Mistakes

Chapter 10: Fenrir

Bullhead Interior, Skies of Vale

The members of Team BLMK all gathered around the Scroll in Lora's hands, deadpan expressions on their faces as the green eyed headmaster gave them a smile.

"Did you all enjoy your day today?"

"Which part?" Byron voice matched his expression, brown eyes narrowing slightly. "The part where you had us pick up the newest shipment of your favourite brand of coffee?"

"Or the part where we had to go out and collect your suits from the dry cleaners?" Kiran added.

"Or maybe the particularly enjoyable event of going into the cane store and filing through what felt like hundreds of different cane heads just to find out that the one that you wanted wasn't even in stock?!" Lora gave off a maliciously sweet smile that would have sent a shiver of fear down the spine of a lesser man.

The grey haired man merely chuckled and shrugged. "I took the opportunity for you all to take part in a set of events that would allow you all to converse with each other and bond as team members."

"And you thought sending us, the most highly combat-oriented members of your academy's first-year class, to do your errands was the best way to do that?"

"Kill two birds with one stone...no pun intended." He quickly clarified as he saw the leader of Team BLMK's eye twitch, her annoyance reaching its climax. "But did you not have a fun afternoon with each other?"

"Well...I guess we did." Michael scratched the back of his head nervously as he caught sight of the perplexed expressions on his teammates' faces. "I m-m-mean, when we took b-break for lunch and stuff. Th-That was kinda fun, right?"

"...For the most part." Kiran agreed as he adjusted his glasses. "Still could have been done without sending us on an errand run, Master."

"Of course it could have, but then that would mean that I would have had to send someone else to get my coffee shipment and look for my new stylish cane head. Gods forbid that I would end up having to go there into the mall myself to do it." The man did not make any effort to hide his sarcasm nor his amusement at the reactions of his students and the former White Fang captains.

"You're despicable." Team BLMK stated in unison.

The fact that Ozpin's response came in the form of chuckling only enhanced Team BLMK's currently negative opinion of the grey-haired headmaster. A sip from his trademark coffee mug helped settle the man's amusement, but the moment he had set down the mug, the group of four noticed the shift in his facial expression from calm to serious.

"Is something the matter, Professor Ozpin?" Lora asked.

"Unfortunately...yes." Ozpin replied as the camera of his Scroll shifted as he was staring intensely at what Team BLMK assumed was a second open window. "Here."

The green eyed headmaster tapped a few areas of his Scroll's screen and immediately, a window popped up on Lora's own. A video file was present with the thumbnail image revealing the terrifying appearance of an armoured robot of some sort with a news ticker reading BREAKING NEWS: WF ATTACK ON VIT!

Upon reading that particular headline, the former captain of the White Fang tapped the play button and watched the video feed.

The video showed the image of the pretty face of one lavender-haired news reporter, Lisa Lavender. Normally, she was clean and composed when giving her reports, but immediately the watchers of the video clip could tell something was wrong with the appearance of dust and grime on her face and the disheveled look of her hair and clothes.

For those of you now tuning in, this is Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network coming to you at the Vale Institute of Technology where the university campus's open house event, an event which allows its students to show off their own amazing inventions and studies, is now experiencing a great deal of confusion as it is being interrupted by an unknown visitor.

The camera immediately shifted skyward to show the Bullhead hovering in the skies above the university.

Earlier today, this Bullhead showed up unannounced to the event. At first, we did not pay it any mind, but immediately things went south as the Bullhead unleashed a mechanical monstrosity upon the campus of VIT!

The camera zoomed in on the ramp and followed the falling object as it dropped to the ground with a resounding BOOM! Cries of fear and surprise pierced the atmosphere and the members of Team BLMK narrowed their eyes as they watched the smoke cloud through the eyes of the cameraman. As the the smoke cloud was beginning to disperse, they watched as the cloak of the mechanical monstrosity billow in the wind as said cyborg began to climb out of its personal crater.

"It really is the White Fang." Kiran stated as he pointed a finger at the symbol of the Faunus terrorist organization that was emblazoned on the robotic creature's chest plate.

This...monster...introduced itself as General Mushu of the White Fang and a general in the ranks of the terrorist organization!

"General Mushu?" Lora and Michael's eyes widened before turning to the students of Ozpin. The sounds of gunshots and cries of terror and panic becoming white noise in the Bullhead cabin for that brief moment.

"B-But th-that's imp-p-possible." Michael stuttered. "Y-You two killed him three years ag-g-o during the campaign to establish a b-b-base in the Emerald F-Forest."

"We thought so too." Kiran's lips shifted into a small frown.

"Maybe you didn't kill him as well as you thought."

"He was most certainly dead." Byron stated. "Kiri blew him apart into two with a close-range shotgun blast to the torso and then I punched him with the Meteor Drop combo."

"Oh? Meteor Drop?" Lora raised a black eyebrow. "Damn, then he for sure would have been dead."

They looked back to the video clip as they heard the cries of alarm and terror as the gunfire had been replaced with the shouts of pain. The recording had obviously been through a bit of doctoring from the way the clips had been edited and the pixels of censorship obscured the bloody and gruesome sections of the battle involving the VPD rushing the White Fang general. The members of Team BLMK all watched with silently as the general tore through the ranks of Vale's finest with ease.

The members of the VPD acted with the AK-130 guard units that were present, but despite their best efforts they quickly fell to the might of General Mushu. In an effort to halt the slaughter, what appears to be a huntress from Beacon Academy intervened in the fighting.

The camera then cut to show Yang's attempt to stop General Mushu.

"That idiot." Byron and Kiran commented with narrowed eyes.

"Wait!" Raven-coloured orbs widened in realization. "If Yang's there then that means..."

But as the battle was about to escalate, the huntress was forced to flee with a child to safety and the battle now takes place between the White Fang general and the genius Faunus who graduated from Beacon Academy in an astonishing two years, Arthur Asimov! We can only hope that his combat training at Beacon will be enough to-

Lora watched for a few seconds as the white-haired wolf Faunus clashed swords with the mechanized general, but she didn't feel the need to watch any further as she closed the video feed. The audio-visual link to Ozpin's Scroll was still up and so her black eyes were met with the emerald orbs of the Beacon headmaster.

"We're heading to VIT." There was no room for argument and Ozpin was in full agreement as he nodded in response.

"Bring our boy home."

The leader of Team Blackmark closed her Scroll and turned to the pilot. "Oi! Pilot! Head to VIT campus on the double!"

"Yes ma'am."

The Bullhead made a sharp turn away from its course towards Beacon Academy and headed out in the direction of the university.

Vale Institute of Technology, Vale

General Mushu had seen many things in his time on the continent. He had witnessed a great amount of abilities from both human and Faunus alike, many of which he had taken down with his bare claws. He had seen people make augmentations to their bodies, himself now a prime example of such a thing, as well as taking drugs to enhance their abilities. However, none of those enhancements or augmentations had ever presented itself in the fashion that Arthur's purple liquid was currently showing.

His once pale skin seemed to glow as it turned a violent shade of red. His body's natural temperature had increased to the point that it appeared as if wisps of steam floated off of his body and made the air around him ripple.

"What did you do to yourself, pup?"

The wolf Faunus did not answer as he merely raised the twin blades of X-Caliburn. Mushu's golden eyes narrowed as Arthur took slow and careful steps forward, an almost palpable tension existing between the two Faunus. The hums of their weapons were the only thing making any sort of noise as a deafening silence permeated the atmosphere, and even the onlookers of the fight dared to not even breathe lest Arthur or Mushu turn their sights on them.

Steel-grey aura flared from Arthur's body and with a powerful stomp, the earth shattered beneath his feet as he took off at a blinding speed. A streak of dust and dirt marked his path and Mushu's eyes widened as he quickly raised his Vibro-swords in an X-shaped manner to block the double downward slash from his opponent. The four blades hummed as they clashed against one another, sparks decorating the air around the two combatants before the ground once against broke apart against the genius Faunus's feet.

Mushu adjusted his body to redirect Arthur's downward slashes away from his body, but the wolf Faunus spun on his heels and continued with a powerful upward diagonal slash. The komodo dragon Faunus quickly raised his own oscillating blades to block the attack, but as Arthur's enhanced body glowed upon summoning his Aura, Mushu was once against caught by surprise as the much smaller, and presumably weaker, Faunus gave a howl of effort. A resounding shockwave tore the ground beneath them asunder as the blades of X-Caliburn pushed forwards and lifted Mushu high into the air.

Flipping through the air with instinctual grace and mobility, Mushu cracked the earth upon landing back on his feet in a crouched position. Golden eyes met blue and Mushu could only stare in shock at the wolf Faunus.

"Such strength." Mushu commented. "One would not expect such a boost of power from you, pup. Even with that fancy steroid you just injected yourself with."

"I told you...the comrades I've made are monsters who are much more dangerous than I am. I want to be able to fight alongside them at some point, and this is the only way I know how." Arthur snarled as he hopped out of the depressed area of earth he was standing in.

"And you can't just train like any normal person would?" Mushu would have raised an eyebrow if he still had them.

"Like you said, general...I'm weak." Arthur bared his fangs before pushing off once more. "HRAH!"

Mushu raised his swords high over his head as he kept track of Arthur's fast-paced form before swinging them down. The ground shattered like glass from the impact, but Arthur had ducked under the slash before it could hit him and pivoted on his heels to deliver powerful horizontal slash to the waist. The golden eyed Faunus would not allow that however, as his rapidly rotating torso shifted with a roar of his mechanics. A powerful shockwave occurred as Vibro-Sword collided with High-Frequency Blade, but the exchange of steel did not stop there as the two continued to clash.

The White Fang member lashed with a vertical slash with one sword which Arthur sidestepped to counter with a stab to the right leg. Mushu stepped back to avoid the stab only to bend his torso to the side as Arthur followed up with another thrust. The blue-eyed Faunus drew back his swords and quickly crossed them overhead when Mushu delivered another downward strike. With his enhanced physical prowess, Arthur quickly pushed back the mechanized warrior before him which caused said warrior to backpedal slightly before he swept his opponent's arms off to the side with a strong horizontal swipe. The shower of sparks decorated the air as the oscillating weapons collided, and Arthur quickly stepped into his opponent's guard to stab Mushu in the chest with one of his swords.

"Close, but no cigar, pup." The robotic voice of the cyborg met Arthur's ears as he kicked Arthur's wrist, sending his striking sword out of his grasp. The moment it was free, Mushu snatched out of the air with his talons and aimed for what would have been a slash that would have bifurcated him had he not raised his other sword in time to block.

"Guh." Arthur grunted as he was sent skidding backwards from the attack and the steel-grey Aura around his arms glowed to show that they had done their part to protect their user's limbs from arm. Apparently Mushu's cybernetic body was more capable than he had thought.

"No. No time to think about that, for now...need to get my sword back." He dug his heels in and went back into the fray. With a swing of his single blade, Arthur went in for a downward diagonal slash, but the blow was easily parried with his own X-Caliburn blade. Mushu pushed Arthur back and then went on the offensive, causing the wolf Faunus to grit his teeth, sweat lining his brow as the komodo dragon Faunus toyed with him.

"It is almost poetic to be able to use your own creation against you, pup." Mushu chuckled as sparks danced between him and his opponent with each blow Arthur struggled to avoid. Lines of glowing light sprung to life with each slash Mushu managed to pierce Arthur's guard with. It wasn't even to say that Mushu was skilled with the weapons, but it was just that his robotic form made him far to unpredictable in his movements. He would slice left, but just as easily activate the servos in his limbs to reverse the angle of attack and thus render Arthur's attempt to block as utterly useless. "Do you not feel betrayed to see me holding your sword in my grip and using it to try and kill you?"

"This isn't the first time someone used my tech against me." Arthur released a dry laugh. "Not the first time someone's tried to kill me either."

"You were smarter than them."

"I'm always smarter than them, and some of them are just too caught up in their own jealousy to think about the implications of their actions." The wolf Faunus replied as he blocked another slash only to be delivered a crushing kick with the foot that held his X-Caliburn.

"Yet you still refused to join us."

"And I never will!" He ducked and weaved under the blow to his noggin before popping up into the air to swing his sword down upon Mushu's own skull. "The White Fang was once an embodiment of hope and security for the Faunus, but now it's just a tool to let loose whatever petty grudges you all have against humanity! I won't be a part of that!"

The White Fang general's mechanics whirred to life as they were forced to withstand the destructive power that now flowed through the white-haired boy's blood, but Mushu pushed back and Arthur went into a backflip to land deftly on his feet. The moment the wolf Faunus landed, he was forced to hop back into the air as his komodo dragon opponent aimed a targeted downward thrust to deliver a blow to the legs.

"Got you!" The cyborg reptile roared as he aimed a double-tiered slash. One blade was aimed to the left with the aim to decapitate him, while the other was swung to the right to rip through his legs.

"I'm not just stronger, Mushu!" Arthur exclaimed and the White Fang general's eyes widened as Arthur straightened out his body such that he was parallel to the ground. The white-haired boy spun his body as if he were a plane performing a barrel roll, only moving at a far faster rotational speed. The twin Vibro-swords were avoided and the moment Arthur felt the air resistance from the blades passing over and under him, he tucked his body into a tight ball before slamming his legs down upon the X-Caliburn blade that Mushu held in his grasp. The force was enough to embed the blade into the campus ground and Mushu's eyes widened when he tried to wrench the blade free from its earthen confines only to find it to be a difficult task.

"What the..."

"I'm faster too." Golden eyes widened and the White Fang member did not have time to complete his exclamation as Arthur aimed for a slash to the waist. As a result, Mushu was forced to release the grip his talons had on the stolen weapon and went into a quick backhand spring. He performed another as Arthur surged forth, ripping his sword out of the ground and went in for a spin attack.

"Insolent pup!" The cyborg spun his body around, moving in a manner than would even the most skilled breakdancer want to step back and raise their arms in surrender. With a whir of his mechanics, he lashed out with a windmill like kick that forced Arthur to backpedal, but the robotic Faunus continued with his momentum to plant his talons on the ground and deliver a pair of powerful spin kicks that had Arthur flying back through the air.

"Gah!" Arthur released a gasp of pain as he slammed through a student's project and then into the side of a support column, cracking the solid stone heavily. His ears twitched and the sound of talons cracking hard stone along with the hum of the Vibro-swords kicked his reflexes into high gear as he quickly shifted into a stable stance. He raised his HF swords and X-Caliburn roared against the Vibro-swords. The force of the impact from Mushu's charge was far too great however, and the column behind him broke apart as Mushu pushed his canine opponent through the solid stone and into the wall behind it.

"Shit!" Arthur exclaimed as he quickly ducked under the slash aimed for his head and aimed for a counter, but the blue-eyed boy's eyes widened as a flash of black crossed his vision and found his right arm being slammed back into the wall with enough force to crack it.

"Not fast enough, boy." Mushu chuckled and Arthur felt his ears droop a bit as the blood seemed to drain a bit from his face. "Now it's my turn."

The well structured wall of the open-air hallway now bore a large scar in it as Arthur was dragged along it as Mushu utilized the gyroscope in his waist to spin his legs around in a full 180 degree turn before flinging Arthur through the air like a ragdoll. The younger Faunus smashed through an archway in the process of being sent airborne, but as the wolf Faunus was recovering, his eyes widened as the resurrected Faunus's shadow suddenly encompassed him.

"HRAH!" Mushu roared and slammed his Vibro-swords down on the white-haired boy. Arthur rocketed back to ground zero, but managed to land on his feet despite the impact being so forceful that it cratered the earth. Mushu then landed right after him before swinging his swords in a powerful horizontal slash, but Arthur dug his heels in and blocked the attack. A powerful shockwave enlarged the crater the two combatants were now in before they pushed each other back and hopped out of the area of depressed earth.

Songs of steel permeated the atmosphere of the VIT campus grounds and powerful shockwaves occurred with every collision between the four weapons. Shockwaves resounded across the battlefield, stone was shattered and the science projects that promising VIT students worked so hard to make were quickly being reduced to scrap metal as the two combatants flickered across the battlefield as blurs of white and silver.

"Foolish pup, you can't hope to match me in a contest of strength!"

"I seem to be matching you just fine!"

"Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know, you overgrown garden snake." Mushu chuckled as he delivered an upward slash which Arthur held at bay with the flat of one of his swords. The wolf Faunus went for a wide arced attack to decapitate his foe, but Mushu raised his own second sword and held the blade at bay with ease.

"Then maybe I should give you a reality check!" The komodo dragon Faunus snarled before taking a strong step forwards. The act had Arthur backpedaling and losing the necessary stability he had needed to hold his foe back, an act which he paid for when Mushu raised a mechanized leg and delivered a crushing kick to the abdomen.

The wolf of the Mother Country skidded backwards, digging his heels into the ground to utilize friction and bring himself to a halt. Canine ears twitched and the blue-eyed hunter glanced up to see Mushu had already raced after him with his own blades held at the ready to rip through his flesh and bone. The blades were brought down, but Arthur quickly leaped to the side and rolled as a pair of scars were birthed from the missed attack. Using the momentum of his roll, Arthur placed himself into a kneeling position and swung his left sword in a wide arc, aiming to take Mushu's feet out from under him, but the Komodo Dragon Faunus hopped over the attack before lashing out with his talons.

Arthur spun his blades in his hands, shifting them into a reverse grip before rising up swiftly. Mushu was quick to try and retract his foot as Arthur's married blades were like arcs of silver. Sparks flew as the vibrating blades clashed with the dense steel of Mushu's talons, but the mechanized general tossed his Vibro-swords into the air as he went into a backflipping motion to avoid having his foot shredded by the high frequency weapon. As he reached the apex of his backflip, Mushu suddenly lashed out with his arms and grabbed onto Arthur's hands.

"What the..." The wolf Faunus did not have time to complete his exclamation as Mushu's claws forced his aura shield to flicker slightly as they would have dug into his flesh.

Gravity had taken its hold on the cyborg Faunus as it had forced Arthur's blades to stab themselves into the ground while he simultaneously landed into a handstand position. The moment he did, he then bent his flexible cyborg body forwards to snatch his currently airborne swords into the grasp of his talons. The twin blades crashed against Arthur's chest and the blue-eyed Faunus grunted as the powerful impact forced his grip on one of the blades of X-Caliburn to lose itself as he rapidly backpedaled from the strike. He quickly went into a series of backhand springs to avoid the follow-up series of slashes as Mushu's waist began to rotate just as his torso was capable of doing, a whirlwind of humming steel aiming to tear into his body, but his eyes widened as he saw Mushu rip the lost member of his paired swords out of the ground with his claws before pushing himself high into the air and hurling the sword like a javelin.

Time seemed to slow down as the blade rocketed through the air, but Arthur's enhanced physical parameters allowed him to quickly shift his body to the side and avoid the attack. As he avoided it, he quickly spun and grabbed the hilt of his HF-blade once more and spun on his heels to build up the necessary momentum to counter his descending opponent. Going into a series of front flips, had Mushu built up a great deal of momentum as he fell towards his opponent and with a loud roar, slammed the Vibro-swords down upon the Mother Country immigrant.

The blades collided with a resounding CLANG and a powerful shockwave raced out between the two combatants. However, Mushu's superior physical might proved to be quite paramount as Arthur felt the force of the strike traverse through his body and into the ground, said ground shuddering for a moment before it depressed to form a small crater beneath his feet.

Mushu went into a backflip, his long mechanical legs lashing out and striking Arthur in the chest. Blue eyes widened as he felt as if his sternum was caving in on him, his grip on the blades of X-Caliburn loosening for a brief moment. The wolf Faunus held his ground however, taking in a sharp breath to give him the oxygen and energy needed to regain his hold on his suspended swords and crossed his arms to grasp them in order to deliver a powerful cross slash.

The komodo dragon Faunus skidded backwards from the attack, but as he regained his bearings, the cyborg's yellow eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the wolf Faunus charging forth with blinding speed once more. The two exchanged blows once more, but Mushu's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the slightly less red hue of Arthur's skin. His audiosensors picked up the sound of the boy's ragged breathing and noted a slight lag in the boy's otherwise very swift attacks.

"Seems that little drug of yours isn't going to hold out much longer."

"And just when I'm winning? I think not." Arthur replied as he got back onto his feet and swung his swords. He batted Mushu's swords aside as the cyborg attempted to block before crashing a powerful kick against the side of the resurrected Faunus's leg. Golden eyes widened as the mechanized warrior found himself brought down into a kneeling position only to then be forced to blocked the dual stab to the chest with his Vibro-swords. Sparks flew as the whine of the oscillating swords increased.

"I told you already, boy...you cannot best me when it comes to strength!" That statement was made to be very true as Mushu began to climb back to his feet and push back. However, he was brought into a state of confusion as Arthur gave him a fanged smirk.

"You're strong sure, but my swords are still better." Golden eyes widened as he glanced down at the Vibro-swords in his hands and saw a line of orange forging its way across them as the edges of Arthur's blades tore their way through them. The whine of the HF blades increased in intensity and Mushu was met with the full shredding power of his opponent's swords. The severed pieces of the Vibro-swords clattered to the ground and Mushu could only stare as he witnessed the massive scar across the plating. He was only knocked out of his stupor after Arthur had continued with the movement and stabbed him through the thigh area of his left leg.

"Insufferable welp!" Mushu growled. Arthur quickly ducked under the wild rage-induced slash before slamming the flat of X-Caliburn's blades against Mushu's head. A violent crack echoed across the battlefield as the force registered with the armoured cyborg's body and he was sent rocketing through the air. He bounced across the battlefield, leaving small areas of cracked brick in his wake before he skidded to a halt.

"I'LL END THIS!" Arthur howled like the wolf he was. He shattered the ground beneath his feet as he rocketed towards the downed cyborg. He dragged an HF-blade across the VIT campus grounds, a scar of sliced earth marking his path as he prepared to bisect the White Fang general. Time seemed to slow for the wolf Faunus as he drew nearer to his opponent and he could feel the effects of his liquid steroid wearing off.

'Ten minutes.' Arthur thought in the back of his mind.

Confidence and adrenalin surged through his body in contrast to the waning steroid. The flow of his blood roared in his ears and the cheers and cries of encouragement from the hiding bystanders were all but white noise to him.

'I can hold my own with this for ten minutes...and I can win!'

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"The fuck?!" The use of an expletive only served to show just how caught off-guard the normally well-spoken wolf was. HF blade was raised in defense as the talons wrapped themselves securely around the weapon, but Arthur was too slow. The powerful kick crashed against his chest and the silver-grey aura that shielded his body glowed in its attempts to shield him. It continued to do so as its wielder found himself being lifted off of the ground. Earth met sky for the wolf Faunus as his cyborg opponent bent his body backwards to go into a handstand. Mechanics roared to life and with a grunt of effort, Mushu swung his leg down to slam the Beacon graduate into the ground with enough force to generate a spiderweb of cracks.

The talons kept him grounded and in his tired state, he could only watch as Mushu's arched form rose back to its full height.

"You are an annoyance to me and to the White Fang!" Golden eyes burned with primal rage beneath the heavily broken armoured face plate. He kept his eyes focused on Arthur's strained expression, and he didn't even make an attempt to move said gaze as Arthur tried to swipe his swords at him. Sharp claws wrapped themselves around his wrists and the wolf released a yelp of pain as the komodo dragon twisted them harshly, forcing the HF-blades to clatter to the ground. Mushu knocked them away before clenching his three claws into a tight makeshift fist that bore down upon the younger Faunus's chest.

"No more swords. No more tech." Mushu's distorted robotic voice echoed with a bestial rage. "I will break you."

The second blow was brutal and the ground broke beneath him. "I used those swords on a whim, because I was to test them out."

Arthur released a gasp of pain as his aura flickered as the third punch connected with his face. "But they are clearly inferior to the tried and true method of killing, and this is with my own claws."

The barrage of blows came swiftly and ferociously. His aura continued to flicker with each heavy blow. What had felt like minutes equated to only fifteen seconds of pure unadulterated physical abuse. Mushu did not stop and Arthur could not resist. His attempts to block had fallen away the moment the steroid had burned out of his system.

He was exhausted.

Tired.

Weak.

Arthur's steel grey aura continued to flicker with each attack and for the first time in a long time, the citizen of the Mother Country felt the urge to cry.

'I thought...I thought I could win.'

BAM!

'For the first time, I could be someone actually strong enough to be a huntsman.'

CRASH!

'But I can't do it.' Tears lined his eyes as he felt the drain on his aura stores before the sound of glass shattering signaled the loss of his protective sheath. His soul had done its utmost to protect him, but it could hold out no longer. The blows continued to rain down upon him and pain exploded from his face and chest. He felt the bones fracture and the cartilage of his nose almost shatter. He felt the swelling of his flesh as the brutal trauma continued and he felt himself spit up a glob of blood as Mushu raised himself up to his full height and stamp his clawed foot down onto his abdomen.

"Please..." Arthur groaned weakly as he felt Mushu's talons scrape against his stomach, drawing blood on their tips.

"Oh no." A human in the crowd raised his hands to his face.

"No! Get up!" A dog Faunus called out to him.

"Mister Asimov!" The female college student literally cried.

"I can't watch!" Tears flowed from a rabbit Faunus's eyes as she hid her face into the chest of her human friend.

"Stop! You're hurting him!"

"You're going to kill him!"

"You've done enough! Stop!"

Their words fell on deaf ears as the mechanical whirs of Mushu's arms continued to echo across the VIT campus. Their tears would not save him. They could not attempt to help as they were well aware that they weren't capable of doing so. What could a mere mortal do against a monstrosity capable of defeating a professional huntsman? As such...they could only hide behind their hands and cover their ears. They could only watch, cry and pray to the deities that someone would help the poor wolf.

"How strange that abuse of the Faunus is what divided us, and yet in your final moments...abuse of the Faunus, abuse of you...is what unites them. Albeit a temporary unity." The blood coated knuckles of the clawed fist glinted in the light of the sun. "This is the end, pup!"

'Somebody...' Tears fell from his eyes. 'Save me.'

CRASH!

Blue eyes widened alongside those who witnessed the event of General Mushu being dealt a swift punch to the torso. The mechanized Faunus was sent flying back, but quickly dug his talons and claws into the ground, tearing small trenches in the stone campus grounds before stopping.

"You...You guys..."

The members of Team BLMK surrounded the fallen wolf in a protective manner.

"Quiet yourself, Arthur." Byron stated as he rotated his wrists, the second tier of his gauntlets' nanofold plating unveiling itself.

"You've done more than enough." Lora gave her colleague a soft smile, but that smile immediately became an angry snarl as her obsidian orbs were directed at the robotic general. "And you have definitely done more than enough, General Mushu."

A fiery blue aura blazed to life around the raven Faunus, and similar auras of gold, silver and crimson sprung to life around her fellow BLMK members.

That was the last thing Arthur saw before everything went black.

Vale National Hospital, Vale

Two Days Later

A groan escaped his parched lips and his eyes clenched tightly as he began to become aroused from sleep. The darkness became a sea of swirling colours before his brain kicked in to give a sense of meaning to the world around him, creating crisp images of the bright white walls and lights of his private hospital room. From enduring the fallout of dangerously volatile experiments he had created in the past, Arthur could only release a sigh upon recognizing the setting.

"Well there goes my record of no hospitalizations in six months."

The periodic beeping of his vitals monitor easily became white noise as he glanced at the digital clock which was resting on the wall opposite to him. It was one o' clock in the afternoon, but the date was what caught his attention.

"Two days huh? That does not make much sense. Normally I would only be out of commission for approximately ten hours. While there were quite a number of outside variables that would change my estimated recovery time, it is still very much outside of the calculated standard deviations. It's by a large margin too. Forty-eight hours is still quite a long time to recover from Fenrir's effects."

The genius Faunus continued to mutter to himself as he questioned this odd event from the usage of his drug. He then gained a puzzled expression as his head shifted to the side after having caught a glimpse of bright colours in his peripheries. White eyebrows arched in surprise as he caught sight of the 'Get Well' cards and a great deal of small bouquets of flowers resting on the side table.

He slowly sat up in his bed, wincing as his bruised body unleashed bolts of pain in protest to the action. As he was attempting to override his body's attempt to stop him, the automatic door to his room slid open to reveal a certain blonde huntress-to-be and his adopted daughter.

"Arthur!"

Yang and Vivi got ready to sprint to his bedside the moment they saw he was conscious, but he quickly raised his hands.

"Wait! I'm in pain! Physical contact will hurt me!" Yang was quick on the draw and stopped mid-stride, but Vivi..."OOOOOOOW! VIVI!"

The brown skinned girl ignored her guardian's cries of anguish as she continued to squeeze her tiny arms around his waist.

"Scared." The howls died down almost immediately after his now uncovered wolf ears caught wind of the solitary word.

His gaze softened as he ran a hand through the thirteen-year old girl's hair. "I'm glad too, Vivi. I'm sorry...for scaring you."

"Glad." Her grip increased a bit more as her body began to tremble. "Glad Arthur alive."

Arthur felt his hospital gown becoming a bit damp as he continued to console his young charge. "So am I."

"Stupid."

"I guess I kind of am, but all I wanted was to keep you safe."

"Still stupid."

"Mhmm." He then directed his eyes away from Vivi and focused them on Yang. "So it's just you two?"

"For now, yeah." Yang made her way over to the bedside and picked up one of the cards. "The pile has grown since we came to visit yesterday. There were a good few, but a lot of them were from us; Team RWBY, JNPR and BLMK I mean. You've gotten quite a lot of fans now, wolfy."

"Aside from you guys at Beacon, the others are most likely from the VIT student body. Just a bit of hero worship." Arthur shrugged with a toothy smirk. "It'll fade with time."

"I hope not."

"Hmm?" The white haired genius tilted his head in confusion. "Thought you would want to keep me for yourself?"

Lilac eyes rolled in their sockets as she released a snort of amusement. "True, but what I meant was they should keep that feeling of knowing that you put your life on the line for them. Humans and Faunus alike watched you fight Mushu to protect those civilians at VIT, and humans especially should keep it in their heads that there are Faunus who aren't part of the White Fang who are willing to fight for them."

"Well when you put it that way..."

"And for the record..." Yang took a step closer and placed a gloved hand atop his own. "I'm glad you're okay too, wolfy."

"...Thanks, Yang." The two flashed smiles at one another. "So, just out of curiosity, why are you here by yourself with just Vivi? Where's the rest of your team?"

"We were actually supposed to head down here together as a group; Team Ruby, Blackmark and Juniper, but Vivi was getting a bit restless."

"So the others know about her I'm guessing?"

"Not exactly. I kinda tried to keep her under wraps, but Team BLMK seemed to be doing a much better job than me when they came over to your dorm slash lab."

"True, but your volunteering to look after her in my absence is very touching and I thank you for it."

"Ain't no thing but a chicken wing, wolfy." The blonde replied nonchalantly. "You're my friend now. I got your back, and that means I got Vivi's too."

"Of course." There was a brief pause before the wolf Faunus glanced down to find that his hand was still held by Yang's, though he made no move to notify her of that fact and kept silent. He did like the physical contact.

"By the way, I'm sorry about our date. If you're ummm..." Arthur coughed nervously as his cheeks became dusted with pink. "...if you want that is, I mean you are a strong independent woman, but since the date was kinda basically ruined...well...we could always...make up for it? I think?"

Lilac eyes brimmed with amusement as a small smirk tugged at the edge of her lips. "How bold of you wolfy. You askin' me out on a second date?"

"Well I mean...if you wanna call it a date." Arthur scratched the side of his face in embarrassment as Yang laughed at his anxious demeanour.

"Hey, Arthur, you don't have to be so nervous around me. Ok?" Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "And for the record, when you get out of the hospital and whenever we're both free...I'd love to go on a second date with you."

"R-Really?"

"Yup."

"Ah, romance truly is a virtue of the young." The sound of the hospital door sliding open was accompanied by the remark made by a certain headmaster of Beacon Academy, alerting the three occupants of the room to his presence.

"Professor Ozpin?!" Yang quickly stood up from her seat in surprise as both she and Arthur directed their bug-eyed gazes towards the green eyed man. The clack of his cane against the tiled floor was followed by the footsteps of the member of Team BLMK as they strode in behind the bespectacled huntsman.

"Ah, you are awake." Ozpin gave a nod of approval to the wolf Faunus. "Miss Xiao Long, I am glad to see you are keeping my young wolf in such high spirits."

"You're...welcome? I guess?" Yang really wasn't sure how to respond to that statement.

"I appreciate your visit, Professor Ozpin, but to what do I owe this visit?" Arthur asked. "Especially given that Team Blackmark is with you."

"No need to be so formal, Mister Asimov." Ozpin chuckled. "One of my graduate students is the talk of the town as a result of fighting against the cyborg general of the White Fang and is hospitalized for his efforts. Of course I will want to pay him a visit, especially now that said student is conscious. However, if you don't mind Miss Xiao Long, would you take Vivi outside for a few moments. My students and I need to have a word with Mister Asimov in private."

"O-Oh." Yang blinked owlishly before gently pulling Vivi away from Arthur. "Sure thing, Professor Ozpin. Come on, Vivi, let's get some cookies. I think I saw some when we were going by the cafeteria."

"Cookies!" Hearing of the circular treat made the dark skinned girl perk up as she immediately grabbed Yang's hand and began to literally drag the older girl out the door.

As the two females exited the room, the members of Team BLMK and Ozpin gathered around Arthur's bed in a semicircular fashion.

"Before we get into anything, I just want to thank you guys." Arthur gave a nod of acknowledgement to the students of Ozpin and former White Fang captains. "If you didn't show up when you guys did, I probably wouldn't be alive."

"N-N-No problem." Michael stuttered to his fellow wolf Faunus.

"Unfortunately, we were not able to apprehend him." Kiran noted with a small frown.

"The Bullhead General Mushu had arrived in interrupted our battle almost as quickly as it began, and he escaped on it." Byron added. "Your battle with him probably weakened him to the point where he was forced to retreat."

"An impressive feat, especially for one such as yourself, Mister Asimov." Ozpin said as he adjusted his glasses. Arthur shifted a bit in his bed as the emerald orbs of the Great and Powerful Oz seemed to stare into his soul, a calculating gaze present on the cane holder's face. "It is because said feat is so impressive that I wish to know what exactly is it that you did that allowed you to perform as well as you did."

"Would you believe me if I said I've been training really hard ever since my graduation?"

"Do not think such words are going to fool anyone, my boy." Ozpin replied sternly. "We all know that the moment you graduated from the Beacon Academy academic curriculum, your physical capabilities have only improved to the point of being average for a huntsman. You are not the type of huntsman that is able to single handedly hold their own in battle against someone as powerful as General Mushu."

"Also, we saw the news broadcast." Lora said. "Your skin was red and steam was rising from it. Now I may not be an expert of human physiology or a doctor, but I can say for certain that an appearance like that is definitely not in-keeping with normal. We also surveyed the scene after General Mushu escaped. We retrieved your lab coat, but we also recovered this."

The raven Faunus reached into her pocket and retrieved a clear plastic bag holding a syringe which held the remnants of the purple liquid Arthur had injected into his system.

"Arthur...is this compound the cause for your hospitalization?" Ozpin asked.

"Damn it." The genius Faunus pinched the bridge of his nose and a took deep breath. "Alright, fine. Yes, I injected myself with a liquid steroid I created a while back in order to help me fight. It's as you said, Professor Ozpin, my physical capabilities are average at best and as a result I can't keep up with huntsmen of my age demographic and of my species. However, training was never going to be enough. I could never aspire to reach the level of power that ones such as your students or a clan Faunus like Michael possess."

"So you made a drug?" Kiran's eyes narrowed in disappointment.

"Yes, but I made sure to be very careful. I ran numerous trials before I ever experimented on humanoid subjects."

Byron's eyes narrowed this time. "And by humanoid subjects you mean..."

"Myself."

"Arthur!" Lora slammed her hands onto Arthur's bed, her obsidian orbs burning with anger. "You are literally a genius, but by the gods how could you be so stupid?!"

"Lora." The calm tone of Ozpin seemed to echo throughout the hospital room as he rested a hand on the raven Faunus's shoulder. Lora took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but the disappointment and anger on her face remained constant. "I will have to admit, Mister Asimov, that I am gravely disappointed in your actions. However, before I can cast any sort of actual judgement or punishment, I must ask...what exactly is this drug of yours?"

"It's not exactly an original compound as it is essentially a fusion of different performance enhancing agents inclusive of, but not limited to: Pentazemine, Noctocyanin and Acceleramine. I call it Fenrir."

"So...it is a steroid?" Byron asked.

"Kind of."

"So you have a tiny dick?" Lora raised an eyebrow as her gaze drifted towards the wolf Faunus's crotch.

"Believe me when I said that a significant portion of the research and experimentation that went into creating Fenrir went into making sure that my genitalia did not suffer the consequences like with most performance enhancing agents." Arthur replied with the utmost seriousness. "I would like to have kids of my own someday and being affected down under is definitely going to be a hindrance if I want that to happen."

"I see." Ozpin muttered as tapped a finger against the top of his cane. "Can it be recreated? Does anyone else know of Fenrir outside of the people in this room?"

"No, no one else knows about Fenrir. I never even gave General Ironwood a hint at my developing this, but even if I did, the drug cannot be replicated. At least, not in its entirety." Arthur moved to expand upon that point as he took note of his audience's confusion. "You can create the same mixture of chemicals, but it will not ever truly be Fenrir because the primary vector for the drug is my own blood. Using my own blood promotes an ease of transmission throughout my body while also removing the risk of dependence. However, because my blood is one of, if not the key ingredient to the cocktail, Fenrir is highly toxic to anyone else that would try to take it and is doubly-so for humans."

"S-So is it even t-t-toxic to Faunus?" Michael asked.

"Other wolf Faunus, like yourself for example..." Arthur gestured to his fellow canine. "...they can use it, but because Fenrir is encoded with my DNA in mind, unless Fenrir was to be specifically tailored for you, it would render you bedridden and sick for an entire week after merely two minutes of use."

"And how does it affect you, Mister Asimov?" Ozpin asked.

"For the record, I just want to emphasize the fact that I ran numerous tests before believing Fenrir was finally worthy for field testing. I worked with significantly smaller dosages and recorded measurements in 'Before' and 'After' segments to work out the calculation as to how much my abilities are multiplied by." Arthur informed his audience of five.

"Understood." The members of Team BLMK nodded while Ozpin remained silent.

"Now that I've made that clear..." Arthur cleared his throat. "The syringe in that bag is a ten millilitre syringe which is the equivalent of one dose of Fenrir. Each dose gives me ten minutes of power, and a calculated boost in my physical capabilities by a factor of 10. My prior tests involving this current form of Fenrir, once the effects wore off, induced approximately ten hours of tiredness and basically making me inoperable. I would be capable of talking and even sitting up, but I would not be able to walk or lift anything heavier than a couple of pounds."

"Ten hours?" Byron raised an eyebrow. "You were rendered unconscious for approximately forty-eight."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "I noticed that as well when I regained consciousness and took note of today's date on the clock. When conducting my trials, it would make sense that there would be differing results given my trials were in a controlled environment and against simulations. I can assume that because I was placed in an active combat situation which employed a scenario involving a high level opponent where I was both injured and had my aura levels depleted, that is part of the explanation as to why I was rendered unconscious for such an extended period of time."

"You said that ten hours is the result of one dose of Fenrir." Ozpin's eyes narrowed in thought. "Have you attempted to go beyond that single dose?"

"Indeed I have." Arthur confirmed. "I can tolerate two doses of Fenrir as well, but that is the one that puts me out of commission for an entire twenty-four hours and as a result, I have limited my double dose of Fenrir for life-or-death emergencies."

"Fighting Mushu was such an emergency wouldn't you say?" Kiran replied.

"I am inclined to agree with you, Kiran, but I only had that one syringe of Fenrir on me at the time."

"Why did you even have the Fenrir on you, Mister Asimov?" Ozpin asked. "Did you expect to be in a fight while on your outing with Miss Xiao Long?"

"No, Professor." Arthur shook his head before pausing and frowning. "Well...actually, that is not entirely true. I did expect to fight, just...not against someone like Mushu."

Michael tilted his head in confusion at his fellow Faunus's words. "Wh-Who did you expect to f-f-fight, Arthur?"

"I am a Faunus, Michael." A sad smile formed on the wolf genius's face. "That is explanation enough."

"So you carry it for you as an insurance policy." Ozpin's words were more of a statement than a question. A pregnant pause occurred in the conversation as Arthur directed his smile towards the grey-haired headmaster. The emerald eyed man released a tired sigh. "It is...truly a sad thing that you believe that you need to carry such a compound on your person just to give you a semblance of protection in today's societal climate. The hostile relations between humans and Faunus are something I am very much aware of so I cannot blame you for deciding to carry around Fenrir, but I must say that given that the compound gives you the ability to stand your ground against someone of Mushu's calibre...you would indeed be adhering to...I believe the term is...overkill?"

Arthur chuckled and nodded. "I guess I can agree on that point, but again...I am not strong. I am weak. I lack the strength to hack Grimm in two, hence why I created the High Frequency class weapons that do most of the work for me. I lack the physique for the more-challenging opponents, those that are not just mindless beasts intent on tearing me limb from limb. Creating Fenrir was my attempt to even the playing field on that front."

"But is it worth the cost?" Ozpin replied. "I do not think it is within your best interests to continue using Fenrir, and if this is the result of using such a high-risk substance, then I believe it would be best to suspend its production."

"I do not believe that to be the best course of action, Professor Ozpin." Arthur stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "Now that I have an idea of how Fenrir acts against higher level opponents outside of the Creatures of Grimm, I can make the necessary adjustments and start trials to allow me to take on foes like Mushu should they appear again. I can adjust the potency and half-life, allow for Fenrir to be a more time-dependent binding agent rather than a concentration-dependent agent. I can make it better!"

"You are in hospital, Mister Asimov. Think about what that means should you continue to utilize Fenrir as a performance enhancer in the long-run. You are very fortunate that Team Blackmark was sent your way after I saw the news broadcast, and you know just as well as I do, that if these four had not arrived when they did...we wouldn't be having this conversation." Ozpin's calm tone had a slight edge to it, something which showed just how strongly he felt about the subject. "However, I know you well enough that you will probably find some way to continue fabricating Fenrir's improved chemical make-up due to your isolated lifestyle, so I will offer you this, Mister Asimov."

"I'm listening."

"Just as with your other experiments, you send me detailed reports about Fenrir's production. The results, side-effects; I want to know everything about Fenrir as long as you are creating it on the grounds of my school. So long as you follow these rules, then I will support your endeavour."

"...And what will you do with this information?"

"Nothing, but I would rather not have to visit you in this dreadful place again." Ozpin's expression shifted to a more positive one as he gave the hospitalized Faunus a smile. "I am very fond of the students that pass through my school. Of course, I have my favourites..." He directed a wink towards the Gopaul brothers. "...but that does not mean I do not care for any of you. You are one of my brightest, possible THE brightest student I have ever had the pleasure of entering my school, and I would rather not see you in a medical facility or gods forbid, in a casket as a result of your own doing."

"...I understand."

"Good." Ozpin nodded. "And on that note, I believe we shall take our leave."

R&D Branch Building, White Fang HQ, Vale

The doors to Wiley's laboratory slid open with an audible hiss, but the mute coyote Faunus paid no attention to Adam as he strode in alongside Mushu. The brown haired scientist continued to type away on his computer, the light of the blue screen casting its glow on his face before he pushed his chair over to another desk to peer through the lens of the electron microscope at the sample.

"Any progress?" Adam asked.

Wiley continued to stare through the microscope as his hands flew into a frenzy to use sign language to explain his findings to his superior.

'As you ordered, I looked over General Mushu's report regarding his battle against Arthur Asimov during his test run at VIT. I managed to retrieve the sample of blood and tissue that the general's claws and knuckles took up when he broke through Asimov's protective aura and have analyzed them.' Wiley looked up from the microscope and rolled his chair back over to the computer desk. "As you said general, there was indeed an added substance present in Asimov's bloodstream. Given the description of Asimov's appearance in your report and his abilities improving significantly as a result, I can conclude that whatever it was that Asimov injected himself with was a steroid-based performance enhancer.'

"If someone as weak as Asimov can fight on an even playing field with General Mushu, then it must be quite the substance." The leader of the White Fang hummed in thought.

"Adam, the drug hardly allows the pup to fight on even ground with me."

"And yet your swords were destroyed and your armour was damaged." The Bull Faunus replied causing the Komodo Dragon cyborg to narrow his yellow eyes in annoyance. "That's what I thought. Anyway, Wiley, is there anything special about the compound you've discovered?"

'I cannot say if there is anything special about it as of yet.' Wiley signed back. 'It is a very complex cocktail of various types of substances that allow for physical enhancement, that was easy enough to identify, but...there's something about the way it binds to the cell surface of his red blood cells. It's almost perfect cellular fusion. It's fascinating.'

"I will not pretend to understand nor will I pretend to care." The red-haired Faunus replied as he stepped towards the mute. "All I would like to know is if you would be able to replicate the compound."

'These steroid compounds are easy to obtain. The combination process will be the difficult thing to perform and then there are trials to see whether or not it is this specific mixture that will generate the same abilities as when Asimov took them, but while it won't be entirely impossible, it will take time.'

"We will work to obtain the compounds for you to begin the combination process and the moment that you do, begin field trials." Adam's words were law and his tone made it distinctly clear to the mute canine Faunus that his leader was being very no-nonsense about the task. "Understood?"

Wiley nodded as he signed back to the Bull Faunus. 'Understood.'

(A/N: And that concludes the Arthur Asimov character arc. Hope you guys enjoyed the fight. The creation of Fenrir is quite an interesting topic to cover so I hope I put in enough details for you guys to understand it. If you think it's too complicated, the easy way for it is that Fenrir basically gives the effects of a Super Saiyan power multiplier, but with the drawbacks of Luffy's Gear Second.

The Fenrir and the replication that the White Fang will end up making won't be seen for a while since it will obviously take a relatively heavy set of man hours to both study and produce the drug, not to mention to go through the trials to make sure they can mimic the effects of Fenrir to a level that will be beneficial to the White Fang. When I do bring it back in later chapters, I will be drawing a great deal of inspiration from the Young Justice season 1 episodes involving the Blockbuster/Venom super formula.

So look out for that in the future.

Again hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and please review. I do want to know what you guys think of the chapters and it also helps motivate me to keep the story running.)