Jaune dashed through the door, slashing through the Grimm that stood guard there. His eyes swiftly scanned the room, and he sighed with relief as he saw that it was empty.
He turned as the rest of Team RWBY and JNPR fought their way through the doorway. Pyrrha and Yang fought as a rear guard, stepping back step by step while preventing the Grimm from overwhelming them.
"Everyone! Get the doors!" He yelled, he went to one of the massive doors and began shoving, Nora and Ren joined him while the rest of Team RWBY went to the other door, slowly the massive blocks of wood began to swing with a giant groan.
"Pyrrha! Yang! Get out of there!" He yelled as the doors began to close, the two leapt backward, clearing the doorway. A Beowolf roared and stretched its claws to grab them, and let out a howl as the doors slammed shut. Its outstretched claw fell to the ground and began disintegrating. The doors shook as the Grimm outside began slamming into it, attempting to bash it down.
"That's not going to hold them for long…" Blake muttered as they eyed the doors.
Ren stepped forward, slamming a welding mask over his face, as he dragged a large welding assembly over to the doors.
"Where in the heck-" began Jaune, Ren turned and pointed. Jaune followed his pointing finger to see one of the bags that Illidan had given them lying open, several long sheets of metal were visible. "Okay, but that doesn't really answer my question."
"Just grab that and bring it over to me, hurry." Ren said impatiently as he started up the welding torch. "Everyone else, start stacking anything you can find."
Soon, the door was reinforced with layer upon layer of metal; along with piles of chairs and tables that the Hunters and Huntresses had managed to gather up. Ren turned off the welding torch. "There we go, that should hold them for now."
"Seriously, how?" Jaune asked him, as Ren stacked the welding assembly against doors to join the furniture piled there. The rest of their team began following Ruby run down the hall into the academy.
Ren shrugged as he shouldered the pack once more, "Not really the time." he remarked, as the doors shook as a Grimm on the other side slammed into it.
"Ah...right." Jaune admitted, and the two followed the others deeper into the building.
"Good to see that you made it through." said Maiev as she emerged from the shadows as she ran beside the two teams. "There is an elevator ahead, it leads to where our foes are conducting their foul rituals."
The group stopped in front of a large pair of steel doors, Ruby reached over and pressed the small button that was on the wall next to it. There was a small ding, and the doors parted to reveal a large platform. The group filed onto it, and Ruby pressed the down button, the doors closed softly but the platform was still.
"Does anyone else feel that this might have been just a bit too easy?" Weiss asked.
Suddenly the platform dropped out from under them, and the they began falling downward.
"Freakin' Ozpin and his 'landing strategies'!" yelled Jaune, he desperately struck at the wall with his blade, attempting to sink it in. Only to have it bounce off, sending him into a wild spin.
"You can't complain he never prepared us for this." replied Yang, she kicked off of one wall, and began deftly leaping from side to side. The others began copying her example, slowing their free-fall.
Abruptly strange formations came into view, "Are those spikes?" yelled Jaune as he right himself just in time to dodge around a glinting piece of steel that jutted out from the wall.
"Danger: Obstacles ahead." Ren read as they flew past a sign that had been jammed into the wall.
"Great, tell me more good news…" muttered Blake, and they readied themselves as more spikes came into view.
Cinder turned to the seal that still glowed in the entryway to the Fragment of Creation. She sneered and walked up to the glowing design. It made sense to her now, but she still was disgusted at how… juvenile, the lock's riddle actually was. The fact that it apparently compromised a key component of the world perturbed her slightly, even as she began inscribing the solutions. "Qrow x Winter = Snowbird." she murmured as she completed the final line. The design twisted and churned, suddenly there was a sound of sliding chains. The design flickered once, then faded away, revealing a small wooden box. She walked up to it, her heart beating faster as she felt the subtle undercurrent of power that was contained inside it.
Then, out of nowhere came a sound that she had learned to despise… a single, phlegm-filled cough. She whirled around in time to see a sickly green fireball fill her vision and slam into her, she cried out in pain as she slumped against the floor, briefly blacking out from the impact.
The Hunters and Huntresses groaned as they all stood up, recovering from the fall.
"Well that was… harrowing." said Pyrrha.
"That was fun!" Nora shouted, "Let's go again!"
"Focus, Nora." said Ren as he brushed the dust off his pants.
"Alright, Team RWBY, Assemble!" called Ruby.
"Team JNPR, uhm… gather up!" called Jaune.
The teams huddled up, and they stared grimly down the hall, strange lights crackled and flashed far down the hallway, casting an eerie glow.
"That magic… it's far more flash than substance." mused Maiev.
"What do you mean?" asked Pyrrha, as they began moving down the hall.
"Whoever that is, they've been exhausting themselves, that lightning is impressive to behold, but it has no real power behind it." the night elf explained.
The lights ceased and for a while nothing was visible, then a green light winked in the distance, then began to steadily grow in intensity.
"What about that?" asked Blake, her tone nervous.
"Quickly warriors! We must hurry!" replied Maiev sharply, and they hastened their pace.
Cinder came to and glared up in hatred at the figure before her. "You!" she hissed.
Mul'dan grinned and leaned over her, "Yes, me…" a hunched figure emerged from behind him and Cinder gasped as Mul'dan's leering face emerged from beneath its heavy cowl. "Me." Similar figures began coming forward, surrounding her, all with Mul'dan's face. "Me, me, me, me, me…" Mul'dan remarked as he gazed at the clones of him, before turning a malevolent grin back at Cinder.
"What… what is this?" she asked her eyes wide with horror. "What did you do?"
Mul'dan shook his head, then showed her the artifact that she had used to summon Salem. "I transported my egg here. However, when I was rebirthed, I was able to cheat just a bit; the Fragment's proximity as well as your own reckless use of power allowed me to reincarnate with more of my power and memories than I originally would have." he glanced at his clones, "Not only that, but in rebirthing here, on this planet, I managed to access the power of the world. I believe this is what you would call my… Semblance." He began to laugh, a cruel evil laugh that spread from Mul'dan to Mul'dan, until the room echoed with the sound of their mirth.
Finally he stopped and began to pace in front of her, "Then of course, there's you… tell me… just how much fel power do you have to match me after so recklessly using the Soul Harvester?"
Cinder snarled and brought energy to her fingers, flinging it at the warlock in front of her. Mul'dan smirked as it dissipated around him uselessly. The murloc inhaled deeply and sighed in satisfaction, "Ahh… just as I thought." he flung out his hand and Cinder writhed in pain. "Completely spent." He purred, then turned and walked to the room that contained the Fragment. "My masters will enjoy speaking with you." He told her as two of his clones picked up the artifact and began summoning pillars of dark rock from the floor.
"In the meantime however." he laid a single hand upon the box, "I shall be remaking this world in their image." he hissed and fel green energy began to swirl around him.
"Master! We need to go now!" Velvet hissed.
The night elf held up a hand, "Patience… if there is anyone who is aware of the nature of heroes, it is myself." He paused, "They should be arriving right about-."
There was a sharp crack and one of the Muldans near the entrance shot backwards and fell to the floor. Another turned and lifted his hand, green flame coalescing around it. A figure shot from the doorway and fell upon the clone with a vengeance, its hammer fell with a grim finality and the murloc went still. Nore lifted the weapon overhead "WAAGGGHHHH!" she screamed.
"Go Team RWBY!"
"Uh… Go get'em Team JNPR!"
The two teams rushed out into the room and began rapidly taking down the murlocs.
"Now, we join them." Illidan said, Velvet grinned and the two extended their wings and entered the fray.
Maiev's eyes widened as a green flame flared up from the two rocky spires that two of the murlocs had been laboring over. A heavily armored boot stepped through, followed by a giant warrior encased in armor, wielding a heavy polearm. The Felguard roared as it leveled the weapon and rushed at her, she easily parried the blow and swept her glaive across the demon's throat. Even as it fell, two more stepped through the portal, then four, then six. Soon a small army of demons was rushing out of the portal, which was only growing larger. The night elf bit back a curse as she tried to fight her way to the two warlocks who were still hunched over, channeling their foul energies into the structure.
"It appears as though you could use some help." A voice remarked beside her, suddenly several of the demons in front of her fell to the ground, sizzling holes erupting in their chests. She turned to see Illidan cutting down a Felguard behind her, its eyes grew confused as they lost focus and it dropped its giant halberd, which hit the ground a split second before its corpse.
"You!" she hissed.
He sighed, "If there was ever a time to put aside your misguided grudge, it's now." He pointed at the portal, "We need to shut that portal. Should it grow too large, it will become stabilized enough that Archimonde himself might be able to step through it. You'll need my help if you're to stop it from getting to that point."
Maiev bit her lip as she considered his words, "Fine!" she spat, "but I'll be watching you, Betrayer!"
He rolled his eyes, "So long as you aren't cut down by a demon from your split attentions.".
Illidan turned back to the Warden, who was still watching him suspiciously, "Come, Warden, we have little time!" He threw back his head, "FEEL THE HATRED OF TEN THOUSAND YEARS!" He screamed and threw himself at the demons with a fury, whole swathes of them were cut down in the blink of an eye from his warglaives. Maiev eyed him thoughtfully and followed, slicing through any demon that got between her and the swirling green portal.
"You know, I'd never thought I'd say this." said Blake as she rolled to avoid a strike from one of the giant beings that were flooding out of the portal, she came out of the roll in an uppercut that sent the creature toppling backward. "But I kind of miss just fighting Grimm."
"I know right?" Weiss replied as she slashed at a warped looking dog creature out of the air as it leapt at her, it let out a piteous howl as it slammed heavily to the floor.
"First off all, they don't leave bodies." Blake continued, "I never realized how much of a difference that makes."
"Secondly, they don't have weird knight guys that speak old-timey fairy tale speak." Jaune butted in.
"What?" Blake and Weiss asked simultaneously.
He winced, "Long story…"
"Also… Grimm are endless right? Like… they just keep coming no matter how many we kill." Blake said.
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" said Yang as she beat one of the creatures over the head with their own weapons.
Blake rolled her eyes. "but at some point, they run out in that general area and you get a break." She pointed at the portal, "As it is, these guys set up a big, glowing green thing and it just sits there, and they keep coming. It's like they're taunting you with it."
"So? You can just knock it over or something." Weiss replied.
Ruby skidded to a stop between them, "I've been trying that!" She pointed at Nora who stood beside her staring at her hammer in shock. "More to the point, NORA's tried that."
"It didn't break… I hit something and it didn't break… like the most sturdy leg in all of existence…" She whispered. Ren patted her on the back and handed her a handkerchief, which she took and blew loudly before handing it wordlessly back to him.
"Honestly that's not the worst part." Pyrrha remarked as she stabbed two of the demons in quick succession. "So, I've always been fascinated by space, but we've never be able to learn much about it because Dust always stops working."
"Yeah?" Weiss replied.
Pyrrha turned to them, a frustrated frown on her face, "Then it turns out that a bunch of… fish people come here, across MULTIPLE worlds, and they use a rock formation that apparently was a portal to our world and we never realized it. Then to add insult to injury, they proceed to bring… people… HERE across all of those worlds with nothing much more than a wave of the hand and some pieces of paper."
There was a collective pause, "You know, that's kind of depressing when you put it like that…" Weiss admitted.
Illidan let out a roar as he cut down the two Muldans that were constructing the portal. He examined the swirling construct and gnashed his teeth. Just as he had suspected, they had been merely accelerating it, it was already stable and it was getting the the point where Eredar might be stepping through at any moment.
He began probing the gate with his senses, he was dimly aware of Maiev stepping up behind him, "Cover me!" He growled and the runes on his skin glowed as he began focussing his power and will against the portal. The green fire around its base sputtered and flared as the portal grew wider at an alarming rate.
"It's growing faster!" Maiev exclaimed, "What is it that you do, Betrayer?!"
"A construct like this will take far longer to simply brute force shut." He growled in reply, "It looks larger, but it's actually more unstable at this rate, if I can weaken it enough I can close it much faster."
He was abruptly aware of a blade being put to his throat, "Maiev…" he began warily, "I need you to trust me… just this once."
The blade wavered slightly, then grew still once more, "And have you destroy another world! Never!"
Illidan growled as he spun away from the blade, and flew back as a kick landed squarely in his stomach.
"I knew it!" Maiev crowed triumphantly as the portal began to shrink. "You were attempting to aid the demons! To become their champion once more! We will speak of this more when you are back in your cell!"
Illidan felt the threads of energy surrounding the portal flow wildly, and then they snapped taut as something began stabilizing the portal from the other side. Illidan's eyes widened as he recognized the force behind it, he looked to Maiev.
"Maiev, I beg you! By Mother Moon! Let me collapse the portal before it's too late!"
The Warden turned to him, disgust on her face, desperately, he tried to reason with her.
"Maiev… I've only ever tried to destroy the demons, I've-" He began.
"You've only ever give yourself greater power!" She cut him off angrily as she watched the portal shrink down to almost half to its former size.
Illidan's panic grew as he felt the power behind the portal coalesce and in desperation he changed tactics. "Maiev…"
Something in his voice made her turn, "I know that I have made mistakes. However, trust me that if nothing else, I have no desire to aid the demons." He took a deep breath, "Let me at least make thing right." He extended his hand, "Just think of every time you've decided not to trust me. I told you the demons would return, they did, I slew Tichrondis despite your accusations. If you hadn't stopped me at Icecrown, Jaina would never have wreaked the destruction that she did as the Lich Queen. Just trust me, this one time… please"
Maiev said nothing for a long time, finally she laughed and Illidan's heart dropped as she shook her head. "You must truly be hungry for power if you are desperate enough to apologize." She turned back to the portal, "No, Betrayer, you're plot ends he-"
Suddenly the portal exploded with green light as it flared to life once more, and a large, red colored being stepped through it. A wave of magic swept through the portal, sending the two night elves flying. Maiev slammed into a pillar, let out a gasp of pain, and went still. Illidan let out a snarl as he spread his wings wide, skidding to a stop as he stared at the demonic figure. "Just great," he muttered as the demon rose to its full height,, "somehow, someway, this will be all my fault… I just know it."
The whole room seemed to freeze as everyone stared at the being as it opened and closed a hand experimentally. The Eredar spread its hands and roared at the top of its lungs, "YOU FACE JARAXXUS! EREDAR LORD OF THE BURNING-"
A giant ball of energy collided with the being's chest and it fell back into the portal, a shocked expression on its face as it disappeared back into the Twisting Nether.
"Ah c'mon man, you should've let him finish!" a voice echoed from the entrance to the room.
"No! There is no way in hell I'm listening to you guys quote that shit for the next month!"
Everyone's gaze turned to see a hodge-podge of beings of various shapes and sizes enter the room.
"Hey, but at least we're not going to have to fight Archi-"
A being with blue skin and green eyes stepped out of the portal, power radiated around its frame as its fiery gaze swept the room.
"Damn it! Why the hell did you have to open your mouth Ballsdpz?!"
Archimonde let forth a mighty laugh, "Foolish mortals, you know not of the powers that you face. I will destroy you and sweep your ashes aside. The Burning Legion shall…"
"Already, ready check… all right, don't forget to pot up. the leader of Debauched Tea Party said, utterly ignoring the Eredar's speech. "3...2...1… Pull!"
An absolutely bewildering amount of power flew toward the demon, engulfing it in a wave. Illidan shook his head, it always amazed him the kind of power that adventurer's could wield together if they just put their minds to it. They had beaten Archimonde many times before, but far worse things would start emerge from the portal if they didn't act quickly.
More to the point… he thought as he looked up, Mul'dan was behind a massive barrier, chanting over what appeared to be a… piece of white cloth? Illidan frowned and reached out with his senses, whatever it was, there was a massive undercurrent of power emanating from it.
"Yes, that is indeed the Fragment of Creation." An elderly voice remarked beside him. He turned his gaze to see Morgl, the wizened murloc shaman was eyeing the barrier critically.
"That will be difficult to break…" he murmured.
Illidan nodded, "Indeed, although it requires much concentration, I believe I have a plan on how to lower it if just for a moment, but I would be nowhere near fast enough to get inside."
Morgl raised an eyebrow, then turned his gaze to Ruby as she used her Semblance to dash from demon to demon, slashing them with her scythe. "I think I have the answer to that." he replied. He lifted an outstretched hand, and a fist of earth emerged from one of the walls, lightly bumping Ruby from her intended trajectory. She gave a small yelp as her dash took her straight over their heads, landing neatly behind them.
"Warn me next time you do that!" she complained.
Morgl bowed, "I apologize, but time is short, and I am afraid we will require your speed."
Ruby frowned in confusion, then her eyes lit up, "Oh right, the Fragment thingie."
Illidan rolled his eyes, "Fragment of Creation, an artifact of power that is connected with the very foundation of the world itsel-"
Morgl patted him on the shoulder, "Yes, yes, but for now, the short version is, if I can get to it, I can put a stop to all of this. However, we need to get through that barrier, young Stomrage, you said you had a plan?"
Illidan cocked his head, "You do know that I'm thousands of years old?"
Morgl said nothing, but gave him a wide grin, and to Ruby's eyes it appeared that he was trying not to laugh. The night elf seemed to notice it as well and his eyebrows rose in surprise at the implication. He shook himself and nodded sharply, "Fine then… here is what we will need to do."