In the dark snowy night of Mantle, with the ever looming Ats above it. Soldiers run down a side walk.

  "Go, go!" A soldier yells. "He went this way."

  Many citizens of Mantle, Faunus and Human watch as the soldiers run by them, weapons drawn. Most of the Faunus back away in fear or tried to hide away.

  The soldiers run past a dark alleyway, with one of the soldier's feet stomping into a small puddle of blood. They run past and down the street.

  A sigh is heard from within the dark recess of the alleyway, and then a faint chuckle. "That was a close one." A male voice is heard as a pair of amber eyes glow within the darkness as a rge white smile forms.

  The figure grunts as they step out of the alleyway.

  The figure has bck hair that goes down just past their ears, and some bangs that frame their face. A pair of bck cat ears twitch and swivel on the top of their head. Amber eyes gnce around for any signs of danger. A single purple triangle rest under both eyes.

  The figure has a more feminine look with small shoulders, thin stomach, yet rger hips. They have curves in the right pces most say. Yet one can mistake this boy, for a girl.

  He wears a white button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and a bck waist coat over it. A purple tie is around his neck with a small lose bck scar wrapped up as well. A silver band rest on his upper right arm with another over his left wrist.

  He wears dark pants with bck boots, with slight heels to them. A purple ribbon hangs from his belt as well as the rge weapon on his back, named Hellish Shroud, which is attached to a small purple magnetic backpack.

  On both of his thighs is his emblem, which is a purple flow with long, thin branches and bell-shaped flowers and leaves that are oval-shaped, untoothed with smooth edges and pointed ends.

  He has several rge bullets on a small bandoleer around his right thigh.

  The cat Faunus stands at 5'8'' (172.72. cm).

  The boy grunts as he holds a hand over his left side and looks down to it. A few drops of blood fall from under his hand, as his purple aura covers himself, before it starts fshing.

  "Damn, she got me good." The teen huffs as he walks on, with a slightly limp.

  He passes by a few people who give him questioning looks. The then passes by a shop with several TVs in the window, showing a mugshot of the boy with Wanted on the top of it.

  WANTED

  The Criminal That Goes By The Name "Nightshade."

  He spares the TV a quick gnce and a smirk forms on his face. "Like they'd ever catch me."

  He looks down to his left side and slightly moves his hand, showing his palm to be covered in blood, and a rge hole on the side of his stomach.

  "We'll they seem to be getting closer though."

  The teen continues on through the streets of Mantle and as he's about to round a corner, he spots several soldiers talking to some Faunus'.

  He swiftly stops and slowly peaks around the corner and sees the soldiers holding up a paper with his face on it.

  "Have you seen this Faunus?" A soldiers asks.

  "Like we'd tell you." A bird faunus squawks at the soldiers as the other two Faunus' agree.

  "We could do this the easy way,-" The soldier sets the paper into his pocket and readies his gun. "-Or the hard way."

  "Woah, woah, hey man." The other soldier calls out. "We don't need to resort to violence." He lowers his comrades gun.

  "I don't think you understand Grey, this things need to learn there pce."

  "If you want someone to cooperate you need to be nicer." Grey turns to the three Faunus'. "Hey, just give us something, and we'll be out of here."

  A squirrel Faunus speaks up. "We haven't seen him gone by, but he usually does hang around this area when he's down here. That's all your getting."

  Grey nods. "Thank you." He grabs his comrades arm. "Let's go."

  "I can walk by myself!" The other soldier rips his arm out of Grey's grip.

  The soldiers head in the opposite direction of our cat Faunus and he smirks. He rounds the corner and the three Faunus' spot him.

  "What'd you do this time, Byzan?" A dog Faunus asks.

  The teen, now known as Byzan, smiles a toothy grin as he walks up. "Oh, you know, just stopping a Schnee dust shipment from reaching the airstrip to get up to Ats. And I may or may not have brought it to a group of Happy Huntresses."

  The squirrel Faunus smiles. "And what's with the wound?"

  Byzan shrugs. "Well, I did have a run in with Ats' finest soldiers."

  "Which one was it this time?" The bird Faunus asks.

  "Calico."

  The three others shiver.

  "That big bitch?" The dog asks. "Damn, how'd you escape?"

  A second Byzan suddenly walks out from behind him, and smiles as they both talk. "Why, with myself of course." They both give a rather rge toothy smile.

  The second Byzan disappears in purple smoke.

  "Man, I wish I had a sembnce that useful." The bird compins as she sighs.

  Byzan walks past them. "I'm just very lucky."

  The squirrel rolls her eyes. "Whatever, hey, take the back routes to the Doc, soldiers are crawling all over that area."

  Byzan gives a simple wave as he heads into an alleyway, with a small sway in his hips.

  The dog faunus watches Byzan disappear. "Damn, if I didn't know he was a man, I'd so fall for him." His two friends gnce at him. "Hey, Byzan is very good looking for a man, okay!"

  The bird Faunus grows a rge blush. "Yeah, he is..."

  Byzan grunts as he stops in front of a wooden door and sms his fist into it a few times.

  "Be right there!" An older voice calls out.

  Byzan huffs as he rubs his cat ears his the back of his right hand. The door opens a few seconds ter and he smiles. "Hey, Doc."

  On the other side of the doorway is an older man in a special chair that has movable legs.

  "Oh my, Byzan, what happened to you?" Dr. Pietro Polendina asks.

  Byzan walks past Pietro and into his clinic. "Had a run in with some friends from Ats."

  Pietro closes the door and walks over to Byzan and leads him to a table. "Here, sit on it."

  Byzan grits his teeth as he climbs onto the top of the table, as Peitro walks over to a cabinet and starts to pull out some tools and other supplies.

  Byzan starts to take off his shirt and coat with a grunt as some blood spills onto the table.

  "I thought you were more careful then this, Mr. Beldonna." Peitro walks over with tools and medical supplies on top of a silver tray.

  Byzan tosses his shirt and coat to the side, showing off his smooth chest and thin stomach. With no blemishes other then the rge hole on his left side that's bleeding.

  His amber eyes gnce at the Doctor, before looking at a nearby TV, still showing his mugshot.

  "I am, I just got a little surprised by Calico." Byzan bites his lip as Pietro starts to clean his wound.

  "Ah, Miss Ash." Pietro nods. "She's very amendment in her job, very loyal to Ats."

  "A little too loyal if you ask me." Byzan grips his pants as he grunts in pain.

  Pietro pulls out a rge bullet from within Byzan, with a pair of tweezers. The doc sets the bloody bullet on his silver tray before grabbing some gauze.

  "Well, her and her brother owe the General a lot." Pietro wraps Byzan's wound up. "I did hear her brother did recently become a teacher at Beacon."

  Pietro grabs the tray and walks off to a sink.

  "Speaking of Beacon." Byzan pulls out a envelope out from his pocket. "I happen to get accepted there."

  Pietro gnces back at him with a smile. "Ahh, good for you Mr. Beldonna. Though I have to ask, how did you manage that?"

  Byzan hops off the table and gives a very rge toothy smile. "I have my ways, Doctor." He puts the envelope way and pulls out a fsk from his other pocket, which has his emblem on the front.

  Byzan unscrews the cap and starts to drink it's contents.

  "You know that stuff will kill you." Pietro walks past Byzan and grabs his bloody clothes and walks back over to the sink and starts to wash them, to the best of his ability.

  Byzan lowers the fsk and some purple liquid dribbles from his lip. "Well, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?" He screws the cap back on and sets the fsk back in his pocket. "I rather like the taste."

  Byzan lowers himself to the ground as he arches his back and yawns. He then reaches into his pocket as he straightens back up.

  "Don't worry too much about me, Doc." Byzan walks over to Pietro's desk and tosses some Lie onto it. "I'll be out of your hair within a week."

  Pietro moves over to Byzan and hands him his mostly dry and clean clothes. "Just don't get into trouble while in Vale, okay. You already are in so much trouble here."

  Byzan puts on his shirt and buttons it up, and gives Pietro a wink. "No promises~" He slips on his waist coat and adjust his tie and scarf. "Besides,-" He walks to the back door. "-I rather like a bit of Chaos."

  Byzan ughs as he leaves Pietro's clinic. Said doctor sighs and rubs his tired eyes. "That boys is nothing but trouble."

  Said cat is stalking through alleyways with a smile on his face. He stops and slides up to the wall as several soldiers walk by the entrance. He lets out a chuckle and he runs across the street and into another alleyway.

  Byzan rubs his left side. "At least there isn't much pain now." He pulls his fsk out and takes a quick sip of its contents and lets out a satisfied sigh. "Ah, now the pain's gone."

  He slinks through the shadows of the alleyway and he hears some voices nearby. He looks around a corner and spots a rather familiar female talking a a mb faunus.

  "So did we receive the shipment?" Robyn Hill, the leader of Happy Huntresses, asks her friend, Fiona Thyme.

  Fiona nods. "Yes, he brought it to use a couple hours ago."

  Robyn nods. "Good, we'll distribute the supplies ter tonight, and figure out how to intercept the shipment tomorrow night."

  Suddenly a pair of arms wrap around Robyn's shoulders. "Oh, Robyn~" Byzan leans onto her.

  "Oh, hello Byzan." Robyn greets as she removes the cat Faunus' arms from her shoulders.

  Fiona smiles bright and runs over to Byzan. "Byzz!" She hugs him tightly. "Are you alright? I heard you got into a shuffle with Calico."

  Byzan chuckles and pats the short mbs head. "I'm fine, when have I ever not been?"

  Fiona steps back from Byzan and notices the hole in his shirt and the bandages underneath it. "I thought you said you were fine." She points at his wound.

  Byzan chuckles and gnces away. "Fine now."

  Robyn pats Byzan's shoulder. "You might one of the few people who could stand up to Calico, without fear of getting all their bones broken."

  Byzan grows a rge smirk. "If you knew the truth, there's not much to fear in this world~"

  "The truth?" Robyn questions.

  Byzan leans close to Robyn. "Nothing~"

  Robyn takes a step back and gives the cat a questioning look. "So, what are you doing here, Byzan."

  Byzan leans against a nearby wall as he gives Robyn a rge toothy smile. "Oh, nothing really. Just need your help to get onto the next shipment to Vale."

  "I can't." Robyn pinly says.

  Byzan's eye twitches slightly as his smile turns forced. "Why not? Robyn?"

  "I need your help with something."

  Byzan frowns. "I need to leave Robyn, this is very important to me."

  "Please, just this one st thing, I'll owe you a favor, okay."

  Fiona's eyes gnce between the two.

  Byzan pinches the bridge of his nose. "Fine." A second him appears right beside Robyn and leans in real close to her and speaks. "But you better hold up to your favor~"

  "I will." Robyn gnces at the clone, and it smiles before turning into purple smoke.

  Byzan takes out his fsk and opens it. "So, what do you need me to do?"

  .

  .

  .

  A rge truck, with an enclosed back, drives down the empty roads of Mantle as moonlight shines down onto it.

  "Hey." The passenger looks to his friends in the driver seat.

  "Yeah?" The driver gnces over for a second.

  "Do you ever wonder-" The passenger then spots something in the road. "Hey, what's that?"

  The two lean forward and spot Byzan in the middle of the road, with a rge toothy smile and his weapon out. His sword in his right hand and his scabbard in his left.

  "Woah!" The two yell as they try to veer around Byzan, but he sshes at their tires and they swerve off the road and sm into a nearby building.

  A second Byzan steps out of a nearby alleyway. "Well, that happened."

  The Byzan in the middle of the road poofs into purple smoke. Byzan skips over to the truck as he whistles, he goes over to the front and looks over the two soldiers, who are both unconscious, but groaning in pain.

  Byzan smirks and pulls out his scroll and types a message. He sets his scroll away and skips over to the back of the truck. "Now, what goodies do you have in here?"

  Byzan opens up the back of the truck, only for a hammer to sm into him, sending him across the road and into a wall. Byzan coughs up some saliva as his purple aura covers him.

  He falls onto the ground and grunts a few times. "Damn..." He looks up to see a tall female stepping out of the back of the truck.

  The female stands at a massive 7'4'' (223.5 cm). She has piercing golden eyes with long white hair. She wears a skin tight white suit with blue and red armor over her legs and arms.

  She wields a massive hammer with a rge bde on the back of it. The head of the hammer emits a kinetic pulse.

  Byzan wipes some saliva from his mouth and stands up. "Calico."

  Calico brings her hammer over her shoulder as she gres at the cat Faunus. "Byzan." She then points her hammer at the cat. "Surrender now, and I promise no harm will come to you. You will have a fair trail up in Ats and face judgement."

  Byzan leans forward, bringing up a finger to his chin as he sticks his behind out. He tilts his head slightly and lowers his ears as he gives a cute look. "You're gonna take in wittle ol' me? But I'm too cute to be in prison, all the things those buff and strong men will do to me. Do you not fear they'll do with their rough hands who haven't seen a pretty face in a long time. Oh, the horror~" He feigns fear.

  Cal just raises an eyebrow. "You can't trick me, Nighshade."

  Baxterbro

  Byzan sighs as he straightens up and takes his weapon off his back. He quickly takes out his fsk and takes a drink from it, before putting it away. He unsheathes the bde and holds the scabbard in his left hand. "Well, then. Let's get this cover with, shall we?"

  Cal nods and lowers herself to the ground. "We shall."

  Cal speeds off towards and brings up her hammer with a yell. Byzan smirks as he jumps up as Cal brings down the hammer. As the hammer hits the ground a pulse flies out from it, sending anything nearby away, and pushing Byzan up into the air.

  Byzan switches his sword into pistol form and uses the bde to hook onto a hanging sign and flings himself up further into the air. he nds on a balcony and looks down at Cal, who's gring up to him.

  "Come on, Cal~" Byzan teases with a smirk. "Gotta try better then that."

  Byzan aims his flintlock down at the massive soldier and fires. Cal brings up her hammer and a force field surrounds it and blocks the rge bullet. Cal then spins her hammer around and changes it into gun form. The hammer forms the gun itself as the handle of the hammer extends into the barrel.

  Cal rests the gun over her shoulder as a sight licks out from the side of it and she aims at Byzan, whose smirk grows. "You got lucky st time, Cal~ Do you think you can get me this time?"

  Cal narrows her eyes at the cat Faunus as he wiggles a little in anticipation. Cal pulls the trigger and a rge bullet flies out from the barrel, the kickback slides Cal back a couple inches.

  Byzan back flips off the balcony and onto a rge metal sign as the bullet sms into the spot where he was, blowing a rge hole into the side of the building. Byzan sweat drops a little as he looks at the hole.

  "You better be careful, Calico!" Byzan growls a little. "You could hurt a civilian!"

  Cal aims her cannon at Byzan. "My goal is to take you in, or eliminate you." She fires her gun again.

  "Crazy bitch!" Byzan hops off the sign and changes it into sword form and stabs it above him.

  The sign he was standing on blows up, and a rge hole is blow into the side of the building. A few people scream in horror from inside the building.

  "What the fuck." Byzan whispers as he propels himself up and onto the roof. He starts to take off running, until a boom goes off behind him and Cal nds on the room behind him.

  Byzan sweats a little as he shakily looks back as sees Cal angrily gring at him.

  "No use in running, Byzan!" Cal charges towards him with her hammer held high.

  Suddenly a Byzan clone appears in front of her and swipes his sword at her. She huffs in frustration as she brings down her hammer and blocks the attack.

  She then throws a fist forward and punches a hole through the clone.

  "Damn..." The clone looks down in surprise before poofing out of existence.

  The real Byzan flies through the smoke and swings his sword at the tall girl. She brings up her hammer and blocks the attack, and goes to grab the Cat, but another Byzan appears and drop kicks her.

  Cal stumbles a few feet away as her white aura covers her. She grunts in anger and sms a foot into the roof, cracking it. Then she yells and lunges at the two Byzan's.

  They smirk and charge forward and swing both their swords at her. But Cal's faster and brings her hammer onto the room, causing a pulse to fly out from it, destroying the clone Byzan and sending the real one nearly flying off the side of the roof.

  Byzan's back sms into the edge of the roof as his aura covers him. "Damn, is she trying to kill me or something?"

  He gnces up to see a used up Dust crystal eject from the side of Cal's hammer. She pulls out a purple crystal from a pouch on her hip and sms it into a hole on the side of the hammer, which sends a light pulse out.

  The Cat Faunus looks behind him and sees Fiona and Robyn hop into the truck he crashed and start it up. The two soldiers that were in it are propped up against the side of a building.

  Byzan smirks as he grabs a bullet, with a white tip, from the bandoleer on his thigh. he slips it down the barrel and pulls the hammer back on his gun.

  Cal walks towards Byzan. "Give it up, Nightshade, you can't escape this time."

  Byzan gives a toothy smile. "And what makes you say that, Big Girl~"

  Cal sneers as she lunges towards him, with her hammer held high, but he swiftly brings up his gun and fires. Cal golden eyes widen slightly as he swiftly brings her hammer forward and a force field surrounds the hammer, blocking the bullet. But the bullet explodes and sends white smoke everywhere.

  Cal nds on the ground and starts to cough as she waves her hand around, to clear the smoke. After a few seconds the smoke clears and Cal finds herself alone on the roof.

  Cal grips her hammer in anger. "Damn you."

  .

  .

  The morning sun shines down onto a rge airship as creates are loaded into it. Robyn and Byzan stand at the ramp of the ship.

  Robyn shakes Byzan's hand. "I have to thank you for everything Byzan, you've done a lot for us."

  Byzan smiles brightly. "Awww, thank you." But then he pulls Robyn close to him, and he grows serious. "But don't forget you owe me a favor."

  Robyn nods. "Of course, I won't forget."

  Byzan gives a cute smile. "Yay~ I better get on, tell Fiona I'll see her ter." He heads onto the ship.

  Robyn grows confused. "You didn't say bye to her?"

  "Eh, I didn't want to see her be unhappy." He gnces back to Robyn with a rge smile. "But do take good care of her~" He takes out his fsk.

  He disappears into the ship with Robyn staring into it. "What a weird kid..."

  An hour ter the airship takes off and heads towards Vale. Byzan rests on a crate with a guitar in his hands, he stares up to the ceiling with a smile.

  "Dear sister, looks like we'll be meeting soon~"

  Byzan's eyes glow as a Cheshire smiles grows on his face.

  Outside the airship several other Bullheads fly around it as Ats and Mantle grow smaller in the distance.

  Byzan starts to py the guitar and sings.

  Baxterbro

  "Come little children~I'll take thee awayInto a nd of enchantmentCome little childrenThe time's come to pyHere in my garden of shadows."

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  04-02-2024

  3798 words