RWBY: Project Shadow

'BWAOH! BWAOH! BWAOH!' The loud, ear-piercing alarm went off in repeat within the compound, the lights having gone out, being replaced with a blood-red light swirling around from alarm lights perched on the walls. Your feet tapping against the ground, racing through the halls. 'Hah, huh, huh,' the panting almost as loud in your ear as your own heartbeat. Maria, blonde with a blue dress, was one you've grown to consider a sister, ran behind you. You held her hand firmly, almost dragging her along as the two of you ran. You could hear the sounds of people screaming after you, boots running on the floor behind you; they couldn't be too far behind you.

Maria was panting hard; she was sweating more than an average person; she was pale, coughing. It was obvious she couldn't continue running much longer; her sickness was getting to her. You kept pushing, though, hoping you could make it to the entrance. However, Maria's coughing got worse, and she fell to all fours. You immediately stopped running, dropping to her level. "I'm fine, CraveU user." Maria wheezed, trying to pull herself to her feet. You wanted to make sure she was okay, but with the soldiers still after you, you swallowed your concern and continued to pull her along, trying to make it to the entrance of the facility.

"Stop running!" One of the soldiers called out, but you didn't listen. You kept running; the both of you turned a corner, and you could see it, the doors. You weren't but 20 feet from it. Behind you, you could hear some kind of altercation, but you didn't care. You kept running, pulling Maria along behind you. 'BANG! BANG!' Two distinct gunshots rang out, and your world slowed to a halt. You felt Maria go limp, turning to see her eyes close as she fell forward. You stopped, heart dropping as you caught her, the feeling of a wetness coming from her back. You held her tightly, trying to wake her up, before a profound 'HISSS' sound hit your ears. Glancing up, you noticed one of the dust containers had a hole in it, sprouting flames. It was then it exploded, and everything went black.

The freezing snow fell onto the ground, covering the landscape of Solitas in almost pure white. The light reflected from the shattered moon shined into the land, making it beautiful to look at. All seemed at peace, until a black high-heeled boot stepped onto the frozen snow, cracking it under the weight. Cinder steps up to the side of the mountain, her eyes narrowing to focus on the wall of snow. Watts and Tyrian walk up behind her, stepping on either side of her. Cinder held up an open palm towards the wall, conjuring a large fireball towards the wall. As it hit, the snow wall almost instantly melted off, revealing a large metal door with the Atlas insignia on it. "Well, what do you know? It is real." Cinder smiled, turning her head to look at Arthur.

"Oh, what do you take me for, Cinder, one of your mind-numbing lackeys?" Watts responds, his voice having a tinge of condescension. "As always, I was proven to be right." He rolled his eyes, motioning to the door. "Now, if you'd please." He asked, a bit of mock sincerity in his voice. With a roll of her eyes, she took a stance, curling her hands together as a large fireball formed between them. The fireball in her hands grew in size substantially, her teeth pressed against each other hard as she focused, before throwing her hands forward with a giant fireball. The ball hit the seams of the metal door directly, causing an explosion that produced a cloud of black smoke. When the dust cleared, the doors had been blown off their hinges, the burnt and dented remains lying on the ground.

Inside it was dark; the only light sinking in was from the outside, shining on particles of dust in the air. Tyrian almost ran inside first, his eyes wild with mania. "I smell death and suffering." He giggled, twirling his fingers together. Watts walked in afterward, followed by Cinder. Watts glanced around. After a minute of looking, he spots something and heads over, approaching a box on the wall. He opened a latch, swinging the metal door open. Arthur reaches inside, finicking with a few things before grabbing a level and flipping it. An electronic choking and whining sound rang through the facility before the lights turned on. Watts smiled, closing the box, and walked back to the group.

"This place still has power?" Cinder raises an eyebrow at Arthur.

"As if." Watts chuckled. "It's the backup generator, but with half a century of neglect on maintenance, I suggest we hurry." He says, motioning for Cinder and Tyrian to follow him. He spun around, holding his arms out wide as if presenting the facility. "Welcome, to the ARK Compound!" Arthur presents with a smile. He began walking, as Cinder and Tyrian followed, tolerating his self-indulgence. "In its heyday, this facility served as where the most revolutionary discoveries were made and research took place. It was top secret, also often being used for military projects. But of course, with all things meant to be grand..."

"...It had a bloody downfall." Cinder finished, looking around as they walked the halls. After a moment of nothing but sounds of footsteps on the steel floor, Cinder spoke once more. "What caused all this?"

"That, dear Cinder, is why we're here." Arthur smiled. "While I was looking at the schematics for Amity Coliseum, I noticed a small little thing, and upon investigation, it led me down a rabbit hole here."

Cinder nodded her head to the side, admitting it made sense. "It's a little strange that one of Atlas' most important facilities is left completely defenseless."

Watts chuckles. "That's the thing about being forgotten: no one is left to care." 

"What? Do you mean I don't get to kill anything?" Tyrian whined, only to be met with a glare from Cinder.

"I'm afraid not, my friend." Watts responded with a smile. 

"Then why am I here?!" Tyrian whined once more.

"Insurance." Arthur answered. The group continued walking, eventually coming to a big door protected by a hand scanner. Watts chuckled to himself, 'child's play'. He stepped up and used his rings to hack the scanner, and after about thirty seconds, the door opened with a creak, disturbing dust. "Valiant effort; unfortunately, I'm much smarter than all of them." He smirked to himself, gaining an eyeroll from Cinder. The group entered the grand room, the walls and floors decorated with tubes and wires all leading up to a platform.

"What is all this?" Cinder questioned, looking around the room.

"A refrigeration system, if you will. It was designed to draw in the cold from the outside to keep it working even without power." Watts said, even himself seeming a little impressed, just a little.

"All this just to keep something on ice?" Cinder responded, raising an eyebrow at Watts.

"Not 'something', Cinder..." Arthur chuckles, turning on a console and beginning to navigate the system, hitting a button. "Someone." With that, a loud hissing noise could be heard from the platform, smoke behind exhaled from it as something began to rise from the ground.

"'Someone'?" Cinder asked, shocked and surprised. "How can anyone survive in ice?"

"Because this 'someone', isn't just anyone." Arthur answered, turning to watch as the capsule rose from the platform. "A very special project, designed for two purposes by two different people. The military wanted an ultimate weapon; the scientist, however..." He smiled, almost laughing at the thought. "Wanted a way to cure his granddaughter's chronic illness. So, they did many things, most of which you might know quite well, Cinder... They mixed Grimm and human... Cinder tensed, glancing down at her arm. "...To create the 'ultimate lifeform'. This was Project Shadow." 

The capsule finishes rising from the platform, all three looking at the pod, Tyrian with amazement, Cinder with hesitant curiosity, and Arthur with satisfaction. Inside, they noticed a figure within the ice, eyes closed, in nothing but underwear, and golden rings around their wrists. "What is that?" Tyrian asks. 

"CraveU user, the file says their name is." Arthur answers, inspecting the pod. "As for the rings, it says they were made to help control their overwhelming power... Something called Chaos Energy." Cinder's eye twitched at the word 'power', a little bit of jealousy rising in her. Arthur reached over and pressed a button labeled "DEACTIVEATE", the system coming up with a red pop-up: "WARNING, COOLING SYSTEM OFF". Arthur merely swiped it away, using his rings to hack the system. He set the system to heat up the pod. He turned to see the pod releasing more gas, the ice within the container slowly turning to water. "I suggest you both remain calm and let me do the talking; no telling how unpredictable they will be after being comatose for fifty years." He remarked.

All three watched in suspense as the ice melted to water, Arthur pulling up a heart monitor. The room was filled with silence, all except for the hissing of the pod. 'BEEP'. Watts turned to look at the monitor, seeing the heartbeat. 'BEEP', 'BEEP', 'BEEP'. Arthur took a deep breath as he witnessed the heart rate start up from the monitor. "They're waking up." He murmured, still loud enough for the other two to hear. The three waited, all looking at you, floating in the water.