I do not own RWBY nor BlazBlue.
-IIXII-
"Why are you so persistent?"
He had asked her that very same question countless of times when they were done fighting one another. It bothered him how determined she was, despite the odds against her.
In his opinion, the young girl was too brave, stubborn, and not to mention foolish for her own good. If she kept up acting like this, then no doubt that she'd die someday.
But even so, she would always answer his question with her same old answer.
"B-Because…I know that someday…I'll be able to actually beat you in a fair fight."
She laughed sheepishly.
"But unfortunately…that won't be happening today…or the rest of the week for that matter. I've reached my limit."
Terumi buried his face in his hand and growled, "Do you even know what you're saying? Just look at yourself!"
"W-What? I-I don't see anything wrong with-" she wanted to argue, but winced in complete pain when Terumi knocked her on the head with his fist. "Ow! T-That was totally uncalled for!"
The man proceeded to raise his leg, before planting his foot on the wall she was currently leaning on, just beside her head. He wanted to shut her up, and it worked perfectly well for him.
"Do you even understand the situation you're in?" he asked with a sharp glare. "Because I don't think you do."
"I do understand…" she mumbled.
"Then why are you so obsessed with beating me in a fair fight instead of running away?" he inquired, "If I went all-out on you, I'd probably tear that pretty little ass of yours without so much of a problem."
She blushed at his choice of words.
Terumi gave a short sigh, and muttered, "You actually think that you're strong enough to beat me? Just what in the name of hell are you trying to prove? Beating me in a fight won't be possible, I assure you. Do me a solid and stop being so stupid for once."
That should do it. A bucket of cold reality to the face would no doubt make her cry, and he wouldn't give a shit if she did. He was cruel, a sadist, and a cold-hearted person, not to mention a bit insane, so why would he give a shit?
"An expert fighter or not, you're still outclassed. I'll admit that your damn weapon gave me a hard time, but still, I managed to beat your ass without much problem. Besides, I've killed actual people in the past, and you seem too innocent and inexperienced."
She'd cry, and he'd be the one to enjoy the sight to the fullest. Call him an asshole, but he certainly was.
She deserved this.
"And most importantly, I prefer to work alone rather than having someone else to drag me down, so just give up already," he scoffed. "You're weak, and nothing will ever change that."
He slowly pulled his leg back and placed his foot on the ground, before shoving his hands inside his pockets. Terumi looked to the side.
And smirked.
He's going to enjoy this.
"P-Pervert…"
"Huh?"
The killer immediately looked down at the girl, and was caught off-guard when he saw her.
She refused to meet his gaze, and her cheeks were bright pink. The girl had her arms wrapped around herself, looking as if she was naked and trying to cover her body from his eyes. She looked vulnerable.
"What…the hell?" He clenched his fists in frustration, before gritting his teeth. His whole body began to shake from pure rage, but after a short while of silence, the man glared sharply at her and angrily yelled, "What the hell are you blushing for!? Just what in the world is wrong with that little head of yours!?"
She winced.
That was it. This brat was beyond hope. Why was he wasting his precious time with her anyway?
Right. Now he remembered.
This stubborn brat wanted to become his apprentice, or something like that. But in all honesty, she seemed a bit too innocent and inexperienced for his taste.
And he liked working alone better.
"But the way you said it was a bit…i-inappropriate!" she yelled at him, "When you say it like that, how do you expect me to take it seriously?"
"Y'know what?" Terumi started as he turned himself around, "I'm done talking to you. And don't you even think about-"
The man quickly leaned to the side to avoid an elbow from crashing into the back of his skull, before swiftly sweeping the girl off her feet with a deep scowl.
"-trying to take me out from behind." He scoffed, "And that was a cheap move."
She whined. "But I almost got you!"
"Too bad!" he growled. "Now leave me alone!"
Terumi walked away with a huff, leaving the girl lying there on the ground, alone. He didn't care one bit. If a meteor were to suddenly come crashing down on her right now, then he would be dancing around like an idiot for the entire world to see.
She had been following him around lately, and he was beginning to get annoyed by this. Everywhere he went, she would always make her sudden appearance, and would later challenge him in a fight. It was getting ridiculous.
He was a sadistic killer, and killers don't get stalked by innocent girls. Seriously, what do people take him for? He took sick pleasure in killing his victims, like those good for nothing Silver-Eyed Warriors for example, and being stalked by someone was ruining that image.
Why was she so interested anyway? Does she even know who she was freaking dealing with here?
If only she'd just disappear, then all his problems would be solved in a blink of an eye.
"Hey."
Terumi immediately halted himself, and proceeded to raise an eyebrow.
"What?"
Three seconds of utter silence flew by.
"Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
It was an innocent question. Too innocent. And it made him feel sick to the stomach.
He turned his head around, peering at her from underneath his hood.
"Are you?"
She closed her eyes, and smiled.
"Nope!"
-IIXII-
Terumi loudly gasped as he snapped his eyes wide open, breathing heavily while he was sweating all over. The man quickly looked around to take in his surroundings, and finally calmed his breathing after noticing that he was in an alley.
Right. He had immediately went unconscious the moment he got here. Or more accurately, teleported, in his case.
It was just a dream. A simple dream.
But he knew better than that. He obviously did.
That wasn't a dream. It was one of his memories. One of which he had locked away a long time ago, to be exact.
They were nothing more but forgotten memories of the past.
"Shit…" he silently cursed.
A day had gone by since the fight, and he wondered if it was all just a terrible dream. Then again, he wasn't stupid to think that.
He leaned his head against the wall, and gave a heavy sigh as he rested a hand on his stomach. The wounds which were caused by those blades were still there, but they were fortunately in the process of healing up.
"Dammit Summer…"
Those unwanted memories pissed him off. But at the same time, he was relieved for the fact that he still remembered, if only just the tiny bits and pieces.
The man chuckled at that.
"After what I did to you…" he muttered, "…you decided to save my ass huh? What a load…of bullshit."
Terumi pulled up his hood, running a hand through his green hair as another sigh came out.
He was freakin' tired, and taking a long and peaceful nap sounded tempting right now.
"Just…don't expect any favors from me. I don't really take favors from someone who's supposed to be dead."
Speaking of which, there was another person he needed to worry about. And just like Summer, this person was supposed to be dead as well.
"I'm still trying to come up with an answer to how that wimp managed to escape the Boundary, and yet…" he groaned, "…I still got nothing."
He sure had a lot of things going on in his mind. A lot of shit happened in a short amount of time, so it wasn't really his fault that he was stressed out because of all this.
Well, maybe taking a long nap right now wouldn't hurt. It'll help ease his mind a bit, if only for a few minutes or so.
Yeah, that sounded like a great plan.
"I've finally found you…Terumi."
Great. Just great.
"What now!?"
Terumi glared daggers at where the familiar voice came from, and was shocked when Relius Clover came into view. He honestly didn't expect to see this crazy asshole so soon. In fact, this crazy son of a bitch was the last person he wanted to see.
Well, as long as he wasn't trying to kill him, then it's fine by him.
Oh wait.
With all that's happened, he guess he could say that they weren't really partners anymore.
Well crap.
But damn, Relius looked like utter shit. What the hell happened to this guy?
"With that insane mind of yours…I'm not surprised that you managed to track me down." He chuckled, "And what the hell happened to you? You look like you've been pretty busy."
"I was…" Relius muttered, looking down at the empty space where his left arm should've been. He should consider himself lucky, because that arm of his was just a prosthetic. "I ran into…someone," he grunted, "I underestimated him."
"Must be one hell of a guy then," Terumi said, without even making it sound like he cared, and he wasted no time in flipping one of his knives open. Honestly, he never really liked taking any chances when it came to this guy. And when he did, it was like playing a game of Russian Roulette with five rounds loaded inside the cylinder. "Now, what do you want?"
Relius hummed. "Simple."
"Just spit it out," growled Terumi.
The professor smirked as he placed a finger on his chin, and as if on cue, Ignis made her sudden appearance beside him.
"I can't leave someone as dangerous as you running around in this large city. I will admit that finding you…was a hassle, to say the least, and I truly do not intend to repeat the same process once more."
"Get to the damn point already," Terumi grumbled with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Relius sighed, "You are a dangerous being, Terumi, and I shall simply do this world a small favor…"
Ignis tilted her head, and prepared her bloodstained claws.
"…and end you."
At this, Ignis lunged forward to strike her prey in the gut with her sharp claws, but unfortunately, said prey managed to roll out of the way in time. She quickly looked to where he went, only for a green serpent to slam itself against her chest area.
"Go screw yourself, Relius!" Terumi snarled as he threw the knife in his hand at Ignis' head to buy himself a few more seconds, adding, "What's your true motive? Killing me ain't worth shit to you, am I wrong? There's more to it than that."
"And what if there is?" Relius challenged with a smirk, "Are you going to stand in my way? If so, then you're nothing but an incompetent fool."
"An incompetent fool…you say?" With a low growl, Terumi proceeded to give Ignis a kick to the chest, which surprisingly sent her stumbling into the wall. "Just watch me as I shove those words up your ass."
"I'd love to see you try," Relius said.
"Oh I will!" Terumi retorted.
Just then, a white blur made its sudden appearance in the alley, right before it zoomed past Relius, as it knocked him towards the ground. He was caught off-guard at this, and Terumi, who saw the whole thing, quickly took the opportunity and slammed his foot against the side of his face.
"Get a load of my shoe, you bastard!" Terumi snarled, before he took the chance and ran out of the alley. The man was too injured for this shit, so fighting someone as dangerous as Relius was definitely out of the question. "Stomp you later, asshole!"
And with that, he was gone.
"Ugh…" Relius groaned, "What…in heaven's name…was that?"
Ignis went to her husband's side and slowly helped him up, then backed away slightly to give him some space. Figuring that she wasn't needed at the moment, Ignis decided to just teleport away, leaving her husband alone in the dark alley.
"Was it Phantom?" Relius thought aloud, but then shook his head shortly after. "It couldn't be. Besides, there is no reason for her to work alongside him, is there?"
At that exact moment, he felt a pair of eyes digging a hole into his back, and he immediately whirled himself around to see who it was.
No one was there.
However, he could've sworn he heard someone giggling in the distance.
-IIXII-
"Shit!" Terumi cursed as he finally stopped running, and then proceeded to lean his side against the wall.
He was pissed, and that expression of his was proof of that.
"Every single one of them…"
He slammed his fist against the wall before placing his other hand on his knee, and with a quick look around, it seemed that he had stumbled upon the streets of the city. Luckily, no one seemed like they recognized him. Well, not yet anyway.
"Saved…by you of all people. Again," he muttered, and was undeterred when two Bullheads can be seen hovering around in his area.
After all that's happened, he can't really blame them for being extra cautious.
Those annoying sacks of shit.
He gave a tired sigh.
"Look like I need to be careful from now on."
-IIXII-
"Do you need any help, Mister Taurus?"
Adam growled lowly, but he made no effort to look at the girl who was walking beside him. He wanted to scare her away, but too bad he needed to use his weapon as a crutch in order to keep on walking.
"I'm fine. Now leave me alone, human."
Her fingers twitched at that, which went unnoticed by Adam.
"I'm…sorry," she muttered.
"Don't," he quickly replied, "And do not follow me. Once I'm done resting, I'll kill you. So it's best if you were to run now while you still can."
"But I can't," Penny pouted.
Adam gave a frustrated groan, and leaned his back against the wall. He looked up, took in a deep breath, and exhaled sharply. Gripping his weapon, Adam then turned his head towards Penny, and she could see the anger and exhaustion in his eyes.
"Why?"
She grinned.
"Because you're a friend!"
His left eye twitched.
"I do not have the time to play stupid games with you, little naïve girl. You better start explaining yourself," he said somewhat calmly, "lest you want to lose your precious tongue."
"Well…" she tilted her head to the side, then continued, "…you and Blake were fighting against that crazy man together. She's a friend, and since you were helping her, that means you're a friend too!"
Adam winced.
He had forgotten all about her, and that pretty much shocked him.
Was he really that desperate to get his revenge on Terumi? Was he?
Then why?
In fact, what was his actual goal in the first place?
He wanted to prove himself that he's a strong individual. He wanted power, so he could prove to others that he's someone who's reliable. He wanted to put an end to Mister Schnee's life, just so the SDC can finally stop all the terrible things that it's been causing to the faunus people.
And most importantly, he wanted to change the world into a better place. A place where his people could live a happy and peaceful life, without having to fear the feeling of being tormented by those disgusting humans.
He despised them. To be perfectly frank, he hated humans more than the creatures of Grimm themselves.
And yet, why did it all suddenly feel so wrong?
Just then, memories of his childhood popped up in his mind.
Most of them were hazy at best, others were filled with pain and hatred, regret even, and only a few contained happiness.
But one particular memory, the one which had plagued his dreams and robbed him of his sleep countless of times in the past, began to play itself in his mind. Out of all of them, he remembered this particular one the most.
The delicious smell of freshly made soup. The sound of footsteps as he ran down the stairs. The soft smile that greeted him, along with the caring and gentle voice of his kind mother. The sound of her laughter when he came up with a joke, which somehow involved a snake and a puppy.
He smiled, though it was faint.
But just like that, it vanished.
The sound of their front door being busted open. The sight of two unfamiliar thugs entering their home. The terrified screams of his mother as a gun was fired. The amount of fear that he felt when he hid himself under his bed. The amount of sadness he felt when he saw his mother's lifeless body. The hatred he felt when he found out that his neighbors did absolutely nothing to help throughout the whole ordeal.
Ever since that dreadful day, he had been moving himself forward without stopping. Hatred was the one and only thing that kept him going, and it still is to this day.
And at some point in his life, he joined the White Fang. From there, he met Blake. They grew close, trained together, became lovers even.
Then after a while, for some unknown reasons, she left. He was angered by it, of course. And after that, everything began to slowly change.
For the worst.
Adam can't even begin to start questioning himself anymore. Was he wrong the entire time? Blinded even? He couldn't understand. How could he? It was all simply confusing to him.
And why on Remnant did she ran away? Why?
This internal conflict was starting to irritate him. He needed to calm himself down, lest he wanted to start taking his anger out on innocent bystanders.
"Mister Taurus?" Penny called out, "Are you there? Hello?"
"What!?" he snapped.
The girl flinched at his outburst, and immediately looked to the ground to avoid his sharp gaze. In all her life, she had never been scared like this before. It was a whole new experience for the girl, and one that she'll never forget.
"M-My apologies," Penny mumbled.
Footsteps can be heard, and once Penny had looked up, she was surprised to see Adam walking away. He no longer used his weapon as a crutch, but the way his legs shook was enough to tell her that he needed help.
"Just…leave me alone," Adam grumbled tiredly.
She'll have none of that, whether he liked it or not. Besides, Adam never did deny the fact that they were now friends, and friends helped each other out.
"W-Wait for me!"
And so, she decided to simply follow him, much to his annoyance. It was going to be a long day, and there's no doubt about it.
"Wait," Adam said as he remembered something.
"What is it?" Penny went to his side, but he paid her no mind.
The bull faunus fished out his scroll device from his pocket, and he was somewhat relieved to know that it wasn't broken.
"Better get this done and over with," he grumbled.
-IIXII-
A sigh could be heard from her lips, as she sat down on her bed. It had been a tiring day, and she was this close to killing a student for confessing his love to her in front of her teammates. It was a moment of humiliation for her, but she had made sure to scare him off with one of her terrifying death glares.
His expression was priceless.
"I'm sure that poor guy'll shit bricks for the rest of the day," Mercury said with a chuckle, which prompted Emerald to snicker at the comment.
"Yeah," the girl nodded, "The look on his face was funny!"
"You bet it was!" he laughed.
Cinder cleared her throat, and the two immediately went silent. The woman took a second to rub her temples, wishing she could kill her headache, before landing her gaze on Mercury.
"What of Adam Taurus, Mercury?" she inquired, and the boy gulped upon hearing the question.
"He's still in the dark…" Mercury answered with his gaze elsewhere, "And the same goes for Neo."
Cinder's eyes glowed at this, but they grew dim when her scroll vibrated. She took the small device from her desk, ignoring the curious looks Emerald and Mercury were giving her, then proceeded to open it.
Adam Taurus came into view.
"Adam," Cinder started, a bit of surprise evident in her voice, "Do you mind telling me where you've been all this time? I take it that-"
"Shut it, whore," Adam interrupted, rendering the woman speechless. "I'm done working with you. I have more important matters at hand, and you," he glared, "are in the way of said matters. Good day."
And with that, he ended the call.
The room was filled with utter silence, and the tension in the air was obvious.
Not to mention the heat, which was emitting from Cinder.
Being the asshole he was, Mercury placed his hand on his partner's shoulder and gave her a gentle push forward. Emerald turned to glare at him, and he simply nodded towards Cinder.
Rolling her eyes, the thief turned her attention towards her leader, then smiled nervously. Emerald was a bit scared, she'd admit that, but it wasn't her fault. Cinder can be terrifying whenever she wanted to be, especially when the woman was in one of her moods. Dealing with an angered Cinder was the last thing she needed.
Well, it's better to calm her down now than never.
"Cinder," she started, "are you alright?"
Silence was the only thing that greeted Emerald, and Mercury was beginning to think that it was best to leave, lest he'd end up facing Cinder's wrath.
"Ma'am?" Emerald called out once more, and nearly jumped when the woman turned herself around. Without a word, Cinder made her way towards the door, and left.
The room was filled with silence once more.
Well, that is until Mercury decided to speak up.
"I think," he chuckled, "it would be best if we were to just leave her be."
-IIXII-
The morning air was cold, and his occasional shivering was proof of that. She didn't know why, but seeing him like this made her worry, and she rarely felt worried when it came to others.
Why was she acting all soft all of a sudden, anyway?
It bothered her.
Could it be, the kid reminded her of her own daughter?
Raven sighed and stopped dead in her tracks, earning a confused look from Carl. She slowly took off her mask, and proceeded to look at Carl from the corner of her eyes.
The woman stared into his blue orbs, and the things she saw in them weren't really what she was expecting.
Pain, exhaustion, anger, sadness, concern, and a whole lot of other emotions that she could easily identify. The boy was literally a bucket filled with negative emotions, and it was concerning, to say the least.
Just what did this kid went through in his life?
"Are you cold?" she asked.
"H-Huh? Oh, i-it's nothing to worry about, Miss Branwen," Carl assured her with a soft smile. "How's your wound, if I may ask?"
Raven shifted her gaze down to the purple cape that was wrapped around her waist. The blood had dried long since then, thanks to her Aura, and judging by the absence of the pain, the wound had probably healed itself already.
The woman shifted her gaze back to the young boy, and saw him smiling at her.
"Well?"
Damn that innocent smile.
Raven turned away from him and closed her eyes, muttering, "Thank you…for the cape."
"E-Eh?"
Carl tilted his head in confusion, and was surprised when he saw Raven unwrapping his cape from her waist. "M-Miss Branwen? S-Shouldn't you-"
"My wound has healed, thanks to you," Raven said. "However, I'm sorry for dirtying your cape with my blood. You must feel disgusted." She huffed. "My apologies."
"N-Not at all!" Carl quickly said, "I don't mind about my cape. In fact, I'm just really happy to know that your wound is healed."
Polite and selfless as always.
"I see," she murmured.
Unbeknownst to Carl, Raven was smiling.
"Carl."
"Yes?" Carl looked to her, confused.
The woman placed her mask over her face once more, then turned to Carl. She knelt down in front of him, and simply attached the cape to the back of its rightful owner.
"For a young child such as yourself, you sure know how to be polite to your elders. I'm impressed."
Raven dusted off his left shoulder, taking note of the small blush visible on his cheeks, then tilted her head slightly as she rested her left elbow on her knee.
"Your sister should consider herself lucky to have you as her little brother."
Ada, who had been watching the whole time, looked to Raven with a tilt of her head. The woman landed her gaze on Ada not too long after that, and gave her a nod.
"F-Flattery will get you nowhere," Carl muttered with an embarrassed smile, "But…I shall take your words to heart, Miss Branwen."
Raven can only nod at this, as she slowly stood up. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly in a good mood. It surprised her.
She had been living outside of Vale ever since she had left Taiyang. To say it was a cruel world was simply laughable, and the people who she had come across would either try to steal from her, or kill her. Though, it wasn't really that surprising, considering the fact that everyone who lived outside the walls had to struggle to survive from the creatures of Grimm.
Raven had spent most of her life traveling alone outside the walls, and because of that, she had grown cold. But after meeting Carl, she began to change, if only for a bit.
Maybe having him around wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Say Carl, I have a question that I'd like to ask," Raven said.
"What is it?" Carl asked.
Before Raven could even speak however, Carl's cheeks went red, as he whirled himself around to face Ada. "S-Sister! Don't say something like that! I-It's inappropriate!"
Raven raised an eyebrow at this, as she placed a hand on her hip. "Is there anything that I should know?"
"N-Nothing important," Carl muttered, which prompted Ada to cover her mouth with one of her hands, looking as if she was giggling. "A-Anyway," he turned to her, "what was the question?"
Raven was silent, but after a second, she finally spoke.
"Would you like me to aid you…with your current task?"
-IIXII-
How many days had it been since then? Not that he minded being held up in this dump, of course. He could never say no to free daily meals, after all.
But still, the thought of Neo working for Cinder without knowing what they were actually doing was beginning to get to him, if only for a bit. The girl's safety was important, even though he knew quite well that she could pretty much handle herself if anything happened.
Even so, if he had to pick a choice to either stay, or be released, then he'd no doubt pick the latter within a heartbeat. Hell, if he could, he'd ditch the plan and start a new life in Vacuo, along with Neo.
But Cinder wouldn't want that. That annoying woman.
"You better be safe out there, Neo," Roman muttered, which was then followed by a short sigh as he leaned his head back with his eyes closed. "If something were to happen to you, which I highly doubt, then I don't know what I'd do."
The infamous thief cracked an eye open and stared up at the ceiling.
"It's a cruel world out there."
Why did he choose to steal, instead of having a normal life?
Simple.
Living in the streets just wasn't his thing. If he hadn't stolen that huge chunk of meat in the first place, then he'd be dead for all he knew. He had made it a rule to never starve himself again, and not even once had that rule ever been broken.
Roman scratched his head and exhaled, all the while wishing he had a cigar and his lighter with him. It's been a while since his last smoke, and it was one of the only things that ever bothered him.
"Smoking a nice cigar would be great right now," he grumbled, and as if the angels had answered his prayers, three cigars made themselves known by being thrown straight at his face. "Ow! Hey!"
He glared at where the cigars came from, but what met his eyes soon made his jaw drop.
"N-Neo?"
True to his words, the short girl was standing right in front of him with a genuine smile playing across her lips. She had his lighter in her right hand, which was lighted up, while Melodic Cudgel was held by the other. She was currently wearing his bowler hat, and if Roman was being honest with himself, she looked rather cute.
But cute or not, the sight of her tattered clothes was enough to make him jump to his feet, before grabbing her shoulders with worry written across his face. He never revealed this side of him to anyone, not even Cinder.
This side of him was only reserved for Neo, and anyone who said otherwise would either be killed, or tortured, and then killed.
"Neo, what in the world happened to you!? Where did you get all these injuries from!?"
Roman could clearly see the exhaustion in her eyes. It was as clear as the light of day itself.
Neo didn't answer. Instead, she closed the lighter and walked forward, before pulling Roman into a warm embrace. He was confused by this, obviously, but before he could even begin to question anything else, both he and Neo were engulfed in a bright light, which forced him to shut his eyes.
When the light faded, Roman slowly opened his eyes once more, only to see that they weren't inside his jail cell anymore. Instead, they were in Neo's safe house.
To say he was shocked was an understatement. Getting released early was not really a part of the plan, not that he actually minded anyway.
Just what in the name of hell happened to Neo? Was the entire plan sabotaged? Were they both not needed no more?
One person came to his mind, and he immediately growled.
"Cinder…"
That woman was the only person he knew who could actually land a finger on Neo. If she were to come by and show her face right now, then he'd probably start blasting it with Melodic Cudgel.
And also besides, he had always wanted to do that. She irritated him, and that's a good enough reason in his opinion.
Without warning, Neo went limp in his arms, and Roman was lucky he's able to react in time. If not, then the short girl would've kissed the ground and hurt her face.
"I don't know what's going on…" Roman started, "…but all I know now is that Neo needs me. She can tell me everything later."
And with that, Roman carried her up bridal style and quickly went to one of the bedrooms. He kicked the door open and rushed to the side of the bed, and proceeded to gently place Neo down on it.
"There you go…"
The criminal stepped back with concern written across his face, then took a second to examine her body.
It was a mess, and her clothes were no different. Just what the hell happened to her?
Could this actually be his fault?
Roman could feel his eyes growing wide at the thought, and all of a sudden, breathing felt like inhaling contaminated air.
"I never should've agreed to this."
He pulled a stool that was nearby and sat himself down, burying his face in his hands shortly after.
Regret began to fill his mind. He never should've worked with Cinder in the first place. He knew something like this was bound to happen one day, but he just didn't know when.
The deal that Cinder had promised him was too hard for him to resist, and he wasted no time in accepting it in the end. And besides, more lien would mean that he'd have an easy and happy life, along with Neo.
But unfortunately, look where that got him.
Roman felt sick, disgusted even.
This was all his fault.
Sudden movements from the bed managed to snap him back into reality, which prompted him to remove his hands from his face, and the sight which greeted him made his heart break.
Neo's facial expression was one of fear, as she slowly tossed and turned to try to escape whatever she was currently dreaming. Her right hand was moving all around the bed, as if she was trying to search for something important.
Roman smiled, and gently took her small hand in his own. And just like that, Neo's tossing and turning ceased, as her expression changed into something more calm and peaceful.
The girl gave his hand a gentle squeeze, then smiled.
"That's better," Roman chuckled.
Well, at least Neo was with him. He can plan Cinder's death later, because as of now, she needed him.
However, his face darkened when a thought crossed his mind.
"Just wait until I get my hands on you, Cinder."
-IIXII-
Hazama grunted in pain as he was slammed against the wall, but despite that, he proceeded to smile and open an eye, before looking down at his attacker.
"Miss Goodwitch, I don't think a proper lady like you should assault a person without giving them a warning of some kind. It…doesn't suit you."
Glynda's expression was one of pure rage, and people rarely get to witness said expression, even Ozpin himself. It was a once in a lifetime thing, of course. People would normally shit their pants at the sight, but when it came to someone like Hazama, it was nothing. Working for the Goddess of Death herself would do that to you.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't crush your body and feed you to the Grimm in the Emerald Forest," Glynda demanded as her Aura engulfed her entire frame, all the while having her riding crop aimed at his throat. "I shall give you five seconds."
Hazama sighed. "Okay, so it's-"
"Your time is up," Glynda interrupted.
"W-Wait!"
"Glynda, that's enough. Now, let him go," Ozpin ordered as he stood next to her, looking all calm and professional. "We wouldn't want to behave badly in front of our…guests, now would we?"
Said guests were currently standing behind Ozpin with their eyes widened in utter shock and bewilderment, along with General Ironwood, who was eyeing the vessel with an uneasy feeling. Though it's no surprise, because anyone who'd meet the man for the first time would either feel the same way or run away.
"What…the acorn…has this bastard been up to?" Makoto muttered, before emitting a low growl as she prepared Impact, her twin tonfas. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind lending her a hand if it means I'd get to punch his acorns."
"M-Makoto…" Kagura nervously called out as he turned to her, but the looks on the faces of his other two companions told him that they were thinking the same thing. "G-Girls, calm down. I don't think beating him up in front of our new friends here is-"
"I haven't seen you guys in a while, but to be honest, I'm not really that happy to see your faces," Hazama sneered, much to Kagura's chagrin. "Miss me, by any chance?"
"Go to hell!" Makoto yelled.
"Oh?" Hazama challenged her with a smirk, "Well, I certainly won't go, that is…unless you'd accompany me."
"How about I send you to hell instead, you snake?" the beastkin retorted with a growl.
Hazama scoffed, "Well, I-"
Whatever the vessel wanted to say, he was unfortunately interrupted when Glynda decided that enough was enough.
And so, Hazama was slammed down onto the cold floor, courtesy of the strict Huntress.
Tsubaki and Noel gasped in surprise and shock, while Makoto simply nodded and huffed, clearly not minding Glynda's way of shutting him up.
"Oh my…" Ozpin murmured as he looked down to Hazama, clearly not making any effort to help, "My apologies, Mister Hazama. Glynda can be a bit…violent, at times."
Well, now that's just stating the bloody obvious. What's next, the woman has a habit of scowling her students to death?
Glynda didn't say anything to that however, as she simply stormed off with her trademark scowl to do whatever she was planning on doing. No doubt trying to kick all the stress from her system.
Kagura just hoped the woman owned a stress ball, and if she did, he felt sorry for it.
"Don't…mention it," Hazama grumbled.
"So," James began, "this is the man who accompanied your students on that mission."
"That is him," Ozpin nodded.
Kagura's eyes went wide at the mention of Hazama's mission, and the others were beginning to worry if they might actually pop out of their sockets.
"Wait, so you're telling me that this guy," the Black Knight pointed towards Hazama, who was in the process of pushing himself off the ground, "is working in this academy? As a professor?"
James and Ozpin looked to one another for a brief moment, before the latter simply answered with, "That is correct."
"W-W-What!?" Noel squeaked out in shock. "C-Captain Hazama is a professor!?"
"I find that hard to believe," Tsubaki stated with a cross of her arms, "This man has committed countless of crimes in our world, and a punishment is in order."
Ozpin and James raised their eyebrows at the girl's words. The two weren't expecting this, obviously.
"Screw that," Hazama laughed as he dusted off his clothes, "Do keep in mind that we are not in our home world anymore, so any rules or laws from that dump we call a planet doesn't apply to me here. Besides, the NOL sucked anyway."
Tsubaki unsheathed her blade, and pointed said blade at the man's throat.
"I work for the organization that you speak of, Captain Hazama. I dare you to insult-"
A hand landed on her left shoulder, which calmed her down almost immediately. The red-haired fighter turned to the hand's owner, and furrowed her brows when she saw Jin's troubled expression.
"J-Jin?"
"Tsubaki," the man began, "no matter how you look at it, he's right." Jin gave a sigh, adding, "Now please, lower your sword. You are starting to make those two feel uncomfortable."
He was obviously referring to Ozpin and James, who had been quiet the entire time, but it was not entirely true. In fact, Ozpin seemed interested to see where this was going, and James on the other hand, was the only one who actually felt uncomfortable. Though, the look on his face told them that he was somewhat interested as well.
"And there's also another thing that I need to tell you," Jin muttered, successfully gaining Tsubaki's undivided attention.
"Hmm? What is it?" she asked.
Jin went silent as he focused his gaze on Hazama, which did not go unnoticed by the others. The vessel saw the look in his eyes, and he immediately understood the message. If they were going to hunt the bastard down, then they were going to need some serious help.
The sick bastard could be anywhere right now. Hell, he could be plotting some kind of evil plan for all they knew.
Besides, what's the point of hiding it from them? They needed to know.
And Jin was going to make sure of that.
"It's about…Terumi."
The hallway suddenly went cold at his words, as all eyes landed on him. None dared to say a word, and it stayed like that for a few seconds.
Kagura and his female companions were utterly shocked at the news, no doubt already connecting the dots without in need of any further details. Just by hearing the name of that wretched being was enough to make their skins crawl.
Ozpin and James seemed to notice the mood, and rather than sounding their thoughts, they merely decided to observe things further. The two didn't want to interfere, so observing was obviously the best course of action for now.
However, the silence did not last long, as Kagura spoke.
"Is he…contained?"
Jin shook his head as an answer, earning a grunt from the Black Knight. The girls silently looked to one another, each of their expressions troubled.
"W-Well," Kagura nervously said, "now this just got complicated. I don't think Professor Kokonoe is going to take the news too well. Knowing her, she'll probably order us to stay-"
"Which is a good thing," Hazama interrupted, shaking his head afterwards when Kagura gave him a puzzled look. "The sooner we find him, the better. And for that to happen, we need to stay."
"And why should we listen to someone like you?" Noel glared at him. "You're nothing but a liar, Hazama."
The man emitted a growl as he looked to the side, folding his arms as the events from yesterday played themselves in his mind. It angered him. He was this close to ending it all, and yet, things would never go the way he wanted. It's always been that way nowadays.
If he could, he'd murder some of the students just so he could relieve some stress, but too bad Ozpin was in charge. The old man wouldn't be happy to see corpses littering in the hallways of his academy now, would he?
"I fought him…yesterday," Hazama muttered, which gained the others' attention. "I was close to killing him too, but…"
"You too…aren't working together?" Tsubaki asked with a bit of surprise evident in her voice, narrowing her eyes later when a small smirk graced the man's lips.
"You could say that."
The sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard.
"My apologies for interrupting," Ozpin suddenly said, before adding, "but something has been bothering me for a while. I'd like to ask you all an important question, just so I could ease my worries, if only for a bit."
Kagura was confused by this, but nodded anyway. "Go ahead."
"I understand if you think it is wise to not answer, but it's about the man…whom you all speak of."
It was now safe to say that Ozpin had their complete attention.
Makoto looked to Tsubaki, then slowly nodded.
"What would you like to know about him, Professor Ozpin?" Tsubaki asked, but the expression shown across her features clearly told him that she was nervous.
The NOL members knew that there were some questions not meant to be answered and instead needed to be kept secret, but even so, they would make sure to try their best to satisfy his curiosity.
Ozpin's expression turned serious, and if James was being honest with himself, then he was sure as hell frightened a bit.
The hallway was silent for a full three seconds as they awaited the headmaster's question, but to most of them, it felt like an eternity.
Now, let it be known to all of them that Professor Ozpin was an intimidating person when he was serious.
"Is there a chance that the name of this man…is Yuuki Terumi?"
That got a reaction out of everyone.
James furrowed his eyebrows.
Hazama cracked an eye open, staring at the headmaster with his expression unreadable.
Jin and Kagura widened their eyes in utter shock, before quickly looking to one another after recovering themselves.
Noel, Makoto, and Tsubaki gasped, no doubt they were shocked as well.
It was clear that Ozpin had his answer.
"How do you-" Jin wanted to ask, but the ridiculously heavy handbag that flew straight to the side of his head unfortunately sent him crashing to the ground, earning shocked looks from almost everyone.
If Jin was anyone else, he'd be dead right now.
"What is the meaning of this!?" General Ironwood exclaimed.
"J-Jin!?" Tsubaki called out as she quickly went to his side, slowly helping him up. Noel and Kagura decided to help as well, before they looked to where the object came from.
"W-Who is that?" Noel stammered.
"Oh my," the Black Knight grinned, "that's one hell of a nice body she has there. I wonder…"
Noel and Tsubaki gave him sour looks.
"What?"
"So, you were the bastard who hurt my little bunny," the voice of Coco Adel said in the distance. "I hope you're prepared to get your ass kicked."
"Who the hell?" Makoto looked to where the voice came from, and the sight of the second year team leader made her growl. "Hey, we're not looking for trouble. I suggest you walk away. Now."
Coco gave the squirrel beastkin a challenging grin.
"Or what?"
Makoto grinned as well.
"Or else I'll send you through the roof with a single punch."
Jin clutched the side of his head in utter pain, and quickly looked to the headmaster to ask his question once more.
Only to see him walking away in the distance, reading something on his scroll device.
Jin wanted to call out his name, but the pain in his head prevented him from doing so.
Just then, Team RWBY, minus their leader, along with Team JNPR and the rest of Team CFVY can be seen heading their way in the distance. Most of their eyes immediately landed on Jin the moment they saw him, and at that moment, he knew he was screwed.
"You!" the blonde exclaimed, as her lilac eyes turned crimson. "I hope you're ready for round two, asshole!"
Okay, now he was screwed.
"Professor Kisaragi," Hazama coolly said as he leaned against the wall, smiling, "you better handle this quick before shit starts happening."
-IIXII-
She slowly opened her eyes with a painful groan, no doubt all the commotion outside was the main cause of it. Her body felt numb, but despite that, she proceeded to sit herself up in her bed.
"What…happened to me?"
With a quick look, Ruby took note of the patient gown she was wearing, instead of her usual attire. It wasn't really comfortable, but it's better than being naked.
The clock on the wall told her that it was around eight in the morning, but that wasn't important right now. She needed to know the date for today, but after noticing the lack of calendars inside the room, she grumbled.
With nothing else in mind, Ruby decided to examine the room further, though nothing special caught her eyes.
That is, until her eyes landed on the extra bed beside hers.
"Huh?"
She rubbed then squinted her eyes to get a better look at the person on the bed, and after her vision had cleared a bit, the first thing she saw was the face of her teammate. The boy was also up, though with his head down, it appears he was sleeping.
"Wait a minute," Ruby muttered as her eyes widened themselves bit by bit, while the events from yesterday slowly came back to her. However, before the little reaper could even begin to think of anything else, the familiar scent of freshly made cookies entered her nostrils.
Her stomach growled, which made her blush slightly. With Ruby out for the count for who knows how many days already, it's no surprise that she'd be hungry.
But where on Remnant was the smell coming from?
"R-Ruby?"
She jumped slightly, and immediately regretted it when she nearly fell down from her bed.
"You're…awake."
Ruby quickly turned to her teammate with concern written across her face, and the first thing she saw was his smile, though it was weak. From what she could remember, he was the one who had it worst compared to all the others.
"Kazuma," Ruby began, "how are you feeling?"
Kval seemed hesitant to answer, so instead of answering, he looked down to the plate that was placed on his lap, before holding it out towards her.
He mustered a smile. "Cookies?"
Ruby wanted to reject the offer, but her hunger for food was obviously against the idea. She hadn't eaten yet, so having a small snack wouldn't hurt, right?
Besides, Kval was offering her cookies, so the least she could do was accept them. Rejecting the offer would've seem a bit rude, if she was being honest with herself.
And so, she smiled.
"Hehe…I guess I'll take…" Ruby trailed off as her eyes slowly widened themselves, staring down at the vessel's right arm. The very same arm which had been torn apart just yesterday.
"What!?" She leaned herself towards him, silver eyes examining the boy's arm rather than the delicious cookies. The little Huntress-in-training stared at his arm from every angle possible, and it would've been funny if it weren't for the tons of shit they'd just went through. "H-How is this even possible!? I saw it happened with my very own eyes!?"
Kval winced at her outburst. He pulled his arm back with a nervous laugh, but was surprised when Ruby snatched the plate away from his hand, devouring the cookies one after another not too long after that.
Though, her eyes were trained on him while she ate.
"I guess…you want an explanation?"
She nodded, eyes narrowing.
Kval scratched the back of his head and smiled a nervous smile, unsure of how to explain things. For all he knew, the reaper might not take the news too well.
Ruby had saw how it happened in front of her very own eyes, had to face the thought of him possibly dying, had cried even. So if she ended up chopping him into small pieces after explaining how he got his arm back, then he wouldn't blame her.
If Kval was being honest with himself, then it was obviously his fault. He should've told Team RWBY about this a long while ago.
"You could say that I was…created…this way?" he laughed nervously. "My body could heal any type of injury in just a short amount of time. But…losing an arm…was something that had never happened to me before, so I guess the healing process took more time than I expected, which isn't really surprising."
Silence filled the room.
"Are you…" he gulped, "…mad?"
No answer.
Kval blinked, but he was then surprised to see Ruby nowhere in bed. The only thing he could see on said bed were a few rose petals, before he began to notice more of them across the floor, which leads to his own bed.
Now that he thought about it, why did he felt like something was straddling him?
Oh.
"Let me see your arm."
"E-Eh?"
Kval looked to his front, and was met with the sight of Ruby with her arms crossed, expression unreadable as she kept eyeing his right arm. Though, the cookie which she held in her right hand made her look less intimidating.
Ruby closed her eyes.
"L-Let me see your arm," she repeated, her voice barely a whisper. "P-Please."
The stutter in her voice surprised him, and Kval was close to leaning himself forward to ask her what was wrong. But instead, he moved his right arm, and settled his hand on her pale cheek. If Ruby was afraid that his right arm was just a figment of her imagination, then this would definitely help ease her worries.
Ruby gasped upon receiving the sudden touch contact, eyes now opened. However, the moment she saw his smile, she relaxed a bit.
"Hey."
Yellow met silver, and it seemed to stay that way, if only for the moment.
"Ruby, are you mad?" Kval asked, his smile now gone. "The suspense is killing me, y'know. I mean, I understand if-"
"I want to," Ruby interrupted, "I want to be mad at you. I really do, and it's not even funny…"
Kval moved his head down in utter shame and guilt. He was about to pull his hand back, but the words that came out of the girl's mouth prevented him from doing so.
"But…I can't."
Kval shot his head up and looked to her, only to see her smiling at him with teary eyes. The sight was too much for him, and he did the first thing that came to mind.
Kval pulled her into a tight embrace, and whether if she was going to return it or not, it wouldn't matter. All he wanted at this moment was to comfort her.
It was the least he could do.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Ruby whispered, and to his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the hug. "You're also an idiot…for making me worry like that."
"I'm sorry I made you worry," he whispered, stroking her hair as he did. Sighing, he added, "I guess I forget to tell you."
Ruby sniffled. "I just…don't want to lose you. Just…don't scare me like that ever again." She pulled her head back, and stared at him, but chuckled when a sudden thought entered her mind. "A-Also, the others will probably kill you for making them worry. Though, I wouldn't blame them."
Kval immediately froze upon hearing her words.
"Well…I can always block the door with my serpents," he nervously said.
Ruby giggled, then stared at the cookie in her hand, before doing the same to him. "Have you…eaten anything?"
He shook his head. "I'm not hungry, and those cookies were meant for you." He smiled, "Normally, food from the dining hall isn't allowed for patients like us, but I managed to get the cookies by threatening one of the staff members."
Ruby averted her gaze away from him with a small blush, as the image of him wearing a chef outfit while preparing a batch of cookies came to mind, but the last thing he said made her jaw drop. She looked to him in utter shock, wide-eyed.
"You did what!?"
He winced.
"I wanted you to at least eat something the moment you wake up, so…why not ask them for cookies?" Kval asked, which was then followed by a nervous chuckle. "They were against the idea at first, but…" he trailed off, as he now stared at something over the girl's shoulder.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, then looked to where he was staring at, before gasping in surprise.
There was a visible crack on the wall.
"D-Did you hurt them!?" she shouted, eyes now glued on the damaged wall. She then whipped her head towards him, pouting as she folded her arms. "Kazuma…what else did you do?"
"I-I didn't hurt them I swear! The crack on the wall was caused by Ouroboros," Kval shook his head, "I would never do such a thing…well, unless it's necessary-"
"Kazuma!"
"I'm sorry!" He immediately shrunk under her gaze, looking down at his lap soon after. A sigh was heard, no doubt coming from Ruby, but still, he dared not to look at her. Her piercing gaze was the last thing he wanted to handle.
Even though he still knew little of Ruby, but the little reaper could be a bit dangerous when she was serious, not that she wasn't deadly already in terms of combat.
"Here."
"Huh?" Kval looked up, and saw the cookie being held towards him. He was puzzled by this, and tilted his head slightly as he asked, "Aren't you going to eat it?"
"No." She huffed. "I'm still not happy for what you did to the staff members, but at the same time…" she looked away, as her cheeks reddened, "…I'm really grateful to know that you would go that far as to make me feel better. S-So…thanks. A-And Yang always told me that I should share things with others, so I figured that…y-you'd like to have this cookie. It's the last one."
Kval stared at her, a small smile gracing his lips. The way she acted was adorable, and he wanted to tease her about it right then and there, but doing so would surely ruin the moment. Instead, he simply took the cookie, and broke it in two.
"Well, sharing is caring I guess," Kval chuckled, and the girl's reaction to what he had said made his smile grew a few inches. Looks like Ruby hadn't expected that, of all things. He tilted his head, then held out the treat towards her. "Here."
Ruby wanted to say something in return, but before she could the door to their room was busted open.
"Kyah!" she screamed.
The Huntress-in-training wasted no time in wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in sheer instinct, as if her life depended on it. She looked to the doorway with a frightened expression, eyes wide as saucers.
"R-Ruby!?" Kval nearly fell down on his bed from the sudden hug, but gave a sigh of relief when he managed to recover himself at the last second. However, his cheeks went red when Ruby began to press her body against his, and to top it all off, she didn't seem to realize what she was doing. "U-Uh…Ruby?"
Though, he had to admit that they were pretty soft for her age.
He quickly shook his head, pushing all the impure thoughts out the window.
"Take that you asshole!" the familiar voice yelled somewhere inside the room, which was accompanied by the sound of someone who was being choked.
"Release him this instant!" another voice, female, but this time it was unfamiliar.
The vessel narrowed his eyes, while doing his best to ignore the feeling of Ruby's soft breasts pressing up against his chest, and looked to the doorway. Though, what he saw was not what he had expected.
Yang was currently straddling Jin on the floor, choking him with her bare hands, while an unfamiliar red-haired girl was doing her best to pull the blonde away from killing the asshole. Coco, Velvet, and a few other people he recognized were also there, along with a bunch of others which he didn't.
"Yang!?" Ruby gasped.
Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing upon hearing her voice, before each and every one of them turned to her with different expressions.
Silence filled the room, and Ruby was beginning to wonder why they were staring at her like that. In fact, she was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. Ruby knew that she wasn't the type of person who liked being at the center of attention, but she felt like she was missing something.
They stared, and stared, but none dared to say a word. It was unsettling, to say the least.
And why was Kval being quiet all of a sudden?
"Are we interrupting something?"
Ruby looked to the doorway, and saw her uncle, Qrow. From what she could see, the man was currently giving Kval the stink-eye, which confused her further, and it wasn't helping at all when she noticed that Yang was doing the same.
"Why are you…?" Ruby slowly trailed off, eyes widening themselves as her cheeks became slightly red.
It was now safe to say that Ruby had connected the dots, though it took a lot of time on her part.
"My word! This is just…unbelievable!" Professor Hazama exclaimed, though the shit-eating grin he had plastered across his face told everyone that he was amused by the whole situation. He was an asshole, so it wasn't really surprising that he'd act this way.
"Were they in the middle of doing the devil's tango?" Coco said with a wide smirk. "I'm impressed."
"Coco!" Velvet hissed, though her cheeks were red in color.
"I think they were gonna boop! Maybe we should-" Nora wanted to say, but Ren decided to save the day by covering her mouth before she could say anything else. The boy gave the two a knowing look, shaking his head afterwards as he smiled.
"Young love," Kagura sighed, grinning with his eyes closed.
Now completely embarrassed, Ruby wasted no time in pulling herself away from a red-faced Kval, before she quickly stood at the side of the bed.
"I-I can explain!"
"Oh no, I think it's best if I hear it from him instead," Qrow muttered, his hand trailing down to the large blade across his back. "But I'm not even sure if I wanna hear any of it."
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled as she held Kval's arm, who was trembling in his bed. "Stop it! And I'm not five anymore!"
"Wouldn't it be great for me to give him a bit of exercise? It won't take more than five minutes, I promise," Qrow assured, narrowing his eyes at Kval as he did so. "And maybe a bit of small talk would do the trick."
"I-I'm fine, but thanks for the offer," Kval said with a nervous laugh, shrinking under the man's terrifying gaze not too long after that. "I'll just stay quiet now…"
"There will be no fighting!" James raised his voice in order to make his presence known, before adding, "And Qrow, stop with the pointless act. I find it to be childish, and it's coming from you of all people."
"Who said I was acting?" he muttered.
"I don't know what's going on," Makoto began, "but would it kill you to get your ass off of him!? I know he's a prick at times-"
A glare from a certain NOL member was sent her way.
"-but what the hell did he do to upset you guys anyway!?"
Yang growled, "Tell her Weiss!"
Weiss nodded, then yelled, "This man tried to kill us!"
Makoto gave the heiress a blank stare, and instead of saying anything in return, she decided to bury her face in her hand and groan.
"Are you serious?"
"This is no laughing matter. And yes, we are serious," Blake told her.
"Well, I can't really help you guys from hating him so much I guess…" the squirrel beastkin mumbled.
-IIXII-
She examined her work, and was satisfied by it. The bandages covered most of his wounds, and she had successfully stopped the bleeding, so she guess it was more than enough.
Whoever he was up against, it was clear that the man had barely made it out alive. She had saw the whole thing, of course, but had made sure to not interfere. And besides, she always preferred to observe things rather than handling them.
Not to brag or anything, but if she were to go against that masked guy, then she surely would've won with ease. He seemed slow, to be honest.
Though, she'll let him live. For now.
The woman knelt down in front of the unconscious man, and gently placed his weapon down beside him. She smiled, pulled her hood over her head, and stood back up.
And with that, she began to walk away.
"Guh…"
Monty coughed, and cracked his eyes open.
The first thing he saw was a white blur, but when he blinked, it vanished.
Surely his eyes were playing tricks on him.
-IIXII-
Well, this is it. The end of Still Alive: Phase I.
Though, I still can't believe I made it this far.
I probably ended up shocking some, if not, all of you readers, and for that, I apologize. But I planned to end it here, so don't think I did it for some shitty reason. I'll be working on the sequel somewhere in the near future, but for now...I need a vacation.
Also, did you guys know...that today is Still Alive's anniversary, and that I'm currently listening to Wings from the RWBY Volume 1 OST? Pretty crazy, don't you think?
But to make things clear, I would've never gotten this far if it weren't for any of you guys, especially the ones who kept reviewing and pointing out my mistakes. I couldn't have done it alone.
My special thanks goes to a lot of people, but I think now's a good time to make themselves known.
SpecialMonitor22 - For giving me his helpful tips on how to improve, though I don't know where he went.
moki0316 - For giving me countless of cool ideas, along for being a great and supportive friend.
GameboyNinjaUltimate Icarus - For giving me his amazing reviews.
Flashback Trip Syndrome - For also being supportive.
A classmate of mine - For drawing a picture for my profile and LOAA's cover.
Countless of others who I couldn't remember by name - If it weren't for you guys...I would've packed my bags a long time ago. So, thanks.
Thank you. All of you. Just...thank you for enduring my crappy writing, and for being patient with me. You guys are seriously the best, y'know that?
When I had posted Still Alive on this site, believe me when I say that I was nervous of what people might think of my idea. Though, no reviews actually came and told me anything. But I didn't give up, and as a result, Phase 2 was written not too long after Phase 1 was born.
Well...I guess you could say that's when it happened. People finally decided to give me their thoughts by reviewing, and for that, I am grateful.
Did you guys know that I didn't have an actual plot for this story? I mean, I came up with one the moment Phase 33 was posted, and that was just recently! Honestly, I'm amazed by this, not trying to brag or anything.
Anyway, about the story.
You guys probably have a lot of questions for me, which isn't really surprising. I'll try to answer as much as I can without spoiling anything, but no promises though.
What timeline is this?
This story is set after the events of RWBY Volume 2, with a bit of changes here and there, and after the events of the BlazBlue Phase Shift novels, which explains Kazuma Kval. Though, with BlazBlue's timeline being twisted as it is, the characters from Chrono Phantasma are from the long future. And since I just broke Chrono Phantasma, you could say that things ended a bit differently. I guess explaining further is unnecessary, lest I want to suffer from a minor headache.
What caused the light in Phase 1?
Someone, though it's pretty obvious who did it.
What sort of connection does Terumi has with Summer?
That...is a hard question. I can't say much, but things will clear a bit once the sequel comes out. For now, let's just say that Terumi had some sort of history with Summer. It's not a happy one, I assure you.
Does Terumi need an Observer to observe him in order to survive?
Yes, but for more info, you'll have to wait for the sequel. You'd be surprised...or not. It depends.
Are there any changes in the characters?
Yes, but not all of them. Like Terumi, some characters will have their very own background stories. This way, it'll be easier for me.
Where the hell is Winter!?
She's in...a hospital somewhere?
Why is Roman Torchwick making his appearance in the last Phase!?
It was...intentional...I guess?
What is Relius up to?
Well, the answer to that is pretty obvious.
When will Still Alive: Phase II be released?
It's gonna take a while, but worry not! I have more RWBY X BB story ideas prepared fresh from the oven! If you guys are curious on what I'll be working on, then check out my profile! Also, I drew something that might happen in the sequel. Curious? Go check it out on my DA account. My username is on my FF's profile, by the way. I'm not good at drawing, so don't expect much.
Will more BlazBlue characters appear in the sequel?
You bet they will!
What am I going to do now?
I'll be editing Still Alive from the very start. Someone's gotta kill all those spelling errors, right? After that, I'm gonna work on the last Phase of Kval's Birthday. The darn thing was postponed for a lot longer than I intended. And when that's done, I'll be working on LOAA's latest chapter, take a bit of rest, then start writing my other planned stories!
Well, I guess I took this longer than I intended to, so I think it's best if I were to end it here.
As always, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for all the support you've given me. You have no idea how happy I am, and again, I'm sorry for ending the story here. But like I said, it was intended.
Anyway, thanks for staying, and remember to stay safe out there.
This is CPL, over and out.