Yo!
It took me some time but the next chapter is here. Enjoy.
Chapter 37. Lion's fall
"What's the meaning of this!?" Lionheart squeaked, backing away from his desk. "Qrow! Raven! What's going on? Who's this?!"
Even as the man pointed at me, he was ignored. Qrow just spared him a glance before rushing into the backroom where the Seer Grimm should be hidden. Meanwhile, Raven and I just casually strolled toward the wide-eyed headmaster.
"Oh, Leo, Leo..." The woman next to me tutted. "You thought nobody would notice. That you would be safe just sitting here as if you didn't do anything. I always knew you were a coward—it takes one to know one, after all—but to this degree? I can't say I'm not disappointed."
Huh, I guess she really has changed if she can acknowledge her mistakes. Nice!
Lionheart spluttered as his chair hit the wall behind him. "I have no idea what you're talking about! You can't just barge in like that! Don't you have any decency? And Qrow! What is he d—"
Whatever the man wanted to say got cut off when a loud crash came from the backroom. We all glanced at the door just in time to see Qrow stepping out with a broad grin. The male Branwen nodded at his sister and leaned against the wall, happy to just watch for now.
Raven grinned and slapped her hands onto the headmaster's desk. "Leo, you old bastard... Has your hearing got that bad already? I told you exactly what happened. You. Switched. Sides. Anything you want to tell us?"
Lionheart stiffened for just a tiny moment, yet everybody caught it anyway. "You are sprouting nonsense!" He shouted, trying to sound convincing. "Me? Switch sides?! Bah! You have all gone mad!"
On the side, Qrow chuckled. "Really now? So it wasn't a Grimm I just killed in your backroom?"
"No! No! I-It wa—"
"Enough of this bullshit, Leonardo," Raven growled. "Salem's got to you, there's no hiding now. There are enough signs to prove that—the Seer in your office is only one of them."
Lionheart whimpered, trying to sink into his chair. "I did what I had to! You don't understand. I didn't ha—"
"Shut up, you waste of space," Raven hissed, cutting him off again. "Nobody here cares about your pathetic reasons. Save them for Ozpin, and you might just live."
The headmaster's eyes widened as his posture slightly relaxed. "You are taking me to Vale."
Bored of staying silent, I stepped forward. "That we are, but not yet," I said, joining Raven's side. "First, we have a few questions. You won't mind answering them, right?"
When Lionheart spotted the claws peeking out of my sleeve, he gulped and shook his head. "I talk, I swear."
"We will see about that," Raven muttered. I threw a questioning look at her, but she just shrugged and looked at her brother. "Qrow, get him to the front."
The man kicked his foot off the wall. "Gladly."
Lionheart squeaked again as Qrow grabbed his chair and dragged it along with the traitor to the other side of the desk. Now, there were no barriers standing between us. All that was left was to ask the important questions.
"Is the relic still safe?" I said straight away. This was probably the most important out of all the stuff we needed to know.
Lionheart froze, the fear returning to his eyes. His gaze jumped between Qrow, Raven, and me as if searching for a way out—only there were none.
"Speak up!" the female Brawnen hissed when the silence stretched for too long.
"I-I... t-the," Lionheart stuttered, words refusing to come out of his mouth.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Raven drew her sword and placed it next to the headmaster's throat. Now, his movement stilled completely. "I said talk! Ozpin never said we must bring you to him in one piece."
Lionheart gulped, his gaze glued to the blade. "T-the relic. It's gone. They took it." He looked up at Raven, his eyes filling with tears. "I couldn't do anything! I swear!"
Qrow snorted. "Sure, sure. We definitely believe that. Fucking traitor..."
"They would have killed me!" the headmaster wailed. "There is no fighting her! She has agents everywhere."
"You could have called Ozpin when you were alone," Raven said, her blade now clashing against the man's aura. "One single call and we would have come to extract you. But no! It was better to turn your back and act like nothing ever happened."
She spat to the side. "I cannot believe I was once like you."
Yeah, me neither. I held back a laugh. Each second spent with the woman only proved how different she was from her canon version. I never thought she could become someone likable. Yet here we were.
Anyway... let's get back on the track.
I approached our prisoner and shifted one of my arms into a blade. It slid out of my sleeve with the tip pointing right at the Faunus' heart.
"Cinder Fall," I said, keeping my voice low. "Rings a bell?"
Going by the further widening of the man's eyes, it did. I grinned wide. "Tell us everything."
Lionheart, of course, hesitated, and Raven was quick to act. She retraced her sword and instead punched the Faunus right in the face. He reeled back, letting out another whimper as his aura flared.
"It won't take much to break your pitful aura, Leonardo. Talk!"
"She is the Maiden!" he stammered. "Both Fall and Spring. I have seen her power. She could have destroyed this whole mountain if she wanted. I had no choice! I swear!"
Shit. I grimaced, completely ignoring the man's begging. No idea how Maiden powers work, but if having two means double the power, then we might have a problem. I could maybe... probably... deal with a normal Maiden, but this?
I signaled Raven to take over as I backed off toward Qrow. The man quirked an eyebrow at me, but I just shook my head and leaned against the wall. I could explain later, when we were away from here. I had to consider this carefully anyway. No reason to sow any more panic.
The Branwen siblings might not show it too much, but it was obvious they were already worried by Lionheart's words. One lost Maiden was bad. Two? Now, that was a disaster in the making. Everybody knew that.
"What are they planning?" Raven asked, her sword returning to the headmaster's neck. "Which relic are they going for next?"
"I don't know!" he screamed, letting out a pitful sob. "They tell me nothing! I'm just a pawn, nothing more."
"You lie," the woman hissed, throwing another punch. "You must have heard something! What about the Vytal festival?"
Oh? I narrowed my eyes when Lionheart ducked his head. He was hesitating again. You never learn, do you? Very well...
I reached for my aura and slowly transformed it into my lone element. With utmost care, I released bits of lightning outside of my body. Quiet static and crackling filled the room as violet sparks danced around our prisoner.
Qrow's and Raven's gaze instantly jumped to me, but I ignored them and focused on the cocoon of lightning around Lionheart. It grazed against the man's aura, earning more whimpers from him.
"Talk," I growled, pushing more aura into the elemental cage.
"I wasn't lying! I swear," he sobbed, flinching as lightning continued to bite at his aura. "I heard them mentioning the Vytal festival only once. That's all! Please believe me. Please..."
I considered tightening the cocoon even more, but then a hand landed on my shoulder. Qrow shook his head at me, the message clear in his eyes. I sighed and allowed the lightning to fade away.
The male Brawnen stepped forward and extended his hand toward Lionheart. "Your scroll and access code."
The man nodded franticly and reached into his pocket. The scroll almost slipped from his hands as he scrambled to activate it and put in the code. I had to stifle a chuckle when Qrow snatched the device, causing Lionheart to almost fall off his chair.
Maybe we overdid it, I mused. Nah... He deserved it.
"Go on, sis," Qrow said. "Take him away. We got what we wanted. Oz can take care of the rest."
Raven nodded. "Search the office in the meantime. I will be back in ten."
Not wasting another moment, she slashed the air with her sword, opening a crimson-black portal. She then grabbed Lionheart by the scruff of his neck and dragged him inside. And just like that, Qrow and I remained alone.
"So kid... Better let's get to work. We will be here for a while," the other man grumbled.
"Great..." I muttered and headed right for the desk—might as well start from the obvious place and progress from there. "Anything worth checking in the backroom?"
Qrow shrugged. "No idea. I just killed the Seer and got out. Place is mostly empty, though."
I sighed in relief. The office was big enough on its own; we didn't really need even more space to search through. Those shelves lining the walls alone would take a few hours, if not more.
So much for an exciting visit to Haven... I grumbled, opening yet another drawer. Some paper, an empty notepad, and some spare batteries for scrolls. Useless...
By the time Raven returned, we were hardly done with even a tenth of the office. At the one-hour mark, I almost called it quits. Qrow beat me to it, though, when he found two files on Lionheart's scroll. They spoke about some particular missions as well as why there were no students in Haven.
The latter was of no big concern as they were just sent on a break before the festival—nothing really out of the ordinary—but the former? It had attached a list of names, crossed out names. Qrow simply had to take one look at it to find a few he recognized.
"They are all dead," the man muttered. "You were right, Umbra... That fucking bastard sold them all out..."
Shit...
Nobody said anything after that, and we continued searching in silence. We managed to locate a few more useful documents, but overall, after a few hours, we returned to Vale with barely more than we knew before.
At least my foreknowledge isn't completely useless... Still, two Maidens gone...
[Hidden Mission Completed]
Put an end to the treachery of Leonardo Lionheart once and for all. He might not have been much of a challenge, but it's a step closer to getting rid of Salem.
Rewards: 20k EXP, 10 EP, EXP Scroll (Major)
[Congratulations! You have leveled up.]
I smiled. And suddenly I feel much better, thanks System!
"Remember, no Grimm form," Neo wrote with her Semblance.
I grinned as I removed my cloak, revealing my tail and mutated arm. "What, scared of the big bad dragon?"
Neo snorted. "As if! I just don't think Ozpin would appreciate it if we destroyed his backyard. Otherwise, I can kick your big scaly ass any day."
"Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night," I chuckled and activated my aura.
As per our agreement, the time had come to find out just how much Neo had grown in the last ten years. At first, I planned to take her away from Vale and have a nice, full-powered fight somewhere in the mountains. However, after Ozpin asked me to stay for another day or two, we settled for the large open arena behind Beacon.
I could always kick her ass in my true form another day. Today, I would just settle for humiliating her as a squishy human.
"Ready?"
Neo nodded, her pink aura washing over her body. "Bring it, old man."
"Old man?! This again?" I shouted indignantly. "I was gone for ten years! We are probably the same age now."
The girl smirked. "Hmmm... What if I'm the older one, then? You should listen to me from now on."
"In your dreams, shortie." I transformed one arm into a blade while allowing lightning to spread over the other. "Beat me first. Then we can talk."
"With pleasure."
At once, Neo dived forward, two short swords in hand. I returned her grin and raised my blade to block. We clashed in a shower of sparks, yet no matter how hard the girl tried to push, I didn't even move an inch. Even in this form, strength was still on my side.
"That's all you got?" I taunted and pushed her away.
Neo flipped before fading out of sight—her Semblance coming into play. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, drowning in my Danger Sense. At first, it was silent, but a moment later, an alarm blared in my head.
I stepped to the side and slashed at Neo, who appeared beside me.
Her body burst into millions of pieces upon impact, but I ignored that and spun around to block an attack coming from another Neo. This time, she didn't shatter and simply bounced away from me before disappearing again.
"Not bad," I admitted out loud.
"You have seen nothing yet," a distorted whisper echoed all around him.
My eyebrows jumped up. "Wait, can you talk with your Semblance? Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Later. Now, prepare yourself!"
Before I could say anything, clones of Neo surrounded me from all sides. I focused all my senses, trying to figure out which one was real, but I got nothing. For all I knew, they were all the true Neo.
"All right, color me impressed." I chuckled. "Shame it won't work."
Discharge.
Lightning exploded out of me, quickly swallowing the entire arena. Shards of glass rained upon the earth as the illusion clones shattered, one after another. Yet, the real Neo was nowhere to be seen.
Oh?
I scanned the scorched arena for any signs of the girl, but it was as if she left completely. For a moment, I considered firing another discharge, one with much more power than the last one, only to dismiss the idea right away. Some damage to the surroundings was unavoidable, but I didn't want to leave this place in ruins.
"Come out, brat!" I taunted instead. "Trying to bore me to death won't give you a win."
"Funny," the voice said just as three Neos materialized next to him, all ready to skewer him alive.
"Nice try." I sliced through two of the clones with my blade while my tail intercepted the final Neo—the real one this time. "But not enough."
The girl winked, and suddenly, darkness washed over the entire arena. Even my enhanced vision couldn't pierce through it. I could have probably just let out another Discharge or jumped really high to deal with this, but I decided against it. In the end, neither Neo nor I expected her to beat me. This was just a test to see how much she had grown.
And so I remained in the same spot, closing my eyes and letting my other senses take over.
Right.
I leaned to the left.
Behind.
I raised my tail.
Surrounded.
I jumped and spun around, releasing a volley of spikes in every direction. Echoes of shattered glass filled my ears, loud enough that somehow Neo slipped past my guard and sliced my back. A black-red aura flashed, absorbing the hit, but I still stumbled and took another stab to the chest.
Fast!
With a roar, I twirled around, shooting more spikes from my tail into the darkness. Lightning also escaped out of my body, racing across the ground and spreading like a parasite. Trap after trap formed across the battlefield, ready to catch my prey once and for all.
I didn't have to wait long for my plan to work.
The illusion of darkness shattered, countless tiny pieces of glass raining down on the ground for the last time. I sighed and approached the paralyzed figure writhing on the floor a bit away from me.
Pink aura still flashed around her form, but the same applied to my violet sparks of lightning that continued to electrocute her. I quickly grasped onto the remnants of my affinity and pulled it back. Neo stilled, letting out a deep, pained sigh.
I winced. "Sorry?"
She turned her head toward me, the message clear on her face. Still, after a few seconds, a few lines of text appeared in front of me.
"I call it bullshit. Your lightning is seriously overpowered. I have taken multiple dust rounds to the chest before, and they never got me through aura... I think I will be sore for the next of the week..."
Despite everything, I couldn't hold back the chuckle that left my mouth. Neo shot me a glare but relented after I extended a hand toward her. She took it and jumped to her feet.
"All this for nothing..." She pouted. "I didn't even get to show you how good I got with dust..."
"Another time, brat." I patted her head. "For now, let's get out of here befo—"
"Holy shit!" an unknown, squeaky female shout interrupted me.
Shit indeed. I grimaced as my gaze snapped to the three new arrivals waiting at the edge of the arena—an arena that definitely had seen better days. Yep, I definitely put too much power into those techniques...
"Ruby! Language, young lady," the only adult—Summer—among the trio scolded.
"But mom!" The girl whined. "They fucking destroyed the arena! I think that's an appropriate reaction. Neo, you tell her!"
Summer sighed, pinching her nose. "I swear, I will murder Qrow and Raven."
Meanwhile, Neo took a few steps back and raised her hands. "Don't drag me into your mess, idiot. I told you already, you cuss too much."
"Pussy," the young girl muttered, crossing her arms.
I had to hold back my laughter again as I alternated between amusement and surprise. I expected Ruby to change quite a bit thanks to Summer's and Taiyang's disappearance, but this? Nobody could have prepared me for a foul-mouthed Ruby.
What made it even funnier was the fact that she still dressed almost the same. Sure, her outfit resembled more of the stuff she wore in later volumes, but the style didn't change at all.
Yang though... I muttered internally, my gaze going to the blonde girl standing next to her sister. What the hell happened there?
Gone was her very revealing outfit, and in its place, Yang wore simple, baggy pants, while her upper body was hidden by a golden shirt and an open jacket. Yet, the difference in appearance wasn't what caught my attention.
No... That honor fell to the expression the girl was wearing.
Her lilac eyes were narrowed and set into a glare as she looked right at me. Unlike her pouting sister, she stood there like she was going on the chopping block—all tense and her fingers itching to grab something.
Uh oh... I have a feeling she doesn't like me.
Nonetheless, I put a smile on my face and approached the small group. It was time to meet a part of the main cast of RWBY.
And that's it for today. Thank you all for reading.
No idea when the next update will be out, though. I will try to get them out somewhat regularly, but no promises. Still, if you want to read more from me, you can always check out my original story. Anyway, I will do my best to complete this story. It might take a while but it's better than nothing.
Have a good day/night.
Discord: b7JaQcpuc7
My original story (Gamer style like this one): royalroad (.com) /fiction/58667/a-universe-of-bloody-evolution