AN: Hello and welcome back to Fall, Rise, Fall! Previously, Cinder and co. were making their way towards the vault where Amber is kept to steal the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers while a mysterious figure has taken an interest in our favorite temptress and has sent his best man to rein her in. Now, for this chapter, I'll be going a little in the reverse direction in our story timeline (not terribly long, mind you, just enough to let me establish some character viewpoints that I'd like to use in this story). Don't worry, though, because there'll be plenty of plot advancement by the time this chapter ends. So, without further ado, I present chapter 2 of Fall, Rise, Fall. Enjoy.
Roman Torchwick + Neopolitan
Roman Torchwick liked to think that he had a number of skills. Befitting his self-proclaimed title as a master thief, he was an expert in pick-pocketing, lock-picking, staying hidden from unwanted attention, and talking his way out of any unfavorable situations that came his way, amongst other things.
Breaking out of an airborne prison guarded by a full crew of trained soldiers all on his own while unarmed, however, was not exactly one of the skills he could boast about. Thankfully, Cinder has been kind enough to send Neo to dispose of the crew and break him out. The diminutive woman gave him his trademark bowler hat and Melodic Cudgel as he stepped out of the cell, along with a scroll displaying a message on it.
[Cinder needs you to create a distraction with this airship. Keep the other ones busy and cause as much chaos as possible down below. When she gives the signal, she wants you to take the ship to Beacon to pick her up and take us all home.]
"That's it? Did she say anything about having a little fun on the side?" Roman was grinning widely, he hadn't gotten a chance to pilot anything ever since he lost the technological marvel that was the Atlesian Paladin to Red and her team. The thought of piloting a whole Atlesian airship was almost too good to be true. Almost.
Neo typed out a response on the scroll, giving it to Roman.
[What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Do what you want. My lips are sealed]
She gave him one of her trademark smirks as she put her hand over the corner of her mouth, moving it over to the other corner in a zipping motion. It wouldn't have really mattered if they were actually zipped shut, both because she was already mute and because she wasn't one to rat on a friend.
"Well, if she isn't telling me to not have any fun…"He grinned darkly.
"…then I'm going to have myself some fun."
Adam Taurus
Adam Taurus quickly realized that he hated humans after they murdered the ones he called family in cold blood before his very eyes, leaving him alive to have the nightmares haunt him for the rest of his life.
It wasn't long after that he joined the White Fang, turning his hate into purpose, a weapon to use against humanity like his sword and sheathe-rifle, Wilt and Blush. In time, he came to call the White Fang his new family, the seething hatred he had for humanity tempered by his dedication to his new brothers and sisters.
To him, the thought of even working with the humans was repulsive, yet when Cinder came to him with an offer that had a choice between accepting her help or being incinerated, he wasn't exactly in any position to argue.
She had him provide manpower for her operations, the men he kept providing her more often than not ending up captured, severely injured, or dead. Against his better judgement, he continued to throw his lot in with the woman, hoping to ensure that the sacrifices of his brothers and sisters actually meant something.
Now he found himself on a bullhead, the loud droning of the engine coming to a stop as the doors opened, revealing the landing platform of Beacon Academy. He was to provide a distraction to allow Cinder to slip in unnoticed. There was a dark smile growing on his face as the White Fang unloaded from the other bullheads, along with the… special cargo that had taken great effort to restrain in the tight confines of a bullhead without any cages.
"Bring them to their knees!" Not a moment later, they all charged into the Beacon courtyard, weapons raised.
If not for the mask he wore over his face, one could have seen the manic gleam in his eyes as he readied Wilt and Blush for battle.
Ozpin
When he first saw the remains of the girl… no… the machine that looked like a girl, Ozpin felt something he hadn't felt in a very long time: anger. His mind was clouded in an instant, though years of practiced control over his emotions limited the outward effects to his face merely taking on an uncharacteristically grim expression.
Even after the scathing speech delivered over the broadcast and the subsequent alarms being raised in the wake of a massive invasion of Grimm, his mind still lingered on the thing that laid bisected on the Amity Colosseum arena floor. He knew that James had made some rather…questionable decisions in the past, but this was truly something else.
Ozpin didn't have very long to ponder on this, as Qrow and Glynda soon stepped into the room, concerned expressions apparent on their faces.
"Get to the city." Ozpin told them in an uncharacteristically terse tone.
"But-"Qrow never got a chance to protest, his words cut off by an even more uncharacteristic outburst from the normally unflappable headmaster.
"NOW!"
After a short moment, the two exchanged looks and made for the elevator.
Not a second later, Ozpin's scroll rang. It was James.
"Ozpin, the girl…I can explain!" The general never got a chance.
"You brought your army to my kingdom, James." His voice took on a hard edge.
"Use it."
He ended the call, turning his gaze out to the window and taking in the sheer devastation going on around him. His anger was threatening to overtake him again, though it was quickly overshadowed when he noticed a certain duo of "students" from Haven in Beacon's courtyard.
It wasn't a moment later that he realized just what the real target was.
Roman Torchwick + Neopolitan
It had been child's play for Roman to override all the security locks on the Atlesian ship (a failing that was similarly present in the Paladin). With that done, he had full control over the ship, a fact he demonstrated quite clearly by turning it on another airship and firing on its engines. The ship began to descend, crashing into another airship, sending them both to the ground.
"Oh, it is good to be back!" Roman was grinning widely as he began to fire on another group of airships, these ones faring little better than the first two. He was having the time of his life.
Meanwhile, Neo was manning another console, this one controlling some of the secondary cannons lining the hull. Most of her efforts went towards keeping the Nevermores off the ship, though she would occasionally indulge in a few potshots at the other airships when the opportunity presented itself.
Between the two of them, the skies surrounding Blue Two were largely empty, with the smoldering wrecks of destroyed airships and the decaying remains of eviscerated Nevermores raining to the ground below.
Roman began to angle the ship to move to another patch of sky, one that had a group of five airships beating back a flock of Nevermores. These ones seemed to notice Blue Two's sudden betrayal, and began firing on the ship, rapidly shifting into a defensive line. Most of these shots went wide, and Roman easily maneuvered the ship through any shots that had a chance of connecting.
Deciding to go with a bold strategy, Roman put all available power into the thrusters of the ship, rapidly closing the distance between them and the defending airships. Neo looked a bit nervous, though even if she wasn't mute and had a way of verbally telling Roman that this was a bad idea, he would've ignored it. When the man had set his mind on something, there wasn't a thing in all of Remnant that could stop him.
The defending ships quickly repositioned, moving to encircle the rapidly approaching Blue Two, though one unlucky airship was destroyed when it neglected to avoid the massive flock of Nevermores that quickly tore through their shields and hull, the ship's explosion quickly removing it (as well as everything within a rather large radius around it) from the fight.
The remaining airships began to fire their guns, each shot aimed directly at the bridge. Most of these shots were deftly evaded by Roman, though a handful managed to hit their mark, battering Blue Two's shields to dangerously low levels.
It was at that point that Roman put his plan into action. He told Neo to make an illusion of a massive flock of Nevermores around each of the defending ships. She closed her eyes, tapping into her semblance. Not long after, the ships were firing wildly into the skies around them, defending themselves from the Nevermores that had appeared, quite literally, out of nowhere. Using this opportunity, Roman turned the ship to engage one of the defenders, the main guns of Blue Two quickly piercing the ship's shields and tearing through the hull. Not long after, the ship was a smoldering wreck drifting across the sky. Turning to engage another ship, Roman made short work of the remaining airships, none even managing to send another shot in Blue Two's general direction.
"Like shooting fish in a flying barrel." He told Neo as the wrecks of the airships slowly descended to the ground.
She rolled her eyes at him. Reaching for her scroll, she typed up a message and tossed the scroll to Roman, who caught it and read.
[Just shut up. Using my semblance like that takes a lot out of me. Now you owe me at least a refrigerator's worth of ice cream.]
Roman simply laughed at this, used to sating the diminutive woman's rather… unique cravings. He tossed her scroll back to her.
"What would I do without you, Neo?"
She didn't even bother to type up a response, simply rolling her eyes again. Despite this, she couldn't fight the beginnings of the genuine smile that was forming on her face.
'What would you do without me?' She thought to herself before returning her attention to the console, aiming Blue Two's secondary cannons at the most definitely real flock of Nevermores bearing down on their position.
'What would I do without you, Roman?'
Adam Taurus
Thankfully for the White Fang, there were only a handful of students still present at the school, most having left for the colosseum or Vale beforehand. What few students there were, however, were putting up a very stubborn resistance, the hordes of Grimm that the White Fang brought with them doing little to bog them down.
Adam ordered one of his lieutenants to temporarily take command of the White Fang at Beacon. He ordered him to focus on keeping the students tied up, but not to make any overly risky attempts at actually bringing them down. He wanted to do that part himself, both to keep unnecessary losses to a minimum and because he was dying for a good fight.
With that, he set off. The majority of the defending students were fighting in the open fields of Beacon's courtyard, and the few that were in any other areas could be safely ignored for the time being. Adam was tearing through the majority of these students with ease, most of them unable to keep up with his lightning quick sword draws and deadly accuracy with his rifle.
Soon, he found himself facing a group of students around the statue in the center of the courtyard. Most of them looked about as dangerous as the ones he had faced before (that was, to say, not very much). One, however, with her glowing mane of blonde hair, looked like she could be a real challenge.
Quickly moving to dispatch the other students to remove any potential distractions, he was forced to block with his sword as the blonde charged him with a gauntleted fist raised for a doubtlessly powerful punch. The force from the punch alone strained his guard, though he held firm. Taking a swing with Wilt, he forced her back while taking a few shots at the other students with Blush, eliminating them from the fight.
Not long after, the only two combatants left standing were Adam and the blonde, who looked positively livid with her glowing red eyes and burning blonde hair. They were both staring each other down, sizing each other up in preparation for another clash.
The blonde was the first to move, firing a shotgun blast that Adam deflected with a quick swing of his sword. She continued to fire at him, closing the distance between them with every shot. Once she was close enough, she crashed against his guard with a series of brutal hooks and punches.
He wasn't expecting for his guard to actually be faltering against the assault. It was as if she had somehow become even more powerful during the course of their fight despite having taken a number of hits from Wilt and Blush. He himself wasn't in much better condition. She had managed to surprise him at one point, getting a devastating punch to connect with his side while he was taking aim with Blush at one of the other students.
The withering assault was beginning to lessen, and Adam made use of the opening to quickly sheathe Wilt in preparation for a lightning-quick draw when the blonde inevitably overcommitted to a strike, leaving herself vulnerable. He soon saw the opportunity he was looking for, firing Blush to launch Wilt from its sheathe just as the blonde threw the punch. Wilt met its mark dead on, landing a devastating slash on the blonde.
What Adam didn't expect, however, was that she continued her attack even as she was sliced by his sword. Just as Wilt made contact with the blonde, her gauntleted-fist made contact with his head. The mutual attack sent both Adam and the blonde flying.
Both combatants laid there on the ground for a short moment before picking themselves up. Both were breathing heavily, their auras being stretched to their absolute limits. Making use of this short break in the fighting, Adam spoke up.
"Impressive! No one has managed to push me this far, especially not a human. It's a shame that you aren't a Faunus, we could have been brother and sister in arms, fighting for our people's future. No matter, you can take comfort in knowing that you have earned my respect as a warrior, even if you are a human."
"Don't think you've won just yet. I've still got plenty of fight left in me. For what it's worth, you did give me a really good fight, so I guess that I can respect you for that."
The blonde put herself into a combat stance, Adam responding in kind. The break was over. Their battle was not.
They charged.
Ozpin
It hadn't taken long for Ozpin to reach Amber's stasis chamber, especially with the sight of a certain woman in a red dress stepping into the Beacon courtyard giving him a sudden burst in energy. Moving as quickly as he could, he moved Amber deeper into the vault, closing as many doors and activating as many security systems as he could.
If only he hadn't sent Glynda and Qrow away! Between the three of them, they could defend the vault from Amber's attacker and her lackeys with ease. Instead, he sent them off in an unbecoming fit of anger, blinded to what was really at stake in all of this. Now he was forced to flee as deep as he could into the vault, hoping to delay the approaching attackers for as long as possible until he could reach a defensible position.
His mind was racing, trying to devise a strategy to hold off the intruders, as well as a way to get help in case they proved too much. There was little success on either front.
His racing thoughts stopped as he came upon a large, mostly empty room with a high, dome shaped ceiling. At the center of the room stood a pillar, one meant to support the ceiling just as much as it was meant to hide a safe room in the ground. What really mattered to the man, however, was that this was the last room.
By now, the intruders would have surely made some progress through the vault. The only way of escape was through them, and a direct attack was practically suicide.
He could go into the safe room and pray they didn't find it, believing he went further into the vault through some unknown passage or another.
'No. I can't take that risk. Not with what's at stake.' He thought, more to steel himself than to come up with a plan of action.
He entered a code into the keypad on the pillar, the structure folding upwards as a hole in the ground it occupied opened up. He placed Amber into the stasis chamber in the safe room, closing the door and putting the pillar back where it was.
This would be where he would make his last stand. He would fight off the intruders with all he had, or die trying.
'In hindsight, this most definitely was not how I expected to meet my end.' He mused to himself as the pillar finished resetting itself into its original position, as if it had never moved in the first place.
'Oh well. It's a shame that I don't get to have at least one last cup before I die.'
Cinder Fall
She had expected there to be no intruders in the vault other than herself and her cohorts. That wasn't to say she was expecting the maiden to be left completely unprotected. On the contrary, it had appeared that virtually every defense in the vault had been turned against them in a last-ditch effort to stop them.
'Let them try.' She thought to herself as she launched a wave of black glass towards a group of security drones that had been sent their way to buy some time.
"They sure don't know when to quit." Mercury said with a sigh as yet another wave of drones charged them.
"They'll quit eventually. It's only a matter of time." Cinder told him as she incinerated the drones with a pillar of fire.
They continued, coming up on yet another locked door.
"Do we do this the easy way or the hard way?" Mercury asked as he reared his leg up to kick the door in on Cinder's command.
"The hard way."
It only took a single kick from Mercury's mechanical legs to send the door flying off its hinges and into the next room.
"Sorry, Em. Looks like the easy way's too slow for what we need." Mercury told Emerald that with a hint of smugness in his voice. Her response was to sigh and give him a whack to the head.
"Just shut up. Now's not the time for that." Emerald gave him a hard stare as he held his head from the blow she gave him (not to his head, mind you, but his pride).
The pace they were going at was beginning to frustrate Cinder. Every time they thought they found the room with the maiden in it, all they'd get were a bunch of drones and more locked doors. After a point, she opted to have Mercury kick any locked doors in rather than wait for Emerald to open them. Her patience was wearing very thin.
'It will all be over soon.' She thought to herself as they entered another room. Still no maiden.
'He can't hide her forever.' She mused quietly to herself as a group of drones attacked them for the umpteenth time.
_?_
The figure had its eyes locked on a single monitor, the others were all shut off; all they could provide was a distraction. With the light in the room coming only from a single monitor, the shadows almost completely covered the figure's body. All that could be seen were his eyes, and they were staring intently at the Queen as she and her pawns worked their way through the vault.
The man with the gray hair had certainly worked quickly. Nearly all the vault's defenses and doors were activated, and the maiden had already been placed in a secure location before the Queen had even made it to the first room. That would certainly buy him some time, though even that would eventually run out.
The figure looked away from the monitor. There was nothing to see as of right now.
Soon, however, something very special was going to happen. It wouldn't be the Queen reaching the maiden. At the rate they were going, that wouldn't happen for a long while.
No, something far, far more interesting was getting ready to happen. He should know, for he had sent it after her. Now it was only a matter of time.
-?-
Vale, much like the other kingdoms, was a vast expanse of land dotted with villages surrounding a single, massive city. It would take years to traverse all of it on foot, even without taking the hordes of Grimm roaming the land into consideration. To a thing like the Black Presence, however, such a distance was but a mere step.
It had been sent to remind a wayward Queen of just where she stood in the master's plan. It had been sent to do what it did best: solve problems.
And by all that was holy and unholy, what a problem it was.
Massive Grimm hordes were rampaging through the streets and skies. The kingdom's defenders had seemed to undergo a betrayal from within as one of their own fired upon them without hesitation. The defenders were being overrun: inch by inch, street by street, section by section. Even when they were gaining ground in one area, they were losing it in a dozen others.
Truly, it would've been a monumental task to reverse such a disaster. However, all it saw was a job to be done. A rather large job, to be sure, but nothing more than that. The master had sent it to accomplish what many would see as impossible. The Presence was not deterred. It would make the impossible possible. Failure was not an option. Never before, and certainly not now.
It had wormed itself into the electrical network in Vale, trying to find out just what the Queen had done to invoke the King's ire. What it found left it sorely disappointed. Not in the Queen, but in the defenders of Vale. All it had taken was a virus. A virus, and a few pointed words.
Setting aside this frustration, it set to work.
In every room in the CCT tower in Vale, every screen was showing the same thing: a black queen chess piece centered on a bright red background. The lights dimmed, as if something had just entered the room and began sucking the light out of it. All across the CCT Tower, screens were flickering, the red background losing its color as the queen chess piece slowly lost its shape with every flicker. Suddenly, all the lights in the tower shut off for an instant before coming back on.
Every single screen had gone pitch black.
AN: Now then, first things first. The characters referred to as ? and -?- are two separate characters, and these are the guys that the OC tag refers to. -?- will be replaced with The Presence in the next chapter while ? will retain his title. Now, with that out of the way, it looks like things are shaping up for our motley little band of villains. Roman and Neo are tearing through the skies over Vale, Adam is keeping Beacon mostly under control and is currently engaged in a fight with our favorite blonde brawler, and Cinder and company are making slow, but steady progress through the vault. On the flip side, Ozpin is readying for a final stand, and it looks like Vale's finest are losing ground rapidly to the Grimm. All of this, meanwhile, is being watched by the King in his comfy little pitch-black chair as his best man is currently fixing problems and generally getting things done. I did promise plot advancement, didn't I? Anyways, thank you very much for reading this chapter, and I would be very thankful if you could leave a review stating what you think so far. Be safe, it's a weird little world out there.