#echidna bluewaters
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REAPING OF ATLAS 3/3
RWBY Characters Are Created And Owned By Rooster Teeth And Monty Oum.
Team REAPS And All Original Characters In It's Universe Are Created And Owned By @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer
"Are we there yet?" Sandy whined as she and her team were led down the mantle sidewalk. She shivered as another of Solitas' famous tundra winds blew down the street. Sure, the streets were Dust-heated, but that provided little comfort to the girl. "We've been walking for hours!"
"Not yet, just a few more blocks!" Prism cheerily answered. "And we've only been walking for twenty minutes."
"Well, it feels like hours!" Sandy complained again.
"Sandy, do us all a favor and stop whining." Acacia groused. "You think you're cold? I'm part snake! So unless you're secretly a frog faunus, I suggest you stuff it!"
"Acacia, stop yelling at Sandy!" Echidna scolded, to which Sandy responded by sticking her tongue out at the chastised girl. "And Sandy, stop acting like a child. We're Huntresses in training. Show that you deserve that title." Sandy shrunk back at her chiding.
Reizo chuckled at his team's antics. "I'm glad to see everyone else is excited about today. Prism is finally showing off her upgrades."
"Not just mine, but ours! I also took the liberty of bringing your weapons in already."
"You took our weapons?!" Sandy shrieked. "When?! How?! Why?!"
"To answer in order," Prism began, holding up her index finger, "1, a few weeks ago; 2, I used the teleporter in our bathroom; and 3, to make some much needed improvements."
"Improvements like what?!" Sandy barked. "My weapon is-"
"An outdated piece of tech that was only improved by a forge, not a lab." Prism finished. "I can't make improvements to our gear with fire and stone by itself."
"You could have asked." Reizo commented, stopping to wait for the street barrier to come up.
"I did ask!" Prism defended.
"Who?"
"Acacia! She said she was cool with it!"
"I did." Acacia admitted. "She asked if she could make improvements to my gear, and I said yes."
"See?!" Prism stated as the street barrier came up. She walked backwards to defend herself face-to-face. "I asked!"
"Did you ask all of us?"
"Erk!" Prism almost fell over the curb, but Reizo caught her. "Phew! Thanks, I-" prism stopped as she noticed how close to him she was. She blushed as her heart beat a thousand miles a minute. She jumped back once she was steady. "Sorry, I-"
"Try to be more careful next time." Reizo said, walking past her. "And ask all of us next time." Echidna gave a quick glare as she passed, while Acacia and Sandy giggled between each other.
"Oh, shut up."
Ten minutes later, Team REAPS arrived in front of Doctor Polendina's front door. Prism knocked on the door three times, then stepped back. A few minutes later, a screen above the door came to life. On it, the wrinkled face of gray-bearded man appeared. "Hello?"
"Hi, Pietro! It's me!" Prism waved at the screen. "I brought my team, like I said. Are the weapons ready?"
"Oh, yes," he replied with a smile, "they just got done going through the polisher."
"They are combat ready!" A voice off-screen shouted.
"Uh, who was that?" Reizo asked.
"Uh, nobody! Don't worry about it!" Prism shouted defensively "Uh, we're coming in, Doc!"
"Alright, I'll meet you inside!" The screen turned off, and there was a click at the door. It slid up, reaveling a dark corridor into the unknown.
"Right this way!" Prism bravely stepped forward, into the darkness.
Reizo let out a sigh. "No way through it, but to do it." He stepped forward, followed closely by Acacia, then Echidna, ending with Prism bringing up the rear, shivering from the cold. And nothing else.
The building smelled sterile, like a hospital, but strangely with less life in it. Prism rounded one corner, then another, and then down one final corridor with bright light at the end of it. As they neared it, they finally saw a room bathed in white, fluorescent light, with shelves of dozens of technical manuals and mathematical textbooks. In the center "stood" a large, elderly man in a seat with six legs.
The legs walked forward, surprising everyone but Prism, who continued forward to stand beside the man. "Everyone, meet Doctor Pietro Polendina, my personal hero, lab partner, and robotics expert!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say expert, but it is a pleasure to finally meet all of you." He reached his hand forward. "Please, call me Pietro."
Reizo shook his hand. "Reizo Yamato."
Echidna followed suit. "Echidna Bluewaters."
Acacia just stayed back, half-saluting him. "Acacia Evergreen."
"Sixy Mythleg-" Sandy gasped. "I mean, Sandy Mythril!" Pietro laughed. "I'm so sorry!"
He waved it off. "No need to worry. This was just the result of an unfortunate circumstance, much like your slip-up. But, if you don't mind, I'd like you all to meet my daughter."
"S-So soon?!" Prism yelped. "B-But she's not-"
"She is. I trust her, but more importantly, I trust your team." He pressed a button on his seat, talking into a speaker. "You can come out now, dear."
The team turned around at the sound of footsteps approaching from the dark, and saw piercing green eyes. As they got closer, Reizo squinted past the light and saw the figure's silhouette form. The figure became clearer as they approached, taking the shape of a teenage girl with long hair, a large skirt (or wide hips), and a bow atop their head. The team gasped as they saw her.
"No way..." Echidna muttered.
"It can't be..." Acacia gawked.
"It's you..." Sandy said.
"But I thought you-"
"Sal-u-tations, friends!" Penny cheered. Everyone in the room was silent. Pietro had a simple smile, Prism a nervous one, Reizo and Echidna gawked with mouths agape while Echidna covered her mouth. Sandy, however, made the first contact, leaping into Penny. "Greetings, Sandy!"
"Penny!" Sandy wailed through her tears. "I missed you!"
"I have missed your presence as well, Sandy!" Sandy wrapped her arms around Penny's waist, to which Penny reciprocated by wrapping her arms around her. The others approached and joined in hugging their resurrected friend. Penny shut her eyes with a soft smile. "I have missed you."
After countless questions answered and stories swapped, Prism stepped forward and cleared her throat. "All right, everybody! Listen up!" She barked. "I'm just as glad Penny is back as much as everyone else, but she's not why we're here." She recieved a few angry glares from her teammates, and a dejected look from Penny. Prism coughed into her fist and corrected herself. "Though she is an added bonus." Penny looked up with a wide smile. "We're here because our weapons weren't going to cut it anymore. Beacon was a colossal failure on all fronts. Especially our skills. We've had our victories because of luck, and nothing else. That's why we were long overdue for an upgrade, one that requires more than just a forge."
A screen descended from the ceiling as a table rose from the center of the room. On the screen was an image of the real deal on the table: Reizo's katana. It's grip looked cleaner, the old and worn leather and fabric replaced with newer material. The blade remained unchanged, but there were holes added into the hilt. Reizo walked forward and picked it up, giving a few practice swings. He noticed the grip was extended as well.
"Your katana was a tricky task to overcome, since you value the blade so much." Prism explained. "So I removed the blade while I worked on the hilt and grip. The leather and fabric have been replaced with a hide that is seven percent more resilient, and a wool more durable than any linen made in Mistral. The added holes in the hilt allow you to load dust coins into your blade more easily, and if you flip the switch on the bottom," Reizo did so, allowing an empty cartridge to fall out, "you have twenty-five percent more storage space than before!" Prism beamed with pride. "So, what do you think?"
"Well, the grips a bit too long for me."
Prism frowned. "So?"
"I'm not used to long grips. It makes it more difficult to handle with one hand."
"Well, look at it this way," Pietro stepped in, "you're still growing, and this give you more room to improve as your body grows. By the time you're a Huntsman, that long grip will fit nicely into your one hand, and you'll be more adept in the event you need a longer grip."
"Like so!" Prism pressed a button near the hilt, and the grip doubled in length, sliding out an additional length hidden within. Reizo almost fell over. As he fought for balance, Prism walked over to the next screen and table that appeared, showing off Echidna's staff. Her staff's half-moon blade shape now had a smaller blade, shaped like a diamond, between the two originals. Strangely, however, there were five bottles set in a row around the staff. "And here, we have Echidna's staff, equipped with an extra blade, a longer chain, and a few other things I'm sure you'll want to try out!"
Echidna picked up the bottle, though jar was probably more fitting, since it more resembled a soda can, with her small, delicate hands struggling to grip half the jar. It had two metal rings forming borders. "What are these?"
"Put it on your hand, like this!" Prism demonstrated with her palm open and facing up. Echidna took the bottle-can and placed it in Prism's palm she winced and exhaled as the device began filling with a strange, yellow liquid. Prism hissed as she held up the bottle, visibly tired. "Ta da."
"What did you do?!" Sandy asked, worry clear on her face.
"W-Weaponized aura." Prism blinked hard, shaked her head, and began to slowly recover. "After your fight with Bree, I figured you'd want to be able to trick her again without using up so much of your aura." She looked at the bottle. "Of course, mine is just heat, so tossing it would just make a small explosion. Great for a distraction, but unfortunately, my aura reserves aren't the highest."
"Thank you, Prism." Echidna grabbed another bottle. "Are these easy to make?"
Prism carefully walked to the next weapon set. "Yup, but don't go throwing them away after a fight. I might be able to remake them, but they won't be cheap!" On the table, with diagrams flashing on the screen overhead, sat Acacia's tonfas.
"They look the same." Acacia tilted her head as she lifted one of her tonfas, examining it for anything significantly different.
"Yeah, there wasn't much to improve," Prism admitted, "not externally, anyways."
Acacia gave her a look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, the only thing I improved was it's firepower. Shooting this thing redefines the term "handcannon" now!"
Acacia chuckled. "Nice!"
"Of course it's most vital function is still hidden." Prism whispered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Prism scurried to the final table, which held the dual-blade boomerang of Sandy's weapon. "Now this was my toughest challenge yet! Mostly because I had to make a lot of upgrades."
"What? My weapon is perfect!" Sandy defended.
"Maybe for a beginner, but we're third years now. We need stronger weapons, and I'm the smith to get it done!"
"What could you have possibly improved on?" Sandy crossed her arms indignantly.
Prism gave a haughty laugh. "You really think you weapon was the best, huh? Well, let me show you better than that!" Prism unloaded upgrade details on rapid-fire at Sandy. "The blade is now sharp enough to cut through steel; the bow string now has a tensile strength of over a thousand pounds per square inch; the hilt is made of a finer fabric that not only resists moisture, but is soft to the touch; the boomerang operates on an anti-gravity matrix-"
"Wait!" Sandy shoved a hand into Prism's face. "What was that last part?"
Prism removed Sandy's hand. "The anti-gravity matrix?"
"Yeah, what do you mean by that?!"
"This." Prism tapped a button on the boomerang. It clicked as a light humming was heard from it. Sandy stared with wide eyes as Prism lifted her hand, and the boomerang followed. "I've been doing research on Atlas' anti-gravity formulas. I couldn't find anything for the city itself, but what I could find led me to the invention of my own anti-grav dust crystal!" She showcased her creation by having the boomerang turn to on it's side, giving everyone a peek into the thin slots where the dust crystals were stored. "They last longer and give off more power than anything the SDC makes!"
"Will you sell it to them?" Echidna asked.
"Pfft! As if!" Prism rolled her eyes. "As if any of those Schnees could appreciate such fine craftsmanship. They'd just cut corners and blame their failures on me, like they always do with geniuses." Prism crossed her arms. "It's like my grandma always said, "Never trust businessmen like the Schnees."
"Oh, and what of soldiers?" Winter Schnee asked, casting a cold glare over Prism's shoulder. Prism slowly turned her head with a shiver, then turned back forward when she met her icy gaze. "Well? I'm waiting."
Uh, I, you see, that is, um..." Prism shrank as she failed to articulate her argument. "I'm sorry?"
"Don't be." Winter said. "Businessmen like Jacques Schnee can never be trusted. However, not all Schnees are terrible. I can think of three in my family who excelled in their fields." Winter stepped forward toward the rising center table, which had nothing on it but a keypad. "For now, however, let us return to business. You said you had something to show me?"
"Uh, yeah," Prism immediately straightened herself to appear more professional. "I mean, yes, ma'am!" Prism stepped up to the keypad and pressed five numbers in a specific order. The table flipped, revealing three rolled-up blueprints, and Prism unrolled the center page. On it was the design of some sort of cannon. "As you can see here, I'm designing a super-weapon of sorts, capable of taking out a Goliath in one shot, and still be used to take out multiple Grimm surrounding it."
"Interesting," Winter rubbed her chin with her index finger, "but what are the components of this "super-weapon," as you call it?"
"W-Well, it's, uh, us." Prism gestured to herself and her team. Winter raised an eyebrow, and Prism nervously cleared her throat. "So, uh, as you can see here, the weapon will use Acacia's tonfas as the stand, with Sandy's bow acting in tandem with Reizo's katana as both a guide and a containment field, and Echidna's staff will act as the sights and an additional containment field component. Meanwhile, my chakrams will act as the guide, or more like a barrel in this case."
"And what type of weapon is this "super-weapon," Miss Asagiri?"
"Um, it's a rail gun, ma'am."
A cold, evening wind blew over Arishna Dawn as she stood on the rooftop of Atlas Academy. She shuddered, wishing, for the hundredth time, she hadn't agreed to teach in an academy miles above the frozen tundra. She liked to be alone while she looked through her scroll image gallery, smiling as she gazed on pictures of her lover. She felt a warmth in her heart grow with each smile she found.
Before her memories of warmer nights could settle in, they were interrupted by the buzzing of her scroll. The default silhouette of the caller drew a sigh from her lips. She answered the call on the second buzz. "Professor Arishna Dawn of Atlas Academy. How may I help you?"
"Good evening, Professor," the dignified voice that invaded her ears brought a scowl to her lips, "I hope I wasn't interrupting your evening."
"What do you want, Arthur?" Her voice wasn't angry, but it was definitely not happy, either.
"Straight to business then. I am in need of information on our mutual acquaintance, James." Arishna sneered at his request. Well, not really a request, since she knew Arthur Watts was not a man of requests.
"There's nothing new to report. The schedule remains the same, just like last week, and the week before that, and the month before that."
He chuckled. "Really? So you are unaware of a stolen Atlas air-ship enroute to Mantle?"
"What?!" Arishna eyes widened as she turned away and ducked her head from any prying eyes, though she was alone on the roof. "When?!"
"Oh, my! Could it be the great Atlas military is unaware of it's incoming intruders? How interesting, if it weren't woefully predictable."
"Shut up, and tell me everything!" Arishna growled.
Watts harrumphed. "I see you still don't understand how this relationship of ours works. I suppose I could send my friend to visit yours. See if they could become better friends than we are."
"No!" Arishna shouted, this time not caring who heard. "Don't hurt her! Remember our deal!"
"I remember our deal, Miss Dawn, but it is not my memory that is the issue here." Arishna swallowed an empty mouth, shaking with anticipation, anxiety, over what her current benefactor will say next. "I'll take your silence as an understanding." Arishna let out a sigh of relief. "I don't believe you need to worry about the air-ship. It's piloted by an elderly woman, and it's cargo are only passengers: an adult male and eight teenagers, ages ranging from twelve to nineteen."
"Talk about a big family." Arishna joked.
"Indeed. If there is nothing to report, I shall conclude our conversation until next week."
"Wait!" Arishna called out, extending her arm as though she could stop time. Not hearing a click, she continued. "Remember: nobody dies."
There was a minute of silence until Watts spoke. "I promise I will not harm anyone."
He hung up with a click, and Arishna let out a heavy sigh. "How do I get myself out of this, Glyn?"
Reizo fell out of his bed as the alarm blared screamed in his room. He hissed in pain, groaning as he slowly stood up. He looked around. The room had a flashing red siren above them, a red bulb with a revolving reflector spinning around the light. The wail of the siren rose and fall intermittently.
"What's going on?!" Echidna shouted from her bed, covering her ears with her pillow. Her bedhead apparent as her hair was disheveled and unkempt, static causing a few strands to hover vertically.
Reizo looked to the rest of his team was on the floor, having jumped like her leader, with the exception that her fall was from the bottom bunk, not the top. However, Acacia fell onto her from the top bunk, and now both were on their stomachs on the floor, groaning in pain.
He looked at the time from the clock on the wall. It was only a few minutes into midnight. Was Atlas under attack?
The door opened, drawing their attention as Professor Yamato hurriedly stepped inside and opened a keypad by the door, pushing buttons into it, and the siren died with the light. Sighing, she turned to her son's team. "Is everyone all right?"
Sandy and Acacia gave a weary thumbs up and groaned.
"What's going on, Professor?" Echidna asked from her bed.
"I don't mean to alarm you, but," Professor Yamato had a nervous look, "some intruders flew into Atlas air-space and Grimm broke through the Mantle defenses. After the Fall, Atlas won't take any chances that could harm their students."
"Great." Acacia groused as she stood up, pulling Sandy up with her. "About time something went wrong."
Professor Yamato looked around. "Where is Prism?"
The team shared a look between each other before looking back to her, Reizo answering for them. "She's probably at Doctor Polendina."
"What?!" Professor Yamato became very worried.
"It's okay, Mom, Prism can just teleport back in." A flash of light from the bathroom startled the professor. "See, there she is now."
The bathroom door opened, and Prism stepped out, her eyes glued to her scroll. She walked over to the desk nearby and set her scroll down, taking a seat without removing her eyes.
"Pri-"
"Shh!" Prism hissed, holding up a finger. "Not now, our test run is almost complete! There's only one more district left, and I need to make sure no data is left undocumented."
"See? She's fine."
"Well, if you say so." Professor Yamato opened the door and stepped out. "Please, for the remainder of the night, stay in your dorms."
"We will, Mom. I love you."
"I love you, too, Reizo." The door shut. Reizo sighed as he looked back to his team. Echidna had already laid back down to sleep, covering her entire head with her blanket. Acacia climbed back up to her bed, rolling herself into a burrito style to guard against the cold. Sandy crawled into hers, double-checking her glasses case, ensuring it still nestled safely between the mattress and the rack holding it in place. Prism continued to watch her screen. Reizo yawned and placed a foot into the foothold to climb to his bed. He hung precariously over the ground, ready to swing up into his bed.
"IS THAT TEAM RWBY?!" Prism cried, causing her other team members to immediately awake, and her team leader to fall on his back.
The next morning, on their way to class, Reizo yawned as Prism played and replayed her footage. He glanced over, seeing through Penny's eyes and watching as Grimm are decimated by her new skillset. Once gone, Penny landed, then turned and crouched, before literally launching herself at Ruby Rose of Team RWBY.
He smiled to himself. He hadn't seen them since the Fall, which caused his smile to fade. After the Fall, Team RWBY scattered. Last he heard, Ruby Rose had left on a journey to Haven Academy with the remains of Team JNPR, while her sister, Yang Xiao Long recovered from her near-fatal encounter with the White Fang. Weiss Schnee came back to Atlas with her father, although he heard rumors of her running away. Blake Belladonna was a mystery, as she fled during the Fall.
The video ended when Penny flew away to tend to another district. Or at least, it ended for him. After the surprise encounter with Team RWBY, he lost interest in anything else from the video. Team RWBY was in the city, but where? It wasn't like they were going to show up around the corner.
"It'll be just like Beacon again!" Reizo stopped to see where Penny was shouting from, and found her, the Ace-Ops, and Team RWBY show up around the corner. "Oh! Greetings, again, Reizo Yamato!" The group turned and stared in each other's directions.
"Aah! Such a great meal!" Raizo Yamato sighed as he patted his toned belly, pretending it was fat. "You really outdid yourself, babe!"
"Actually, that was me, Dad." Reizo corrected. "I made dinner tonight."
"Oh, uh, right." Raizo scratched his cheek. Reizo and his team visited his family once every other weekend. It had been a few months since he first arrived, but this house never stopped feeling like home to him. Prism and Sandy were washing the dishes, though the latter would rather keep reading the manga her leader let her borrow. Echidna and Acacia were sitting on the couch with Evangeline, watching the news. The two teens were excited to see the results of tonight's campaign.
He saw Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren standing watch over the Robyn Hill celebration with Marrow Amin, Penny, and the Happy Huntresses. He was surprised to hear Team RWBY and JNPR were now all licensed. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little envious.
"So, who do you think's gonna win?" Reizo asked.
Raizo got a sour look on his face. "If this election were perfect, I'd say Robyn Hill would win, no contest."
"But Jacques Schnee's embargo." Reizo countered.
"It really pi-," Raizo cleared his throat as Evangeline shot an icy glare towards him, "I mean, it really, really, really, really makes me angry that the snake would do something like this just to get a few more votes."
"Not surprising," Echidna said, "considering Jacques Schnee's responsible for more suffering than any man, woman, or child in Atlas."
"Try all of Remnant." Acacia corrected. "Seriously, the White Fang wouldn't be a thing if this guy just stopped being so greedy."
"Well, even if he does embargo all of Mantle's, I'm still voting for Hill. She seems like she's got a good head on her shoulders!" Raizo announced proudly.
"Even though her organization isn't exactly clean?" Evangeline asked.
"Better than Schnee." Evangeline hummed in agreement. Reizo watched the polls climb. He couldn't believe someone so horrible was related to a close friend of his. The polls neared their apex, both parties in full swing.
Then the lights died.
"Argh! A blackout, too?!" Raizo shouted. "Damn you, Schnee!"
"Raizo!" Evangeline chided. "Language!" She let out a sigh as she lit a candle in the living room. "Everyone, come to the living room! We'll stay close until the lights come on!"
Acacia sat closer to Echidna, making room for the other four to come to them. Sandy seated herself next to Acacia, and Prism next to her. Reizo laid back next to Echidna. Maybe he catch a few Zs during the blackout.
The lights came on shortly after, and he heard a mixture of emotions. He heard his mother and Sandy gasped, his father and Acacia curse, and Echidna whisper "Oh no."
Reizo opened his eyes, and saw the carnage on TV, with Penny in the center of it all.
"Ruby!" Sandy called out to her eye color duplicate as she spotted her with her team in the hall. The events of last night's disaster left everyone shaken up. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ruby said with a yawn and a weary smile. Sandy doubted Ruby's claim. The red-hooded girl had bags under her eyes, no doubt from a long night of answering questions from the police and tending to the wounded. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."
"Are you sure? We watched the incident last night." Ruby seemed to tense at the mention of the event. "Do you know what happened?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, I didn't. The only one who saw everything was Penny."
"Where is Penny, anyways?"
"She's staying close to my sister." Weiss answered. "Everyone is pointing fingers at her, since she was the only one who drastically moved around the most during the election party blackout."
"I see. But it doesn't make sense." Sandy crossed her arms. "IF Penny killed those people, why would she do it?"
"Because she didn't." Prism answered, walking up to her friends with the rest of her team. "I still have the night vision recordings from the blackout. Someone was moving around, dodging her and killing people." She then looked to Ruby. "And you know about it."
"W-What?!" Ruby stammered. She waved her hands in front of her to ward off the accusation. "N-No, I don't know anything about the attack!"
"Funny you mention that." Prism said, as she tapped on her screen and held it up. "This is the footage from Penny's Point of View camera. She looks to you, and you have a worried look on your face, and you mouth something. Something like, 'Here we in,' but that doesn't make sense. Here, the lights go out, and Penny shifts to night vision, but she's getting static during this time, too. Luckily, I can still see everything through the static. In the first second, nothing, then there's a man crouched low to the ground, and then he's gone again until Penny finds him again, but misses after every attempt to catch him." She pauses after the third attempt on Penny's part, then glares at Ruby. "What aren't you telling us?"
Yang stepped in front of Ruby. "She told you everything she knows, so back off."
"Don't get testy with me, Xiao Long." Prism growled at the taller blonde. "I'm not in the mood to play these games that you seem to be involved in a lot, recently."
"Excuse me?" Yang's eyes flashed red for a moment, but reverted back to violet, but kept the same glare on Prism. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You tell me, Ms. Break His Legs. Why is your team always at the center of attention of every scandal?"
"Prism-" Reizo started, but was cut off by Blake, who stepped up next to Yang. Her glare on Prism felt dangerous, like a wild animal protecting it's territory.
"Oh, don't you start, Miss White Fang." Blake narrowed her eyes at her. "Yeah, I know all about your little reunion back at Beacon."
"Prism!" Reizo said louder, but it fell on deaf ears as she turned to Weiss next. But Reizo had enough by that point and stepped in front of her. She looked up to argue, but held a glare on her that told her to step back. She did, and Reizo looked to Team RWBY. "I apologize on her behalf." He bowed with his arms straight at his sides, like he was taught to do when he was younger. It's been a long time since he last apologized like this, but he felt this one was needed. "On all of our behalf, I apologize if my team has offended yours." He stood up and looked to Ruby. "But I do agree with Prism that you know more than you're telling us." He extended his hand. "Ruby, please, tell us what's going on."
Ruby looked to her team, who all had a nervous look on their faces, but they all nodded to her. She took a deep breath, then looked Reizo dead in the eye. "Okay. I'll tell you everything." She then looked around. "But not here."
Arthur Watts sat comfortably in his seat at the coffee house he frequented in his youth. He smirked as he drank his coffee and browsed on his scroll, moving from one news article to the next, and delighting at the chaos he orchestrated.
The current article he was reading, "The Mantle Mouthpiece," had an interview from an eyewitness, who claimed she, "saw the soullessness in the doll's eyes." He chuckled to himself a little at that.
"We need to talk." Watts set down his scroll and coffee, seeing Arishna Dawn glowering at him from across the table. He sighed as he released his coffee.
"Do we? I don't believe we do."
"I want to talk."
"I don't. Thus, we have reached an impasse. Compromises must be made, of course."
"I said-" Watts rolled his eyes and stood up. Grabbing his scroll, he stepped away from his seat and began walking down the street. "Hey! I'm not done with you!"
"But I am done with you." Watts continued walking without looking to her. He knew she would chase him. "Unless, of course, you had something I wanted."
"I know you rigged the election!"
"And why would I care about politics in Atlas?" He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to fumble a response. When none came, he continued. "Robyn Hill and her supposed, "crusade," serves me no purpose."
"Then you would side with Jacques Schnee." Arishna deduced. She only caught that because he led her to it. Half-points for that.
"And we come around to the question I asked earlier; why?"
Arishna tried to think, but the only thing on her mind was how dangerous this man she was arguing with was. If she wasn't careful, Glynda would- "You're blackmailing him."
"Not a bad guess, but still wrong." He turned a corner, and she followed. "I don't reward failures, sorry. Besides, why would I blackmail him? What could he have that I want?"
Arishna tensed her brow as she thought. Jacques Schnee's wealth was legendary, and the means he achieved that wealth even more so. But Watts didn't care about Lien, or Dust. Those were the only two things a CEO could give him. Wait, was Jacques Schnee still the CEO? Becoming councilman would have rendered his reach into those resources of the SDC null and void. "Wait. You needed Jacque Schnee to become councilman, so that he could get you information on Ironwood!"
Watts stopped and chuckled. "I suppose if you lay enough crumbs on the ground, you'll catch a rat eventually. However, there's one detail you missed."
"What's that?"
"Oh, you're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll figure it out." He stepped past her, walking towards the street from the alley. Wait, when did they reach an alley? "Oh, and try not scream. Trust me; it's better that way."
"Oh, you're no fun!" A voice shouted behind her. Before she could turn, she felt a sharp pain in her back. She wanted to scream, but the pain was so intense, she couldn't move. Everything faded to black as she heard a distant laughter.
Then, only silence.
Reizo sat in his room, staring out the window. He tensed more and more like a coiled spring with every breath. The clock on the wall ticked, growing louder in the deafening silence. He scratched at the chair's armrest with every tick.
The discussion he shared with Ruby still gnawed at him, and he knew he wasn't alone. Echidna left for a walk around Mantle with Sandy, the latter of the two taking it especially harsh, thus the former saw it best to clear their heads with open air. Acacia left for the training room, no doubt to punch her anxieties away, or at least try to. Prism used the teleporter and locked it from the other side. She liked to tinker during troubling times, and right now she needed it more than ever; alone.
Reizo watched as the clouds drifted past Atlas, and the Sun slowly rose higher and higher to it's noonday place. With a shaky breath, he looked to the right and saw a Bullhead pull closer and closer to Atlas.
Suddenly, it felt harder to breathe. What if this Salem was secretly hiding on that Bullhead? Or one of her agents, like that Tyrian guy? He shut his eyes and shook his head to clear his thoughts. What if his team ran into one of her agents before, but they didn't know it? Would they survive?
His heart leapt into his throat as he heard the door click. He shot up and took a combative stance before the door fully opened. "Who's there?" Reizo tried to bark with as much confidence as he could.
The door opened, revealing a sweaty Acacia standing there with an unimpressed look. "It's just me; your worst nightmare." She walked in, tossing her gym bag onto her bed, and moved towards the bathroom. "By the way, that squeak of yours? Totally intimidating."
Reizo blushed at the remark, but it faded when he saw Acacia's hands. Her knuckles were raw and bleeding. "Hey, you okay?"
Acacia gave him a sour look. "What do you think?" She then walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Reizo sighed as he looked out the window again.
Just this morning, he only cared about becoming a Huntsman. He'd fight Grimm, save lives, and make his family proud. Now, everything changed. Becoming a Huntsman seemed too small of a goal now. He saw a new monster to fight and ultimately slay, but hearing about her from Team RWBY made everything... unreal. She sounded too mythical, too make-believe to exist. But he also knew Team RWBY wouldn't lie about something like this.
Reizo sighed as he looked at the blue sky; the Bullhead from earlier had long since passed, leaving only clouds to roll by.
Acacia turned the water to cold, letting the icy droplets splash from the showerhead. She dabbed her knuckles with toilet paper, wincing as it stung at her open cuts. She swore, but continued to dab until the square was more blood than paper. She then balled up the sheet, and tossed it into the trash.
She stepped into the shower, exhaling sharply as the cold water hit her skin. She shivered, and made quick work lathering herself, scrubbing, and then rinsing the suds from herself. She hissed as her cuts were invaded by both her body wash and the freezing ice water. Once she was thoroughly rinsed, she shut off the water, but didn't leave the shower. She just stared at the drain as the water poured down.
What happened to her life? She attended Beacon, nearly died when some nutcase hijacked Atlas, and now she's at Atlas, and the same thing is happening all over again!
That was why her knuckles were bloddy. She was punching her anxieties, but every time she punched the bag, she got angrier and angrier, until either the bag broke or, after the second bag, she broke.
It just made her angry. She never felt so angry. She didn't think she'd ever been this angry, or be angrier than she was now.
There was a loud banging at the bathroom door. "Hang on, I just finished!" Acacia grabbed her towel and dried off. The banging continued. "Hold your horses, I'm getting dressed!" The banging didn't cease. She was going to murder someone if they didn't stop. She unlocked the door. "What?!"
"Professor Dawn was attacked earlier today." Reizo had a grim look on his face. "She's in the hospital right now."
#rwby#rwby oc#team reaps#reizo yamato#echidna bluewaters#acacia evergreen#prism asagiri#sandy mithril#arishna dawn#penny polendina#ruby rose#weiss schnee#blake belladonna#yang xiao long#tyrian callows#arthur watts#pietro polendina#evangeline yamato#raizo yamato
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Reizo’s Request to draw his OC’s.
From left to right:
Echidna Bluewaters
Acacia Evergreen
Prisma Asagiri
Sandy Mithril
This kind of took the soul out of me lol, but learned a lot nevertheless.
OC Requests are closed.
Reizo’s tumbr is right here> https://dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer.tumblr.com/
((Couldn’t tag the name for some reason))
Also, resolution kind of died in the group shot, unless you open it, then its high. Tumblr why you gotta do this--
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Echidna Bluewaters Request
Echidna Bluewaters belongs to @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer
_______________________________________________________________________
Funny story, I already made art for Echidna a couple of months ago and forgot to post it. So fast forward a couple of months later... I made another one thinking that I haven’t done it yet. *facepalm*
Sorry, it took a while but hey... um.. have 2 Echidnas then? XD
New Echidna:
The forgotten Echidna:
#jinjinzs#art#doodle#illustration#wacom#cintiq#request#imagejin#art request#rwby#oc#original character
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Reizo and Echidna are so sweet! What a cute request!
Happy Holidays @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer !
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REAPING OF ATLAS 2/3
RWBY Characters Are Created And Owned By Rooster Teeth And Monty Oum.
Team REAPS And All Original Characters In It's Universe Are Created And Owned By @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer
"Are you sure they're okay? Acacia may have recovered physically, but emotionally and mentally-"
"They're fine, Professor Goodwitch," Arishna said in an irritable tone, "I know you love those kids, but I honestly think you're spoiling them too much. If you need someone to spoil-"
"Enough!" Glynda barked. Arishna loved it when she got stern and professional. It made her feel... What's the word? "I will not put those children into harm's way while they are still recovering. As for you, I suggest you take a cold shower every morning if you're going to be speaking so casually on the phone while in Atlas Academy. James may be strict, but he's even more so with inappropriate behavior under his guidance."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. It might be fun."
"Arishna..."
"Glynda, listen, if something does happen to those kids, you will be the first to hear it from me. I promise." A sigh on the other end was all Glynda could muster. "I love you."
"...I love you, too, Arishna. And if you need to tell someone before me, I understand. But I refuse to hear it from anyone else. Good day, Professor Dawn."
"And good night, Glynda." Arishna blew a kiss into the screen and hung up. She then heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry, Glyndie."
Arishna dialed another number into her scroll, and when it was answered, she spoke first. "Hey, it's me."
Prism took a deep breath as she entered the arena. It reminded her of Beacon, but with a few slight differences. Instead of Professor Goodwitch monitoring the sparring matches, it was a tall cyborg with a beard. Instead of numerous random classmates in the bleachers, it was her friends. Instead of Yang Xiao Long taunting and teasing her as she stood at side of the arena, it was an excessively boasting dog-faunus.
"Feel free to drop out at any time. I know I can be a handful from what my opponents tell me." Martow gloated with a sneer.
"What? The training dummies?" Marrow growled at her remark. Okay, scratch that. This will be the exact same as fighting Xiao Long.
"Are you ready?" Headmaster Ironwood called from above. When he saw neither competitor raise their hand, he nodded. "Begin!"
Marrow made the first move, throwing his boomerang, Fetch, at Prism. Prism reached into her bag and pulled out a few spheres. Once she had them in hand, she summoned a hardlight shield with her free hand. The boomerang bounced back into Marrow's hands, but the specialist had already closed the gap. He began swinging Fetch at the barrier, hoping his sword could cut through.
Prism ran around the barrier and threw a sphere at Marrow. Marrow blocked the ball with Fetch, but found himself soaked in water.
"What? Did you think it was a stink-bomb?" Prism asked. "How childish do you think I am?"
Marrow responded by shifting Fetch into a rifle and began firing on Prism. She dove to the side, summoning a hardlight barrier, then rolled another sphere towards Marrow. The specialist jumped away as it rolled towards him, and blasted it with Fetch. He then gripped his nose at the foul odor exploding from the globe.
"Yeah, that's right! I do have a stink-bomb!" Prism gloated as she closed the gap between them. She began swinging at him with her chakram, and he was forced to go on the defensive with Fetch in it's rifle form, as he needed both hands to shift it into a boomerang and one hand was preoccupied covering his nose.
Marrow kicked Prism away and pointed at her with Fetch. "Stay!"
Prism was stuck in place as Marrow lowered his weapon and walked over and snatched the remaining orb from her hand. "Too bad, kid! I warned you guys I was on another level, but you didn't listen." He tossed the ball into the air and caught it. "You got some fancy tech, but it won't always save you. Maybe if spent less time hiding behind these toys, you might learn that-!"
"Unidentified print has been detected and scanned for 1-0 seconds."
Marrow looked around confused. "Who said that?"
"Initiating self-destruct sequence of cryo-core."
The little orb in Marrow's palm hissed as it released a super cold gas into the air, freezing itself to his palm. As Marrow shook it around, Prism slowly regained her movement. His clothes, soaked from the splash of her first device, iced over until he was trapped in his own clothing.
Prism reached over and pressed a finger to the globe. "Prometheus." The gas ceased and the orb shut itself once more.
"Self-destruct sequence deactivated."
"Next time," Prism reeled back and allowed her gauntlet to build up power, "don't touch my things!" She launched her fist forward and punched Marrow in his mouth. The dog was sent crashing to the ground.
Headmaster Ironwood raised his hand. "I've seen enough. I declare Prism Asagiri the victor in this bout. However, don't let Marrow's advice fall on deaf ears. You may one day find yourself in a position where your technology may fail you."
"Says the guy whose pet Paladin almost killed us." Prism scoffed and muttered under her breath.
"And Marrow, once again, your boastful attitude and underestimation of your opponent led to your loss in this round. Perhaps I should have Specialist Bree take you under her wing in how a specialist should act?"
"Damn it, Wags!" Harriet cursed, "Once again, you lost and I have to pay for it!"
Prism climbed the steps and found her seat next to Acacia. As Sandy passed her on her way down, they high-fived and Prism wished her good luck. Prism decided now was a good time to gloat.
"Did you see my babies and I out there? We kicked some serious butt!"
A chuckle behind her caught her off-guard. Specialist Bree sat behind her with her arms crossed. "Don't get so cocky, kid. Marrow may be a specialist, but he only just joined us. He's more bark than bite. Honestly, I should be thanking you for knocking him down a peg. He's been getting too big for his britches, if you ask me."
"And if you ask me, you should treat your teammates with a little more respect." Elm scolded. "Especially someone more junior than yourself!"
"Besides, if I remember correctly, there was a rather skittish Harriet Bree once who was so excited for her first day, she forgot to wear pants to her briefing!" Clover laughed with Elm as Harriet blushed and avoided looking at her teammates. "But enough about that. Besides, it looks like Vine's match is about to begin.
Vine stood perfectly still with his eyes closed and his palms touching in meditation. Sandy didn't know how to wake him up, or whatever it is you do to get someone out of meditation. Was he waiting for Ironwood? What was she supposed to do?
"So-"
"You are quick to act and quite impatient." Sandy nearly jumped as her opponent finally spoke. "The outcome of a battle can be determined by only the first move. If you move first, you declare your strategy to your opponent, making it easy to counter. But if you choose to counter, your opponent may be too fast for you to react."
"Uh, I guess." Sandy replied. Did he want to chat before the fight started? Why?
"And what do you think will happen if you win?"
"Well, I guess I just go back to my seat and wait for everyone to be done."
"What if that's not the case? What if you only manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? What if you must be sent to the medical wing?" When Sandy had no answer, Vine continued. "Tell me," Vine offered his hand as he spoke, "what is the purpose of Huntsmen and Huntresses?"
"Uh, to kill Grimm, right?"
"Why is that?"
"Uh, well, if we don't, the Grimm will kill everyone and destroy everything."
"And if we kill the Grimm, and eradicate them for good, what then?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are we no longer Huntsmen? Do we disband now that the threat of Grimm is eradicated?"
"Well, no-" Sandy paused. "I mean-" She paused again. As she pondered, Vine turned around and walked back up the steps. "Hey!" Sandy chased after him. "Where are you going?!"
"I see no reason for us to fight." Vine explained. "Therefore, I forfeit."
"But-"
"Vine Zeki has forfeited the match. Therefore, Sandy Mithril is the victor!" Headmaster Ironwood boomed from above. "All contestants, please return to your seats!"
Sandy was left standing dumbstruck, then slunked her way back up to her seat, where she slumped into her chair.
"Hey, you okay?" Reizo asked. No response.
"Look on the bright side," Echidna smiled, "at least you won without breaking a sweat!" Unfortunately, her words of encouragement only yielded a groan of disapproval.
"Don't beat yourself up, kid." Elm said "Vine isn't the kind of guy to fight for the sake of fighting. He'd rather talk things out than duke it out." Her gaze shifted from Sandy to Acacia. "Don't go thinking I'm the same, though. You'll actually be giving it your all against me!" She then made her way down the stairs toward the arena.
Acacia gulped.
Acacia made her way down the steps to the arena. She stopped on the final step and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You're gonna be fine," she told herself, "it's just a practice round. They just want to see where you are in your training. It's not going to be like last time with the Paladin." After one last calming breath, Acacia stepped into the arena.
"There you are!" Elm exclaimed. "I was worried you got cold feet. You good to fight?"
Acacia gave a cocky smile as she scoffed. "You kidding? I'm good as good gets!"
Elm smiled at that. "That's great to hear! Now let's see you back it up!"
"Are you ready?" General Ironwood called from above.
"Always ready, sir!" Elm called back, tightening her grip on Timber.
"Then let us..." General Ironwood kept the long pause for dramatic effect, then exclaimed, "Begin!"
Acacia rushed forward with her tonfas and swung at Elm, who blocked with Timber's shaft. Acacia swung three more times, then ducked and weaved to Elm's side, getting in a good few hits, before jumping back to avoid a retaliating swing.
Acacia jumped forward to continue her assault, but Elm was dodging this time, instead of blocking. Was she trying to put space between them? Acacia didn't let up on her swings, but was so focused on Elm's front that she wasn't paying attention to behind her, as Elm moved Timber to her other hand behind her back. Elm swung low and tripped Acacia, causing her to fall on her back.
Acacia was a little dazed, but still too slow to recover. Elm planted a boot on Acacia's stomach and used Roots to pin her down. Elm shifted Timber to it's rocket launcher mode and pointed down at the trapped girl. She'd probably struggle a little before giving up and calling the match.
But she didn't.
When Elm looked down, she was shocked by what she saw. Acacia was struggling, yes, but less like, "Oh no, I'm pinned," and more like a rabbit caught in a rope trap. Acacia was scrambling, tears flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks like a river. She began punching Elm's as hard as she could, grunting in desperation. She was helpless.
"Hey, kid?" Acacia looked up to see her opponent wearing a look of concern on her face. "You good?"
Acacia calmed down a little bit, realizing the boot wasn't as heavy as the Paladin's. Her breathing became less rapid, and finally gave a calming breath. She then chuckled. "I guess I lose, huh?"
Elm chuckled with her. "Yeah, I guess so!" Elm removed Roots and stepped off of Acacia and offered her a hand. "You wanna try again?"
Acacia sighed. "No. Not yet." She walked back towards the steps, up to her seat. "You win."
"Acacia Evergreen has forfeited the match! The victor is Elm Ederne!" General Ironwood roared from above. "Both contestants, please return to your seats."
Acacia sighed as she sat next to Prism. That was disappointing. Nothing quite like a panic attack during a sparring match to kill your shot at graduating early.
"Hey, you okay?" Acacia opened her eyes to see her entire team swarmed around her. Echidna was holding her left hand, while Prism held her right, with Sandy standing in front of her and Reizo kneeling next to her. Acacia's face flushed at all this attention she was getting.
"Uh, I-!"
"Children, please! Give Acacia some space!" Everyone stepped away as Reizo's mother glared at her new students. Acacia shivered. She hadn't seen a glare like hers since Professor Goodwitch. This professor, however, softened her expression to one fitting for a mother such as hers as she spoke gently. "Are you okay, dear?"
"Uh, yeah, I just-"
"Oh, will you quit coddling them!" Acacia almost got whiplash after turning her head so quickly. Specialist Ederne sat down next to Acacia where Echidna once was. When did that happen? "The kid's fine; just had a little scare, that's all. Right, kid?" She finished with a wink towards her.
"Yeah, I'm, uh... I'm good."
"See? She's fine. Besides, if she wasn't, Vine would be more than happy to do some meditating with her after her classes. Ain't that right, Vine?" Vine wasn't paying attention. In fact, he looked like he was meditating just so he didn't have to respond. "See?"
Acacia cleared her throat. "Yeah. I'll, uh, I'll hold you guys to it."
"Great! Now it's time for Harriet's match! You're gonna love this. She might be the most hot-headed, but she's also the most talented of us, too." Specialist Ederne leaned down to whisper. "Uh, but don't tell her I said that."
Echidna and Harriet made it to their places in the arena at the same time. They didn't take their eyes off of each other once they saw their opponent at the bottom of their stairs.
"Feel free to drop out at any time, princess." Specialist Bree teased. Echidna knew her foe wouldn't hold anything back, so neither should she. "I can tell you're scared. I bet your heart is thumping in that dainty little chest of yours."
Echidna scoffed at the claim. Talking back to her would just distract her. She simply took her stance with her staff in front of her.
"Not gonna talk, huh? Alright! I can respect that." Specialist Bree donned Fast Knuckles and took a boxing stance, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm ready when you are!"
Ironwood waited a moment, seeing the combatants were already taking stances. "Begin!"
Specialist Bree launched herself at Echidna, and kicked at her staff. Echidna gripped her staff tightly and used the force of the kick to spin herself, using her momentum to swing her staff as she spun and attempted to strike her opponent's head. Specialist Bree ducked with a cocky smirk, however, and swung her legs out to catch Echidna in the legs. Echidna jumped, however, with a cocky smirk of her own, as a wave of water crashed into Specialist Bree, sending her rolling along the floor.
"Where the hell-?!" Specialist Bree saw Echidna removing her gloves to reveal fins.
"I can use my aura to create water and manipulate it." Echidna explained as water rolled off her fins in small droplets. "I was waiting for a chance to show this off to my team before starting school, so I guess now is as good a time as any." Echidna then put her hand up to her lips. "Oh! But I'm getting ahead of myself! Do you need a towel?"
Specialist Bree growled and punched the floor, cracking it a little. "No, but you're gonna need an ice pack when I'm done with you!"
Echidna split her staff in two as she readied herself for another frontal assault. She must have blinked because Specialist Bree was suddenly gone!
"Heads up, kid!" Echidna jumped back and looked up as Specialist Bree came down like a comet, shattering the flooring of the arena. But there was no time for her to rest as Specialist Bree disappeared again. A blur out of the corner of her left eye forced her to spin to left, just in time to catch Specialist Bree launching at her again. Echidna tried to dodge, but was caught in the shoulder by a foot from the specialist. This victory for the specialist was short lived as Echidna was able to grip her ankle with a claw from one end on her baton.
Echidna yanked on the chain attached and forced Specialist Bree to the ground with a splash. She looked around and noticed the space they were fighting in had become a large puddle of water. Echidna held out her hands in front of her and flattened her palms upwards, then slowly raised her hands up.
Specialist Bree kicked her leg back, but found there was enough slack in the chain to not bother Echidna. "Damn it!"
"Enough!" Ironwood barked from above. "Harriet Bree is the victor of this bout." With those words, Echidna gasped as she fell to her knees. "I feel I don't need to explain the importance of aura conservation, do I, Miss Bluewaters?" Echidna breathed heavily, feeling drained from her trick. Her plan was sound, she thought, but she had no idea how much aura it required.
"Hey, you need a hand?" Echidna looked up to see Specialist Bree offering her hand. She took it, but found it uneasy to stand. "Woah! Easy now!" Specialist Bree moved Echidna's hand over her shoulders as they walked up the steps. "Not bad, kid! But try not to burn yourself out next time."
Echidna sighed. "Thanks."
Echidna yawned as she settled into her seat. She hadn't expended that much aura since that Beringel mission. She looked to her left and saw Reizo's mother watching the arena with intensity. It made sense to Echidna, since her son (currently daughter) was now up to bat. Reizo was their leader, and for good reason as she understood. He wasn't as smart as Prism, nor as spirited as Sandy, or as tough as Acacia, and certainly wasn't as socially graceful as herself, but Reizo had something that made him different from the others.
"Up next is Clover. Ten Lien says the kid won't last a minute!" Specialist Amin boasted.
"I'll take you on that bet!" Specialist Bree exclaimed. "No way Clover will lose against someone so green!"
"50 Lien that the kid makes it to 10 minutes." Specialist Ederne pitched in.
"I'm certain Clover wouldn't approve of wanton gambling." Specialist Zeku opined.
"Come on, Reizo," Echidna wearily thought as she closed her eyes, "prove them wrong."
"It's not too late to back out, you know." Specialist Ebi reasoned. "We can just have you start all over again. There's no shame in going back to square one."
"Will my friends be with me?" Reizo asked as she gripped her katana's pommel.
"Well, we can't guarantee anything. I've seen at least one of them ready for the next level."
"Then my answer is no." Reizo drew her sword from it's sheath. "It's either all of us, or none of us."
"Okay, but I tried." Specialist Ebi submitted with a shrug. He then waved to above them. "Hey, we're ready down here!"
General Ironwood nodded. "Then let the final battle begin!"
Reizo wasted no time as she charged with her blade up and at her side. She swung with one hand, but missed entirely as Specialist Ebi leaned back. Reizo recovered by swinging back the other way at a diagonal angle, but the specialist leader simply stepped back. Reizo decided on a new approach and thrusted her katana into her opponent.
Her mother gasped at the direct hit to his chest. Reizo pressed forward and pushed him back. Specialist Ebi laughed as he flicked his badge.
"Not bad, kid," he exclaimed, "if I weren't so lucky, I'd have to get an early retirement!" He then reached for his weapon at his side. "But now that I know you're going for the kill," Specialist Ebi extended Kingfisher, "I don't need to hold back, do I?"
Reizo began her charge again, but the specialist leader launched the hook from Kingfisher out and snagged her sleeve. He reeled in the hook with a tug, forcing Reizo into a spin. After steadying herself, Reizo looked forward in time to see Specialist Ebi throwing a punch at her. She twisted her body to avoid him and swung up at his exposed arm, but Kingfisher's rod had caught the blow and knocked the sword to the side.
'Time for a new plan.' Reizo thought as she sheathed her katana, inserting a lightning and a fire dust coin into the blade's coin slots before it was fully in. She then attempted to goad her opponent closer with a taunting of her free hand. He just smiled and obliged by walking forward, unafraid of her. When he was within feet of her, Reizo drew her blade as quickly as she could, catching Kingfisher in her path. Flames roared and electricity crackled as she pressed forward into her foe. Specialist Ebi simply pushed her back and tugged on his reel. Was it upside down?
Reizo was sent to the ground on her back. She tried to get up, but the specialist leader was already on top of her, with a boot on her wrist and forcing her to let go of her katana.
"You done?" Specialist Ebi asked. Reizo blew her hair out of her face.
"Yeah. I'm done."
"You have all performed admirably. You have proven that your skills have not diminished since the Fall." Ironwood paced before the students with the Ace-Ops standing behind him. "However, it should be noted that you all still have a ways to go before you can become fully licensed Huntsmen. As such, I have decided, if you will allow me, to enroll all of you into Atlas Academy as third year students."
The five glanced at each other, each taking their time to silently judge the expressions of the other. Once Reizo recieved a nod from the other girls, she stood up and cleared her throat. "All of us, headmaster?"
"Yes." Ironwood answered immediately. "I feel you children have more that proved yourselves beyond the capabilities of first year students of Beacon, and with only one more year of proper education, I see no issue with you five becoming Huntsmen."
Reizo looked back to her team, whom all smiled back at her. Reizo nodded and faced the Headmaster once more. "Yes, Headmaster Ironwood. We'll do you proud!"
"Excellent!" Ironwood smiled. "Then allow me to once again welcome you to Atlas." He then turned to speak with Reizo's mother. "Professor Yamato. If you would be so kind, please escort our new students to their dorms."
"Of course, Headmaster." Reizo's mother extended her arm towards the exit as she spoke to her new students. "If you will follow me, I will escort you to your dorm rooms, where you can all get settled in."
Ironwood smiled as he watched his new students leave, taking their first steps towards serving their community, and making humanity better as a whole. A buzz on his scroll interrupted his thoughts. He reached down and looked at the screen, sighing as he read the contact. What did Cordovin want this time?
"Ah! Sweet comfort!" Prism sighed as she sunk into the bliss of her new mattress, sighing contentedly after a three hour "detour" to the dorm room, in which Reizo's mother took the liberty of explaining not only the hundreds of different rooms and their uses, but the history of Atlas Academy as well. This heaven was interrupted by Echidna grabbing her leg.
"Hey! We were going to vote on who slept in what bed!"
"And I vote for this bed. All in favor? Aye! All oppose?"
"Nay!" Echidna shouted.
"The motion remains unchanged. It's my bed." Prism heaved a sigh of delight. "I love democracy."
As the two argued, Acacia and Sandy looked over the new uniforms, already in their closets. Acacia felt the interior, the wool scratching against her palm, and then the surface, which felt like cotton. Acacia smiled, glad to know Atlas was mindful of both it's freezing temperatures and high altitude, neither of which made the pit viper poltergeist feel comfortable. Damn her reptilian traits!
"Ugh! Do they only have steel gray?" Sandy complained. "At least Beacon's uniforms had style."
"I'm sure they have smoke gray in stock if you'd like," Acacia joked, "or if you'd prefer, I'm sure they can get you a very, very, very light black, or a very, very, very, very, very, very dark white." Sandy and Acacia giggled at the jest.
Reizo steeped out of the bathroom, wearing a towel around her torso. She stood for a moment, watching her team. Prism was annoying Echidna, Acacia and Sandy were laughing and making jokes, and she felt left out. It really was just like Beacon.
Reizo walked to her bag, which she assumed were brought up by Atlas staff while she was fighting for the amusement of her new, stoic overlord. She hummed in thought as she got dressed. Third year students, but not graduates?
Was he not entertained?
A knock on the door broke her thoughts. "Just a second!" Reizo called as she put on her new uniform. Wool? What kind of sadist makes a scratchy wool uniform?!
Another knock followed. Once Reizo was dressed, Acacia answered the door, as she was the closest. Behind the door was Professor Yamato stood in the doorway, smiling and waving.
"Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you have all settled in now." The in-fighting over one of the bunks informed her of the contrary. "Ah, I see. Is there a problem I can resolve?"
Before Reizo could speak, a new, yet familiar voice spoke on her behalf.
"Ah, it's fine, Mrs. Y! These kids are just that close, y'know?" The infighting stopped as all five students rushed into the hallway to meet the voice of their former professor, Arishna Dawn. "Yo! Remember me?"
"It's Professor Goodwitch's girlfriend!" Sandy cried. An icy chill ran through Professor Dawn as her fellow professor gave her a wary glance.
"Oh, really?" Professor Mom inquired. "So you had faculty romantically involved with one another at Beacon, eh?"
"Well, I mean, it started before-"
"No, she was a Teacher's Assistant when we started." Echidna explained. "She only became a professor just before the Vytal Festival."
"Oh, so not only was it a romantic relationship, but a case of fraternization as well?" Professor Dawn scrambled for an explanation as she squirmed in place under the judging eyes of her superior. "My, my! The things Beacon got away with when I'm not watching."
"No, you got it all wrong!" Professor Dawn shouted with eyes shut. It became silent. That wasn't a good sign. She opened an eye and was petrified by the steely gaze of her senior.
"Oh? Then please, do explain how your relationship with a supervisory faculty member began."
"Well,not now, here, in front of the students!" Professor Dawn excused.
"Very well." Professor Dawn sighed in relief at her senior's decision. "Students, please excuse us. I must speak with Professor Dawn in private. Reizo, I expect to see your team in class at 7 AM tomorrow!"
"Yes, mom! Er, I mean, Ma'am!"
"Just Professor is fine." She then turned and walked away, dragging Professor Dawn by the collar. "Now, about this fraternization..."
"Help me!" Professor Dawn cried.
Reizo almost felt bad for her. Almost, but not enough to save her from her mother.
A week had passed for Team REAPS much like Beacon. The first two days crawled, but by the third day, they finally got the hang of it. The fourth day couldn't have ended fast enough because it was Friday.
Prism practically blasted from one class to the other like she was shot out of a cannon (and in one class, she did), and she inhaled her lunch. Literally. She had a vacuum device connected between her mouth and her plate, and she had the blades pull her food into them and sent the slush and mush of food products into her mouth.
Acacia and Sandy said it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.
Echidna held back the urge to vomit by a hair.
Reizo just sat there.
The day winded down from there, and at the final bell, Prism ran to her room and packed her bag for an overnight trip. Juice, snacks, a change of clothes, a spare lug nut and wrench set, oil. Y'know, the essentials.
"You have your scroll?" Acacia asked.
"Yup!" Prism answered.
"Is it charged?" Sandy inquired.
"Mhm!"
"Did you call ahead to the... Polyester guy?" Reizo asked, half for comfort, half for clarity.
"Doctor Pietro Polendina, and yes!" Prism huffed. "He sent me his address and told me he would be expecting me."
"You aren't going to cause trouble?" Echidna interrogated.
"Guys, I said I would be fine! You're just being worrywarts for nothing!" Prism whined, then followed up with a hug. "But thanks, guys. I appreciate it."
"Call us when you're on your way back, okay?" Reizo said.
"Or if you get into trouble." Echidna added.
Prism smiled. "I will. Don't be a stranger!" Prism left, shaking at the thought of meeting a brilliant mind like Doctor Polendina. How lucky was she?
'What a dump!' Prism thought as she stood before a run-down building. She checked her scroll again to make sure this was indeed the right place. Yeah, it matched. It also matched a public service amount she watched at Beginner school about walking home alone.
Prism cautiously approached the door and rapped her knuckle against it twice, then jumped a few feet back. A television screen flared to life, but the feed was scrambled and all Prism could see was static.
"Yes?" A voice inquired. It didn't sound like the doctor, but then again, the screen has a bad case of static. Was it age or weather? Since Mantle relied on subterranean dust lines running under buildings and street curbs, Prism thought the former was more likely. "And you are?"
Prism cleared her throat. "Prism Asagiri, from Atlas? I spoke earlier this week to Doctor Polendina and I was told to come to this address by him. Is he there?"
"Oh, yes. Give me a moment." The screen went dead and Prism took another step back. If it was a creep, she'd run. If it was some Grim in disguise, she'd kill it, then run. She made more plans in her head as the door unlocked. The doors opened, revealing a silhouette of something large, but not tall, standing on four, inhuman legs. "Ms. Asagiri?" A familiar voice called.
Prism gulped. "Yes?" The creature stepped out of the doors, the street lights revealing not a Grimm, but a dark-skinned, heavy-set, elderly man with a gray, bushy beard in a green sweater-vest. He was sitting in a large, iron seat with spider legs. "Doctor Polendina?"
"Please, call me Pietro." He said. "Come in, I don't want you catching your death of cold out here!"
Never judge a book by it's cover. That was a lesson Prism was taught time and time again. What's that; a shiny ball? Nope, it's a sub-sonic shotgun! Let me guess; a Grimm with fins? Nope, they're glider wings! Okay, I got it, it's an abandoned building with deviants of every variety inside, right? Three strikes, bud, because this is actually a super-science lab!
Prism walked around in awe as Doct- Pietro gave her a tour of his lab. Well, not so much a tour as him trying to explain things like funding, research grants, and doctoral dissertations, only for Prism to interrupt by gasping shouting, "What's that?!" every ten minutes. She would then apologize and ask that he continue.
But a new voice interrupted them this time.
"Doctor? Are you well? Sporadic gasping is often a symptom of illnesses such as-"
"Whoa!" Prism jumped. "What was that?!"
"Oh, that's that little passion project I was telling you about." Pietro answered. "You remember the Fall of Beacon, correct?"
"I tend to have recurring nightmares of it now and then, yes." Prism said plainly.
Pietro was silent for a moment. "...Yes. Er, apologies for bringing up bad memories."
"Oh, it's no problem! Go on!"
"Well, of the many casualties, including civilians, Huntsmen, students, White Fang, and so on, one of my creations was also grievously damaged."
"Which one was it? Was it the Atlesian flagship? The Knights? The Paladins?"
"No, no. Nothing so violent. In fact, quite the contrary: she was my greatest creation because of her learning ability, not her combat capabilities."
"Wait, you don't mean-" Pietro pressed a button a nearby shelf, and a prototype for a new car seat belt, and the counter it was sitting on, spun into the wall, and out came a red-haired girl's head, surrounded by other body parts. "Penny?!"
"Sal-u-tations, Friend Prism!" Penny cheered. "I hope you are finding Atlas well!"
"Oh, good! You know each other." Pietro sighed in relief. "That will save some time."
"But, how?! I saw-! We all saw-!" With each failed sentence, Prism gestured wildly with her arms at Penny. Pietro chuckled.
"Allow me to explain."
"So, that's it, huh? Penny is stuck as a head until she gets a new source of aura?" Prism summed up. "Not surprising, since she barely had aura left from her pieces."
"Not exactly. It's not a new source she needs, but a conduit and a new body to contain it. Unfortunately, Ironwood and his researchers need all the funding they can get, and I can forget about asking the SDC. Too may questions and too few morals to understand my answers."
"So she needs a new body, huh?" Prism asked with a smile. "Say, I never got to show you my babies, huh?"
"Your babies?" Pietro eyed her warily as he asked.
"Yup, like this!" Prism proceeded to pull out six massive, in-tact blueprints for her new weapon designs. She then pulled out two, massive swords, then an obscenely large hammer. "Uh, do you get it, or should I stop and actually explain?"
"Uh, I feel an explanation would suffice. Is this your semblance?"
"Oh, no! This is my semblance!" Prism clapped her hands together, then pulled them apart, creating and expanding a small barrier of hard-light between her palms. "I can create flat, hard-light structures with my semblance. Once I started developing my semblance, I decided to figure out the physics of it and started inventing devices powered by it."
"I see. So, you intend to create a conduit and body using hard-light technology?"
"Something like that, but first, I have to ask you something." Prism shot him a smile. "Do you mind if I build something in here? Just to make it easier for us to work together."
Pietro smiled. That was all the answer she needed.
Reizo laid back in her bed, reading over the new strategies she came up with. Her match against the Specialist Leader was sobering, to say the least. She had bested opponents without Copy before, but never one of this caliber. She needed to get stronger.
She closed her eyes and thought back to the day before, and the lesson the professor was giving. "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link." Who was the weakest link? She felt like garbage for even thinking it, but it was a thought every leader had. Or, that's the excuse she gave herself.
Prism was the first fight, and the best result yet. But, like the General Headmaster said, it was less her own skill and more so the incompetence of her opponent. Either way, Prism still performed admirably.
Sandy's "fight" was also an interesting event. Sandy "fought" without lifting a finger. She "fought" an opponent with more combat experience. In the end, she lost her "fight". One thing that was clear, though, was that a Huntsman was more than just a warrior. A Huntsman was also a negotiator and, at times, a political tool, an ideal or standard to be upheld, idolized, and viewed by non-Huntsmen. Reizo sighed.
She hated politics.
Speaking of politics, though, Echidna, the daughter of "the better White Fang" (her words), crossed her mind. Her fight was incredible. An excellent use of her semblance and weapon. She really gave Specialist Bree a run for her money. But she still lost because of her using too much aura. Aura training was important, as well as physical training. If only there were a way to use her semblance without expending so much aura. Maybe if she already had water around her, instead of creating it from her body?
Reizo then thought of her final teammate, Acacia. She fought hard, but the battle was over the second she was pinned. Acacia was still recovering, it seems. Not surprising, since you don't just get over almost dying under six tons of heavy metal in a single night. It still presented a problem, since being pinned is not an anomaly in a fight.
Reizo sighed and shook her head. She got up and walked into the bathroom. She shut the door and made her way to do her business. Business? Ha! That was a good one. Like this would fly in an office job. She chuckled at the idea.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, really." Reizo answered. "I was just thinking about-" Reizo's words died on her lips. Standing in front of her, just ten feet away, was Prism, with grease on her face and a smile on her lips. She looked up to see the teleporter attached to the ceiling.
"About what?" Prism asked, walking over to the sink to wash her hands of the grime accumulated on them.
"How did you get in here?!" Reizo screeched.
"Teleporter. Duh! Remember?" Prism answered as she turned towards the towels.
"Why in the bathroom?!" Reizo was red in the face earlier before, but now it felt like it was on fire with rage.
"Because," Prism began, turning towards her throne-bound leader, "there wasn't any... room... in our..." Prism's face became red, and she turned away covering her eyes. "Damn it, not again!"
Reizo looked down and saw she, or now he, had changed once again. He sighed as he stood up, pulled up his skirt, flushed, and made his way to wash his hands. "Feel free to leave when ever you'd like."
Prism didn't need to be told twice as she bolted from the room. Reizo dried his hands and stepped out next, seeing Echidna, Sandy, and Acacia staring at him wide-eyed.
"What?"
Acacia whistled. "Nice legs!"
#rwby#rwby oc#reizo yamato#echidna bluewaters#acacia evergreen#prism asagiri#sandy mithril#james ironwood#evangeline yamato#arishna dawn#clover ebi#harriet bree#elm ederne#vine zeki#marrow amin
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REAPING OF ATLAS 1/3
RWBY Characters Are Created And Owned By Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.
Team REAPS and Original Characters In It's Universe Are Created And Owned By @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer
Reizo stirred awake as he felt the shift in altitude inside the Bullhead. He looks left to see Echidna snuggled against his arm. She looked so peaceful. He smiled and hoped this moment could last.
"Good afternoon, folks, this is your captain speaking. We will be landing Atlas airport Omega in just a few minutes. We ask that all passengers, return to their seats, verify your belongings are properly stowed, and that all scrolls are returned to air traffic mode. We know you have your choices in flights, and we thank you for choosing Air Clyde."
"Damn it, Clyde, we talked about this!"
With a click, the PA system went silent, though the muffled sounds from the cockpit told Reizo that the announcement wasn't standard Atlas protocol. Reizo sighed as he looked at Echidna again. He noticed she was drooling a bit on him, but he just chuckled as he raised his hand to nudge her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Acacia said from across the way. Reizo raised an eyebrow at her comment. She lifted her scroll in front of her with a mischievous smile. "Not until I get a good picture first."
Reizo chuckled as he slumped back, relaxing as Acacia gathered her blackmail material. After a few minutes of extortion mining, Acacia put her scroll into her back pocket. The smile never left her face.
"How are you feeling?" Acacia asked.
"Better. You?"
Acacia shrugged. "Eh, I've been worse."
"Did you at least sleep well?"
Acacia sighed. "No. I mean, I didn't sleep, so..."
"You didn't sleep?" Reizo asked with concern. "It was a twelve hour flight."
"I had a power nap in the lobby while you guys went to the bathroom."
"That was four hours before our flight, and we were only gone for 15 minutes."
Acacia yawned. "Yep."
Reizo was silent for a moment, dreading the answer of his next question. "Was it the nightmares again?"
Acacia rubbed her eyes at the bridge of her nose. "Yep."
"Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine once I sleep in a normal bed."
Reizo smiled. "Tell ya what; when we get to my house, you can sleep in my bed."
Acacia gave a mischievous grin. "Inviting me into your bed? What would little Echidna here think of that?"
A loud yawn halted any response Reizo had as a come back. Echidna stretched in her seat, noting that they were still in the air. She then noted how cold it felt on her chin, wiping it and finding spittle. Her face was red as she looked to her cushion, Reizo, and became even more red in the face. When she saw the large puddle soaked into his jacket, Echidna looked more red in the face, which would have distracted more people than her blue outfit.
"Good morning, Echidna." Acacia said with much ill-needed saccharine. " Did you sleep well?"
Echidna embarrassment red became an enraged red. "You didn't take pictures of me, did you?" Echidna growled.
Acacia gasped. "Me? Take pictures of you drooling on our team leader while you cuddled him like a jealous lover? Echidna, I am shocked and offended you would say something so horrible about me!"
"She did." Prism ratted. Acacia shot her a glare as she tattled. " She took about 26 pictures of you while you slept." Echidna grew more furious as Reizo laughed. "Reizo was fully conscious the whole time, too." Reizo stopped laughing as Echidna's ire was redirected at him.
Sandy walked back to her seat, having been in the restroom during the entire exchange. "How close are we to Atlas?"
"We should be landing soon." Acacia explained as Sandy took her seat next to her. "Didn't you hear the announcement?"
"No, I only heard the yelling between the pilot and co-pilot."
"Cheapest way to travel, indeed." Acacia mused with a chuckle. She closed her eyes to think, only to slip into slumber. Into the nightmare of that night.
Beacon was in chaos. Grimm breached the walls and barriers, Atlas android soldiers meant to protect the people were open firing on civilians, and students were left to fend for themselves against both.
The team stuck together, moving to different parts of campus. Prism had a plan to reconnect the CCC Tower and try to restore some sense of order amidst the chaos. Prism kept up her hard-light barrier for as long as possible as they moved. However, the constant barrage of gunfire wore down on the shield, and Prism was feeling exhausted from having fought so hard just to get here. Sandy and Acacia provided cover-fire as Reizo and Echidna fought off anything that got too close. They were only a few dozen yards away. They were so close!
That when the bad dream became a nightmare.
A paladin, launched from a Bullhead above them, landed right on top of them. The crash shattered Prism's already weakened barrier, and the team became separated. Reizo scrambled for his weapon, then ran to grab Echidna's weapon. As soon as he reached it, however, the Paladin open fired on him. Sandy ferrokinetically shoved the Paladin, but a stray shot hit Reizo in his shoulder. He fell to the ground with a shout, and Echidna ran over to him. Prism was hyperventilating as the carnage unfolded, so much in a panic that she didn't realize how close she really was to the Paladin.
"Look out!" Acacia shouted as she pushed Prism out of the way. Out of the way of the Paladin's foot.
"Acacia!" Prism shouted as Acacia awoke with wide eyes and heavy breathing. "It's alright; it was just another bad dream."
"Yeah." Acacia breathed. She looked to her friends, each with worrying looks on their faces. She steadied her breathing, then sighed. "Just a bad dream."
The Bullhead landed safely at the airport. The team gathered their belongings and stretched their legs as they walked out of the terminal and towards the exit. Reizo scanned the area, trying to find their point of contact.
"Yoo-hoo!" A woman shouted towards him. She was wearing a long, black dress and had a white band holding back her long, jet black hair. "Reizo! Over here!"
Reizo sighed then smiled as he walked over to her. He hugged her gently, but firmly. She, however, gave no regard and tried her best to crush the young man. "Hi, Mom."
The woman stepped back. "Hi, baby." A snicker from the back of the group caught her attention. "And who are these lovely ladies?"
"Mom, this is-" Reizo's mother interrupted the introductions with a slap on his guiding hand.
"They can introduce themselves to me just fine, Reizo." She stepped closer to them, forcing Reizo to step back. "Hello, I am Evangeline Yamato. And you are?"
"Acacia Evergreen, ma'am." Acacia grinned. "I'm what your son would call a troublemaker."
"Oh, yes, I remember the many letters my son wrote home about you. I believe his first description of you was 'different', if I remember right". Reizo shrank back as Acacia shot him a mischievous grin.
"Oh, really? Well, as far as I know, there's only one of me, so I guess I am different." Acacia chuckled.
"Indeed." She turned to face Echidna. "And you are?"
Echidna gulped. "Echidna Bluewaters, ma'am."
"Oh, so you're his right hand girl!"
"Mom!"
"I'm sorry. His what?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that not right? I remember him writing home about an Echidna who stepped up as leader when he was too ill to do so."
Echidna nervously chuckled. "No, that, uh, that was me. It's very nice to meet you and to, uh, hear that your son speaks so highly of me."
"Of course! My son knows good character when he sees it." Reizo silently screamed into his hands. "And you must be Prism, his mechanic, right?"
Prism twitched. "Oh, is that what he thinks I am?" Prism gave a fake laugh as she glared at Reizo as she extended her hand. "Prism Asagiri, Misses Yamato, Reizo's engineer." Prism introduced with as much venom in her words as possible.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear. My son only mentions you being tech maniac and the one who spends most of her time in the forge."
"Oh, it's not a problem at all! If we're being honest, ma'am, Reizo wouldn't know a shock absorber from a box spring."
Reizo's mother sighed. "Unfortunately, he gets that from his father."
"Hey, uh, Mom; where is dad?" Reizo nervously asked, hoping to break the tension building in his this small space in the airport."
"He's at work, sweetie. Apparently, something big happened at work. Now, where was I?"
Sandy stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Sandy Mithril, and I'm the fifth member of Team REAPS."
"So polite! Reizo, why can't you be more like her?" Reizo groaned as Sandy blushed at the praise. "So, from what my son has told me, you're the one who saved his life during the Fall of Beacon." She wrapped Sandy in a warm embrace. "Thank you for saving my son."
Sandy squirmed around in the hug. "It was nothing, really! I mean, he still got shot in the shoulder!"
"Better his shoulder than his heart!" She broke the hug and held Sandy by the shoulders. "Why, if it wasn't for you, we would never have met!"
"How unfortunate that would be." Sandy groaned. Reizo couldn't help but join her.
It was about an hour later when they arrived at Reizo's home. As he stepped inside, he smiled and chuckled. "This place hasn't changed a bit," he mused.
"Not at first glance, no. After you left, we did do some small changes. The walkway between the living room and the kitchen has been turned into a closet, the kitchen counter was retiled, and that thornbush outside is now a rosebush."
Reizo chuckled. "A thorn for a thorn, huh?"
"Your father made the same joke as well."
Acacia whistled. "Nice place!"
Evangeline smiled. "Thank you. Feel free to put your things in the guest room."
"Actually, I was hoping to sleep in your son's room. He did offer to let me sleep in his bed."
"Oh, did he?" Reizo felt an icy chill in his back as his mother's smiling face turned towards him. "Well, if he offered, feel free to use it as you like. Reizo, why don't you show our guest her room."
Reizo chuckled nervously as he picked up Acacia's luggage. "S-Sure thing, Mom." He climbed his way up the stairs as Acacia followed, snickering along the way.
Evangeline sighed. "Honestly, that boy." She turned around and walked the rest of the girls to the guest room.
Up in Reizo's old room, Acacia immediately began snooping into his old things. His Armoria: Mech Samurai models on the shelf, his Mogar comics, his stacks of old video game cartridges from as old as Jump! to as new as Hero Rising: Flames of Core, his manga volumes from the childish Apple of Eye to the dark and gritty Spear-Man, and of course, his Magic Mistress: Summer Edition posters; all were snooped. Nothing was sacred in the eyes of this spectral serpent.
"Gotta say, I'm unimpressed." Acacia jabbed. "This is exactly as I'd expect from a guy, especially like you."
Reizo set the luggage down. "Yeah, well, there's the bed, so you can go ahead and sleep." Reizo turned to walk out. "Please don't break anything."
"Hey, uh, wait." Reizo stopped and turned towards Acacia. She was sitting on the bed, nervously rubbing her arm. "Can you, uh, stay for a bit?"
Reizo smiled. "Sure." He took a seat next to her. "What's up?"
Acacia grimaced. "About my nightmares."
Reizo stiffened. All of a sudden, his shoulder felt tense. "Yeah?"
"Do you..." Acacia swallowed hard then sighed. "Do you think I'll get over it?" Reizo was silent. "Like, yeah, we survived, that's great and all, but should we, though?"
Reizo rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, probably not, no, but we did and we're better for it."
Acacia chuckled. "You're not the one with the nightmares."
"Not your nightmares, no." Acacia cocked her head. "When I got shot, my first thought was, 'Is this it? Am I going to die here?' And when Echidna showed up, crying, my next thought was, 'Oh, God, I'm going to die here and leave her all alone. All of you alone.' And I was angry at that. I was angry about being so weak. I think I got so angry that I blacked out. Because the next thing I'm seeing is Professor Dawn carrying you while Echidna and Prism carried me. Should we be alive? No. Probably not. But are we alive?" Reizo placed a hand on Acacia's shoulder. "I mean, you can feel that, right?"
Acacia chuckled. "Only if you feel this." She then punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow!" Acacia laughed, then sighed as she fell back into the bed. Or at least, her back did while her head whacked the headboard, causing her to hiss in pain. "You felt that, right?" The two laughed together. "I'm gonna head downstairs. Get some sleep, okay?"
"Aye aye, capitan!" Acacia saluted as she adjusted herself on his bed, then closed her eyes as Reizo shut the door. Acacia yawned and quickly slipped once more into the darkness.
Reizo walked downstairs and stopped at the most most horrifying sound. A sound no man should ever hear when in the comfort of his own home.
It was the sound of girls laughing.
Reizo raced downstairs and his fear were all confirmed. Echidna was in the center, holding the book as Prism and Sandy cooed from her sides. The book in question was a large, leather-back, blue and white book, titled, "MY BABY BOOK:" with his mother's handwriting of his name on the line underneath.
"Mom!" Reizo shouted, which was a failure on his part as this only attracted the girl's attentions, who then eyed him with a glee only seen on a wolf when he's cornered a rabbit.
"Reizo, I didn't know you were such a messy eater! All that pasgetti sauce and noodle on you, you'd think you were trying to wear it!" Sandy cooed.
"I think I could make something that'll keep that scary boat in the bathtub away!" Prism teased.
"You were such a cute baby!" Echidna sighed.
Evangeline finally walked in, holding a plate of coffee cakes. "Careful, now, girls, they might still be warm." She looked to the stairs and saw Reizo. "Oh, there you are, sweetie! Is everything okay up there?"
"Everything is fine, mom." Reizo growled. "Everything except that book they're reading! Why did you show it to them?"
Evangeline smiled. "I didn't."
"Then who-?" Reizo stopped as he noticed the key difference in the house when he went upstairs. The TV was on the news, but nobody was watching it. There was a hat on the hat rack with a steel quill pin on the brim, with a coat to match underneath. Reizo gulped as he pieced the puzzle together.
"Hey, there's my Ray of Sunshine!" shouted a taller man wearing a white shirt and gray slacks, with coal black hair. Raizo Yamato opened his arms wide. "Come give your dad a hug!"
"Hi, Dad." Reizo groaned as he descended the stairs. He walked past his father's open arms and sat down across from the girls, who were holding in their snickering.
"I already met these lovely ladies, so there's no need for you to introduce me to your girlfriends."
"Dad!" Reizo snapped. Prism and Sandy laughed while Echidna chose to ignore the exchange. At least until her blush wasn't so obvious.
"What? I'm not judging. We all have our own interests! I'm just curious which one you're actually dating." He then hummed. Reizo hated it when his father hummed. "Come to think of it," here it comes, "you were up in your room for a while, with a girl you offered your bed to." Here comes the voice. "Methinks some suspicion is afoot!" Reizo groaned as his father talked like Pumpkin Pete. The girls laughed. They laughed at his pain.
Reizo decided to turn the conversation. "So what happened at work, Dad?" Apparently, that worked.
"Some big news apparently. You remember that White Fang leader, Adam Taurus?" Reizo nodded. "Apparently, some kids chased off outside Haven Academy. The White Fang is all but disbanded now." Raizo sighed. "Which is great and all, but that just means we'll have to work even harder now to make up for all those shipments that got busted in the past."
"What do you do for a living, Mister Yamato?" Echidna asked, setting the baby book down.
"I'm certain a well educated Huntsman in training such as yourself has heard of the SDC, right?"
"The Schnee Dust Corporation, right? I mean, I don't think anyone has ever not heard of them. They have a hand in everything!"
Raizo chuckled. "Yup! Everything... except mining." The girls gave a confused look. "Have any of you girls heard of Pluton Mining?" Their silence was telling enough. "Well, let me ask you this: how does the SDC get it's metal and dust?" He juts a thumb toward himself. "This guy!"
"I thought the SDC did their own mining?" Prism asked.
Raizo chuckled. "Oh, they tried. Problem, though, is that the people they tried to hire either already worked for me, or didn't know I gave them a better deal. Eventually, they stopped trying to outdo us and just hired us."
Prism was starry-eyed. "Wow! You own an entire mining company?"
"As if! He just manages the mining operations as a foreman." Reizo said, popping his father's ego bubble.
"Son, why do you have to break me down like that?"
"Might as well be honest, Dad. Isn't it the best policy?"
Reizo's father flinched. "Yes, I suppose... I did teach you that."
Reizo sighed. "If it makes you feel better. Dad is the senior manager of the East Pluton mines."
"Oh, son, you make me feel so proud!"
"Dinner's ready! Why don't you go wash up while we set up the table?" The girls nodded as they stood up, taking the book with them. Reizo noticed this with a grimace. "Reizo, could you help us?"
Reizo was scrubbing the dishes, as he offered to, while his family and his team relaxed while watching the news. Echidna walked in and started drying the dishes that were washed and rinsed. Reizo nodded to her in silent thanks.
"Your family is so nice. A lot of people can't say the same about theirs."
"Yeah, they're okay, I guess. I mean, they're super embarrassing, but not too bad."
"Embarrassment is a small price to pay, I think."
Reizo chuckled. "Yeah." Reizo scrubbed another plate before speaking again. "I forgot to say sorry."
"For what?"
"For... Well, for getting shot. I was trying to grab your weapon, and-"
"Don't." Reizo looked at Echidna, and she had the most serious look he had ever seen her make. "Just don't. You grabbed my weapon, and I thanked you for it. I grabbed you and got you out of there, and you thanked me for it. We're even. There's nothing to apologize for."
"But if I didn't rush for it, I wouldn't have been shot."
"And I would have died. So do me a favor and drop. It." Echidna dried off another fork and put it in the drawer. They continued in silence until the plate plate and last piece of silverware was put away. "Do you remember the Beringel mission?"
Reizo looked at her in confusion. "The one with Professor Goodwitch? Yeah."
"Do you remember what she said after we killed it? After you lured it away from Sandy and tripped on your own sheath?"
Reizo drained the sink as he tried to think. "Something about dying with regrets."
"It's better to die regretting your actions than to live regretting your inactions." Reizo had to blink because he thought he saw Professor Goodwitch next to her. "We almost died that night at the Fall of Beacon. But what were we trying to do?"
"We were trying to get the Tower back up and running."
"If we all died that night, do you think we were stupid to try?"
Reizo thought for a moment as he dried his hands. "No. We were trying our best to help."
"Exactly. We almost died, but I wouldn't have regretted it. What I would have regretted was watching Beacon fall from the safety of a Bullhead."
"But... We did do that."
Echidna walked away. "Exactly." Reizo was left to think on those words. After a moment of digesting that food for thought, he walked out of the kitchen, unaware his mother walked in from the sliding door to the patio.
"It's 9 PM! Time for bed! We have to be up in time for school tomorrow! Yay!" Evangeline called out and cheered to the house as her audience made their ways to their respective rooms.
The girls all took turns in the bathroom as each showered and brushed their teeth. Once they were all done, Reizo entered and conducted his nightly routine. Once finished, he headed upstairs to check on Acacia. He walked into his room and found her still sleeping. It had been about six hours since he left her to sleep. He drew closer and gently placed a hand on her pillow where she wasn't.
'It's wet.' Reizo thought. 'Sweat or tears?' Reizo didn't like either answer. He sighed then walked out.
"Reizo?" Reizo turned back to find Acacia wake up, yawn, and rub her eyes. "What time is it?"
"About 9:15."
"AM or PM?"
"Well, I'm in my PJs, so either I'm getting ready for bed, or my first day at Atlas Academy is going super." Acacia chuckled. "How are ya feeling?"
"Like crap. But, hey, no nightmares."
"Are you sure? Your pillow was kinda wet."
Acacia felt her pillow. It was indeed wet. She felt around her mouth. No drool. She felt around her eyes No tears. She felt around her forehead. Warm, but not sweaty warm. "That's weird." She suddenly turned her attention towards Reizo. "Wait, why were you feeling my pillow?"
"I was checking to see if you had a nightmare."
"Around my pillow?"
"It was either up there," Reizo pointed towards the pillow, "or down there." He pointed towards her legs.
Acacia shrugged. "Fair enough. It's still weird, though."
Reizo chuckled. "Good night, Acacia. There's dinner in the fridge for ya, if you want any." Reizo walked out his door to downstairs.
"Yeah, good night." Acacia got up and stretched, then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she grabbed her plate of food, removed the foil, and microwaved it for about a minute. As she waited, she tried to remember her dream. Did she really not have a nightmare? She couldn't remember. She stretched her neck, trying to think. She came up with nothing as the microwaved beeped.
Meatloaf with brown sugar carrots. Probably Reizo's favorite when he was a kid. As she ate her food, she looked out the glass out the sliding door toward the streets and rooftops of Atlas. How many people were out there tonight? How many faunus like herself? How many having nightmares about Beacon? She chuckled at the thought. 'I'd eat this fork if I wasn't the only faunus out there with nightmares.'
When she finished, she placed the cleaned off plate in the sink with her fork, then walked back up to "her" room to sleep the rest of the night away. She still had about six hours of missed sleep to make up for.
"Reizo? Sweetie? It's time to wake up." Ah, the bittersweet tone of a mother alarm. Sweet, and gentle, and yet the harbinger of waking up for school. Reizo slowly raised himself out of bed. Thus began his team's morning routine. Everyone was awake, had breakfast (oatmeal for himself, cereal for everyone else), brushed their teeth, combed their hair, dressed in their casual clothes and made their way to the car.
As Misses Yamato made her way to the car, she seemed to carry herself as a totally different person. Her posture was more stiff, her pace was controlled albeit quick, and her gaze was focused and ready to catch every detail in her line of sight. She stepped into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and turn to her new students. "Are you all ready for your first day as Atlas students?"
"Hooray." Prism cheered with minimal enthusiasm.
"Oh, don't worry, kids. It'll be just like Beacon again." She started the car. "Except for the end part. That will be different."
Evangeline pulled into her parking spot then took a deep breath. "Okay, so, once we step out of this car, I must ask you to refer to me as 'Professor Yamato'. Do you understand?"
"You got it, Professor Mommato." Reizo chuckled.
"Oh, good. That's back." As Professor Yamato made her way towards the Atlas main building, her new students looked around at the facility with wide eyes. This place was huge! It must have been at least twice the size of Beacon. It was also... really empty.
"Where is everyone?" Sandy asked.
"Probably still asleep. Classes don't start until 9 AM."
Prism checked her watch. "Six forty-five?! Why did we leave so early?!"
Professor Yamato chuckled. "So you could get a fresh and early start on your new life at Atlas Academy." Her new students groaned. "Now, we're about to meet the Headmaster, so I expect each and every one of you to be on your behavior. Headmaster Ironwood may seem like an honest and upstanding gentleman, but believe me when I tell you-"
"When you tell them what, Professor Yamato?" Professor Yamato almost died as she heard the voice of the Headmaster of Atlas behind her. She turned slowly to face the stern and steely gaze of Headmaster General James Ironwood."
"Nothing, sir! Nothing at all!"
The general sighed. "Come on, Evangeline. I know you and the other professors have your grievances against me. All I ask is that you tell me personally, rather than to these young and impressionable minds that don't know the first thing about me."
"I know that you have a robot arm." Prism stated. The headmaster raised an eyebrow at her statement. "It actually inspired a few ideas for me."
"Ideas? Ideas for what?"
"Oh, just a few minor adjustments, like to our weapons, our gear; heck, there's one little passion project I'm still-"
"One moment." The headmaster dialed a number into his scroll. "Yes, it's me, James." He spoke into his scroll. "I have a young engineer who might be interested in enrolling here at Atlas. You might be interested in her for your own 'passion project'. Yes, she's right here next to me. Very well." Ironwood hands his scroll to Prism. "My associate wishes to speak with you."
Prism held the scroll for a moment, reading what the Headmaster had labeled as his contact. 'Doctor Pol...' The rest she couldn't see. Biting the bullet, she gulped and spoke into the scroll. "Hello?"
"Hello? Who is this?" It was an older voice
"My name is Prism Asagiri. I'm an engineer Huntress-in-training."
"Asagiri? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Tell, do you have any relation to Spectral Asagiri?"
"That's my grandmother! Her works inspired me!"
The older voice chuckled. "Me, too. Although, she was a bit harsh with me. Told me a spider with six broken legs could work faster than me."
"Yeah, that does sound like her. But how do you know her? Who are you?"
"Oh, did I not tell you? I must be getting forgetful in my old age. Let's start over. Hello, Prism Asagiri, my name is Doctor Pietro Polendina."
Prism held the scroll to her chest and screamed. Reizo and the others covered their ears. She then brought the scroll back to her ear. "You're Doctor Polendina?! Your aura implantation into machines revolutionized the robotic field itself!"
The older doctor chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I did. But you'll have to be getting to class soon, and I'll be busy all day, so I'll make you a deal: if you enroll in Atlas and you keep your grades up, I'll let you swing by the lab and see what I have cooking up."
"Yes, yes, I will! Thank you so much!"
"Well, then, I'll see you this weekend, then. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" Prism hung up, and stamped her feet in place while giggling. "I get to meet Doctor Polendina!"
"If you enroll and maintain good grades." Headmaster Ironwood said as he swiped his scroll back from Prism.
"Wait, how did you-?"
"My job requires me to be able to speak on my scroll, even if my scroll isn't on my person." The headmaster tapped his ear for emphasis. Prism looked closer and saw an earpiece in place.
"General, sir!" A voice shouted from down the hall behind him. A young woman with a mohawk came running towards him. "Sir, I heard screaming! Is it a threat to the students or faculty?"
"At ease, Specialist Bree. Just an overly excited student."
"Oh, one of the newbies got scared, eh, sir?"
"On the contrary, she is quite ecstatic to enroll here." Professor Yamato replied.
"Oh yeah?" Specialist Bree scoffed. "I give her one week before she breaks and starts crying for mommy."
"Now, now. That's no way to talk about the new students, Harriet." A man's voice said calmly. Said man was wearing a four-leaf clover pendant on his uniform. "After all, I remember a young Private Bree crying at her graduation ceremony."
"Yeah, Harriet. Maybe you're not as Ace-Ops material as you think you are." A young man said with a gray tail wagging behind him.
"Why you-" Specialist Bree charged at the young man.
Said young man merely pointed at her and shouted. "Stay!"
The young woman became paralyzed. No, she was frozen in time! Reizo and his companions were impressed. The two men, his mother, and the tall, buff woman behind behind him, not so much.
"Marrow!" The tall woman shouted. "How many times do we have to tell you not to use your semblance on Bree!?"
Marrow flinched as a tall, thin, bald man walked around him. "Yes. After all, karma often rewards ill deeds with I'll deeds in kind."
"Yeah, you're right! It was totally my bad!" Marrow apologized, though it didn't appear anyone believed it. As Special Bree unfroze, she fell face first.
"That's it, Wags! When I get my hand on, I'm gonna-!"
"Enough! All of you!" And like that, the infighting ceased, and each specialist was at attention before the General. "I suppose it should be expected when people are as close as you are, but can you, for just one day, not all be together and then infight. Especially in front of this boy and these girls on their first day?"
The clover pendant man saluted and spoke. "Sir, request to know what boy, sir!"
Ironwood spoke as he turned. "The young man right-!" Ironwood stopped as he pointed at a raven black haired girl in front of him. "Where did Reizo Yamato go?"
"Uh, right here, Headmaster Ironwood." The girl he fully focused on spoke.
"I see. And... Is this your semblance?"
"I'm... not certain. I just randomly switch between genders. I didn't do it at all yesterday, so I guess I'm a girl all day today, now."
Ironwood scratched his beard. "I see. At ease!" The specialists all laxed in their stance. "I'll need to speak with our uniform provider. You were enrolled at Beacon, correct?"
"Yeah, I was."
"Hey, that's yes, sir to- MMPH!" Specialist Bree barked before she was muffled by the larger woman.
"How did you cope with two separate uniforms?"
"I just carried two separate uniforms."
"I see. Well, then I see no reason to swap strategies there. We'll give you half of each uniform and work out any other issues as they come up." General Ironwood turned towards his specialists. "Ace-Ops! Sound off!"
"Hello, I am Specialist Clover Ebi, leader of the Ace-Ops." The man with the Clover pendant introduced. "My semblance is Luck, and I enjoy fishing in my part-time."
"Specialist Harriet Bree, fastest Specialist in the Ace-Ops," announced the much short woman, "my semblance is Super-Speed, and I can beat anyone here in a race." Specialist Bree gave a cocky smile.
"Specialist Marrow Amin, the best of the best in the Ace-Ops," gloated the faunus man, "my semblance is Freeze Command, and I look forward to teaching you what a real specialist looks like."
"Specialist Vine Zeki, specialist in the Ace-Ops," the tall, thin man stated simply, "my semblance is Extension, and I look forward to your enrollment in our academy."
"Specialist Elm Ederne, specialist in the Ace-Ops," the taller woman introduced herself, "my semblance is Roots, and I look forward to training you all to be future Specialists."
Headmaster General Ironwood turned towards his new students. "I am Headmaster General James Ironwood, my semblance is not of your concern, and I welcome you all to Atlas Academy." Headmaster Ironwood nodded to his new students. "Despite the previous hiccup in information regarding Reizo, I have files on each of you as well. However, words on a dossier is just ink on paper, so I will need to see each of your skill levels. The Fall of Beacon was a tragedy, but it is also an opportunity to learn, to grow, to evolve into something greater than you were. That is why I must ask every former student of Beacon who chooses to enroll here to participate in a short sparring match, to test your combat skills, and to see where in your path to becoming Huntsman you are."
"Whor'e going to be our opponents?"
"Us!" Specialist Bree said with a smirk. "Any last words?"
"Just one." Reizo stated calmly. She cleared her throat and pointed at Marrow.
"Oh, I get it. She's smitten with me! Well, I'm sorry, little girl, but I have to decline. You see, you're not quite at my level, and-"
"Stay!" Reizo shouted. Marrow froze in place. The rest of Team EAPS, her mother, her new Headmaster, and the other specialists were shocked by this display of skill.
Except for Specialist Bree. She just cracked her knuckles as she neared Marrow.
"Oh, I like you!"
#rwby#rwby oc#team reaps#reizo yamato#echidna bluewaters#acacia evergreen#prism asagiri#sandy mithril#evangeline yamato#raizo yamato#james ironwood#clover ebi#harriet bree#marrow amin#elm ederne#vine zeki#my story#dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer#reaping of atlas
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