Team SHDW Volume 2

Prologue: Red Like Roses

But maybe now was a good time to explain what was said about something being wrong with Skyler's head. It had all started when he turned eighteen. It hadn't exactly been a celebrated day like the ones of the past, just another day on the road to Mistral, only being brought up once and then almost immediately forgotten. But what wasn't forgotten was a voice that started speaking to him that no one else heard.

The words it spoke were brief, but once they started, Skyler couldn't help but feel another presence in his mind, not just hearing it. It kept telling him to 'give in' and 'accept it', but Skyler had no idea what the heck it was talking about. He wondered if he was going insane. But the whispers were few and far between. Just enough to know that something else was still in there.

But just as those thoughts were completed, a bigger Grimm punched Ruby into the nearby clock tower, snapping Skyler to attention. After seeing Ruby was fine, he angrily looked at the Grimm responsible. A Beringel, a large gorilla-like creature, was standing there and standing in the middle of the street, pounding its chest and letting out a roar.

Ruby nodded at Skyler, who responded in kind. At once, they both rushed the monster from both fronts. The Beringel made its choice and leaped at Ruby first, but she quickly leapt over him, linking up with Skyler and both of them slashing at it. But that only seemed to annoy it, grabbing Ruby by the head before she could even react, using her body to smack away Skyler, and punching her onto a building.

They both quickly recovered, Ruby speeding onto the roof and beginning to take running potshots at it while Skyler turned Kasai into its gun form and began trying to burn it. However, both of these methods weren't very effective, as more Beowolves arrived, two of them rushing Skyler, one being shot down by Ruby, and another being grabbed by the Beringel and chucked at the silver-eyed girl.

The brown haired male hastily disposed of the Grimm wolves before turning to see Ruby and the Beringel going at it. Skyler ran towards the building, turned Kasai back into a sword, and pulled the trigger, propelling him onto the roof to join them. By that point, Ruby began to use her Semblance to zoom through the air before coming back down, slashing the gorilla a few times. But then it pounced at her, its arms raised, and, though she tried to avoid it, the blow smashed the roof and Ruby fell off with a yell.

"Ruby!!" Skyler cried, catching the Beringel's attention, and Skyler took a running step, ready to attack, but then...

~Hey, amateur!~

Skyler stumbled, grasping his head in pain and internally yelled, 'No, no!! You can't do this right now!!'

~I just wanted to talk! Seems as though you need a bit of help! Why not ask me-~

"I don't need you!!" Skyler yelled out loud.

But his distress only agitated the Beringel more, and the human was too wrapped up with the high-pitched voice in his head to notice the Grimm bounding for him. So the punch was completely unforeseen. Skyler was launched off the roof and smashed into the wall of the building on the opposite side of the road.

~You know what? This doesn't seem to be a good time after all.~

As Skyler groaned, the Beringel jumped of the roof and roared at him again. He got to his feet beginning to reach into his pocket. But as the Grimm turned its attention back to him, rose petals began to float past its head from behind it, causing it to shift focus once more, this time to the clock tower, where the petals were coming from. Skyler let out a smirk as it roared, unloading the red Fire Dust from Kasai, and replacing it with yellow Dust.

And just as he activated his Semblance and began charging at the Grimm, Ruby burst out of the clock of the tower. Skyler got to it first, slashing the Beringel's back and pulling the trigger on the handle, the lightning that shot from the weapon paralyzing it long enough for Ruby to use Crescent Rose to knock the Grimm off its feet. She then starting spinning around it with her own Semblance, causing a tornado effect, lifting the Beringel up in the air. Skyler then turned Kasai back into a gun and slid under the Grimm, firing a lightning bolt, blasting it with a mighty thunder crash.

He then rolled out of the way as Ruby zoomed down, straightening her scythe, and stabbed the Beringel, sending them both falling to the ground, the blade pinning it to the road. The Beringel then roared its last as Ruby fired one final shot to its head, the body dissolving soon afterward. As Skyler walked over, Ruby stabbed the base of Crescent Rose into the ground and reached behind her for her Scroll.

The device slid open in her hand with two motions. Across the top, the screen read 'BROADCASTING/RECEIVING'. In the middle of the screen were profile pictures of their current teammates. Across the bottom, it read 'LOCAL AREA ONLY', since it was the only mode available since the CCT was shut down.

-Ruby! Skyler!- Jaune Arc exclaimed, -We saw smoke!-

-Heading your way,- Lie Ren stated.

-Don't start without us!- Nora Valkyrie said excitedly.

Ruby looked at Skyler and they both smirked, the former answering their friends, "You better hurry."

And after that, they ran towards the Grimm hoard that was approaching them.
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And that's it for the prologue! And yes, you read that correctly: Skyler got a brown leather duster to wear for the trip to Haven. Everyone got a redesign when Volume 4 started, so I figured that I might as well do that for SHDW, even if they are just minor additions. Yeah, totally don't pay attention to that voice that's suddenly talking in Skyler's head...

And if you're wondering about if I'll do any more of the Character Shorts, no, I won't. Mainly because they were flashbacks, and they wouldn't necessarily fit in anywhere in this story. The only Character Short I actually considered doing was Yang's, considering both Skyler and Dante grew up with her and Ruby, but ultimately decided not to, due to the fact that I didn't really know how they could've fit in with it.

But anyways, I hope you enjoyed the prologue, because that is only a mere taste of what's to come. Till next time guys!