his life even as he brought them together. Kaiser wasn't the same, a feeling of distaste always welling up in him any time he caught himself subconsciously eavesdropping, sneaking around, or even giving out half-truths and minimal lies the way he was taught to.
"You know better than this, man." Kane continued with his shots at a significantly faster pace than Kaiser, he knew how these carnival games worked, the last couple of targets didn't pop up. They were set to keep from popping up because of the remaining number of targets left, not the time left like Kaiser had imagined. "When you're getting cheated, you need to cheat harder."
This caught the attention of the booth operator, who could only watch in panic as Martin Kane began switching his aim from the targets inside the frame to the wooden supports of the game itself. More specifically, the barely put together nail work. After a rapid flurry of plastic pellets, most of them had come loose. Kane stopped short of a few, stopped with seconds on the clock, then tossed the toy gun to Kaiser. "Honors all yours, Kai."
"Thanks." Kaiser immediately started shooting, having mentally logged the right angles to shoot before he had even caught the gun. The first nail fell, followed by the others as Kaiser shot at them with expert precision.
The silent creaking of the supports reached Kaiser's ears as the wooden legs fell apart and dropped everything, including the framework for the carnival game.
"Looks like all the targets are knocked down, guess that means it's a win." Kane shrugged smugly, gesturing to Kaiser. "I'm not one for prizes, the kid will pick out what he wants."
Kaiser was only slightly bothered at Kane's way of treating him, but let it slide since he was benefiting. "I'll take the beowolf, please."
"I'm not giving it to you! You guys cheated!" The booth operator pointed an accusing finger at Kane, to which the assassin flashed a devilish grin.
"So did you, I know how these games are rigged." Kane leant over the counter, whispering to the booth operator. "I can show everyone here how you're ripping them off, or you can give my compadre here the beowolf." He stood back up, offering the booth operator his trademark cocky grin.
They stared at each other intensely, only a knife being able to cut the tension.
It dissipated when the booth operator begrudgingly went to grab a stool to reach for the plush animal, he grumbled under his breath about the asshole and his little shit kid hassling him.
"Here!" The booth operator shouted as he dropped the giant plush in Kaiser's arms, ignoring the half-hearted 'thanks' that the boy offered in return.
Kaiser held the prize in his arms, looking into its beady eyes. He was perplexed, this was the embodiment of the destruction of the human race, yet people thought to make it into a marketable plush toy.
A darkly ironic joke, one that Kaiser didn't much get, but he picked up the plush regardless. "Let's go, I don't think we'll be welcome back here anytime soon."
"You'd be surprised how little some people can do to stop you from being here." Kane shrugged as he tagged along, the two walking out into the open air of the fairgrounds. Kane walked a little faster every minute, eyes flitting from person to person. "Speaking of, a lot of Atlas military personnel walking around here, no?"
"Probably just recruiters trying to pick up on some of the international students." Kaiser noticed how Kane had been acting almost worried, a rare emotion for the assassin. "What's got you riled up?"
"Uhh, so you know how Ross first made me that deal, when I joined the IPS?" Kane roughly tugged on Kaiser's arm to steer him around a corner, the spy dragging the plush with him."
"Yeah."
"Ross never actually erased my record from before, he wanted to push for a deniable asset angle." Kane shrugged, deliberately trailing behind Kaiser to block people's view of him. "As far as every kingdom's government knows, I'm still working for Zodiac."
"And still in the top ten most wanted in most government agencies." The realization dawned on Kaiser, now finding himself scanning the crowd. "All these soldiers…"
"It's not the soldiers I'm worried about." Kane pointed out into the crowd, drawing attention to the sleek metal armor of the Atlesian Knights. They were Android foot soldiers, and Atlas decided to showcase them by having them patrol the fairgrounds the same way their military were. "Those robots probably have a database in their brain to recognize wanted criminals by Atlas."
"So then, why'd you even come out here to begin with?" Kaiser was exasperated at Kane's lack of self preservation, leading the assassin into an alleyway between two tents. "We gotta get out of here before- ugh!" Kaiser knocked into something hard, metallic, and unfortunate enough to be the very thing that he and Kane were discussing.
Atlas' new mechanical soldiers, three of them walking in a pyramid, and they had just caught sight of one of the world's most dangerous assassins.
"Fugitive identified: Martin Kane, you are under arrest for 34 counts of terrorism, 19 counts of murder-" the Atlesian Knight proclaimed through built speakers, a nonexistent gaze pointed at the assassin.
"19 counts that Atlas knows about." Kane said it without his normal smug nature, he was just stating facts. "You might want to add three counts of destruction of private property after I'm done with you."
"Initiating fugitive apprehension protocol." The leading knight attempted to grab at Kane, its head snapping to the side as Kane delivered a hard punch to the knight's head.
"Fuck!" Kane pulled back his hand, now throbbing with pain. Assassin or not, he was still a human without aura, punching what was essentially a block of steel. The Atlesian knight moved forward, but was stopped as Kaiser bashed into it with his shoulder.
"Stop! Civilian, or you will be charged with aiding and abetting a criminal!" The second Atlesian Knight blared through its speakers, it was about to feel Kaiser's retort to that, until Kane spoke up.
"Just let it go." Kane leant back on some wooden crates near the tent, he cradled his hand, "I've got a few bargaining chips I can cash in, you don't. So don't make enemies you can't afford, Kaiser."
Hesitantly, Kaiser pulled back as well, watching as the Atlesian Knights covered Martin Kane on all sides. They began to escort him away, the assassin looked back over his shoulder.
"I'll be out in a couple of hours." The arrogance in his voice returned, which brought some reassurance to Kaiser.
Kaiser could only stare, a sigh escaped his lips, he picked up the plush that he'd dropped in the process of defending Kane. His instincts compelled him to follow the Atlesian Knights, but Martin Kane had stopped him. If Kane was confident in getting out of this predicament, then Kaiser would just have to trust him.
Stepping out into the sea of people, Kaiser walked in no particular direction. He took in all the sights, people having fun and competing in the various carnival games, Kaiser watched as some other festival goers continued to get scammed by the target shooting booth. The thought of searching the entire festival grounds didn't really appeal to him, instead, Kaiser whipped out his scroll, pulling up his most recent messages.
Today 2:19 PM
Congrats on your match. Really gave it to them.
thanks! I couldn't see you in the stands, wanted to see my lucky charm
I don't think you'd want to count on me to give you good luck.
never said you were good luck ;)
I don't think anyone can say that, are you at the festival grounds?
yeah, is that you in the blue shirt?
Kaiser immediately snapped his gaze up, taking note of everyone present, not a single person with blonde hair. Indeed, he had chosen to wear a plain blue T-shirt. He turned quickly, seeing the smiling face of Yang Xiao Long.
"Didn't flinch this time, huh?" Yang smirked, hands on her hips. She leant forward, violet eyes piercing right through Kaiser. "Don't I deserve a reward for winning?"
Confusion creeped up Kaiser's neck, and he was painfully aware that he was staring. He presented the grimm plush to Yang, the large stuffed animal allowed Kaiser to hide his face behind its soft material, a little embarrassment filled his voice. "I thought you might like this, so I tried to win it for you."
Kaiser didn't get another word in as he found himself squeezed against the animal, Yang wrapped her arms around Kaiser tightly.
"Tap out tap out!" Kaiser swatted his hand lightly on Yang's back, to which she had immediately stopped. "Sorry, my arm is… just setting back in."
"No sweat, Kai. I just think it's really sweet that you won me this thing." Yang took the plush in her hands, swinging it around so that the arms of the beowolf hung off of her shoulders, the head of the toy sat right atop of Yang's own head. "I'm gonna call him Drei, and he's going to be the newest member of team RWBY."
"Drei?" Kaiser pick up on the subtle joke, an eyebrow raised.
"Don't worry, Kai. You'll always be my number one!" Yang slung her arm over Kaiser's shoulder, she laughed in his ear. "Let's go check out the food stands, I'm starving!"
They were greeted warmly by the rest of team RWBY, still undecided on what they should go eat. Ruby's eyes lit up at the sight of the oversized grimm plush wrapped around her sister.
"How'd you get that?" Rose petals flew as Ruby sped to Yang, she brushed her fingers on the fur of the toy. "It's so cute!"
"Maybe get yourself someone like Kai over here, and you can get anything you want." Yang made a big show sliding up against Kaiser, causing the spy to take interest in the floor.
"I'll have to do it myself then, rather lose all my money than to talk to a boy." Ruby felt up the ears of the animal before turning to Kaiser. "No offense, Kaiser."
"None taken." Thankful for Ruby easing the tension, he turned to her with a slight smile. "Congrats on the match, by the way."
"Did you see how we used the ice to get a running start for Yang?" Ruby's fist pumped in the air, like an excitable kid watching a demolition derby.
Kaiser had seen that maneuver, unorthodox as it was, he would've done the same. "Yeah, you really gave them the slip."
A groan escaped Ruby, which was followed by Blake and Weiss'.
"You know, I think you were a lot cooler before you started hanging out with my sister." Ruby facepalmed, Kaiser looked a little sheepish at this.
"Sorry, my one-liners are a lot better in life or death situations." Kaiser shrugged, he spotted more Atlesian soldiers, his mind occupied with thoughts of Kane.
"Perhaps you could have come up with some entertaining comebacks if you were in the tournament." Weiss had come in, she regarded Kaiser with an apologetic look. "It's a shame we won't be able to find out, a fight between you and Yang in the singles division would have been interesting, I think."
"Yeah, well, I did it to myself when I started that little scrap with Cardin." Kaiser let out a low snicker. "How was I supposed to know that Cardin's dad is a Valean councilman!"
"Ah well, I think he might have saved you on that front, Kai." Yang draped her arm around Kaiser once again. "I'm not saying you're a pushover, Kai. But I don't think you'd last three minutes with me, even without the broken arm."
Although almost imperceptible, there was a small twitch on Kaiser's face. Another mention of his arm brought him back to the moment it was shot, pain flowed through it like a phantom. Yang's underestimation of him really brought his inexperience in huntsmen combat to the forefront, he just hadn't trained as long as someone like her or even Ruby. His training as a spy could only carry him so far as he played catch up with his peers, like a truck driver flying an airship.
Kaiser knew that Yang had no ill intention with her comments, it was just her boastful nature, her confidence being one of the reasons he liked spending time with her. Even so, Kaiser couldn't help but feel like his pride was stung.
When a couple more seconds passed in the conversation, Kaiser broke out of his own head and realized he hadn't responded. "Yeah, sorry, I was getting kind of hungry and got distracted by the stalls." It was a bad excuse, he knew it, but the rest of team RWBY were in agreement so they had looked over the sudden change in conversation.
"Alright, what should we eat?" Yang took Kaiser's hand in hers, leading the way for the spy.
/-/
Fingers thrummed against a metallic table, a rhythmic pattern which kept Martin Kane occupied. The Atlesian Knights had marched him into an empty room aboard one of Atlas' airships, the door locked shut behind him. One other important detail, he was handcuffed to the table, which told him where he stood with the Atlesian military.
It had been a couple hours since he was brought in, an intimidation tactic to build anxiety in whoever was being interrogated. Standard, but expected of Atlas, not much more could be done ever since the Atlesian government was criticized for their torture methods a few years back. Since then, they'd taken to hiring private organizations to ignore the rules, and claim deniability if they were found.
Finally, the steel door had parted, revealing a serious looking woman. Dressed in a pristine white uniform with a scroll in hand, Kane recognized her at once. They had never met, but he had actually seen her in a portrait in the Schnee manor while doing a job for Jacque Schnee.
"You're Whitley Schnee." Kane pointed out, as best he could with his hand cuffed to the table.
Winter Schnee didn't dignify Kane's observation with a response, instead opting to read off the screen of the scroll. "Martin Kane, you're wanted by multiple agencies from each of the kingdoms. You racked up numerous assassinations all over remnant, crucial in destabilizing small governments into nonexistence."
"Oh that?" Kane looked defiantly at Winter, his eyebrow raised. "That's all in the past, why can't we all just forgive and forget?"
In the blink of an eye, Winter brandished a sabre, likely her personal weapon. Sharp steel rested lightly on the space between Kane's neck and shoulder, an ounce of pressure and blood would be drawn. Winter's words came out calm and measured, her piercing blue gaze was just as cold as the metal poised to slice the assassin. "Tell me why I shouldn't just get rid of you here and now and save all of us the trouble of processing you."
Martin Kane smirked, he adjusted himself, sitting up to apply the pressure from under the blade. Kane caught how for a split-second, Winter looked unnerved at the line of crimson which dribbled a small bit of blood down his neck. "Because I know that isn't what my tax money is paying you to do."
Winter drew her saber back, regarding Kane with a look of annoyance, a mask. "As far as I can tell, aside from your violent crimes, you also haven't paid your taxes since you came of age." She looked at the assassin with blood staining his shirt, never had she seen someone so careless. In a softer voice, still authoritative. "Why did you do that?"
"Saves me a lot of money." Kane shrugged impishly, before shaking his head at the stern look aimed at him. "I know what you meant." Kane leaned back as far as he could, he swung his gaze back to Winter. "I can tell just by looking at you that you're not a killer, sure you're military, you'll do it in the heat of battle. But you're not gonna execute me, so don't bother acting like you can!" The last three words came out in a venomous tone, the assassin showing his true colors. He cleared his throat, facing the military specialist. "Just a piece of advice for you."
"Why are you in Vale?" Winter had been thrown off by the assassin, the way he bounced from murderous intent back to playful ignorance gave her psychological whiplash.
"I can't visit an old friend?" Kane asked, his eyes darting to the metal door expectantly. "I got someone who's supposed to be in the Vytal tournament, I just had to place my bet on him."
"You can't be serious, Atlas has records of some of your activities. You disappeared for an entire year." Winter crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised. "So excuse me for not believing that you're here just to watch the tournament." Winter placed her hands down on the table, inches away from Kane's. "What are you trying to achieve?"
"I'm just stalling for time." Kane admitted, he used his index finger to point at the door, which had conveniently slid open. "James, we've been waiting!"
A large imposing man entered the room, Winter straightened her back, turning to face the man. He easily towered over Winter and even Kane by a good couple of inches, an air of seriousness surrounded him. The man was clean shaven with salt and pepper hair, only offset by the strip of metal alloy that sat above his eyebrow.
"You know who I am?" James Ironwood looked directly at Kane, unperturbed by the assassin's playful manner.
"You're known on two sides, Jimmy. If I didn't know that you were the headmaster of Atlas academy and the Atlesian military, then I'd be twice as ignorant." Martin retracted his index finger, putting his thumb up instead. "I also know that you had a talk with my boss, and how I shouldn't be locked up like this."
A beat passed, then two.
"Specialist Schnee, uncuff our guest here." Ironwood ordered, he remained resolute even as Winter's eyes grew wide.
"Our guest is an international fugitive, we shouldn't let him go." Winter tried to reason with the general, but she was interrupted.
"Our guest-" Ironwood coughed, "has special status, and is protected by a foreign agency. So, Specialist Schnee, if you would."
Begrudgingly, Winter began to move towards Martin Kane. In the two years that she had worked directly under Ironwood, she had never defied orders, she wasn't about to start now. She pulled a key out of her pocket, and began removing the handcuffs.
"Sorry about all that, Schnee, had to keep you long enough before you threw me in a dark cell. If that happened, who knows, you guys might have forgotten about me." Kane shrugged, he turned to Ironwood, he extended his hand out to shake. "Guess we'll be working together, general"
General Ironwood crossed his arms, the call he had gotten earlier was… frustrating to say the least. "We will be working adjacent to each other."
"Don't be like that, James." Kane swaggered over to Ironwood, imitating the imposing man's posture. "We both know something is going to happen during the festival, and we're all in the dark about this."
"Atlas can handle whatever threat that comes its way." Ironwood stood tall, refusing to let the assassin undermine his military's strength.
"It probably can, but it's too slow to even react to there being a threat in the first place." Kane leaned back, sitting down on the table he had been previously attached to. "Where were you when Roman Torchwick was hijacking dust shipments, better yet, when he made off with the paladins your engineers were showing off. I'd figure with government property being stolen, you'd've been on his ass, instead, a bunch of schoolchildren had to make sure your toy couldn't be used against you. We need to share our intel so we can understand what we're up against."
Ironwood closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, hesitating despite his commanding aura. "We believe there's going to be an attack."
"Anything more specific, if you didn't know, large scale events like the Vytal festival are prime targets for terrorist attacks." Kane dug his hands into his pockets, immediately catching Winter's attention, he pulled his hands out and showed her they were empty. Flashing a grin, he continued. "Anyone can set off a bioweapon at the airship landing zones, get a couple hundred people getting back to Vale to infect hundreds of thousands of others. There's also the possibility that whoever is behind all this is going to crash Amity Colosseum onto Vale, which would take out the city entirely. Or do you think that we are looking at another breach?"
"The breach was dealt with in a few hours, a planned attack would've opened up entrances besides the train tunnel the grimm came in from." Ironwood pulled his scroll out, loading a schematics hologram to show Kane. The dark room lit up in a light blue glow, showing the damage where the train had burst into Vale. "The edges look like they are holding up a lot of the mountain, suggesting excavation in the tunnels. This was supposed to be a lot bigger, but still manageable. This wasn't an intended attack, at least not yet, this was to set people on edge."
"Building up anxiety in the public for the Grimm to feed on, then use that to guide them, right?" Kane mused aloud, humming as he watched the general nod once. "So, we need to keep eyes out for all the vulnerable points of both Amity Colosseum and the festival grounds. While we're at it, we might as well add both Beacon and Vale to that list of targets. That leaves every populated area within the city, go figure."
"I'll bring in more troops, keep more soldiers on the lookout." Ironwood turned off the hologram display, setting his scroll on the table. "Divide them between the potential targets."
"See, that's where you're wrong, you're not gonna get anywhere by adding soldiers. They're too obvious, those uniforms and the way they walk stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention those Atlesian Knights. Anyone with basic counter surveillance skills could dodge your patrol." A coughing sound was heard, and Kane turned to see that Winter had decided to speak up.
"Wasn't it those same Atlesian Knights that managed to capture you?" Winter crossed her arms. "I'm sure we can find any suspicious individuals lurking around the targets."
"I've been living in Vale for a couple weeks now, the only reason you caught me was because I was busy trying to win a carnival prize." Kane turned back to Ironwood. "Your soldiers are a hammer, what you need is a scalpel."
"You're suggesting spies." Ironwood was curt, he knew this was where the conversation was headed.
"A joint task force, you trade intel, we provide an extra hundred eyes that can't be seen." Kane began to stand, he had nothing left to say. "Just take some time to think about it, I'm sure you'll know how to get in touch with my boss." He walked to the door, turning back to the two military personnel. "I'll let myself out, this… was new."
The metal door slid shut, silence draped around the room, before Winter spoke up.
"Why did you let him go? The council of Atlas put him up on one of their most wanted fugitives, who does he work for?" This was the closest Winter had been to losing her cool, seeing the assassin practically skip out on incarceration.
"He works for the council of Atlas, contract work through a third party." Ironwood admitted, he looked briefly to the door, as if expecting the assassin to reappear. "The council uses a private military company for any sensitive issues they might have."
Winter knew for a fact that no military force could come close to the might of Atlas, so she figured it wasn't its intended use. "It's a front."
"Of course it's a front, they run undercover operatives to deal with problems that the council doesn't want traced back to them." Ironwood huffed.
"Deniable assets." Winter whispered.
"Yes, and Martin Kane is one of them. Officially, he is to be arrested and tried for his crimes."
"And unofficially?" Winter asked, she looked through the notes in her scroll.
"Most governments don't even bother to look for him." Ironwood crossed his arms, fists clenched.
"Why did you agree to his proposal?" Winter was curious about that, the general tended to play his cards close to his chest, never readily agreeing to anything without heavy stipulations.
"Right now, we don't have a choice." Ironwood closed his eyes before continuing. "I'm being blackmailed."
"What?" Winter's eyes widened, whoever had decided to do this must've gone insane.
"The organization that employs Martin Kane is threatening to declassify documents from an incident that happened a couple years ago." Ironwood looked down at the floor, as if almost pained to admit it. "Which happened under my command, it was regarding one of the former council members, Chrysan Marigold. What they have over me could cripple Atlas' trust in me, and that can't happen with the threat of an attack."
"What happened?" Winter was fully out of the loop now, she was eager to know how they were put in this situation.
Ironwood walked over to the door with Winter following closely behind. "I'll brief you on the details later, first we'll have to mobilize troops over to Vale."
"And after the threat has passed?" Winter passed the doorway and into the hall, still following closely behind.
"We'll wipe that bastard Ross and his lackeys off the map." Ironwood clenched his hand.
/-/
"May the brothers judge your soul."
"The least you could do is die on your feet, like a man!"
"Say goodnight kid."
The distant voices of old enemies floated around Kaiser's mind as he walked down the streetlight flooded sidewalk, he kept his nerves tight, keeping an eye on just about every direction he could. The cold bit at his skin, leaving the boy slightly red. He ignored it however, every step brought conscious thought to Kaiser, that what he was planning was bordering on insane.
A small beep alerted Kaiser to his scroll, something which he pulled out immediately. It was a text, from the only person who'd be working this late.
Today 4:14 PM
Get back to me when you can, Lewis.
Hey Kaiser I got those files you needed, sent to your email!
Great, thank you Lewis.
Kaiser had kept in contact with Lewis Grayson since the breach, the head of research and development had denied the spy use of any new gear from their last encounter, but was willing to answer any safe questions that Kaiser had about his line of work. At some point, Kaiser asked Lewis for a way to retrieve some files, the engineer being skeptical at first. He grew less so as Kaiser explained that he had needed to follow up on an inconsistency in a report on the breach for Martin Kane and his Phantom unit. Lewis only agreed when it was made clear the files that Kaiser needed weren't going to be found in the IPS database, but rather, the Vale police department.
There was something… off about how Kaiser fell during the breach, something that had filled his thoughts ever since he had woken up in the infirmary after the breach. Kaiser was shot through the arm at the exact moment he had intended to kill Roman Torchwick. An arrow, doused in fire, had pierced Kaiser's arm and chest in a debilitating, yet non-lethal, area. It was all quite a coincidence, something that Kaiser had started having major doubts about when he saw the radiographs of his arm and chest after getting shot.
The bone of Kaiser's arm had been severed quite cleanly, straight through. Based on the distance, trajectory, and overall chaos of the situation, the odds of the shot being a freak accident were quickly becoming zero. It was as if the sniper wanted to get Kaiser out of the way, but didn't want to draw too much attention by killing a huntsman in training. The only question was: what did the sniper get out of decommissioning Kaiser.
Roman Torchwick.
It made sense now, he had partnered with people before. Neo came to mind, as well as Adam Taurus, the White Fang leader pulling off the dust heist. It made sense to conclude that there were others working with the gentleman thief.
So Kaiser set out to do research, even if Torchwick was under Atlesian custody, there were still a number of his associates roaming around. The first thing to do was to check the huntsman registry, it was the only public database that held information on the huntsman currently operating in Vale. This resulted in hours of scouring each and everyone's file, crossing out names that didn't have a semblance that matched the flaming arrow that pierced him. Kaiser put an asterisk on some names, indicating semblances that could have done the deed.
Ultimately it was fruitless, and Kaiser could not match any of the semblances to his assailant. Which left him disappointed, but not demoralized, so he went looking for other leads. The police criminal database was an option; huntsmen lost their licenses when faced with felony charges, so they wouldn't show up on the huntsman registry. Which was why he had Lewis Grayson retrieve the files for him, this would amount to another sleepless night, but he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly if there was a criminal plot just waiting to go off.
If he couldn't match any of these semblances to his sniper, then he had one last resource to access.
The student registry.
Kaiser didn't want to believe it, but he could never rule out every possibility. This was a special situation, seeing as students from every academy had come to participate in the Vytal tournament. The list of possible suspects essentially quadrupled, and Kaiser needed to review each and every one. Fortunately, he might be able to get that list. Unfortunately, he didn't have any access to the computer that had those files, and he'd have to physically download the files straight from that computer. And that computer, likely resided in the headmaster's office, which left Kaiser with one choice.
He had to break into Ozpin's office, located at the very top of the CCT tower.
This could get him expelled, but Kaiser almost died that day during the breach. Who knows what Torchwick's associates could do, with the Vytal tournament lasting as long as it did, there was ample opportunity for anything to happen. It wasn't too far-fetched to think that any of the students were working towards a goal more destructive than the breach, afterall, Kaiser had been a child soldier as well.
Kaiser stopped walking, his eyes shut, he took a deep breath and faced his destination. It was a normal storefront, with blinds covering the windows, and an unassuming door with blue text in the middle.
Valean Academy of Martial Arts.
It was way past closing time for all nearby businesses, this one included. Kaiser tried the handle, it wouldn't budge, a pair of locked double doors. The person inside the academy had expected him, but was willing to test him. A hand slipped into Kaiser's pocket, he fished for a small zipper case, opening it revealed a multitude of delicate looking tools. It took only 27 seconds to pick the lock, it took longer for Kaiser to force himself inside.
A moment of hesitation stretched out into a minute, deep breaths travelled through Kaiser's lungs. His head cleared, and he knew what he had to do.
Kaiser pushed the door open, immediately turning up at the sound of the door bell. His gaze snapped forwards, putting the bell out of his mind, he stepped forward to take in the sights.
The moonlight left an ethereal glow in the room, lighting up the foam mat in the middle of the large room, only made to look larger with the mirrored wall on the left side from the entrance. The back wall had various shelves displaying martial arts gear, curiously, a lot of it was child sized.
"I did not think you were going to come." a gravelly, authoritative voice called out to him, it travelled from the doorway of the backroom. Through the doorway, a middle aged man walked in, grey hair covered his head in a neat and unobstructive haircut. He was freshly showered, wearing a long sleeve undershirt and sweatpants.
"Hard to find a place so generically named, all the dojos in the area popped up on my gps." Kaiser held up his hand, suddenly wary of how dangerous this man was, and showing himself as a non-threat was as important as breathing. "You should really think about hiring a marketing department, really brings in the clientele."
"Hmph, I have no interest in children who want to fight after watching too many action movies." Evon Argent, retired master assassin, crossed his arms. "Those who need me, find their way to me, case in point."
"Guess you're right." Kaiser huffed, he noticed something strange, Evon Argent lacked an arm cast. As the last time he had seen the man, Kaiser had seemingly broken the man's arm. "Arm healed pretty fast."
"I wish I could say the same to you." Argent scrutinized the cast that held Kaiser's right arm, he stepped onto the mat. "I can guess that you're not here only to taunt me, spit it out."
Kaiser hid the nerves as he tried suppressing the lump in his throat, his mouth felt like sand. "I need you to train me, the same way you trained Martin Kane."
"It seems you have realized that your trickery does you no favors in a fight." Argent explained, referring to the glass the boy had smashed in his face. "You wish to follow the path of the assassino, yes?"
"I held back against an untrained criminal, because of that, I ended up like this." Kaiser looked at the cast, his fist in the good hand clenched. "I want to be stronger to protect myself and my friends."
Argent caught the darkness in Kaiser's eyes reflected in the moonlight, vitriol was all over the boy. He managed a small smirk, "Very well then, if you think you are ready." Argent lashed out with a fist, as expected, the boy had used his left arm to redirect the blow. Argent's other hand shot out in the split second that Kaiser had pulled his arm back, the hand latched onto the boy's throat.
The shock of the move distracted Kaiser from the sweep of Argent's leg, sending Kaiser falling back-first onto the floor.
Argent loomed over the boy like a shadow, with his hand still applying pressure to Kaiser's throat. This was the same hand attached to the arm that Kaiser had snapped just weeks ago, showcasing the assassin's strength and will as he squeezed the air out of the boy. "Your training…" Argent felt the boy struggle beneath him, he reacted to the kick that Kaiser had thrown while laying down. With one hand pinning Kaiser down by the throat, and the other gripping the boy's ankle to stop a kick to the head, Argent saw fit to repeat himself.
"Your training begins now!"
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Pretty big setup, really hope to pan this all out. As always, reviews are welcome.