1 LockBox
This is a new story I thought up.
Nothing new that you haven't already seen but I just had this in my head and really wanted to get it out so what better way than sharing it online with a bunch of strangers?
This will be a bit different from my other stories as I will actually TRY to make it somewhat serious but we'll see how long that lasts.
Anyway.
Enjoy My new story Meta(In)Stability.
See what I did there with the title? Eh? Eh?!
Ah, you see it.
~~~
An 18-wheeler could be seen speeding down the unpolished and uneven gravel road, dirt grime, and other nasties being kicked up as it moved through the dense forestry faster than 100MPH, a bit fast for a bus but on the slower end for a model like this.
[Turn left at the next tree.]
The holographic GPS reads.
"Vague as hell but what else should I expect from a computer."
The driver yawned as he made a sharp right turn, the bus tilting ever so slightly, heading up a large mountain with a snowy top.
[Drive forward for 30 Miles]
A couple of hundred feet above the bus a Manticore flapped its wings glaring down at the vehicle with the night sky, and dim moonlight shining through the dense clouds accentuating its glowing red eyes.
With a roar, and a heavy flap of its wings it dived down toward the bus aiming to pierce the top and gobble down all the delicious human meat inside.
250 Feet
200 Feet
The beast's chest started to glow a dim orange color.
150 Feet
100 Feet
The bus jerked upward slowing down a bit, no doubt bumping into something that its all-terrain charcoal black wheels couldn't handle easily at its speeds.
50 Feet
25 Feet
The orange glow within the beast's chest got more and more intense as it neared its target, and then the glow started moving up the beast's neck toward its mouth.
It was about to reveal what said glow was when a large 15ft turret with a 12inch barrel popped up out of the top of the bus and fired a blue beam at the beast, killing it instantly with a well-placed shot to its bone covered skull.
The driver looks at the ashes of the fallen Grimm out of the corner of his eyes and then turns his attention back to the road clicking his tongue.
"Dumb animal, I'm working overtime because you got some stupid obsession with eradicating all life." He groans pressing on the gas and speeding up, but as luck wouldn't have it the tree's part revealing an open plain filled to the brim with various creatures of Grimm on all sides.
"Jinx huh? Well, isn't that just fucking great." He lets out a heavy sigh and presses a big red button in the middle of the dashboard.
He then picks up the intercom.
"This is your driver speaking...We are now in Grimm-infested territory and we have entered a code red." He pauses as the turret on the top of the bus blows a hole through an Ursa that got too close to the bus.
"So get off your assess and keep em away from us!" He swerves the bus around a large horde that would tip the bus over, "And for you idiots back there, stay seated and you won't get shot." He finishes putting the intercom down with a click as he goes full-throttle on the gas running over a Beowulf minor.
It didn't take long for the sound of rapid gunfire to be heard in the room right behind him, he could only hope that it was directed outside and that it continued to stay that way, at least until they escaped.
*Boom*
An explosion goes off a few meters away from the bus and the driver peaks over to see a Goliath charging at the vehicle with reckless abandon trampling over its comrades and tanking any of the shots fired at it.
"I don't get paid enough for this shit." He mutters under his breath as he grabs a thick 6-shot revolver from the dash and rolls down the window.
Hand still on the wheel he points the gun out and aims it at the eye of the Goliath. "I got you now you son of a bitch." He was about to fire when suddenly a Megoliath barreled into the smaller Goliath shoving it away and taking its place as head of the charge with tens if not hundreds of small Grimm following its lead.
Another boom and the driver looks over to see a second Megoliath with a horde of similar size charging at the bus from the other side.
The driver puts the gun down on the seat next to him and stares ahead with a blank expression on his face.
He inhales.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHH!" He screams into the wheel activating the horn at the same time. "MMFMM!!! EMEM TMMM!!!" He starts banging his head on the wheel, the horn blaring with each slam as he continues to spit out muffled curses into the leather.
He hears a knock on the door before it slides open revealing an Atlas guard with a strange marking on his chest and weird weapons on his person.
"We got Grimm on us from all sides!"
The driver turns around and glares at the soldier who flinches under his intense gaze. "YA think?!" He shouts sarcastically as the guard just looks down in shame.
The driver sighs and hardens his expression.
"I got it, don't worry about them, and just take out as many as you can."
The guard was about to pipe up be a side glare from the driver shut him and he was quick to shut the door and leave.
"Alright, let's do this thing."
The driver opens a latch and presses the green button attached to it. The turret on top of the bus recedes back in and a pair of exhaust pips pops out under the bumper, as the shift stick is swapped out for another big red button.
The driver closes his eyes as he runs over another smaller Grimm, the twin hordes on both sides closing in.
"Speed. I am speed."
His eyes snap open and he slams his palm on the button turning it green, a message appears on the holo GPS.
[Aura Boost activated! Please strap in!]
*BOOM*
With a thunderous Boom, the bus shot forward at blinding speeds leaving the Grimm hordes confused as in their eyes the moving vehicle just suddenly disappeared.
Meanwhile, the bus was barreling through any Grimm that entered the path as it keeps increasing in speed, higher and higher as the boost goes on longer.
The driver is glued to the back of his seat by G forces, his mouth flaps wide open, looking at the blurry figures as they pass by, as he keeps his mind off what's going on in the back if he is like this and they don't have seat belts.
[You will reach the mountain top in 5 seconds]
The holo GPS reads.
"Wait what?!"
The driver screams as he tries to shut off the boost but it's too late that bus shoots off the top of the mountain soaring through the sky-piercing through the clouds and finally entering the lower atmosphere as the boost dies down.
With the heavy clouds now out of the way, the Bus is fully illuminated by the broken moon as starts to twinkle in the night sky like glitter in a black box.
"...Crapbaskets."
And then the bus starts falling.
80,000 Feet
70,000 Feet
60,000 Feet
"Ironwood you fuckhead!!!"
50,000 Feet
40,000 Feet
30,000 Feet
"If I survive I swear to Oum in going to sock you in the jaw!!!"
The driver wasn't the only one panicking as the occupants in the back were all bolted against that roof, some screaming, some crying, some even sleeping, but most of them were trying not to throw up.
20,000 Feet
[You have mail!]
The Holo Screen read.
The driver looks at the screen like it just grew a second head. Mail? At a time like this? When he is about to be smushed into a paste by 10 tons of metal?
10,000 Feet
A humorless chuckle escapes his lips.
"Screw it, when else am I going to check my mail?"
He struggles but manages to reach the envelope Icon and open up his mail.
[Look up]
Was all it said.
The driver strains to look up and he sees a carrier Bullhead.
1,000 Feet
The Bullhead fired a harpoon gun that held two military-grade cables that attached to the front and the back of the bus, so it could carry it without issue.
"That motherfuc-"
He is cut off when the Bus suddenly jerks to a stop as the cables take hold.
"Ah, shit!" He groans rubbing his shoulders as the seatbelt pulled on his bones making him wince as he ran his fingers over them.
His Holo screen blips making him look over.
[Are the passengers stable?]
It reads.
The driver opens the door by pulling a lever to the left of him and he peeks back to see most of his living cargo are still alive and well...well not well, but they are at least alive.
"Yeah, they're fine, but you could have been a bit more careful ya dick."
Another message and the driver hesitantly opens it up.
[This was more fun. ;)]
"Oum I wish you could finally get laid so you could stop making my life a living hell." The driver groans as he lays his head down on the wheel wanting to just go home and take a nap as the carrier bullhead flies off into the distance with the bus.
~~~
{The LockBox}
At the very top of the Lockbox compound in the tallest tower that had a great view of the vast seemingly never-ending ocean that surrounded the entire base, there was an expensive-looking office that belonged to one man and one man only.
"Any particular reason you have for interrupting me, Anya?"
A slimly built black-haired bespeckled studious-looking man asked slightly irritated as he set a document down on his red mahogany desk and grabbed one from the top of an admittedly big impressive stack of papers.
"As you can see I'm quite busy at the moment."
The woman cleared her throat and stood straight.
"Warden Hardgrove, we have a new wave of prisoners are coming in today and next week."
Responding to his question was his secretary and right-hand woman Anya. She had long glossy black hair similar to the warden but her build was much more defined and you could see the years of blood sweat and tears clearly through her form-fitting navy blue suit.
Hardgrove looked at her strangely with a raised eyebrow.
"And this concerns me how? Does this task not belong to the acquisition department? Why bring it to my desk?"
"Normally it does but in light of new orders from up top, we need you to look over some of the more eccentric ones."
She laid the folder that she was holding close to her chest down on the desk in front of Hardgrove and he set his current document to the side in favor of the one Anya put down.
"And this is?" He asked as he picked it up and started flipping through the pages stopping for a brief second to look at one "S. McCormick" Before continuing.
"The general has deemed it fitting that you choose less...problematic inmates for the safety of the staff and other inmates, meanwhile those that don't fit the bill will be sent to the furnace."
"I see, Is that all then?"
Anya nods.
"Then you are dismissed." Hardgrove sends her away and she bowed and turned around toward the elevator as he started looking over the first inmate that was shown in the folder.
He opens up the first page and adjusts his glasses as he starts reading.
"Isaiah Brown. No official last name. No living relatives. Former Ace Ops. Convicted of...terrorism?" Hardgrove frowned as flipped the page he continued.
"Inducted from a young age into the military he was an expert in everything that involved explosives, and after graduating top of the class in weapons studies he trained under one Willow Schnee for a few years after which he was recommended for the Ace ops and participated in several missions before he was sentenced and jailed after multiple counts of excessive force that included the use of high yield explosives on white fang operatives."
Hardgrove snorted setting the paper down.
"Typical Faunus supporting idiots. If he was giving those rabid animals what they deserve for biting the hand that fed them I have to wonder why he was convicted at all."
Shaking his head Hardgrove grabbed a stamp from his left and marked the paper as "Lockbox" in big bold red letters as he set it aside and went on to the next prisoner.
"Teros. No official last name. 1 Living relative. Former construction worker. Accused and found guilty by his own admission for multiple accounts of manslaughter, theft, armed assault, and breaking and entering."
Hardgrove huffed with an amused smirk on his face.
"A beast with honor huh? Well, I'll be."
He didn't bother to flip the page he just took a stamp and marked the paper for "Furance" set it aside, and moved on to the next one.
~~~
"An Idol turned mass murdered?"
"LockBox."
~~~
"A demon wearing the mask of a child?"
"LockBox."
~~~
"Felix? Locus?"
"LockBox."
~~~
"Adam Ellis?"
"LockBox."
~~~
"A serial hugger?" He reads over a sheet of paper in confusion.
"Furnace."
~~~
Hardgrove let out a heavy sigh as he flipped the page and saw the last two that were on the list.
"David. No last name. No living relatives. No background record to speak of. Former atlas operative. Tried, found guilty, and dishonorably discharged for extreme mental disabilities."
Hardgrove sat up in his seat and actually paid attention to this file.
The file didn't actually say much about this David character, all it said was that nothing was known about David's life before he joined up, and even after that most of it was redacted and classified information.
The only thing that was open was the fact that he was one of the best soldiers that had a 93% completion rate for all of his missions.
Although that didn't say much it was enough for him to consider.
"What an interesting fellow, I think you will do nicely here." Hardgrove stamped the file "Lockbox"
Putting that one off to the side he looked at the last file and picked it up.
"Jaune Arc. Two-parent household. 7 sisters to speak of. A former student at beacon academy. Tried and found guilty for the killing of one councilwoman Arcadia."
Hardgrove raised an eyebrow.
"This brat did that?"
The suspicion in his tone was palpable enough to slap you in the face, but a slight part of him wondered if it was actually true so instead of marking him for the furnace, like he did the other boring ones he decided to read over this one.
He flipped over the file and started reading over his accomplishments while he was at beacon academy. But to say that his disappointment was immeasurable and that his day was ruined would be a huge understatement.
Hardgrove tossed the file down on his desk and leaned back in his rolling chair with a contemplative expression on his face hands clasped together.
"What the fuck?"
Lower than average grades for most if not all of his subjects, the bottom of the barrel when it came to combat against both Grimm and other humans, and worst of all he faked his transcripts to get into the school.
By all accounts, he shouldn't have even been there and yet he somehow managed to bypass the strict security measures and even gained a spot with the Famous Pyrrha Nikos on his team.
What the fuck indeed.
How the hell did a kid like him ever take down the councilwoman?
Despite Hardgroves distaste for the dirty animals he had to admit that the councilwoman was strong. She wasn't on par with some of the greats like the ace ops, Team STRQ, or the freelancers but she could hold her own against a titan class Grimm and that's a feat anyone can acknowledge.
So how in Oum's name did this subpar and frankly lackluster waste of space ever lay a hand on her? If he had his team then it might have been possible, despite their leader being a failure of a human being they all had great marks in combat class and could have been the next generation STRQ.
But after reviewing the footage it showed that he, and he alone was the one to put a bullet in her head. It simply doesn't add up...Unless.
"Haha."
A low chuckle escapes from Hargrove's lips.
"Ozpin you scheming bastard."
With a genuinely terrifyingly huge smile on his face, Hardgrove sat up in his chair and marked Jaune's file with...
...
...
...
"Furnace."
