All That Matters
AN: This is the climax of the story. It's been pretty fun all things considered. I'm glad I got this stuff off my chest. Having implications and hints at this stuff through flashbacks and dialogue in RWBYond Home wasn't cutting it for me.
Chapter 9: Clash
Eve has her blade to my throat. They came in the morning, threw a bag over my head and carried me down into this cave. There seems to only be one way in. Soldiers line the walls. Cloak, and another man wearing a gas mask and a leather suit stand at Khan's side. My father is in the center of the room, facing me. An ox Faunas with a massive axe is looming over him.
"Sienna Khan!" I hear my mother's voice call from the tunnel.
"Mom!" I scream. Eve's blade presses against my neck. Mom steps out of the shadows by herself. Her blade is drawn. Her mask is on. She turns her head towards me, and then Dad, and then Sienna Khan.
"Remove your mask Belladonna!" Sienna shouts as she punches the wall. "You do not have the right to wear that mask."
"These masks, come from the Arbiters." Mom replies. "Adam got the idea from my boss. Far as we're concerned, you don't have the right to wear similar masks."
"I'd hold your tongue girl." Sienna says as the Ox aimed his axe for Dad. "Your life, for one of theirs. Do we have a deal?"
"What?" I whisper to myself. I have no idea what's going on. What deal is she talking about. Mom doesn't answer. Instead she removes her mask.
"Even the Great Ruby Rose- Hero of Remnant wouldn't be able to save them both." Sienna claims. "You're making the right move." Mom throws her sword to the ground and gets on her knees. Ilia puts an aura suppression collar on her and another thug brandishes an axe.
"Master, let me be the one to do it." Eve says.
"Sit back and watch and make sure the brat doesn't escape." Sienna says. "This show is for your benefit as much as it is for mine." She leans back and grins.
"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Mom asks.
"Fine, Eve, lower your weapon." Sienna says. "If anyone tries to come at the last minute, you can take her head. For now, let us enjoy the death of Blake Belladonna."
"I don't think so." Mom says. At that moment, an armor piercing bullet hits the ox's hands, forcing him to drop his axe. Then, in the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning strikes Eve.
"Kill them now!" Khan shouts. Mom rolls and grabs her weapon. She fires a red cloud that turns into a portal. Yang bursts out of the portal and slams the ground, creating a wall of stone to block the incoming bullets. A cloud of rose petals flies into the room and grabs me and I instantly recognize it was Mrs. Ruby. Before she can get me to safety, Cloak teleports and kicks her in the face but she manages to throw me behind the ice wall.
"Are you okay?" Mom asks, I answer with a nod and a hug to both my parents.
"How'd she use dust without aura?" Khan asks.
"Redstone." The leather-clad man says. "It doesn't require aura to use. You...were outplayed."
"Then why are you standing around?" Khan asks. "Bring me Blake's head, I don't care what you do to the rest."
Mom and Yang are popping in and out of cover, systematically taking out the guards. I help Dad out of his aura suppression collar. He activates his semblance to send out clones to give support. Mrs. Ruby and Cloak are both zipping through the air. The ice wall shatters in an instant as the leather-man slices through it.
"Dagger." Mom says as she intercepts his blade.
"Been a long time, Nemian." Dagger's eyes narrow.
"She's mine!" Ilia shouts as she swings her electric whip. Dad blocks it with his arm and kicks her in the stomach. Yang spins around and blasts her in the face. The next movements happen faster than I can see. The entire room gets torn apart by the shockwaves of battle. Yang is blocking Dagger's sword with her arm. Mom is swatting away Khan's chain whip. Dad is dealing with Ilia, and quickly subduing her.
"Nova, stay behind me." Yang says as she motions towards me.
"You never learn." Dagger coughs as he reaches for her arm. In a flash, Mrs. Ruby slams into him. Yang throws out her arm, intercepts Cloak and rives her into the ground.
"You don't deserve that blade." Mrs. Ruby says. Sparks begin to fly as their auras brush against each other.
"Not your decision to make." Dagger says. In that moment, the lights all go out. My eyes focus and readjust to the limited light. Mom and Yang are fighting Sienna Khan and Cloak. The red clouds they fire seem to be neutralizing Cloak's teleportation. I remember Yang saying that her mask gives her the ability to see in the dark. So, she's fine. The only one negatively affected is Mrs. Ruby.
I watch her closely. My eyes can barely comprehend the movements. Daggers sword is moving, bending, stretching and folding like liquid. The only light in the room is the fire and lightning Mrs. Ruby is using to try and keep Dagger at bay.
It's not working. Dagger must be a Faunas too. He's slicing Mrs. Ruby up pretty badly. I try to move towards her but Dad stops me with his arm. He activated his semblance and summons a dozen light clones. They add some dim light to the cavern. The clones start throwing themselves at Dagger. He slices through the ones that find their mark. Several of the clones that miss slam through a stalactite.
"Ruby, shield Nova!" Dad shouts. Mrs. Ruby follows his voice and shields us both. Dagger looks behind himself and sees a trio of clones grabbing the massive stalactite and shoving it into his chest.
"Close your eyes." Mrs. Ruby warns. I follow her command without questioning it. I feel a massive white light blasting me in the face. All the others in the room start groaning in shock. Faunas have night vision, but when fighting in the dark, they are extremely vulnerable to flashbangs.
As the light fades and my eyes open, I see Yang and Khan. Yang has her pinned to the wall with her fist, and a massive impact crater at Khan's back. All the other White Fang members are knocked out. Mrs. Ruby has her foot on Dagger's back and her scythe aimed at his throat.
"Go ahead and try." Dagger groans.
"I'm not going to waste my time trying simple attacks." Mrs. Ruby says as she wraps him up in vines.
"Damn it." Khan coughs.
"You screwed with the wrong people." Yang says as she pulls her hand back. Khan drops to the floor.
"Don't you ever, come for my daughter again." Dad says as he marches over to her.
"I'm not giving her the chance." Yang says as she winds up another punch. There's a flash in the next moment and the entire cavern shakes.
"Yang, don't do this." Mrs. Ruby says.
"Get out of my way." Yang warns.
"Is this what she turned you into? A murderer?" Mrs. Ruby's eyes narrow.
"I'm trying to prevent things from escalating." Yang says.
"And so am I!" Mrs. Ruby shouts. "She needs to be put on trial. Stand down."
"No." Yang throws another punch. Mrs. Ruby blocks it with her scythe. The cavern shakes again. Mom loses her footing and Cloak slips through. Within a second, Sienna Khan, Ilia, Dagger, Eve and Cloak are all gone. "Son of a bitch!" Yang throws another earth-shaking punch at Ruby, who uses both arms to block it.
"Let's go home." Mrs. Ruby suggested. "We'll talk about this later."
AN: I kept wanting to go into more detail but then was thinking it makes no sense for Nova-who is twelve and has only recently started training, to keep up with numerous characters who can move at supersonic speeds. Just another thing I find limiting about first-person that actually made this chapter go a lot quicker.