It's getting closer...the end of this entire story. I can TASTE the end!
...That was weird ignore that.
(Play: Main Title; Daredevil. The show.)
High in the sky, we see the planet known as earth. On it are multiple red spots of war raging across the world. We fly into the atmosphere to focus on the area known as Republic City. We then focus on the Statue of avatar Aang. We see his face, and fly straight through his eye. After the darkness clears, we are in an empty room. In it, there is a large tablet. It has the symbols of all four elements.
Air
Water
Earth
Fire
(Should be at 0:18 by now)
Immediately they start to shift and merge and mold. Tiles on the elements change size and position, and we get close up to witness it happen. The Air symbols sprawling loops are straightened to from lines, and a point. Water goes full circle, and makes a circle right above the new straight blade like design. Earth changes it's lines to make a hilt, with a small hole in its pommel. Fire becomes detail, as it surrounds the blade, hilt and cross-guard in black, dead lines.
(Should be at 0:34)
Electricty course on the floor, sparking through the walls and into the details of the blade, giving it color, warmth and life. It glows brightly as we zoom away, and it reveals a mural of the Infinity Blade. Soon everything goes black, with only the light of the Infinity Blade staying, until it fades. Then, a name is shown.
Rise.
Everything goes black.
(Song should be over by then.)
Chapter 9: The Battle of Omashu Part 2
Ralen smiled. Everything was perfect. He had done it. Lance had won, the Hunter's had returned. The war was over, the United Republic had surrendered and Lance was now it's own independent nation, their rules. He had also cured himself of his decaying Q.I.P, he would no longer decay to a fraction of humanity. Galath was gone, the ancient man who was now a split personality in Ralen had been silenced. He fixed it. He fixed everything wrong with this new world. Korra, the others...they understood. The learned. And it was for the best, he taught them the truth. Sometimes you can't win everything, but you always learn. He felt that Siris, no Ozpin, would approve. Hopefully everyone did. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora and Ren, his children...most of all Yang. He strangely felt that they would be proud of him.
At least he hoped
Raven has just left via her portals. It would take a matter of day's, but the treaty had been signed. It would be placed under effect soon. This called for somewhat of a celebration. He opened the wine cabinets and procured a glass of Chardonnay. The refined taste would be pleasurable to the mouth. He hummed as he poured a glass, a small tune he learned long ago from his father. A little lullabye Ironwood used to sing to him when Ralen was younger, when he was a mere child and cried many times. "Moonlight Sonata"
Perfection. All was perfection. He truly accomplished what the Deathless could not in thousands upon thousands of years. And they had it in the palm of their hands the whole time! The irony was not lost on him! Smiling, he sipped his glass. The cool wine went down slowly as he savored the taste. He had done all he needed, but what else was there to do now? He had saved the Hunter culture, he had preserved Deathless Tech and stopped the corruption of the United Republic. What else was there to do?
Of course the answer came flying to him. Time to be a parent to Aila. Time to raise her like she deserved to be, loved and cared for. She could never meet her mother, it would cause massive scandal and undo all he had worked for! That simply could not do! Perhaps when she was older she could be told, but for now he had to do it himself. Ralen began to walk, walk towards his daughter's room. It was late in the evening, so obviously she was sleeping. As he headed to check up on her, a million thoughts raced through his head. He had everything planned out on how to raise her. For the first several years keep her safe, nurture her and mother her. Then begin her training when she was old enough. He had down a examination on how powerful she could be. Simple Aura and Q.I.P tests with some blood analysis. The results shocked him. She was...powerful. More powerful than him, any maiden, or the 4 relics (which were datapods containing a massive amount of information.) She was more powerful that Korra, than Aang, any avatar! Hell, she could match any Deathless or Bender or Huntsman, and win if her potential was realized. Her semblance was one that was never thought possible, bending and ripping the fabric of Reality itself. Ralen struggled to comprehend it's potential, which was a feat in of itself!
Calm down, he thought to himself. It's going to be alright. She would be trained slowly, surely, and with precision and patience. She would grow up to be the greatest huntress ever. Perhaps greater than all of Team RWBY. Somehow, that was comforting. Maybe Aila would act as a succsesor to his old friends, to Yang...
He had arrived at her door. Placing his glass on a corner table nearby, he opened the door by a crack to peer inside. Sure enough, Aila was there, sleeping peacefully. Like a cub in a calm hibernation. Ralen smiled. All was at peace.
I am so proud of you.
A voice, disembodied and serene. It came from all directions and had a tone to it, a familiar tone to it. "I hoped so." He whispered in reply. Yang rested on his shoulder as they watched the child together. "She is really pretty." She added, to which he hummed to. "I wish...you could be here for her. Be her mother." She was silent. "You know, this has worked out perfectly."
"Really? How so?" He playfully asked. He chuckled, when was the last time he made a joke besides sarcasm? That was strange.
"You brought it all back, all back so I can DESTROY IT ALL AGAIN." The voice of Yang turned dark, fire began to glow as the room was enveloped in darkness. Ralen pushed the demonic Yang away, the Yang of his nightmares. She was now bloody, horribly scared. And those eyes...dead eyes. Salem's eyes. Her evil grin was plastered all across her face. Behind her, forms started to take shape...it was them. All of them. Ruby, Wiess, Blake, Jaune and Ren and Nora and all of his dead family. Everyone he knew and cared for, those he fought for, all dead and looking at him. Cinder then stepped forward, her form overtaking everyone. A mass of Cinder Falls, laughing with blood seeping out of their eyes, ears and nose. Ralen stepped back, into his Aila's room. He snapped his fingers, attempting the summon the Infinity Blade. Nothing. "Better wake her up. You'll want to run." Cinder giggled with manic glee as they vanished into thin air. As Ralen twitched with fear and his head rapidly spun, inspecting the room to find any sign of the raven haired woman. Nothing. Before he could do anything however, a muted noise came from outside...not the door the window. He pulled the blinds back, and his eyes could not take it. The city...the city was aflame. He could hear the screams of the people below, the cries of death and horror. Then he heard a shriek...a all to familiar shriek.
"URRREEAAAAAAAKK!"
No. No. NO.
No avail. The nevermores began to fly by, shrieking their cry as they descended upon the city, picking people off for sport and dinner. He saw below the beowolves and the ursa, pouncing on innocent people and devouring them. Nuckelavee's began galloping into the great city, killing and slicing their way through. Bourbatusks, creeps, Lancer's, King Taijitu's, Griffins, Death Stalkers, all the species of grim were invading the new Hunter City of Lance. And far away, he saw the beast.
The Dragon, it lived.
"...daddy? What's going on?" Aila. She was in danger, she was here. Ralen turned to see his daughter yawning, rubbing her eyes. "We need to go Sweetie." He answered, as he swooped her up in his arms. "Why-"
"Not now sweetie, we have to leave." He told her as gently as he could, which wasn't much considering the situation. As he jogged out of her bedroom, he slammed open part of the wall. Inside lay a gun. His father's old weapon. He grabbed it. As he and Aila descended the stairs from their apartment to the main hall, Ralen could see hear the fighting. His hunters...they were being slaughtered. Many of them were veterans of the war, but not one had faced a Grimm before. Stupid, he should have trained them. "Daddy, what's going on?" Aila asked, desperate. "Cover your ears sweetie, look away." He told her as a loving parent should, calm yet stern. She did so. Taking out the gun, he opened fire. The bullets were powerful, blowing out the brain's of many Beowolves, the one's in the hallway there were in now anyway's. As he kicked aside their corpses, he exited the building via a side door. This led to a tunnel, a tunnel only known by him and him alone. He never knew why he didn't tell anyone this, not even Pyrrha. Maybe it was just the nerves.
Nevertheless, he carried Aila as he ran down the darkness, using only his eyes and memory to guide him. The latter of which was already joggy. But as he ran down, he heard skitters. The noise came from behind...he knew what they were, he didn't look back. Instead Aila did. Her eyes widened and she screamed when she saw the multitude of Spiderlike grimm scampering and scattering across the walls to chase them down. Ralen ignored the frightened yells of his daughter. Instead he carried on. He finally reached the end goal, the bunker door. As he grabbed hit with his free arm, the spiders edged closer and closer. He however managed to open it, and he and Aila got outside. He then slammed the door shut, locking the spider's inside. He pressed his palm to the center of the door, triggering the autolock. As it finalized, he then ran.
Taking Aila with him, he ran. Through the forest, he dashed away. Not looking back. Not looking back at the fire's that burned down his once great city. Not looking back at all the people he fought for, the people he loved, all of them dying in monstrous ways. No. It was no looking back for Ralen Truean, just running away. Holding his daughter. He stopped as they reached a clearing. He took in breath, the fresh air was the first he had all day. "What's happening daddy?" Aila asked, voice filled with terror.
Ralen put her back on the ground, kneeling to meet her eyes. "Listen Baby girl, we're going to be fine. This...we'll be fine. Don't worry about a-" Growling. The trees, something was here. Stepping up, he put Aila behind him, an effort to shield the young girl. "Stay behind me." She nodded, tears threatening to fall. As his breathing began to rise erratically, he griped his gun. Sweat was running down his palms. He knew what was coming, but was he ready?
No. The Beowolf lunged, not giving any time for reaction. It pounced on Ralen, launching him to the ground. Aila screamed, the Beowolf roared. As it began to bite and gnaw at him, Ralen pushed it's head back, keeping it away from his face. As he reached for the gun the Grimm howled as it's claw's ran frantically. It then noticed...no. HE would not allow it. Not again, not AGAIN! As the Wolf rushed, Ralen managed to grab his gun. He aimed from his prone position, and fired. Time seemed to slow down as the bullet traveled it's path towards the creature of Grimm. As it was about to reach the skull...the wolf bit Aila on the Neck. A scream, a bang, an explosion of gore. The wolf fell to the side, headless. As Ralen breathed, and breathed, and breathed. He looked to his daughter...no. No no no no no no! He rushed to her bleeding and whimpering form, her tears and sobs freely seeping. "Aila!" He grabbed her bloody form, her whimpers flowing like melancholy music to his ears. "Listen to me, I know this hurts, baby. You're gonna be okay, baby. Stay with me." Her whimpers only grew. "Alright, I'm gonna pick you up, I know this hurts baby I know." Her moans of pain soon died, as she stood still.
"...Aila...Baby... Don't do this to me, baby. Don't do this to me, baby girl. Come on... No, no... Oh no, no, no... Please." Nothing. His tears began flowing, he could not contain it now. He had lost it all over again, he...was alone now. As he held her bloody yet serene corpse, laughter could be heard in the wind...laughter...laughter. As everything burned around him, laughter was all he could hear.
Ralen gasped as his eyes shot open. He fell, his body hitting his desk. He frantically searched the room, seeing no danger. No fire, no grimm. Nothing. Nothing but his office, and the steady clicking if the clock. But he did not forget about the other thing. Grabbing a communicator from his pocket, he tuned it to the Babysitter.
This is Farhea Winchester sir, what do you need?
"Is Aila safe?"
Sir? I'm not sure what you-
"IS AILA FUCKING SAFE THAT'S NOT A HARD QUESTION TO ANSWER!
Yes sir. I have her right in front of me. What's wrong sir?
Ralen leaned back into his chair, turning off the communicator. His deep breaths serving little purpose other than a small comfort that indeed, everything was not destroyed. That brought little, as his tears flowed down to the floor. He held himself as he began to cry.
24 Hours later
The Battle of Omashu
Ralen grunted as he pushed off a bender from his blade. The corpse fell with a sickening splat. Ralen gasped for breath, he was feeling terrible. The Q.I.P degeneration was making him feel like this, he knew it.
A soldier charged at him, holding a dagger made of pure flame. Ralen sidestepped the man and stomped on his leg. As the man crumbled to the ground, Ralen penetrated his back with the blade. Pulling out the sword, he gasped hard as he felt a massive amount of pain in his chest. No, not now. Anytime but now!
Someone was running at him. Enemy or ally? Friend or Foe. He couldn't see clearly, not with his helmet on right now. He could hear roaring, yes that was definitely an enemy. Ralen struggled to get up, but was kicked to the side by a large boulder from the solider. As Ralen rolled onto his back, he could see the man's eyes filled with fury! Any second now...
Fate however intervened, for the tip of a spear suddenly sprang out of the man's throat. Pyrrha rushed to help Ralen get up as the soldier fell, blood gurgling. "Are you alright Ralen!?"
"I'm fine, Pyrrha." He grunted as she helped him up. "Clearly your not. Get up!" She said, fear tinging in her voice? He never knew her to be afraid, except back at the fall of Beacon...
A screech of fire interrupted his thoughts, as he and the Spartan warrior looked up to see an explosion occur from a large building. A window was being shattered, and flying out was two people...Joule and Marcus now that he could see clear(er). He knew what had happpened. No other force could cause an explosion like that.
"Pyrrha, let go."
"What? No! Your injured somehow and you need help! Just stay still and I can call a medic for-"
"I don't need a medic I'm fine!" He shouted, stopping Pyrrha from finishing her sentence. He had never shouted at her before, what was going on with him? For the past 4 months of warfare he had been acting strange. He was having trouble sleeping, eating, moving. He would shout randomly, and was hallucinating. Something was happening to him, something on the inside. It was almost like Emerald, from back then, was affecting him in some way with her hallucinatory semblance. She remembered the effects of it, she accidental killed Penny Polendina because of it! Regardless of her thoughts, Ralen walked towards the building, ignoring his friend who watched with worry, and a great sadness.
XXX
Ralen stumbled through out the rubble and the dirt. Dust and smoke was everywhere, it was practically blinding. Ralen however persisted, his feet carrying him through the cloud. His helmet did it's best to filter his air and give him a clear path, but the ancient helmet could only do so much after so many years of service. Tuning the helmet, he turned off some of the features like a gauge on his Ammunition and vitality, he could guess his current health at the moment.
As he waded through the dust, he could hear the battle in the background. Screams filled the streets. Gunshots, the sounds of bending, all of them were center stage. It felt comforting, to know that the Chaos of War wasn't just affecting him. War was something that Ralen was taught to be cautious of, but to welcome when the time called for it. He honestly hated it, he mostly blamed his father for making him like this. That, and SHE was also to blame.
Oh how he hated her. He hated her so much, it was honestly horrifying the fantasies he came up with to torture and humiliate her to the point of her begging for death. Attach her to a noose and let her choke...grab a rusty dull blade and skin her alive...drop her in Hydrofluoric acid but inject her with some fluids designed by himself to keep her alive, a constant state of pain.
Damn, he was a sick bastard. Then again, so was she. She'd probably do the same thing.
He heard bending. It was close, closer than the noises from the battlefield. He knew who it was, he'd familiarized himself with her bending. It had a certain rhythm to it, like a faint humming in it. Most likely due to the Raava being a part of her. He always wondered who the Q.I.P remnant was before it was either hit with a Destabilizer or the World ended. He always felt that it was Glynda Goodwitch who was the Remnant. She always had some type of motherly feeling to her, most likely after she married Ironwood not too long ago after Salem was defeated. This was at first, a bit awkward. But things worked out in the end. Well, almost worked out. The whole Apocalypse thing.
Fire gave way only a few feet from his left. Out of the cloud fell Joule and Marcus, both of them knocked out. Ralen looked at their bodies, before procuring a small device from his armor's pocket. A small beacon. He placed it securely on Marcus's chest, before looking up at the Avatar, flames emerging from her fist. She had learned from their last encounter, she was now wearing armor similar to that of the Police force in Republic City.
"Hello Korra." He stated. A simple tone, one of neutrality. "To be honest, I thought you would be trying to liberate Ba Sing Se at this moment." He told her. Korra said nothing, her fists still emanating flames. "Not happy I see. Why? Because I've been fighting for a cause?" He smirked as her eyes narrowed further. "I'm going to stop you. You've been causing too much chaos in the world."
"Chaos? If it's chaos that I'm causing, then why do people submit?"
"Is that what you think this is? A game? You rampaging your army and killing thousands is fun?!"
"Fun isn't something one considers when trying to bring the world to it's rightful place, but this war? It does put a smile on my face." He spoke, a very different tone than before. As Korra's posture relaxed, both of their eyes showed their confusion. Where did that come from?
That would be me. A voice from nowhere, seemingly nowhere. Ralen knew who it was. Galath slivered into his ear, the presence of the memory was so seemingly real that Ralen swore he could see the shape of the former deathless's armor. You really are letting yourself go, aren't you Ralen? That's too bad, considering that it's giving me all sort of new gifts. Suddenly, Ralen felt his arm jerk. It reached for his gun at his side, but he was not controlling it. His arm seemingly had a mind of it's own. The pistol fired, the bullet being blocked by Korra's earthbending. She then charged forward, ready to duel. Ralen barely had time to bring his sword up to block Korra's strike, she had been getting more metal bending lessons from Suyin and Lin, and was using metal plates to strike. Ralen began weaving his way around the incoming metal shards, albiet not with grace. The Quantum Identity Pattern decaying had weakened his abilities, alongside his Aura and strength of his semblance. He fired multiple shots, the intention of shooting the shards out of the air. Some were successful, but the majority of them were blind shots at nothing. Ralen then snapped his fingers, equipping Ember Celica, he also replaced the Infinity Blade with the Infinity Swords, and held them in a Aegis posture, ready to do battle.
Really? Shotgun Gauntlets with dual blades? We used to be able to fight with only a stick! We fight like Oscar Pine did the first time he trained. Ralen ignored Galath as he slashed at Korra, his cuts would also trigger Celica's gun capabilities. Korra parried the blows before striking with an air blast. He rolled out of the way. "He's slower than the last time we fought, he's different." Thought Korra. This was true. As she bent the Elements at him, Ralen was forced on the defensive. Not at all like the last time. He was clumsy, he was slow, he was distracted.
That wasn't Ralen. Not one bit.
Korra then bent the metal on her armors, shifting and molding it into a hilt, then to a cross-guard, then to a blade. The metal sword was in the style of a Jian, the same blade Sokka had used during the 100 year war. She then lunged, her blade meeting Ralen's dual blades in a clash. The two glared at each other, Ralen's eyes were still covered by his helmet. Korra then pushed him back, he stumbled a bit. He then returned the Gauntlets and the Swords to wherever they would go when he wasn't using them. He summoned Crescent Rose and pressed forward. He began slashing and swiping at her, desperate to get a hit. Pathetic. Your barely even getting into her circle. This is how we die?
"SHUT. UP." He growled as he punched his head, the voice becoming near unbearable. She should have stopped, should have reached out to him. But she could not, for Korra did not hesitate, after all Ralen had taught her to never show any mercy. Never hesitate. That much was clear. As she swung her sword at him, it clashed with his helmet. He cried out in pain as the force behind the blow. His helmet flew off, he fell to the ground. He was clutching his head, groaning. Korra relaxed, sword by her side. As she let air fill her lungs, Ralen stirred. His face...his face was a mess. He was raggedy, heavily pale. His flesh seemed clammy, his hair ran rampant.
"What...Ralen..."
"DONt LooK AT mE I'M GuiltY I kIIlED ThEM ALL! His voice was distorted, it should not have been. It was like he was shifting from one mind to another. And his eyes...those gray orbs were flickering with pain and guilt. Korra was stunned. Was this her greatest foe? Ralen could not have ever been like this? This...this was not natural. Not right.
Suddenly he stopped. He was still. He looked at her, his eyes were now Bright Blue, an uncomfortable amount of blue..."Is this how it should be? Is this how I die?" His voice was rather distant for one who seemingly was in great pain. He had a certain feeling of acceptence in his tone. "Broken beyond repair? Becoming a husk of my former self? Funny. I always thought that this would last as long as I wished it to be."
"Ralen?"
"Of course, it was Ausar's fault that I was forced into a new body and a different mental state took over. That was unavoidable, seeing as how Siris took over from Ausar. No matter, he is dead. I suppose now I'll have to find others. If not then I'll make some more. That would be easy enou-AAGGGHHH!" He writhed in pain again, squirming and shouting. He twisted and crunched in horrifying ways. Korra ran up to him and knelt, trying to use her healing abilities to help him in anyway. A futile attempt, but she did not stop trying. Seeing as how the water was being useless, she began using energy bending. As the energy began to form, it wrapped itself around the Deathless's body. It flowed all around, glowing a golden hue. It seemed to be working, Ralen began to stop twitching. He began to steady, his breathing calmed. As he took deep breaths, Korra stopped the bending. She looked at his face, some color began to return. His eyes snapped open, tey were the normal gray she was used to.
"...Please kill me."
"W-what?"
"I need to die. I've caused so, so much pain. I...I killed the world. I'm the monster." Ralen was beginning to let loose tears. The grief in his face was beyond extraordinary. "I won't kill you Ralen, not now, not ever."
"Why?"
"Because some one has to save you." Silence. Before either of them could speak, a noise came. Carried by the winds, it bellowed from all across the land. A roar, something primal. The fighting in the city stopped, only echoes remained. Ralen's eyes began to flicker with fear. "No."
Grimm. The creatures of Grimm had returned. Cinder, had returned. She was smiling.
