Coming at you with another chapter tonight. The conclusion of the Battle for Beacon, and a few surprising fights break out, and a hostage is taken.
Ruby felt defeated. She watched with dismay as the seven bullheads rapidly closed in on Beacon, all most likely packed to the brim with White Fang troops. Cinder had planned this too well. She had hundreds on her side of the battle. Ruby had nine. And one of them is pretty seriously injured, she thought, looking over at Nora. Blake's bow had done a little, but there was only so much liquid the fabric could hold, and blood was already starting to ooze out of the wound. She was so distracted by the forlorn situation she didn't notice the fireball soaring toward her head. Glynda Goodwitch created an energy shield to protect Ruby, but she too felt hopelessly outnumbered.
Cinder launched herself forward, redirecting the girl's attention to the present as they attacked and counter-attacked in an elegant dance of power. In fact, they were so preoccupied with Cinder that they didn't notice the familiar green figure standing on the top of one of the ships.
Roman Torchwick gave a half-smile as he walked back down to the hold where several dozen White Fang troops were currently dropping in on Beacon Academy. He had been freed from the grasp of James Ironwood just an hour previously, under the cover of night. At this point his absence no doubt had been noted by the guards. They were running out of time to complete their objective here. He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of the bullhead taking off again. Cinder would not be happy if he missed this. He sprinted to the closing back door and dove out, but because he had been so late in his departure, he was currently set to fall directly into Ozpin's office. He closed his eyes and shielded his face from the glass shards that would undoubtedly buffet his body in mere moments.
Daedalus looked at the White Fang troops falling out of the back of the bullhead he was situated on and quickly followed suite. He leaped off the aircraft, using Weiss' semblance much like he did in the arena to send him slamming into the ground, blowing everyone around him off their feet. He used Ruby's semblance to zip over to Ruby and yelled to her above the drone of the leaving bullheads, "I'll take care of the White Fang. You deal with Cinder and her friends." With that, he sprinted away, transforming Cube into two large axes with massive blades and slamming his shoulder into a White Fang soldier and slashing at one directly beside the first. Ruby stole glances at him from time to time while fighting Cinder, in awe of his fighting style. He flipped and jumped so gracefully, each jump having a specific purpose, whether that was to move him away from an incoming attack or to create an attack of his own, not a muscle was wasted as his blades arced, cutting down soldier after soldier of the White Fang. Ruby silently scolded herself for being distracted, and charged at Cinder, running circles around her and slicing at her. But Cinder was just too solid in combat. No matter what Ruby did, she couldn't get a hit in, and as the fight wore on, she got increasingly more frustrated, attempting more and more risky attacks in hopes that one would find the mark.
Roman opened his eyes. He slowly stood up, testing to see if he was injured. He found no noticeable injuries, and, with a hop in his step from his good fortune, he walked toward the door.
"It really is frustrating, not being much of a fighter."
Roman paused at the voice, registering Ozpin's ever-present serenity. He turned, raising his arms, "It's really nice, watching a plan come together. Brings a tear to my eye," he brushed away a non-existent tear with sarcasm.
"Although, you appeared to overlook one large problem. As soon as I saw my assistant fly through that window, I called my good friend James Ironwood. I found he had had a prison escape, and I informed him of the emergency at my school," Ozpin turned from the fight raging in the plaza to face Torchwick. "There are currently 2,000 Atlesian Knight-200's inbound for my school. They're going to arrive in," Ozpin glanced at his watch, "10 minutes." He grinned at the shock on the orange-haired criminal. "And one more thing," he said, reaching for his cane. "I may not be much of a fighter, but I was trained as a Huntsman, and I can most definitely fight one on one," he snarled, the calm gone from his voice.
"Really, old man? What do you think you can do…" Roman trailed off as Ozpin's cane transformed into a long scimitar and casually tapped the point on the ground. Roman sighed, pulling out his Melodic Cudgel. He fired several shots at Ozpin, who blocked the attacks and closed the gap between the two. The two normally reluctant fighters attacked each other with a ferocity that rivaled the battle below.
Daedalus had just ripped his axe from the chest of the dead White Fang soldier when he heard the second scream of the night pierce his ears. He whipped around to see Emerald above Yang, bringing her sickle down for a fatal blow. He used Ruby's semblance to move in between the blade and Yang's neck, clashing his axe with Emerald's weapon. He locked eyes with her, and grinned. "Hello Emerald. Long time no see." He pushed out of the clash and attacked the girl with a flurry of strikes, eliciting increasingly desperate blocks from Emerald. He knocked her to the ground and prepared a death blow of his own, only to be interrupted by a certain red blade aimed for his abdomen.
It was all Daedalus could do to dive out of the way of the strike, and quickly returned to his feet to face his attacker. "Wow, Adam, you're here too? It's like a class reunion," Daedalus mocked, seemingly facetious about the situation.
Adam Taurus glared at Daedalus through his mask. He gripped Wilt and charged forward, attacking Daedalus with a ferocity that took him off-guard. Adam hooked Wilt through the opening in the center of the head of Daedalus' axe, whipping his weapons away from him. All of a sudden, he felt pain arc up his back. He turned to face his attacker, and came face-to-face with someone he thought he would never see again.
Blake stared at her former mentor with an expression Adam couldn't quite place. Something between sadness, disappointment, and fear. This expression quickly disappeared and was replaced instead by a dark anger as she charged at him, unleashing attacks in perfect unison with her semblance, battering the man she once called a friend.
Adam recovered quickly from his initial shock and slid under a strike from Blake, slamming Wilt's hilt into Blake's stomach. She doubled over, and Adam used the opportunity to release the hits Wilt had absorbed back into his former student, blasting her across the plaza. She struggled to her feet, dazed.
Meanwhile Daedalus had his own problem. That problem came in the white, brown, and pink form of Neapolitan Valkyrie. Daedalus gathered his weapons and charged at his sister. He attacked with dozens of slashes which Neo weaved between, reminiscent of her fight with Yang. But unlike the fight with Yang, whenever she tried to counter, Daedalus was just as apt at dodging her attacks as she was his. After about thirty seconds of this back and forth, Neo became bored and used her semblance to teleport away to god-knows-where.
Daedalus was about to turn to fight another enemy when he heard the roar of different engines in the distance. He was flooded with relief as he recognized the Atlas insignia on the side, knowing help had finally arrived.
Cinder knew time was up. She cursed under her breath as she flung another attack at the white-haired girl who had attempted to come in for another attack. She sent a fireball very similar to a flare into the air, telling the bullhead pilots to wheel around and come to pick them up. Now, she thought, I just have to trust what Neo said about her semblance's power.
Neo saw the flare from the roof of the medical building, and quickly leapt into action, jumping from the roof and steeling herself for the pain that was most likely to follow the transportation of over 150 people. But before that, she had task she had to complete. She snuck up behind Ruby, and with a swift crack with her umbrella to the back of her head, she dropped like a stone. The bullheads were now in prime position, and Neo closed her eyes, reaching out with her semblance to all the White Fang and partners in crime. She then teleported them into the ships. To the remaining Beacon students on the ground, it looked as if they had simultaneously shattered into glass shards. Neo immediately passed out, her last view of the outside world was of the face of a certain unconscious Beacon student.
Cinder smiled with actual pride at the job Neo had done. Her semblance had advanced in leaps and bounds since Cinder had taken her in all those years ago. Her smile turned cold as she turned to her new hostage, Ruby Rose. "Don't worry, we'll take very good care of you," she whispered with malice, before turning and walking to the co-pilot's seat and leading her fleet away from Beacon.
Next time, Nora and Daedalus discuss Daedalus' leaving of the family, and Blake discovers her name in Weiss' box.
