This was delayed by one week so I could finish up some other stuff. The next chapter will probably be on time, but it depends how other things go. That one may also have to wait a week, but it shouldn't hurt the overall schedule because there are only three episodes of this left.
The fight scenes were very difficult to write. I'm much more used to writing big, epic battles rather than close-up fight scenes. Which we will see. But not yet.
Episode 11: No Escape
"Sir, we're under attack," Perry reported redundantly.
Roman gritted his teeth, biting back a sharp retort. He could hear the shouting and explosions, and guessed it was that crazy girl who had infiltrated their meeting earlier. "We're expediting this operation. Attach the car and spread the word: We're starting the train."
"But we're not-"
The human held up a hand for silence. The sounds intensified, and he could hear panicked shouting now. Of course someone had to show up and make a mess of things. "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"
"Got it, boss."
As the faunus ran away to do whatever the hell it was he did, the thief waved to his partner. She looked uphappy. "Yes, we're going through with this. We're almost done, I promise."
She was still scowling as they strode briskly toward the engine at the front of the train. In an effort to assuage his partner, he added, "After this nasty business, we'll slip away, we can get ice cream, maybe kill someone, and reap the admittedly disappointing profits we've already made."
She gave him a quizzical, confused but happy look. That was what they wanted to do all along, but there had always been an obstacle in their way.
He shrugged. "To hell with Cinder. She should have held up her end."
"What's happening?" Jaune asked Ren, ducking below the angry blade of a White Fang soldier.
He explained calmly, "We ran into some White Fang. They saw us and when we fought them, the road collapsed. It appears this is their base of operations."
"No, why were you out here in the first place?"
"Oh, we were going to boop," Nora said casually. She transformed her weapon back into hammer form in preparation to hit another of the faunus.
"Nora!"
"Okay, not exactly. But we did have a heartfelt conversation." She swung Magnhild, sending the soldier crashing into the wall of the cavern. "Boop!"
"So you finally decide to get together and you have to do it now?" Pyrrha asked, frustration tinging her voice.
"No time like the present!" Another swing, another dead faunus. "Boop!"
"Guys, they're doing something," Jaune interrupted, pointing at what appeared to be a large armoured train. "I think they're-"
"They're loading up the train," Oobleck finished, appearing from seemingly nowhere. "But the tunnels are sealed. Where are they going?"
"They're going somewhere."
"Then we must ascertain their destination."
Jaune pointed his sword. "We have to get on that train."
They ran toward the train as it began to accelerate. The Professor was the first to climb up, followed by Nora, who jumped up with a whoop and half-dragged Ren with her. Pyrrha nimbly leapt from the ground to the top of the train. Jaune took a deep breath, dashed toward the accelerating vehicle, and jumped.
He didn't quite make it. His arms scrambled for purchase against the slick sides of the train before a gloved hand grabbed his arm. "I've got you."
"Thanks," he said to his partner.
"Wow, look at what's on this train," Nora said, peeking into an open hatch. "Looks like mechs and battle robots. I guess this is what the guy with the hat was talking about. And what's that beeping... oh. Uh oh."
"What do you mean uh-oh?" Jaune asked.
"I think it's a- Doctor, is that a bomb?"
"Yes, it's a bomb! Quickly, move forward!" Oobleck shouted. They followed him as he dashed down the length of the traincar and jumped to the next train. "Pyrrha, make sure-"
They were interrupted by the car with the bomb suddenly decoupling itself. "What?"
It exploded, the shockwave buffeting them. On a hunch, Oobleck opened the access hatch on the car they were on top of. "This one also has a bomb."
Before they could say anything, he zipped to the next car. "And this one! No, no, no!"
"What?" Jaune asked, following the professor.
"They all have bombs! The cars detach-" As if on cue, the car they had just been on decoupled. "The cars detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm. He's leading them to the city!"
"We really have to stop this-"
"Guys, bad guys," Nora interrupted, pointing to the White Fang soldiers, flanked by Atlesian Paladins, climbing on top of the train and heading toward them.
"Pyrrha, with me. The rest of you, go below and try to stop those bombs!"
"Does anyone have any ideas?" Jaune asked, gingerly poking the literal ticking time bomb.
"We could smash it... no, that's a horrible idea," Nora proposed before backing off.
Ren examined it for a moment. "It won't fit through the hatch, and it seems to be bolted to the floor."
The bomb started beeping and Jaune jumped back. "Okay, we've got to move. We're just going to have to stop this train. No problem, right?"
Nora gave him a thumbs-up as she swung open the door. "No pr... problem!"
Standing in the middle of the train car was one of the biggest faunus they had ever seen, rippling muscles visible beneath his White Fang uniform. He started the massive chainsaw in his hands and advanced menacingly.
With a manic grin, Nora unfolded Magnhild into its hammer form. "Go! I've got him!"
Jaune hesitated, glancing at Ren who gave him a slight nod. The two young men ran down the sides of the wide train car and into the next compartment. Jaune slammed the door behind them.
"Jaune," Ren told him calmly, keeping his eyes on his opponent. The pink and brown girl they had seen with Torchwick sat on a packing crate, idly twirling her parasol. "Go on. I have this."
He didn't hesitate this time, charging forward and into the compartment door as Ren opened fire with StormFlower behind him. His foot caught on the threshold and he half-rolled, half-slid across the floor before dragging himself back up.
His opponent cleared his throat, idly toying with his cane. The blonde looked at him with recognition and rage. "You're Roman Torchwick."
"In the flesh. How do you do?"
"You... you!" Jaune stammered. "You're the scum who stole all that Dust, and all those robots!"
He sighed. "Ineloquent and impolite. Still, I suppose it was too much to expect from someone who lied their way into Beacon."
"How do you- I'm better than you think!" the blonde retorted angrily.
"I apologize, that was uncalled for." Roman raised his hands in mock surrender. "How about this? You stop fighting, we stop fighting, we ride this train to its destination, and then what I do is my business and what you do is yours!"
"Never!" Jaune shouted. "We're stopping this train, not letting it destroy Vale!"
He raised his cane. "Well, I suppose it was worth a shot."
"Forward, Pyrrha!" Oobleck ordered, already charging toward the enemy. He took a sip from his cylindrical flask before flicking it forward, expanding it into a bat-like weapon with a small flame at the tip.
Pyrrha followed closely, readying Miló in its sword form. She reached out with her Semblance, snagging the legs of one of the Paladins and twisting it. The machine stumbled and slid off the side of the train with a loud crunch.
The professor wasted no time, swinging his incendiary bat at one of the mechs several times in quick succession. Each hit dented and melted the armour and beat the machine back before it ran out of roof and fell onto the tracks below.
The remaining mech opened fire, covering a group of White Fang soldiers as they rushed forward. The champion used her shield to deflect the incoming bullets and transformed her weapon into javelin form and threw it, piercing through two of the faunus and knocking them off the train.
Oobleck unleashed a barrage of fireballs at the Paladin. They didn't penetrate the tough armour, but disoriented the pilot, giving the doctor enough time to swing his weapon into a faunus opponent, sending her pulverized corpse flying with enough force to knock the Paladin back onto the platform it had climbed up from.
The White Fang soldiers kept coming, however, flanked by another pair of Paladins.
"We're not going to get through this in time!" Pyrrha voiced. She used her Semblance to pull Miló back toward herself and caught it deftly in her right hand.
"Then let's hope the others are being met with more success!"
Nora kept her usual manic grin on her face as she ducked under the huge faunus's chainsaw. Neither of them were experienced at fighting in close quarters, and neither of them had the right weapon for it, but she was smaller and faster than her opponent.
The pink girl replied with a swing from Magnhild, catching the giant in the left hand with the blunt end of the hammer. She pulled the trigger and grinned as he howled in pain, dropping the massive chainsaw.
She took the opportunity, transforming her weapon into grenade launcher form and firing six rounds at point blank with no regard for her own safety or the environment around her. Holes appeared in the walls of the train, the slipstream whistling in around. the jagged metal.
The White Fang fighter dragged himself back up, grabbing the chainsaw with his other hand. He swung at the same time as his opponent, and their weapons slammed together. Nora pulled the trigger again, separating them, and carried the swing through, building momentum by firing again and slamming the hammer into the side of the faunus. He went flying into the side of the car, cracking it further.
That gave her any idea that anyone but her would consider very bad. She swung again once, twice, three times. The damaged metal behind the faunus cracked, buckled, and finally gave in, his battered body breaking through and bouncing comically away along the tracks below.
Nora gave a mock salute before hurrying forward to help Ren.
Ren placed his strikes carefully, ducking and weaving around his opponent's parasol. She was swift and agile, but so was he. She blocked well with her parasol, but she only had one parasol, and he had two StormFlowers. He swung with one, and sure enough the tiny woman blocked the strike with ease. With the other, he unleashed a short burst, hitting her in the legs.
She jumped back in surprise, and he pressed the advantage, unleashing a flurry of strikes with StormFlowers. The short woman's eyes widened in surprise as she struggled and failed to block the blows. Then, as she was running out of room to manoeuvre, her body shattered and disappeared.
An illusionist. He would need to attack where she should be, not where she seemed to be. Ren whirled around, just in time to block the sharp blade coming toward him. He swung with his other weapon, hitting the woman in the legs. He almost swung again before feeling a tiny, almost imperceptible burst of wind.
His opponent had moved. He stepped back and pivoted, pre-empting the next swing with a series of attacks of his own into what at first seemed like thin air, but transformed into the pink-haired girl. The panic in her eyes seemed genuine this time.
The illusion shattered once more, and this time he had no idea where his opponent would be. Seconds later, the hatch at the top of the train snapped shut.
"Do you yield?" Jaune Arc asked intensely, holding his opponent at swordpoint. It had been surprisingly easy. A few clumsily-parried hits, and soon he was standing over the thief with his sword at his throat.
"Still the chivalrous knight, I see," Roman Torchwick replied mockingly. With a dramatic flourish, he tossed Melodic Cudgel to the side.
"Some of us have to do the right thing." His sword hand was shaking, but there was conviction behind his words.
"Is that really what's motivating you? Stopping the bad guys, saving the world?" the criminal asked sarcastically. "Or is this about something else? Something more personal? Are you the white knight, my dear Arc, or are you the one avenging his fallen comrades?"
The knight's lip twitched. Pausing, he added, "They're not dead, you know."
By antagonizing the blonde fool, he was hoping to get an opening. Instead, he got the opposite.
Jaune tossed his sword away and drove his fist into the thief's face with all his might. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM?"
Roman managed to crack a painful smirk. "Things you could only begin to imagine."
The blonde boy roared, bringing his fist back and punching the orange-haired man repeatedly in the fact. He felt the Aura between them crack and give way, and the next hit cracked bone and left both his fist and the man's face covered in dark crimson blood.
"Jaune?" a familiar voice called. He brought his arm back again, but hesitated. "Jaune!"
A strong hand, covered in a now-bloodied brown glove, grabbed his wrist and held it. "Jaune, stop. He's not worth it."
Jaune blinked, realizing what he'd done. He felt a wave of nausea course through his body as he observed his handiwork. "Oh, god..."
"Jaune, we're running out of track," Pyrrha reminded him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We have to do something."
"Pyrrha, I thought-"
"The Doctor is holding them off."
Jaune shook his head, forcing his shocked brain back into leader mode. He noticed Ren and Nora join them in the car. "Okay, do any of you know how to stop this thing?"
They glanced at the controls, blacked out and partially damaged. He concluded, "Nevermind, looks like they really don't want us to do that."
"We can't stop the train,"
"No," Jaune realized. They had failed. The train would crash into the barrier at the end, break through, open the floodgates and let the horde into the city. They would be pulverized on impact, which might actually be merciful given the circumstances.
But maybe they hadn't failed completely. He shouted suddenly, "The Paladins!"
"What?" Nora asked.
"We can get in the Paladins and use them to ride this out!" Jaune explained, already climbing up the ladder toward the train's roof hatch. When he emerged, he couldn't see any of the White Fang or their professor. He forced the bad thoughts out of his mind and dashed toward the rear of the train.
Nora voiced, "Where's Oob-"
"We can't worry about that now!" He risked a brief glance behind them and he could see the end of the tunnel rapidly approaching. "Go!"
They ran madly down the train, past the cars they'd fought in and down onto a flat car with some of the hulking machines sitting on them. Ren remarked on the situation. "Jaune, there are only two left!"
"Then I guess we're going to get cozy!" he replied, climbing into the closest one and reaching down to pull his partner into the cramped cockpit. Behind him, Ren and Nora did the same.
It was a tight squeeze, but they managed to get the cockpit shut. With Pyrrha sitting on his lap, Jaune could only reach one of the side sticks. He didn't get a change to try it. Seconds after they'd boarded the machine, he felt a bone-shattering impact and the world turned upside down.