Chapter 8: "Dead End"
Inside the base, Ryker was just finishing up on the device that Councilman Barak had asked him to create as he was putting a small chip inside it.
"Okay. Just gotta get it nice... and easy..."
However, his previous attempts were anything but nice or easy. In example, the last time he'd created it, one push of a button was all it took for it to blow up in his face (literally). Hopefully, he'd have better luck with this. As he put the small chip inside the necessary component he closed the cover of the device before he held his finger over the button as he hesitated while Ryker took a deep breath and pushed the button. This time, it turned on and began to blink as a green line circled back and forth. Seeing this, Ryker grew ecstatic.
"It worked... IT WORKED!"
As Ryker began to dance around in celebration, he then remembered it was blinking a light near him. How could a Relic be so close to where he was? He knew it meant one of two things. It could still be broken, but on the other hand, it also meant that a relic was close by.
"Or... maybe not. Still, no harm in looking. I don't want Councilman Barak on my back because it wasn't working right. Besides..."
Then, he turned to the poster of Beacon as it was before the fall as he spoke.
"Maybe I can try to get to know people."
Meanwhile, up above, Yang was pushing the gate as her team, SIBR, STRQ, Logan, Crimson, Selene, Maurice, and Maria were waiting by it while two identical guards stood guard.
"Come on! You didn't even hear us out! Don't you know Councilman Barak is the bad guy?!"
"Our orders were clear! The Mistral-Atlas border is closed! Please!"
"Have a good day!"
"But—"
"A good day!"
This made Skye confused as Qrow tried to speak to them.
"Hey, If you don't want to believe that I'm friends with Ironwood—"
"General Ironwood."
"Yeah, General Ironwood, then fine. But look, we have Weiss Schnee with us and we're trying to get her home safely."
This made Logan snap as he spoke.
"No, we're not!"
However, the guards took it into consideration as they looked to each other before turning to the group.
"Approach!"
This made Weiss nervous before Logan spoke.
"I don't see why she should. She's had enough people telling her what to do already."
"Logan. It's okay."
"No, it's not. Who's gonna support you?"
"Actually, the guards didn't object to that."
"Oh. Well, if you're gonna go up there, I might as well, too. I am your bachelor, after all."
Figuring out that he made a call-back to the mishap at the party before, she laughed a bit before the two walked up and the guards bowed down as they examined her before they spoke.
"Very well. We will let you speak with our commanding officer."
"We will fetch her at once."
As they marched, Crimson snickered as they spoke.
"Hup-hup-hup-hup-hup-hup-hup-hup!"
"Tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dumber, am I right?"
Summer didn't find it funny as she just rolled her eyes.
"Now, that's not nice. But... they were a bit crazy."
With that, Maria placed her fingers on her chin as Selene and Oscar noticed this.
"Maria?"
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I... may know this commanding officer."
This made Raider confused.
"Wait. You've met her before?"
"Yes, unfortunately."
This made it easier for Crimson to guess as he spoke.
"Let me guess: you're enemies?"
"That's right. I come through here about once every ten years to get my eyes checked up in Atlas. You bring outside cashews on one flight, and suddenly, you're placed on the additional screaming list for life!"
This made Qrow give a look of disapproval as she withheld this fact until now.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Maurice then felt embarrassed as he'd forgotten about it as well.
"Oh, that's right. To think I forgot about that."
"Now, now, let's not give up hope yet. Maybe she's dead."
This made Raider and Logan groan just before the gates opened and the two guards stood in their path by way of introduction.
"Introducing..."
"Special operative..."
"Caroline Cordoven!"
With that, a small elderly woman in an Atlas outfit walked up and spoke to the group, mainly to Maria.
"Witch."
"She-Devil."
"Hmm. I see you've decided not a contraband to smuggle this time."
"Oh, Cordo. They say time changes people. It I see you've still got that stick right up—"
Before she could finish, Raider piped up.
"Okay! That's quite enough. Ms. Cordoven, my name is Raider Serose and we just wanted you to hear us out about—"
"I already heard what your other little friends had to say. Mr. Serose—"
Suddenly, she noticed two certain groups behind them.
"What are you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave!"
In retaliation, Nora tried to charge at her, only for Emerald and Ren to hold her back.
"And I told you we wouldn't rest until you let us go!"
"Easy, girl. She's not worth it."
"Nice to see you again as well!"
Cordoven then turned her attention to Raider as she spoke condescendingly.
"You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So allow me to say this slowly with smarter words. This base, that relay tower, the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious kingdom of Atlas. And it is my duty to uphold them as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task."
The guards then joined up beside her as they praised her.
"Such wit!"
"Such tenacity!"
Then, Crimson spoke up again in a mocking tone.
"Such prideful ignorance. Maybe Atlas wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible."
This made Maria smile as Caroline grew flustered as the former leaned to Maurice.
"Where did you find this guy again? I'm starting to like him."
"You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates. This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we get in return?! The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!"
Logan could agree with Caroline.
"Well, I can only imagine why. But we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We really do."
Weiss then spoke up as she agreed.
"No one is happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried. It's why we need to talk to—"
"The general is no coward! Atlas is strong!"
Raider begged to differ.
"Then why did the Fall of Beacon happen in the first place?"
"We were merely taken by surprise. We never expected a lowlife thug like Torchwick to be capable of pulling it off."
"And that's why everyone's against you. Your selfish preconceptions about everyone you see only weakens Atlas to the point where it'll be everyone's worst enemy."
"If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail!"
"Atlas will prevail!"
This made Yang and Crimson annoyed very quickly as they spoke.
"Do you guys seriously have to do that?"
"Yeah, you're quickly getting from funny to ear-grating."
This only earned a deep breath from Caroline before she spoke again while Raider noticed a small boy walking behind them with a device as he displayed a curious look.
"If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then of course the Atlas Military will escort her home. But the kingdom will not be responsible for her friends of... questionable character."
This made Blake and Ruby self-conscious as the latter tried to hide her ears before Summer glared at Caroline.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means we're done here."
With that, Caroline turned around before she walked away the gate closed, catching the group by surprise before Nora spoke from far away, only warning Jaune's deadpan response.
"Oh, yeah? Well, your face looks... like a big dumb boot!"
"Way to show her, Nora."
This made Logan tense his fist and punch the gate in frustration before he spoke.
"They shouldn't be talking like that when lives are at stake! Least of all, her! She's just... just... just such a selfish old dingbat!"
Maria chimed in with Logan to agree.
"Right?"
Then, Logan turned to Weiss, seeing her concern as he tried to find out what was wrong.
"You okay, Weiss?"
"I don't—"
"Hey. It's gonna be alright. Like Ruby said, we're not gonna leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together."
This made Weiss smile at Logan and nod to him just as Summer and Raven noticed Qrow walking away as they spoke.
"Qrow? Where are we going now?"
"Yeah. Remember the plan you told me about?"
"The plan? The plan just got shut on our face three times over."
Summer grew worried about what that meant.
"Wait... you're not gonna go look for..."
"Something to drink? Possibly. But as per my promise, I'm done with that alcoholic mess. I just... I really need an outlet to think."
This gave Summer an idea as she went over to him.
"Hey. Maybe we could talk some more? I mean, you still haven't told me about what exactly happened since I left. At least, not the whole story."
Qrow was about to deny this idea, but before he could, he looked over to Ruby and saw her look of concern, urging him to go along with it.
"Ruby put you up to that, didn't she?"
"Yep. But for good reason. Now come on. Let's go look around the city and really catch up."
Again, he would've made a refusal, but with Summer looking at him, he just couldn't say no.
"Alright. Let's go look around. Maybe we'll find a backdoor or something."
"See? That's the spirit."
Then, Summer realized that she almost forgot about her daughter before she turned and spoke.
"Ruby, you're going to be in charge until we get back, okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
As Summer nodded and walked back, Taiyang got confused.
"Wait. How come Ruby's in charge?"
Jaune and Pyrrha then spoke up as Crimson scoffed at Taiyang's question.
"What's his problem? It's not your fault we can't go on."
"Yeah. Come to think of it... what happened to you guys when we split up? You've all been through a lot. I can tell."
Raider sighed as he spoke.
"That, Pyrrha, would be an understatement."
Nora only focused on the task at hand as she spoke.
"If he's gonna be a jerk, then we'll just come up with something without him. I mean, we've got Ozpin with us! He usually knows what to do."
Crimson only tensed his claw as he spoke.
"Ozpin... abandoned you. And he has no idea what to do. Not this time."
Catching the tension on Crimson's voice, as well as Raider's mournful expression, Ren grew concerned.
"What is it?"
"Well, about that. That's gonna be a problem."
Later, Teams JNPR, CMNE, Taiyang, Tukson, and Raven were just explained about what Ozpin was hiding this information and why he was. And, most notably, about the four relics that can bring the gods to their world for judgment. If they learned to work together with each other and be meaningful, humanity would be saved and they can live amongst them again. However, if they're still divided and if they still demand things bigger than themselves, they would be punished. When they got to the topic that Salem can't be killed, Jaune did not take the news well as he slammed his fist onto the wall, breaking the wood of it and earning Ruby's reprimand.
"Jaune!"
"Everything we did was for nothing!"
Blake disagreed with him while Nora and Ren supported Jaune.
"That's not true."
"Really? 'Cause it sure does sound like it."
"I—"
"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?"
This made Skye stand up triumphantly as she spoke.
"Funny you should ask. Apparently, the only way we can truly end this is if we convince Salem to stop all of this."
This only earned Jaune's scoff as he spoke.
"Oh, really? And how do we do that?"
Bella explained as she stepped up beside her.
"Well, Maurice told us that Crimson had an emotional tie with Salem. The two of them understood each other."
"So, he's got a date with her."
Crimson snarled before Ilia spoke onward.
"It's not like that, Jaune. Salem is just as vulnerable as we are. And more than that, she needs to be loved."
"Yeah, well, so far, she hasn't done anything to earn it. So why should we care?"
This made Pyrrha concerned as she spoke.
"Jaune!"
Raider then stabbed her sword into the table, catching their attention as she spoke.
"Because it's the only way to truly end all of this. And like it or not, we're going to Salem to convince her to stop this. So stop whining."
Then, Neo spoke about a certain worst-case scenario.
"But... If Salem isn't convinced... what then?"
This made everyone go in silence for the moment before Jaune spoke.
"Wow. Great plan, everyone."
Seeing how distressed everyone was, Oscar spoke up.
"Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here."
This made Jaune, Raven, and Crimson disagree as they eyed Oscar in angry suspicion while they spoke.
"Are we sure about that?"
"What?"
"He's right. He's in your head, isn't he?"
"That means you know everything he knows, too. And for all we know, you kept that a secret yourself."
Taiyang and Pyrrha could sense the growing escalation towards violence as he spoke.
"Hold on, now. Oscar's having as much rough a time as they are. Do you honestly think he knew that, too?"
"How much longer can we even trust him?"
"Jaune, don't overreact."
"How do we know this liar isn't taking his place right now?"
"I think we'd know if that was the case, Raven."
Crimson then drew out his claw as he gripped Oscar by the neck and pinned him to the wall with his human hand.
"There's only one way to find out."
Ruby saw this and grew worried.
"Uncle Crimson!"
"We're going to get answers, even if I have to tear Ozpin out of his skull! Better yet, I'll just cut to the chase and END HIM!"
This made Ruby panic as her eyes glowed silver and shot its light at him as she shouted.
"STOP!"
As expected, the silver light burned away at Crimson's Grimm side, forcing him to let go of Oscar just as Cinder felt the burn herself and began to breathe heavily as Raider went to her.
"Cinder. You okay?"
"I... I don't know."
Then, Crimson glared at Ruby with his red eyes glaring before yelling in berserk fury as he lunged at Ruby and punched her through the wall, knocking her out to the backyard, making everyone shocked as Weiss and Skye went out to her.
"Ruby!"
As they checked on her, they noticed her bleeding from the cuts of the glass just near her eyes on the side of her face before she began to cry, feeling the hurt from the collision before the snarling Crimson turned to those present in the room.
"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW OZPIN! THEY DIE! AND IF THEY DON'T, THEN THEY'RE MISERABLE! OZPIN IS A PARASITE! ALWAYS HAS BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE!"
Oscar snapped at Crimson as he spoke.
"You're the one who hurt her, Crimson!"
"Think about it, Oscar. If he ever cared about any of you... would he ever allow what I just did to her?"
As Oscar looked out to the scarred and sobbing Ruby, Crimson began to stomp away from the group as Raven spoke coldly.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"None of your concern. You have your business... and I have mine."
As Crimson walked off, Nora shouted at him.
"Oh, yeah?! Well, you were a lousy partner anyway!"
As Crimson continued to walk away, Skye turned to Maurice before she inquired of him.
"Do you think he's gonna let it go?"
"Didn't you see what just happened? It's become clear that he will never let it go."
As Ruby sobbed, Skye held her close to her chest as she spoke.
"Calm down, Ruby. It'll be okay."
Maurice then sighed solemnly before he spoke.
"Selene and I will talk with him. He needs to understand the importance of this task. Come."
Selene nodded as her father motioned to her and she walked. As they did so, Raider looked at Cinder and saw that she was beginning to recover. However, the recovery was a bit slower as Ruby was deliberate in trying to save Oscar.
"I think you're going to need some rest, Cinder."
Ren could agree with him as he spoke.
"He's right. I think it would be best if all of us had some time to ourselves."
With that, Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora walked upstairs while Raider carried Cinder to her room downstairs before Blake spoke.
"Maybe we could all use some space."
At Evernight Castle, Nigreos watched from his crystal ball as Oscar had a look of disbelief over him and the dark master laughed at the results.
"Perfect. Crimson had struck the foundation of their souls. They will be living examples that not even their virtues can last forever. Their unity can be poisoned. Their duty will be broken. And their destiny will... end."
Later, Cinder was laying on the bed with Raider sitting beside her as the latter spoke.
"That's weird. I remember when I used my silver eyes. Back at the Fall of Beacon. And then I... well, you know. So... sorry about that."
Cinder only sighed as she spoke.
"It's alright. I deserved that back then. I... betrayed you, back at Haven. I hurt you in a place so vulnerable. You just returned the favor back at Beacon. So, you have nothing to apologize for."
Raider only held his head down as he spoke.
"I think Crimson might think otherwise about Ozpin. I mean, sure he lied to us, but Oz hasn't really done anything wrong. He just did what he felt was right. He's just as scared as anyone was."
"Right. But not Crimson. He doesn't even care who he hurts anymore, or their feelings. I thought Summer being with him fixed that."
"So did I. But I guess old habits die hard."
Then, Raider looked outside the window to see Ruby sitting by Maria as he sighed.
"You think you'll be okay for five minutes?"
"Well, I'm not going anywhere. What do you think?"
Outside, Ruby, who now had bandages over her face where the wound resided, was sitting in a chair beside Maria as the former spoke.
"Why would Crimson do that?"
"Well, you did use your silver eyes on him. That and serious anger issues."
"No. I mean... why would Crimson try to kill Oscar? He and the professor are two different people. He should know that, shouldn't he?"
"Seriously? You didn't see the way his body looked? That, Ruby, is the face of a monster who just won't listen to reason, and what you did back then was irresponsible."
"But he could've killed Oscar. He could've killed everyone. I was just trying to help everyone calm down. How is that irresponsible?"
"Because war is what he wanted. War against Ozpin, reincarnated or not, and his followers. Just like Salem. He's too hurt to listen to reason. Both of them, really. But the only connection he allowed was that with someone he cared very deeply about and someone he easily related to."
Ruby then looked over to Maria as she had a theory.
"You think maybe that's how Skye came up with the idea?"
"I don't doubt that. She understands that hurt better than anyone. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she went looking for that demon with Maurice and Selene."
Ruby then held her head down as she spoke.
"At least she knows what she's doing. I don't know anything. What do I tell Jaune and his team when we don't have a backup plan? Mom and Dad are still in the city, Ozpin hasn't come back, but even if he did, I don't know if I can trust him. There's always Jinn, but... we only have one more question we could ask her. I feel like I'm letting everyone down. It wasn't what Crimson did to me earlier that made me cry. It was what it meant. That I am letting everyone down."
"You don't give yourself enough credit. And neither does Crimson, not that the brute cared."
"Oh, thanks."
"That wasn't a compliment."
This made Ruby flabbergasted before she got confused.
"What?"
"If I have to explain it to you, it'll just defeat the purpose. But if you're tired of not knowing anything, how about we discuss those eyes of yours?"
Then, Raider spoke up as he stepped outside.
"And mine?"
This made Ruby and Maria look to him as he spoke onward.
"My heterochromia hides them really well, but I have silver eyes, too."
Raider proved this as his blue eyes shifted to silver, catching Ruby and Maria by surprise as the latter spoke.
"Well, uh, by all means. Sit down."
With that, Raider sat down on the wood patio as she spoke.
"First, Ruby, let's start off with what you do know. Tell me."
Being put on the spot, especially having just found out that Raider was just like her, Ruby tried hard to come up with the answers.
"Uh... silver-eyed people are supposed to be legendary warriors. Or something?"
Then, Maria looked over to Crimson as he spoke.
"And... at the Fall of Beacon, I used them against Cinder and the giant Wyvern. I used them to hurt her as payback for what she did to me and all of those innocent people."
"Oh, boy."
This made Raider scowl at her before he spoke.
"Look, I've been through a lot, okay?! I thought you of all people would understand that!"
"Yelling."
This made Raider retract his tone, although his anger still remained before she spoke.
"It's not your fault. I had my father to teach me. And even he didn't have all the answers. But what he told me made sense, given what I've seen."
This made Raider have an easy guess as he spoke.
"He was a Huntsman, right?"
"It really wasn't an official title back at his day. I only knew him as an old soldier and an excellent teacher. I never attended one of those fancy academies of yours. But I scored higher on the license exam than any other Huntsman or Huntress that day."
Ruby smiled at her as she spoke.
"He must've been proud."
"Hmph. He would've scolded me for showing off. He'd never been able to find much information about our abilities, just legends if warriors whose eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting the light of the world unto darkness. He found so little, in fact, that it made him cautious. How could such powerful bloodlines be so rare? Unless someone was actively seeking to destroy them."
Ruby and Raider has different answers.
"Salem."
"Nigreos."
Catching the differing opinions, Maria then spoke to the group as she pointed toward the latter.
"Raider. Why do you think it's Nigreos? And not Salem?"
"While we were at Mistral, Cinder told me that when she came to Kuroyuri, Salem was interested in raising her, helping her heal in some way, although it wasn't the right way. Nigreos just wanted to remove those who stood in his way, against his daughter's wishes."
"Hmm. Well, either way, I tried to keep my powers a secret. But as you know, it wasn't enough. I owed my life to my training and my semblance. At the end of the day, they're still your most powerful tools."
This made Ruby curious as she spoke to Maria.
"What is your semblance?"
Coincidentally, a lemon fell from the tree before she caught it without looking.
"Reflexes. A silly name I came up with. Hard to explain, but I can sense everything better than most and react to attacks almost before they happen. Combine that with my training and secret ability to turn Grimm to stone, or blind them, or vaporize them... and that's how you become the Grimm Reaper."
"Huh. I figured it's something like that."
Ruby then spoke to Maria elatedly.
"So... how do I laser beam monsters with my eyeballs?"
This made Maria get her cane out and bash it on her head as she spoke.
"First, you stop thinking like that. I want you to think of all the times you triggered your powers. What did those moments have in common?"
Raider then looked to Ruby as he spoke.
"Well, ladies first."
This gave Ruby food for thought as she thought about them.
"Well... I was scared, and stressed. Is it emotional? Like unlocking a semblance?"
"It's emotional, but more focused than that. Think. What is it you wanted?"
Ruby placed her hands together as she thought back on how Venunem poisoned Oscar at Haven before.
"I wanted to protect my friends."
"Precisely! It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And if you make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation. Or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The creatures of Grimm are made by the true Nigreos, but your light comes from his brother."
"How do you know that?"
"I always knew how to use the light, but never why it only worked on the Grimm. Then, Jinn showed us her vision. Were you paying attention?"
As a response, Ruby closed her eyes as she remembered how Coleum dispatched the Grimm before.
"Coleum. His eyes."
Then, Raider spoke up about his experience.
"Wait. There's one thing I don't understand. When I used my silver eyes, it was to protect life, alright, but from her. To stop her from hurting anyone else. Is that the same thing?"
"Motives aside, it is the very same."
"Huh. Good to know."
Then, Raider stood up before he spoke.
"So, where do we start?"
"Well, not here. The light will only work in the presence of Grimm, meaning the only practice you'll get will be a trial by fire. But, what you can do is focus on creating a state of mind that you can tap into when you need it. Don't think about your light as a means of destroying evil, but as a way to protect the people of Remnant."
This made Raider confused.
"But... that can't be right. At Beacon Tower, my eyes reacted to Cinder. Got an explanation for that?"
"I see. Perhaps there was something to just weren't seeing."
"Yeah. Maybe I'll ask her when she's ready. I don't think she's recovered from Ruby's eyes just yet."
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"It's alright. You were just trying to protect Oscar. No one can blame you for that."
Suddenly, they heard Yang's voice as she stepped outside.
"Ruby! Raider!"
As they walked in, Ruby spoke to Blake, Weiss, Yang, Ilia, and Bella before she spoke.
"Hey, guys."
As she saw the worry on their faces, Team JNPR and CMNE, minus Cinder, went to them as the former team's leader spoke.
"What's going on?"
Blake gave the bad news as she and Yang looked to each other.
"It's Oscar and Skye. They're missing."
