RWBY Tangled Webs

The light beams from the sun shone through the windows of Ciel's upper apartment as tiny dust particles floated gently in the air. A steady ticking could be heard throughout the room from an antique clock that rested on her nightstand. It was a polished wood frame with intricate silver and copper gears, an heirloom passed down from her father to remind her of the value of time. When the clock hand struck 8 A.M., a series of chimes sounded off, waking up Ciel. She opened her eyes slowly and brushed a handful of hair from her face, then reached over to pick up her wristwatch from the nightstand. She rose from the bed in her blue and silver nightgown and went to the dresser to change. The usual routine of dressing, preparing breakfast, and making sure she had both her workout clothes and Atlas military uniform on hand went smoothly as it had every week before. Ciel checked her wristwatch to activate the apartment security alarms and defenses before leaving to go downstairs. She strode downwards toward the elevator, making it to the ground floor within a clear fifteen minutes while noticing the other tenants frantically running about to make it to their work or whatever they had to do that day.





As Ciel walked outside, the sun glinted off the high rise buildings in downtown Atlas Central. Advanced technology made city life much easier for those who could afford it, and the incentives of a military salary made sure that plenty of new recruits were filed in each year. Steam hissed from the gutters, wafting up past the people gathering for the Central Automated Rail System to go to any destination a person desired, with the cars able to find any location with built in navigation computers constantly updated with live information transmissions from the city's Info-Hub. Ciel boarded one of the CARS and told the holographic driver interface where to go. "Atlas Central Gym, please", Ciel said. She used the data link from her watch to send her info inside, and the driving program quickly processed her data and destination.


Ciel approached the Atlas City Gym, feeling the glaring sun shine down over the sidewalk. People were passing up and down the steps as they came and went, the exhausted from their morning workout replaced by fresh bodies ready to be put through machines designed to test endurance and stamina. Ciel strode upwards to the gym entrance swiping her membership pass card to log in and enter the turnstile gate and made her way down the halls to the room reserved for her personal workout session.





In a secure monitoring room, someone watched all of the activity for the gym to make sure every training room was operated safely and efficiently. He had been running the training rooms and exercise floors without trouble for months, but something had been irritating him. The operator's name was Grigio Vivaldi. A lanky and rigid young man, Grigio had an urge to show everyone that they were flawed in the field of combating the Grimm. His own history of fighting Grimm was far from laudable. Unable to wield mighty weapons like other Huntsmen who came before, he tried to prove himself by taking up an axe too heavy for him. The result was a costly one and the scars had reminded him that flaws were inevitable for everyone. The true pain for him was being sent to monitor the gym rooms as a demotion from the lead training instructor, after spending so many years to get to the position. The Atlas Replacement Medical Supply, or A.R.M.S. had provided an extensive recovery program for him through his employment. But for Grigio the recovery wasn't all medical.





For every time that he did his shift for the Grimm combat training rooms, hardly anyone was able to meet their desired score for the simulation provided. Difficulty for the rooms were increased rapidly without warning. Sudden lighting and temperature changes caught people off guard. And even reports of sabotaged equipment plagued the incident reports. With so much going on, the Atlas Gym had built a reputation of having the most difficult experience a young Huntsman could endure outside of a real Grimm fight.





Even so, there was one person who was able to overcome all of the adversities; Ciel Soleil. Grigio looked at his log book for the day's list of people coming to train. As soon as her name appeared, he peeled a sickly grin across his face at the idea of finally causing her to fail. "You're not going to win today, Ciel", he said. "I'll make sure everyone knows you're not as perfect as they think you are". The overhead lights flickered in the monitoring room around him while he grasped his chair with a claw-like motion and sat down to engineer his plan to take her down.


Ciel had made it down the third corridor and past the entry level training rooms until she reached the more advanced simulation rooms. Once again she brought out her card to swipe and enter through the door. As she stepped through, the entry preparation room was lit up while she settled herself into a relaxed, yet poised stance. Ciel measured the Dust levels in her watch, which were at maximum capacity, and adjusted her beret and skirt comfortably. After a deep breath, she entered her passcode for the day to the training room. It was a vast room filled with a variety of terrain, obstructions, and pathways. An overhead voice chimed in to alert her for the start of the program. "Grimm Survival Training: Stage 1 of 10, commencing in 3...2...1...Begin."





With the countdown ending, the room began to change before her eyes, hard light constructs mimicking wildlife, plants and even fabricated sounds of the world of Remnant filled the void around her. "Alright then, let's get started" said Ciel. Twisting a dial on her wristwatch and activating her semblance of time warping, she charged towards the first wave of Beowulves that materialized a few yards away. The snarling and snapping jaws of these Grimm phantoms could easily frighten beginner Huntsmen who would train here, but Ciel was a hardened veteran with years of experience. The alpha Grimm tried to match her speed as it lunged for her, ready to tackle her down and attack. Ciel appeared to move slower, but it was her ability to control the time and space around her that allowed for a swift execution. She pulled a thin razor wire out of her wristwatch, glowing blue from the Dust inside, and spiraled into a backwards stance for a second in front of the Beowulf and leaping into the air overhead, the wire wrapping around its neck and slicing its head clean off while she landed behind the slumped carcass.














The rest of the Grimm fell to her in a slow motion ballet of death, each one of the simulations losing an arm, legs, and parts of their faces strewn across the ground from her razor wire cutting like a cruel puppeteer string through the bodies. Two Beowulves attempted to maul her at once, yet she saw this coming. When they converged on her, Ciel jumped up high above them, her semblance allowing enough time to pull more wire and enclose it around their necks, decapitating them and causing the bodies to crash into each other, the arms flailing wildly as the slowly dissolving simulacrums collapsed.


The stages passed with increasing difficulty, but as the danger grew, Ciel had yet to show any sign of fatigue. Daily training from both her military and personal life had conditioned her to withstand such abuse, always emerging the victor.


Grigio watched on furiously as Ciel continued to win, until he could take it no longer. "Now let's see how you deal with THESE odds!" He began by dimming the lights to near darkness and dropped the temperature to 30 degrees. Ciel realized what was happening, and amid the Grimm simulacrums charging at her, she spun the dial on her watch to access her Dust, and pressed one of many buttons. Raising her arm into the air above her head, the watch acted like a sprinkler, spitting red Dust in a 360 degree area and ignited by tiny sparks generated by the device, creating a ring of fire around her, illuminating the room and burning her opponents to a crisp. The flames crackled with life, charring the ground as Ciel looked around.  "So.." Ciel mused. "This must be one of those sabotaged events I've heard about". Up inside the control booth, the sound of Grigio's teeth grinding could only be overtaken by his rising snarl. "No! You are NOT going to win! Not today! Not ever again!"





Grigio wildly flipped every switch he could to make it seem impossible to escape this altered reality dungeon. Massive amounts of Grimm were summoned, the lights went from blindingly bright to pitch darkness, hot and cold air swirling through the room, and caught in the middle of it all was Ciel Soleil. But it wasn't just her who might fall today. The strain he placed on the facility was overloading the furnaces and any more would cause an explosion to would spread for blocks. Ciel calculated this, and used her semblance to create a bright blue force field around her, shielding herself from the noise and confusion created by his mad plans. She stood there, closing her eyes and repeating the words that helped mold her life. "Every, second, counts....every, second, counts.....every, second, counts..." Ciel whispered.


Then at once, she channeled her Dust and Semblance together, pressing the blue and white switch on her watch to inject the Dust into her bloodstream, gathering all the power she could muster, and fired a concentrated beam of energy straight above her head. The strain of this technique made her sweat all over, blood dripping from her nose, and tears streaming as the power felt like it was ripping her body apart.  The beam shot straight through the ceiling, creating a spiraled vortex to sucked up everything around her and sending it all upwards and into the upper atmosphere, burning on impact with the higher space. The blast could be heard for blocks as people turned their heads to see the beam rocket above the gym, causing local police to assemble and respond.


With the debris and danger passing from her, Ciel regained her composure. "Now that that's taken care of" she said, shifting her tone, "someone has a LOT to answer for."





Grigio was panicking, having never witnessed such power from a Huntress, and scrambled to gather up his data and make a run for it. "That's impossible! No one could have survived that! This has to be a trick!" Grigio said. "But that’s fine...", smiling that demented grin again, his mind raced to make plans for the next encounter. "This isn't over, Ciel, not by a long shot...".


As he made his way to the door, he opened it only to see Ciel standing there waiting for him. Standing there shocked with rolled up blueprints in his arms, Ciel placed a well aimed kick to his chest that sent him reeling into the control console. "Grigio Vivaldi", she said. "You are under arrest for the malicious tampering of city property, falsification of official documents, multiple counts of attempted murder, and an attempt to assassinate military personnel. In other words....you're coming with me". Grigio quickly got up and tried to dart past her, only to feel a wire tighten around his neck and yank him back. "Agck!" Grigio yelped as he crashed to the floor. Ciel hovered over him, her hair dangling above his face. "Now be a good boy, and don't bleed on your leash". She turned around and dragged him out of the building to where the police cruisers were waiting outside. "This is the one responsible for all of the incidents that have happened here at the gym", she said. "All of the evidence of his crimes are back in the control booth". The officers took hold of him and brought him over to the cruiser to place him inside. "Wait!" Grigio shouted, a wild look in his eyes that were fixated on Ciel. "Look at her! The blood coming from her lip! I knew she wasn't perfect, I KNEW IT!"


Ciel walked up to Grigio and locked her eyes on his. "I never claimed to be perfect" she said, sliding her tongue out to lick up the blood. "But I'm close".


Grigio's mind was broken from the stress and strain, and Ciel watched as he was taken away. One of the police asked her what had happened, and Ciel explained. "The situation was getting out of control. If I hadn't taken the necessary action to remove the danger from the public, more would have been at risk. Because when you're a Huntress and your actions determine who lives and who dies....every second counts."


She took a ride with one of the cruisers back to her apartment, already mentally preparing the mountain of paperwork needed to address what happened. The car drove down the road swiftly and silently, and Ciel could only crack a small smile and say "At least I got a good workout".

















The police cruiser drove down the road to the station, with Grigio bitterly mumbling to himself about how everything went so wrong for him. Unknown to the police in the car, a shadowy figure aimed their weapon at the tires, firing and puncturing both front wheels with a highly skilled double shot, while engulfing the front of the car in fire. The cruiser careened out of control and crashed into a building. As the officers tried to recover from the crash, a crimson blade slid under the driver's neck. "Nighty-night", the assailant said. The other officer had been shaken so hard that he was stumbling after frantically getting out of the car. The assailant caught up to him and delivered a quick blow to his chest with such force as to knock the air right out of him. He was dragged by his leg towards the back of the cruiser, and thrown onto the ground. Confused by all the noise and the crash, Grigio then noticed a red glow coming from the back doors, getting brighter and brighter until they melted away. He saw a figure step inside, and a pair of burning eyes set on him with a voice just as powerful. "Sweet little Grigio. I watched your embarrassing failure tonight. Such a shame that you did all that hard work for nothing. If only you had a proper weapon or skills to go all the way...you might have been successful", the voice said. "Who the hell are you? What's going on?" Grigio said. The assailant smiled and said "My name is Cinder. As for what is happening now, I want to see if you have what it takes to exact your revenge you must clearly want so bad". Saying this, she tossed at his feet what appeared to be a pair of simple gloves. Grigio stared at them for a moment. "And what am I supposed to do with these, slap someone and challenge them to a duel?", he said. "...Not quite", said Cinder. "These are Muerte Maestro. One of several weapons Atlas' secret defense labs have been working on lately. You'd be surprised at what they'll turn into a weapon these days". Grigio picked up the gloves and slipped them on. He could immediately feel the power coursing through them as he examined the details of this supposed 'weapon'. "I like the feel of them", he said as he began to raise a finger towards her, "but how are you going to give me a pair of gloves and call it a weap-"


SHENK!


As he had pointed his finger, a razor thin wire shot out towards Cinder and struck the inside of the car. She had easily moved her head out of the way just as Grigio made the motion to her. A dumbfounded and shocked look fell over his face as he instinctively recoiled his hand, along with the wire back into the glove. "Like I said; you'd be surprised", Cinder replied. "Maestro channels Dust laden high tensile wires at the command of the wearer. I thought you would...appreciate the idea". She stepped out of the vehicle and picked up the man laying down by his neck. Grigio followed her out of the car and into the street. "Now, I want you to show how much you appreciate ME...by killing this man for me. If you do, I can help you get your revenge much sooner than you would on your own". Grigio began to think of the humiliation he had suffered from Ciel, and a cold rage filled his eyes. He raised his hands up, concentrating on what he wanted to do to her and in a motion worthy of a professional composer, produced several wires from his fingers which wrapped around the man's neck, and pulled quickly. The razor sharp wires tore through his flesh, decapitating him in a swift, bloody stroke. Cinder smiled as the head fell and rolled near her feet. "Good", she cooed. "You've take your first step to realizing your true potential".





"This place is obviously nowhere we should linger", said Cinder. "Wait to hear from me for further orders. I have plans for the Vytal Festival in Vale this year. That will be your opportunity."


Grigio tightened his hands into fists and gazed at his new weapons. Then, opening one of his hands and pressing a certain lighted portion on the palm, the blueprints and instructions for operation displayed themselves in a 3D hologram. Grigio marveled at what he could do with these weapons, and they would never see him coming. He would become a frightening image for Ciel, and anyone who dared to stand in his way. "I'm looking forward to it", he said.