Disclaimer: Still don't own shit~
RebuffX7: What the fuck is this chapter length? Do you want me to kick your ass? This is how you burned out last time! It'd be one thing if this was a one-shot.
Relax, Buffy, I took my time and paced myself.
RebuffX7: You better. Just start the chapter and remember I got my eye on you.
Yes ma'am. On with the show everybody!
Featured BGMs:
War & War- NieR Automata OST
Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes (Glitch Mob Remix)
Prison Hall- Sonic Forces OST
Hurt- Johnny Cash
Ultra Instinct Remix | [Clash of the Gods] | Hip Hop/Trap | (Musicality Remix)
Battle on the Deck- Maple Story OST
Throne- Bring Me the Horizon.
Judgement- Devil Man Crybaby OST
This Will Be the Day- RWBY OST
Rules of Nature-Jason Miller
Home-RWBY OST
Chapter 12: Rise of the Beacon 8! (Alt Title: Fight of the Valkyrie!)
BETAED BY: Will of Wisp
-Vacuo: 4 Years before the Fall of Empress Rose-
BGM War & War- NieR Automata OST
Nora said nothing as she stood by the window of an airship, covered from the neck down in a massive suit of armor that made her look much taller than her actual stature. Though large and a bit bulky, it was still clear that the suit was made to be worn by a woman. Its color scheme was the same as her trusty hammer, mainly silver with hints of pink within it. In the center of her breast-plate was an engraved heart emblem that had a hammer with a lightning bolt etched inside of it and on her left shoulder pauldron there was a Rose-emblem that was surrounded by a thorny vine-like pattern that went down her side.
"Are you ready Battle Master?" A young knight questioned snapping Nora from her thoughts. Turning away from the window of the of the airship that overlooked the warzone that had become Vacuo, Nora looked at her subordinate with a bright grin.
"Of course, the question is, are you? For many of you, this is your first flight in the Valkyrie unit…and for many of you it may be your last. At least, that's what 'statistics' say." Nora said after noticing the nervous expressions on many of the knights. Winking at them, her grin seemed to widen even further. "But you know something? I was never good at numbers and if you couldn't defy the odds, you wouldn't be here."
A silence.
"Now the question is, do you all believe you belong here?" Nora questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly as the gathered knights stood at attention.
"Yes Ma'am!"
"Good. Now why are you here!?"
"To fight the darkness!"
"Who do you fight for!?"
"For her majesty and her people!"
"Will your weapons waver?"
"No!"
"Will your hearts falter!?"
"Never!"
"At ease." Nora ordered as the hanger to the airship began to open as she walked towards it. "We are the last line of defense for her majesty. That means we enter the battlefield last and we leave it last. We cannot afford weakness. Anyone who fails to bring back at least five of their enemy's weapons for her majesty will be removed from the initiative, is that understood?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
"Good, make me proud and fly proudly." Nora said before slamming her fist onto her breast-plate, an action they replicated as their helmets appeared on their heads. "For Rose! Glory to her Garden!" Nora shouted before leaping from the airship as her subordinates released battle cries before following out after her.
As she fell, three other airships could be seen behind her's, getting smaller with the distance she dropped as more Valkyries seemed to descend from the heavens behind her. The communication systems in her armor then came online as she grew closer to the battlefield.
"Captain! Battle Master, Valkyrie reporting in!"
-Vacuo: Capital-
"At ease, knight." Jaune replied, placing a finger on his ear as he looked back over the burning city where he could see what appeared to be small shooting stars coming down from the heavens. "What's your ETA?"
["At least another 2 minutes before impact."]
"Good. It's been a long-fought battle, but it's reaching its end. My men have brought our enemy down, you will make sure they stay down." Jaune said as he neared the steps to the capital. "Shock and awe Valkyrie, think you can handle that?"
["Of course!"] Jaune could hear the grin in her voice and released a small chuckle of his own.
"Then I leave the rest to you, there was sightings of the Fall maiden drawing near. Perfect time to test out your armor. Keep her busy, I want a detailed report when you are finished." Jaune ordered. "Now you remember your keyword?"
["Will never forget it, Captain. Leave the Maiden to me, Valkyrie out."]
"Please stop…we surrender, leave my family alone!" A voice pleaded making Jaune blink before turning to find a Knight standing before a terrified family of three. A young mother held her baby close as the terrified man stood in front of them, staring at the end of the Knight's rifle.
"I…I…" The Knight hesitated, lowering his weapon briefly and nearly immediately the 'terrified' man gained a dangerous gleam in his eye, a small crimson blade fell from his sleeve before he lunged at the young knight. However, instead of pain, the knight felt himself being pulled back as Jaune stepped before him and buried Crocea Mors into the attacker's chest up to its hilt, the sound of his aura shattering echoing throughout the area. "C-Captain!?"
"No!" The woman cried hysterically as Jaune remained silent, staring at the attacker until he saw the life leave his eyes.
"The battlefield is no place for hesitation. For emotion. I learned that the hard way in my youth after mistake after mistake. A fate I wish for you to avoid." Jaune said before turning away from the sobbing woman holding her child tighter. "Don't let it happen again."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Good."
"B-but what about them?"
"Imprison them with the others until this operation is done. She's no threat, right now she needs to focus on her child as he should have." Jaune explained. "Send out a message for me, direct orders, frisk any civilian for weapons then lock them up until we officially occupy this territory and have people in place to help them transition into following under their new banner. After the capital is dealt with, tell the squad leaders to move on and take the academy. I want these streets clean enough to eat off of before tomorrow ends, is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Perform well and I'll forget about this incident. Dismissed." Jaune said before sheathing his blade as the knight saluted him before quickly departing with the new prisoners of war. Turning back towards the capital, Jaune began making his way up the stairs. "Let's get this over with so I can go home." Jaune muttered as he entered the council chambers where a shaken council and their bodyguards awaited him. "I told you to surrender months ago, don't blame me for what's to come." Jaune said as he placed his hand on the hilt of his blade. "You should have never chosen Salem."
-With Nora-
*THOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The ground shook, unearthing itself as the shockwaves resulting from Nora's impact devastated the group of enemies she landed in the middle of. Rising from a kneeling position, dozens of Valkyries landing across the battlefield as she rose in front of a scowling Cinder.
"I swear, you're like a roach. How many times have you escaped death at this point?" Nora questioned, making Cinder glare at her, her eye lighting up with power.
"Too many. Unfortunately for you, you will be unable to experience that as I plan on making sure you stay dead." Cinder said, making Nora chuckle.
"Is that right?" Nora asked, resting her massive hammer on her shoulder. "You know if you replace anymore parts of yourself you won't even be human anymore." Nora taunted making Cinder's scowl deepen as lightning began erupting from Nora's armor in waves. "I wonder how much I can destroy before even Salem will be unable to rebuild you?"
"You won't find out!" Cinder boomed as flames erupted from the Grimm-like claws she called hands before she flew at Nora. Thrusters erupted to life from the back of Nora's armor as she found herself racing towards Cinder.
"I always wondered what I was going to do to you if I ever saw you!" Nora began, a dark tone filling her voice. "Eventually, I had to make up an entirely new word just to describe what I plan to do to you." Nora said as she and Cinder met each other at that moment. Cinder's claws struggling against Magnhild's.
"Oh and what word did you create to come up for my would-be demise?" Cinder asked sarcastically as Nora chuckled darkly as a torrent of lightning erupted from Nora's armor.
BGM: END
-Current Time-line: Rose Garden: Basement: 2 Hours before Nora's Mission-
"…Ragnarok. Interesting choice can't say I ever heard of that particular word before, what does it mean?" An older balding man questioned curiously as he stood before Nora who was now garbed in the protype of her armor.
"To put it simply? Death. It kinda got its own definition over time seeing how every enemy that heard me say it ended up dead eventually. Every knight has a word or phrase they say to boost their own morale in a pinch. The words themselves don't have any actual power but you'd be surprised how important it is to psyche yourself up." Nora said, suprising him as the huntress looked down at her armor covered hands and opened and closed them a few times. "You did a great job, Dr. Polendina."
"Thank you, though I must admit that it is still a prototype and that you should be careful. Truth be told I had experimented with something like this beforehand, but no human would be able to survive wearing the older power suits I designed so the initiative was eventually scrapped. Please, you seem like a nice young woman so be careful. Huntsmen stronger than you have fallen to weaker versions of this armor." Dr. Polendina warned making Nora smirk.
"You've never seen a huntsman stronger than me." Nora said with a giggle as she placed a hand on the armors chest-plate. "I'm going to perform a stress test, in advance I apologize for any damage that happens to this baby." Nora said sincerely, sending a chill down Dr. Polendina's spine.
The manic grin on her face only made it worse.
-Beacon: RWBY Dorm-
"Hey I got your message, what's wrong?" Yang questioned as she entered her dorm. She had been on her way to ask Nora for some advice when she got an urgent message from Ruby on her scroll. When she entered the room, she found a frantic Ruby and a pissed Weiss though Yang had a feeling Weiss' attitude had nothing to do with her sister for once.
"It's Blake." Ruby said as she held up a letter, her eyes glistening with unshed tears while Weiss glowered, muttering something about lying terrorists.
"What's wrong with Blake?" Yang asked, now looking very concerned after all Blake was her partner. Ruby swallowed nervously, averting her eyes from her sister as she shakily handed Yang the letter.
"She's gone." Ruby said the two words that both she and Yang we're very tired of hearing for one life-time. Yang's heart clenched as her expression went blank for a moment while glancing over the letter. Indeed, Blake had run away. In her letter, she detailed how sorry she was, her true identity, and a number of reasons why she felt the team would be better off without her that all honestly sounded like bullshit to Yang.
For a moment no one said anything before Weiss finally looked up, the smell of smoke filling the room. Weiss shivered a bit when she saw the letter turn to ash in Yang's hand, here eyes now a burning red.
"We need to find her!" Ruby said urgently making Weiss scoff.
"Why?" Weiss questioned sounding irritated making both of the sister's glance at her. "If she wants to go let her."
"Weiss, she's our friend!"
"Your friend, and Yang's. Blake and I have never been close, personally I think she's right. We don't need weakness like that. I apologize Ruby, I was wrong, it's obvious now that you were never the drag on our team." Weiss said as she rose up and began to make her way out of the dorm.
"So, what? You're just going to abandon her!? When she obviously needs help!?" Yang asked angrily, making Weiss pause, a glacial glare meeting a burning one as blood red eyes mixed with a frosty blue. "Are you really that heartless!?"
"You don't get to judge me, Xiao-Long. Her father founded the White Fang, she was a member herself, they've killed dozens of my family's workers which enraged my father which in turn led to a very, very, cold family life." Weiss said darkly, sending a chill down Ruby's spine as she saw genuine hatred on Weiss' face for the second time that day. "What's worse is that she's a hypocrite, making snide remarks about my upbringing when she was just as pampered if not more so, she's basically royalty to those beasts."
"We have to hear her side of the story! You can't judge her because of her family–"
"She did it to me! Unlike her, I'm judging her by her character. You just literally read her side of the story as well, she herself knows she's no good! It's best she left now before it was too late." Weiss said before glancing back at Ruby. "You're the leader, you need to know when to let people go."
"Like I should have let you go? Fighting every decision I made just because you thought I wasn't ready!?" Ruby questioned, her fists clenched as Weiss paused. "Weiss we can't abandon her!"
"She abandoned us." Weiss corrected dismissively. "And unlike her, I carried my weight. Was I difficult, yes, I'll admit it and I'm sorry. But not once did I lie to you, even at my worst it was only an attempt to better the team in the end, and I also don't have the blood of any of your associates on my hands! She wants to leave, let her go and good riddance!"
"Did our time together mean nothing to you then!?" Yang snapped, her aura burning bright. "Are you that cold-hearted!?"
"It's because it did matter that I'm telling you two to drop it! I actually care about you two, there, I admit it! Which is why I want you to drop this for your own good! I was admittedly misguided in many instances but Blake's toxic, Yang, this just proves it!"
"She hasn't done anything!"
"Then why did she run!?" Weiss snapped, making Yang pause. "Only the guilty, flee. You two clearly have abandonment issues that you need to address, but I'm no shrink, leave me out of it. You want to chase after her? Fine. Leave and don't say I didn't warn you. You can paint me as the villain if you wish and let the predator play victim, but I do not care."
"Weiss, please." Ruby pleaded, making Weiss stop, her hand on the door knob.
"No. I'm washing my hands of this nonsense. She is the weakest by far of not just us three but between us and JNPR as well and I am not talking about combat strength. She's a weak-willed person that will nearly get you all killed."
"Nearly?"
"You both will survive, I will personally drag you two out of this when it goes horribly wrong because that's what a real teammate should do. I will tell you I told you so as I save you from your own stupidity. Unlike her,I won't abandon this team but I also know when to pick and choose my battles. One day you'll hopefully grow up and understand the difference." Weiss said before leaving, slamming the door behind her.
"Wow, you're a piece of work." Pyrrha said suddenly, making Weiss blink as she saw the spartan leaning against the wall adjacent to her, with her arms crossed. Weiss just sighed and shook her head as she walked away, Pyrrha following soon after as they made their way down the hall.
"What? Are you going to tell me we need to go track her down?"
"What? No, I agree with you wholeheartedly. If you have no power but a strong will that's one thing, but having a fragile will? Now that's true weakness and I have no time for that. I say let natural selection run its course." Pyrrha admitted.
And she meant it.
Even concerning her own counterpart's death, Pyrrha knew it was arrogant and foolish to stand up to someone who had clearly bested Beacon's Headmaster but her counterpart did it anyway.
And died because of it.
The others treated her as a martyr, but she knew, deep down, she was just foolish.
This was why she respected the Empress so much. It took an invasion, the embodiment of evil itself, and the cowardice of her enemies to bring her down and even then, she managed to avenge her own death and rewrite the world as she saw fit.
There will never be another death that glorious.
"When you're strong in the way that matters? Only then can you understand who is and isn't worth it." Pyrrha continued. "Blake is weak and like the weak she will fall, it's best not to let her bring you down as well especially after you've proven how much potential you have today."
"So, what did you mean by your comment then?"
"What? That you're a piece of work? Nothing, just that you're like me. You speak the truth but your presentation is god awful." Pyrrha said dismissively. "We're terrible with words, if it was someone like Jaune he could have conveyed what you did in a way that would have ended up with those two burning all of Blake's belongings."
Despite herself and the situation, Weiss couldn't help but laugh a bit at that.
No one had ever seen Jaune fight for long, all they knew was that Pyrrha apparently saw him as her equal or close to it. That said, they had team practices enough times for Weiss to see that Jaune had a gift for rallying speeches. Hell, he often motivated his opponents to fight harder against him.
"Then again, he'd probably would have rallied you to go find her with them instead." Pyrrha continued making Weiss frown.
"He would go after Blake?"
"Jaune isn't like us, Weiss, we live in the present. Jaune looks on into the future. Blake is weak, we know that, but he would see what she could be when she's strong." Pyrrha explained making Weiss pause, her eyes widening in confusion.
"What?"
"Whether you consider Faunus people or not is up to you, I don't care about your political views, but they do have the capability of learning. You can almost say we take the easy way out, while idiots like him and the others– well, minus Ren– do things the difficult way and would help build Blake into being something better, stronger than even she knows she can be. To be honest, the only reason we're talking now is because of idiots like him."
"What do you mean?"
"Weiss, we both know I could have dealt with you quickly today." Pyrrha chided with an eyeroll as Weiss blushed at the memory of how badly she was defeated. "That said, they told me not to. They saw a spark in you, something I was blind to, that will one day probably even make you better than me. So, I toyed with you a bit, waited, and you found that spark, something in you that you didn't even know you had, and became a completely better person out of it. I mean you were ranting in your dorm, but you just apologized for your behavior to Yang and Ruby, didn't you?"
"I…did…"
"Would you have really done that yesterday if I hadn't beaten yourself worth into you?" Pyrrha asked with a laugh as Weiss clenched her fists. "If I had just stuck to my values, ignored those idiots, you wouldn't be as strong as you are, how funny is that? Oh well, I guess we are just blind to some things."
And with that Weiss stopped moving, Pyrrha made it a couple steps before noticing her companion had gone rigid.
"What's the matter?"
"That spark…does Blake really have it?"
"Apparently. I mean think about it, Ghira Belladonna is a great and powerful man who did much for his species. The apple can't fall that far away from the tree, right?"
"B-but…the White Fang…they murder in cold blood…they're terrorists!"
"Of course, they are, those beasts are nothing but monsters…now." Pyrrha corrected confusing Weiss. "The White Fang only fought in self-defense when Ghira ran it. When he stepped down to focus more on his family, only then did it start taking a turn. What you went through? Truth be told the Belladonnas had nothing to do with it." Pyrrha then frowned in thought. "Well I take that back, Blake probably robbed you of some dust but I don't think she killed anyone in cold blood before…I mean…she's way too weak to do anything like that right?"
…
…
…
"What's the matter Weiss?" Pyrrha questioned curiously as Weiss strode forward, her head bowed.
"Let's go."
"Go? Go where?"
"To find that idiot." Weiss muttered, making Pyrrha blink owlishly.
"Blake? Uh…okay? Had a change of heart then? Should we get the others?"
"No!" Weiss snapped, her cheeks flushing as Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "My pride was shattered once today already. The last thing I need is to go back to them, after that display, and help them." Weiss said, making Pyrrha chuckle.
"Well aren't you precious?"
"Don't say another word." Pyrrha just laughed in response before following after her. Still, despite herself, she couldn't help but give her new protégé some help.
"Well, if we hurry, we can catch the next airship before it leaves. That way, you won't be stuck on the same ship as Yang and Ruby."
"Then let's hurry." Weiss said before they took off down the hall.
-Meanwhile: With Nora-
BGM: Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes (Glitch Mob Remix)
"Doc?" Nora began as thrusters erupted from the back of her armor, sending her rocketing across the floor of a warehouse and shoulder slamming a deer faunus into the wall with enough force to shatter their aura.
["Yes?"]
"This shit rules." Nora said appreciatively as she spun Magnhild around in her hand before turning around and slamming it up into the chin of a dog faunus to see them fly up and through the roof of the warehouse.
*RATATATATATATAT*
One of the White Fang members shouted in fury after pulling a large mini gun from one the crates before unloading it at the armored knight. Nora strolled towards him effortlessly as the bullets bounced off of her armor as she once more found herself succumbing to the intoxicating, in her opinion anyway, embrace of war.
*flash*
Nora began to pick up speed before the thruster reignited on her back, neon pink flames burning brightly as pink electricity covered her armor as she rocketed towards the mini gun. She didn't stop even when she was a mere feet away from her assailant for she paid them no mind, no, in truth, her eyes were on a much bigger target.
*KRANG*
*CRASH*
The sound of metal twisting and aura shattering was lost to her as she ran over the terrorist, her eyes on a large Atlas mech that had been approaching from behind the now downed faunus. With a battle cry, Nora slammed into the mech with enough force to lift it from the ground. Together, Nora and her enemy ran through and over many of the extremists before Nora pinned it into the outside wall of an abandoned building, causing the entirety of it to collapse on top of them.
*flash*
Pulling herself from the debris, Nora turned her attention back to the dozen or so faunus that remained at the current site. Hearing the roar of a chainsaw, Nora looked up to find a large faunus descending upon her with what could best be described as a chainsaw greatsword. Raising her forearm, she blocked the blade while tightening her grip on Magnhild, her eyes narrowed as pink electricity coursed over the entirety of her armor.
*flash*
"Ha!" Nora shouted as a pulse of electricity ripped free from her body, a dome of pure pink energy that sent her new attacker flying back through the air while crushing two more assailants that had tried to flank her. Her hammer crackled with even more power as she blasted forward before leaping high into the air.
*flash*
Hands held tightly on her hammer's handle, Nora laughed as she descended upon the remaining faunus before slamming her hammer into the ground beneath her.
*KRACKABOOOOOM*
*flash*
Like a loud thunder-clap, the sound of her weapon alone deafened her enemies as a shockwave ripped up and out from the point of impact and engulfed them with her might. Aura fragments fell down around her, seemingly showering her in a multi-colored light that symbolized nothing but destruction and death. Looking around she found a few of her knights holding on to each other for support only inches from death's door as their desperate enemy managed to fight them to parity.
They fought hard.
Of that Nora had no doubt as she looked around at the carnage. If things kept up how they were, the Empire would receive a heavy loss attempting to reclaim Menagerie. She would lose many men.
Her men.
"Captain, you better have a goddamn plan." Nora growled out.
["Of course, I do. They'll push us back exhausting both ourselves and themselves in the process. At the point of parity, we'll overwhelm them with a surge of power.]
"Like we did in Vytal?" Nora questioned in surprise.
["Like we did in Vytal."] Jaune agreed. ["Ren is taking out their leaders now. He and his men snuck in in the confusion. Glynda should be sealing off their exits now. They're trapped."] Jaune explain and Nora blinked as she realized that large boulders were collapsing behind the enemy faunus, their only exit now being through the Knights of Rose. ["Your majesty, what's your take?"] Jaune questioned, making Nora blink owlishly behind her helmet.
At that moment, hundreds of rose petals fell down upon the bloodied battlefield. Looking up, Nora found the Empress standing on top of a cliff.
"Your majesty? What are you doing here!?"
["They have some last resort weapons from Atlas that must be destroyed at all costs. I'm here to honor an old friend."] The Empress muttered before Nora felt the ground shake as something erupted from behind enemy lines. ["Now, Arc!"] The Empress ordered as Nora turned to find a sight that made her heart clench.
"Those monsters…" Nora muttered, rage fueling every fiber of her beings as a dozen of androids flew into the air, all wearing the face of Penny only where her eyes were bright green and full of love, theirs were a blazing red showing only a desire to cause pain.
"Lancaster: Anti-Army." The Empress ordered before a blinding white light erupted in the distance.
["Yes, your majesty!"] Jaune shouted before the knights and the Empress felt a surge power fill their very souls. Every member of the empire army found their aura's changing from their respective colors to white as their Knight Captain's power amplified them. When she landed, the Empress seemed to disappear and cross the battlefield in the blink of an eye. Time seemed to slow as she appeared next to Nora, mid-step, and tapped her on the shoulder.
"You're with me." The Empress said before disappearing.
"Got it." Nora said a dark grin splitting her face before she blasted forward like a lightning bolt. In an instant she and the Empress tore through the androids as the knights fought with a renewed vigor, sending their enemies into hysteria when they realized they were trapped.
*flash*
BGM: END
"Like hell I'll let them create those abominations again." Nora muttered to herself, sitting on a pile of debris as she looked around at the devastated stronghold.
["What was that Ms. Valkyrie?"]
"I said, send me the next location. I'm cleaning up these streets tonight." Nora said as she stood up, alarming Dr. Polendina.
{"I highly recommend returning for a checkup! Neither the suit or your very body are meant for prolonged usage at this stage!"]
"I said this was a stress-test, didn't I? Besides my suit is different than the others." Nora began, her helmet collapsing so she could wipe the blood that began to slip out from her nose. "It's not designed to increase my power, just make what I have more controllable."
["Even so! Its tied to your nervous system, your aura! Your…Your very soul! Too much stress and you will break!"]
"Better me than your daughter." Nora interrupted bluntly, silencing the man. "Next location, knight." Nora ordered one last time, lifting up he hammer as she began to leave the stronghold. The scientist turned knight said nothing else, but when Nora's helmet reformed, she noticed she could see the next location. "Thank you."
-Meanwhile: Miles away from Vale's Capital-
"Is my presence really required for this?" A voice said boredly making Adam Taurus frown as he stood in the airship that was en route to Vale.
"Because, Hazel, apparently your human thief can't be trusted to secure dust to our forces." Adam growled out making the large man sigh.
"Our human thief that is backed by your men. Who does that say more about when they can't best a few nosy children?" Hazel retorted with an eyeroll, making the Faunus place a hand on his blade. However, before he could draw it a voice interrupted them.
["Now, now, Hazel play nice. Every species has its defects, I suppose."] Cinder said with a small smirk. ["We are, however, lacking resources for our big show because of them so please play nice and help poor Roman retrieve the dust. We wouldn't want to disappoint…her…now would we?" Cinder questioned, making them tense ever so slightly.
"Of course not."
["Good, then make sure everything goes well Hazel and be glad that you aren't forced to tag along with Tyrion again, things always get a bit messy when he's involved."] Cinder said, making Hazel scowl ever so slightly.
"No one has to die."
"And they won't so long as they mind their own business…but you know how humans are, they have a tendency to go after what doesn't belong to them." Adam said darkly, making Hazel sigh.
"Let's just get this over with." Hazel muttered as Adam looked back out of the airship's window.
"Vale, huh? I wonder if I'll run into an old friend here?" Adam wondered, a dark smirk crossing his face.
-With Blake-
Blake was not happy.
All she wanted to do was leave and start over, but like always whenever she tried to leave one problem behind another just filled its place.
It was almost like running away her problems wasn't the answer or something.
Currently, Blake found herself in a café trying to find a way to escape her new pursuer, a blond monkey faunus that she made the unfortunate mistake of crying in front of. They had passed each other on the street, him making his way to the airships while she left them only for him to do an about-face and apparently make it his life mission to find out what was wrong with "such a cute faunus chic".
Blake's hand tightened around the handle of her cup as the image Ren flashed through her mind.
The poor idiot didn't even know that even if she felt like telling him what was wrong, he'd probably end up dead. For a moment, as he asked her what was wrong for the who-knows-how-many-times, she honestly– for a cruel moment– thought of just telling him just so it could happen but somehow kept her patience in check.
It was, however, proving to be a losing battle.
"Will you leave me alone!?" Blake finally snapped, getting a few other café patrons attention only for Sun to raise an eyebrow.
"Will you tell me what got you down?"
"No!"
"Then I'll ask again–" However, before he could, Blake just covered his mouth with her hand and glowered at him.
"Why won't you just drop it?"
"Because it's not good to ignore these things?" Sun began before sighing. "Look, I can't just a let a cute girl like you walk around with something eating at you. I'm not trying to be some knight in shining armor either it's just…how do I put this…you don't look like you're the…happiest person generally speaking, not just because I saw you crying. So, leaving you alone just seems like a bad idea." Sun explained awkwardly, making Blake pause, her jaw dropping slightly.
Oh, dear God he had her on suicide watch…
She might have, despite herself, even laughed at this if the entire situation wasn't so frustrating and mortifying. What was worse was that Sun seemed like the good-natured idiot type which pretty much meant that he wasn't going to let this go anytime soon.
He annoyed the hell out of her, but she could tell he was a hopelessly nice, if obviously misguided, person. Blake paused for a moment as Yang and Ruby flashed through her mind, making her clench her fists tightly. He was just one more person she'd end up disappointing and like the others he was better off without her. Blake decided then that she would tell him her story and her story alone, that should be enough to scare the idiot away without having to put his life in actual danger by bringing up any of Ren's secrets.
-Later-
She was wrong.
Oh, she was so horribly wrong.
She thought she explained things clearly but now he had come to the conclusion that she was on the run from terrorists which made him even less inclined to leave her side.
"For the last time, I'm not on the run from terrorists!" Blake hissed out as they walked down a fairly abandoned street. "And the White Fang are not terrorists!"
"I get you used to be a member and all, drinking their punch if you catch my drift…" Sun trailed off making her groan as apparently, he figured they were a cult as well. "But bias has it limits, they're clearly a terrorist group!"
"They aren't!"
"Oh, so they don't kill and steal for their beliefs?" Sun asked dryly, making her pause as an image of Adam flashed through her mind, chilling her to her very core.
"They're just…misguided…"
"Misguided enough to work with a guy like Torchwick, they're terrorists, Blake!" Sun said incredulously. "I bet if you were to somehow go to Roman's next heist, you'll find them all there!" Sun said making Blake grit her teeth, Ren had told her the same thing but even then, she refused to belief the White Fang had truly fallen that far.
"Well we can't find out, unfortunately, he's already robbed nearly every store and warehouse in Vale so I doubt he's planning anymore heists now." Blake said, making Sun frown thoughtfully.
"True, the only place left would be the docks." Sun pointed out making Blake pause.
"The docks? Why?"
"Heard some sailors on the ship I was stowed away on mentioning a dust shipment coming in tonight." Sun said, making Blake blink owlishly. "If he were to steal again, it'd be there-oh-no I don't like that look in your eyes." Sun said as Blake began to walk in a different direction with a determined expression on her face. "We are not going to have a stakeout on the docks to look for terrorists!" Sun said making Blake scoff.
"We don't have to do a thing, maybe now you'll leave me alone." Blake said, making Sun curse to himself.
"Damn it, wait up!" Sun called out as he ran to catch up.
-With Nora-
BGM: Prison Hall- Sonic Forces OST
["Please Ms. Valkyrie you have to stop! Your vitals are through the roof! Your body can't possibly take much more!"]
"Ha! You said that five strongholds ago!" Nora said as she raced through the expressways of Vale, nothing more than a pink flash of lightning as she bolted expertly through traffic, intent on catching a large truck that was crushing its way through cars in the distance. Nora just grinned, her heart monitor having long surpassed what was humanly acceptable. "Besides we're almost done! Just one more stop after this!"
["You said that last time!"]
"Yeah, but this time I mean it and not just saying it to get you off my ass!" Nora said as if that made all thing right in the world before to large Atlas mechs burst up from the back of the truck, destroying the cargo container before they landed on the street, sending cars crashing to the sides. One car that was filled with a young family almost fell over the edge but Nora managed to flash through the mechs and make it to them in the nick of time. Gripping the back of the car, her gauntlets tearing through the metal, she pulled them back easily "Get outta here!" Nora ordered as she turned back to face the mechs. The family didn't need to be told twice as the mechs raced towards Nora, their arms raised high as massive blades ripped from them.
*KRANNNGGGG!*
Nora's arms trembled as she raised her hammer with both hands and blocked the attacks, the ground cracking beneath her feet.
*flash*
"Come on, is this your limit? Did you not say you would be my anger? My wrath? I must be a very peaceful person." The Empress mused as she overlooked Nora's training, watching the armor-less woman stop the attacks cold with her hammer. Nora's face was flushed as she gripped her teeth.
"I'm…not done yet!" Nora boomed, her eyes now filled completely with a pink lightning.
"There we go." The Empress said with a proud smile.
*flash*
With a roar, Nora pushed them both back as sparks erupted from her armor, however, the blue color of them and the way the metal of her suit began to screech in protest showed that it wasn't because of her semblance. The prototype was not only at its limits but going above and beyond in a vain attempt to keep up with its wielder.
Taking advantage of their loss of balance, Nora threw her hammer at one, sending it crashing off of the express way before round-house kicking the other mech over the opposite edge and jumping down after it.
*THOOOOOOM!*
Landing in a crouch, Nora raised her hand behind her toward her hammer which had caved in the Mech's chest place, crushing its pilot. The Hammer erupted in a flash of pink electricity for a moment before floating up on its own accord and flying towards Nora, attracted by the opposite charge she was producing. Catching the hammer, Nora raised it high just as the mech tried to climb up onto its feet.
*KRACKABOOOOM*
The sound of a thunder-clap echoed loudly, as Nora sent the mech crashing right back down mercilessly into the ground.
BGM: END
BGM: Hurt- Johnny Cash
Helmet collapsing, Nora grimaced as she held her side before lurching over as blood shot out from her mouth. Her body trembled as her eyes were now blood shot. She panted tiredly as blood poured from her nose. The plating of her armor was now warped and the entire suit overall looked barely functional, a mere twisted shell of what it was earlier that day.
["Please, return to base…I can't bear to watch a young girl like you do this to yourself. You're barely more than a child…"]
"I haven't been a child in a long time, doc." Nora said with a chuckle as her days as a homeless orphan flashed through her mind ever so briefly.
["Don't do that, don't laugh to hide the pain. It's okay to show weakness, to take a break, to rest."]
"I can't rest. Not yet." Nora said tiredly as she forced herself to move forward while holding her side, dragging her hammer behind her as if she barely had the power to lift it any more.
*Flashback: One Day Before the Fall of Rose*
"So, what did you want me to see? Besides a naked Jaune?" Nora teased as she and the Empress stood on her balcony. She was surprised that the Empress would suddenly summon her, especially as she tried so hard to hide any evidence of her's and Jaune's relationship.
Poorly, but Nora respected the attempt.
"I want you to see this. The final sunset of my reign." The Empress said quietly making Nora pause, her blood running cold as she looked over at the Empress in horror.
"Ruby, stop, don't start talking like this–" Nora stopped when the Empress raised a hand for her to be quiet. The Empress stared down at Nora, her eyes shadowed by her bangs, but the twin trails of tears were clearly visible.
"I entrusted you all with different secrets over the years, allow me to pass on this last one. Out of all the knights, I pushed you the hardest, broke you down and rebuilt you. Over and over and over…" The empress began, her voice wavering with each word as she gently grasped the side of Nora's face gently. "You probably believed it was because I blamed you for my sister's death."
"Ruby–"
"Understand, that not once did I ever blame you for that. That sin is not yours to be burdened with. I was harder on you because I saw you as my sister in all but blood." The Empress said quietly. "This will be my final order to you as Empress. Look after them, protect what we built together. Jaune will never take the throne when I'm gone so I will leave it you and Ren. Continue our legacy."
"Stop talking like this, this isn't funny! You aren't going to die–" Nora stopped when Empress placed a hand over Nora's mouth, her eyes glowing through the shadows of her bangs as Nora's irises turned silver.
"Silence." The Empress ordered firmly. "Understand that some things must happen. Of all the knights you have always been the most rebellious, so you will obey this one command. I have an heir picked, however, should she not be ready or should something happen to her you will lead them. All will make sense in time." The Empress began as she placed her forehead on Nora's and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, but it seems I must be cruel until the bitter end. Never speak of what we talked about here again." The Empress said as Nora's eyes returned to normal.
Immediately, Nora pushed the woman away from her. Angry tears filling her eyes as she opened her to scream at the Empress only to pale when no sound would come out. Trembling she turned to move towards Jaune, to wake him up, to try to convey what was happening but her body wouldn't budge.
She had lost control.
The Empress had broken her only promise, to never steal that one simple thing from her knights.
"I hate you." Nora whispered, physically unable to scream unless she wakes up Jaune. The feeling of betrayal hurting more than any wound.
"You should." The Empress said with a tearful smile. "Especially after I turned you into a–"
"Don't. Say it." Nora interrupted vehemently as the Empress just softened her expression before deciding to heed Nora's request. It was then the Empress did something that no one would have ever expected her to do.
She bowed.
"Thank you for your service." The Empress said quietly as Nora's body shook with silent sobs.
*Flashback: End*
Three words.
Those three words that came from her mouth hurt more than anything Nora endured to that point. Knowing that in the Empress' final hours, she even dared to say that no matter how justified she felt would torture Nora for the rest of her life. The pain she felt on a daily basis made her current state feel like a walk in the park.
The fact that she could only watch as her companions grieved and not say a thing only made things worse. Every moment, this knowledge that the Empress truly knew her death was coming, that this was all part of some plan she had yet to understand…ate away at Nora's very soul. She wanted to cry and never stop but she couldn't.
So, she smiled.
She'd smile through the pain, she'd be stronger than it, she'd follow the Empress' last wish. Whether she wanted to or not didn't matter anymore. Once the Empress breathed her final breath it had become a matter of principle.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Though she hoped Yang would prove to be a far better sister and succeed where she failed.
"I still have one more stop. I can't rest. Not yet." Nora said, speaking through ragged breaths as she stumbled through the shadows of the city.
BGM: END
-Later: Vale: Docks-
"Holy crap, they actually showed up." Sun whispered in morbid fascination as he and Blake sat on top of a cargo container, shadowed by the darkness of night as they watched as none other than Roman Torchwick directed various White Fang members towards the dust shipments. "Okay, even your biases can't ignore hard evidence like that!" Sun said as Blake trembled with barely repressed anger as she gazed over at the thief. "Come on, we got our scrolls, lets call the cops and call it a day." Sun said as he pulled out his scroll before frowning when he saw Blake bow her head. "Blake?" Sun asked before sighing and reaching out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I can't imagine how you must feel, but it is what it is. We gotta call the cops–" Sun stopped when his hand suddenly went through her shoulder as her image disappeared.
A clone.
"Damn it!" Sun exclaimed as he saw Blake land below him and rush towards him. Cursing, Sun pocketed his scroll as he went to go after her only to stop when he felt his body freeze. Blinking, he looked down to find a purple energy covering him.
"Don't be rash, boy." A cold voice ordered making him blink before he glanced back to find Glynda standing behind him with Qrow. "When someone makes a rash decision that doesn't mean you have to follow them. What in the world is Lionheart teaching you all in Haven?"
"Y-you're…"
"Glynda Goodwitch, Beacon's assistant headmistress." Glynda answered boredly as she sat him down. "Go alert the authorities, we will look over my wayward student. This is a serious matter!" Glynda ordered, making Sun gulp as he saw the cold expression on her face.
"Please keep her safe." Sun all but begged before leaving the professional Huntsmen to deal with the situation. As much as he wanted to stay and help, he knew better than to disobey professionals in life or death situations. He only hoped that he could get aid fast enough.
"Huh, you know I've done a lot of things to get with girls in my day, but taking on terrorists–"
"–Isn't even top five." Glynda interrupted boredly as she opened up her scroll while Qrow placed a hand on his blade.
"Uh, don't you think we should go help?" Qrow asked curiously.
"We could but think about it. I know you said it was the time for action, but what would be more impactful of a story? World-renowned Huntsmen stopping a slightly above average criminal or Beacon's students defending Vale from violent terrorists? Your call, but I think one would clearly be a better start for getting Ruby's name known than the other."
"Ruby's not even here." Qrow pointed out.
"She will be." Glynda said as if it were fact. "That girl is her teammate, and she is about to be in danger. Ms. Rose may not be the first to show up, but she will show up. That's just the kind of person she is."
"Huh, must have gotten from her mother because I know Tai and I haven't taught her that." Qrow said before frowning. "Why did you send monkey boy off though? He's a student, right?'
"Yes, but one of Lionheart's. Believe me, the last thing we need is to boost his reputation in any way."
"Point. Fine, I'll stay back a bit, but I'm not all for watching kids get killed. The second things get out of hand, I'm stepping in."
"Fair enough." Glynda said she watched Blake confront Roman. "Hm, oh, seems I may have miscalculated." Glynda muttered making Qrow give her a deadpanned expression.
"Excuse me?"
-With Blake-
"You!" Blake shouted as Roman parried her blade with his cane.
"Seriously? Even more of you brats showing up to mess with my pay day?" Roman complained before he found himself locked in combat with Blake, expertly parrying her blows with his cane. His eyes widened when he raised it to fire a shot point-blank into her face only for the blast to fire through her as her image faded away. He glanced back just in time to see her bringing her blade down upon him but before it could land, Blake was suddenly knocked away.
"Now it makes sense how the human was bested so easily, if anyone could interfere with our operations it would be her." An all too familiar voice said making Blakes blood run cold. Hands trembling, she glanced back just in time to see Adam approaching her as Hazel stepped out of the shadows behind him. "Blake my love…it's been far too long." Adam drawled, placing a hand on the hilt of his blade.
"Don't give her too much credit, this is the first time I've ever seen this particular brat. She's a bit too much of a pushover too to be part of their crew." Roman said as he twirled his cane before placing it down and leaning on it. "Tell me kitty cat, why are you here? Don't you know curiosity is bad for your kind?" Roman mocked only for Adam to gesture for him to be silent.
"Just knock her out so we can continue on." Hazel said tiredly.
"Oh no, that would be too pleasant for what she's done to me. Both of you get back to the operation, this is none of your business. This is between me and her." Adam said coldly, making Roman quirk an eyebrow.
"My money, my business, pal. What is she? Some kind of ex? Kind of young for you don't you think?" Roman questioned, making Adam growl as Hazel frowned slightly, glancing between his tightened grip on the blade and the now frightened form of Blake.
"I told you. No one has to die."
"And I told you they won't if they minded their own business? But guess what didn't happen?" Adam said before chuckling darkly. "Normally, I'd take my time with you, but the revolution takes precedence."
"Adam." Hazel growled out in warning but it was too late, before he even finished the word, Adam was already sheathing his blade. Hazel's eyes narrowed in disgusts briefly as he saw Blake's head fall from her shoulders only for her image to suddenly vanish. Glancing behind them they found the faunus already making her escape only to be blocked by six White Fang members who each had their weapons trained on her.
Oddly enough, Roman had an odd sense of déjà vu a looked up in the sky at that moment.
"You know those brats I was talking about?" Roman questioned making Adam frown.
"What of them?"
"That's one of them." Roman said lazily, pointing up at the armored form of Nora descending upon the docks. Even though she was covered in a strange new busted up armor, he recognized that hammer anywhere. "She must have been the one raiding us all day."
*THOOOOOOM!*
The ground shook from the force of her landing before she rose up, her back to Blake whom looked at her confusion. Gripping the hammer with both hands, she glanced back at Blake and gave a simple order.
"Duck."
With lightning fast reflexes, Blake did what she was told as Nora suddenly spun around and slammed her hammer into the first faunus before the force of her swing lifted him up and slammed him into the other five and sent them crashing through the docks, crashing through cargo containers as they flew.
-With Glynda-
"She was a few seconds too slow, do reprimand her for that would you? Such behavior is not fitting for a Valkyrie." Glynda said as she lowered her riding crop as Qrow just shook his head. The moment Nora had entered the docks, Glynda had sent her flying up high into the air to "make up for lost time."
"That was a damn good swing, but can she take them? Those aren't lightweights."
"In her current state? Not at all, she's drained completely, definitely on the verge of death. That said, she can at least hold them at parity until the others arrive." Glynda said as if it were a normal occurrence which made Qrow wonder just what kind of psychopathic group did he stumble into? What was worse is that his niece created and led these psychopaths.
…
…
…
"Mandatory therapy."
"Excuse me?" Glynda questioned in confusion.
"Ruby, get her therapy when tonight is all said and done, that's an order. Something definitely went wrong in the last fifteen years." Qrow muttered. The shaky at best family, Qrow's own lack of presence, Tai's good intentioned but sketchy parenting, the early death of her mother, and the fact she was almost perpetually happy but overly fascinated with weapons and gothic clothing. In fact, death and danger didn't faze Ruby as much as it probably should have.
Not to mention it took a special kind of person to chose a scythe of all things as a weapon, he knew this intimately. That said, he was raised by bandits to kill huntsmen so he had an excuse.
Oh yeah.
There had definitely been warnings signs that something was…off…about his little cookie monster.
He supposed he didn't pay it any attention because Yang turned out fi-
"Yang too." Qrow added after a moment of thought, with his newfound clarity he realized that Yang might as well had been the poster child for "daddy issues" though it probably pertained more towards the maternal side. Glynda just blinked owlishly before shrugging. A few appointments with Professor Peach didn't seem too bad, the woman owed her a favor after the Christmas party five years ago regardless.
-With Nora-
"N-Nora?" Blake questioned, having recognized the hammer like Roman.
"Run or stay, the choice is yours. Just don't get in my way." Nora warned, her usual peppiness gone. The hyper woman was gone, and in her place stood a soldier ready for battle. Her armor charging up, Nora rocketed forwards towards her enemies, her hammer held tight. Hazel's eyes widened before he held his arms in front of his face to block a powerful swing from Nora.
*KRACKABOOOOM*
Hazel went flying back through the docks as Nora turned her attention to Adam. Immediately, the two found themselves locked in combat as Nora expertly spun and maneuvered her hammer to parry his flurry of high speed attacks. As they fought, parts of her armor fell off whenever Adam's crimson blade managed to slip passed her guard and tag her.
"Gnh!" Adam grunted in pain when Nora suddenly sucker punched him and sent him stumbling back. Seeing her opening, Nora rushed forward to land a crushing blow to the faunus only for blood to shoot from her mouth at the last moment, making her stumble and miss her mark. Seeing his chance, Adam stepped forward and stabbed his blade forward.
*SCHLICK*
"So, you managed to move." Adam muttered, his blade stabbing through her broken armor and into her side. "It doesn't matter-AHHHHHH!" Adam was caught off as electricity covered Nora's body and electrocuted him, his blade acting as a conductor. As he screamed, Nora slammed her hammer into him with enough force to send him flying away, though his grip never left his weapon which caused it to be ripped from her body viciously.
"Damn it." Nora grunt, falling to a knee as she held her new wound. Her aura wasted no time in attempting to mend the damage.
"Well, looks like it's the end of the road kid, to think I called for back-up for nothing." Roman said as he aimed his cane at her head, right at one of the helmet's broken lenses where he could see a bright green eye glaring at him mercilessly. However, before he could pull the trigger he was kicked away from Blake.
"We have to leave." Blake said as Nora struggled to stand on her feet.
"Thanks for the assist, but I can't. I still have a job to do." Nora muttered, gripping her hammer tighter as she saw Hazel and Adam pull themselves free.
"You can barely stand!"
"But I am standing, how much effort it takes don't matter. If I can stand, I can fight." Nora said, making Blake eyes widen before a storm of electricity ripped free. Blake's hands trembled as she felt the power flowing from the woman on death's door.
*Rumble*
Blake looked up in a silent awe as she saw the weather itself begin to change.
*CRASH!*
*KRACABOOOOM!*
The waves in the water steadily became more violent, even rising high enough splash on the docks as the wind speed increased dramatically. In the distance pink lightning bolts struck down onto the water's surface as Nora's armor began to spark more sporadically, the metal itself twisting and warping as if something inside the suit were trying to burst free.
"Are you a maiden?" Hazel asked suddenly as he ripped off his top and grabbed some dust crystals from a pouch that was strapped to his side.
-With Glynda & Qrow-
"Ozpin never did think about the longer lasting effects of some of his decisions." Glynda murmured as Qrow looked on in surprised at the sheer display of power he was seeing. Even the previous Fall maiden hadn't managed to be able to warp the climate this drastically.
"What do you mean?"
"He gave the last bit of his magic to your team did he not?" Glynda began curiously. "Did you think that something like magic wouldn't warp your bodies more than it already had? That when you had children, the power wouldn't be passed on?" Glynda questioned making Qrow blink before grimacing.
"Don't tell me…the girls…"
"Have magic in them? Yes." Glynda said matter-of-faculty. "And like aura or a muscle, once identified it can be trained and strengthened exponentially. The Empress found her own magic eventually, trained it until she could no more…and once she did…"
*Flash*
The knights stood, their eyes covered by shadows as Nora knelt before the Empress whom sat lazily on her throne, her palm outstretched towards the Battle Master as the Empress' eyes shone brightly.
*Flash*
"She gave it all away, she had more than enough power without it." Glynda said, making Qrow pale as he began to finally get an idea of just how powerful Ruby had become. She truly had become the anti-Salem. "Due to the nature of her Semblance, Nora was the only one who's body was not only capable of absorbing the power but strong enough to not break from it."
"She made her own maiden, one stronger than the others." Qrow whispered, remembering the "fairy tale" Glynda had told him. Both he and Glynda trembled ever-so-slightly as they felt the static in the air, the power surrounding them nearly drowning them.
"Yes, though I probably worded that part of the tale wrong." Glynda said, confusing him greatly. "Nora is not a maiden…"
-With Nora-
BGM: Ultra Instinct Remix | [Clash of the Gods] | Hip Hop/Trap | (Musicality Remix)
"I'm a god." Nora declared with a tone that chilled Blake to her core. Unclenching her fists, Nora raised her open palms in front of her taking on a stance that was a complete one-eighty from her usual more aggressive one. Instead, now she seemed almost passive.
Tranquil even.
"Ragnarok." Nora said before her armor literally exploded off of her body leaving her in her black shorts and tank top as she held her hammer tightly. Blake shuddered as numerous White Fang members tried to run in terror only to get struck down by pink lightning bolts that shattered their auras and fried them where they stood.
There was no joy on Nora's face.
No mercy.
Just a cold sense of duty.
An electric pink replaced the green in her eyes as sparks dance out of them, her very body now glowing as her power freed itself. Speaking of her body, for the first time, Blake could see just how muscular the shorter woman was. She wasn't like the large human before them but rather her muscles looked condensed. Though visibly smaller than Hazels, Blake couldn't shake the feeling that her blows hurt a lot more.
"Is that right?" Hazel muttered before stabbing himself with the crystals, an act that took everyone but Nora by surprise as his power drastically amplified while his body seemed to double in size. Blake almost threw up from the sight.
Did that man feel no pain!?
"I believe in no gods. So, what are you to me then?" Hazel questioned as he stalked forward. "What is a so-called god to a nonbeliever?"
"Still a god." Nora answered bluntly now only inches from him, her fist resting on his chest while a torrent of electricity ripped free from his back.
*KRACKABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Only then did sound seem to catch up to Nora's actions, no one was even able to see her move as her power completely engulfed the giant man whom somehow managed to hold his ground and not move.
"I almost felt that." Hazel muttered and only then did it sink in to Blake that the man truly felt no pain. It didn't seem as though he could feel fear either as even though Nora and her were on the same side, she was now completely terrified of the smaller huntress.
"I don't need you to feel a goddamn thing." Nora muttered, turning away from Hazel as she walked away from Hazel, hoisting her hammer up to her shoulder. "I just need you to break." Nora said coldly, and as she walked Blake noticed an all too familiar pink lotus emblem on Nora's lower back.
*flash*
"Here we are." Ren said as he brought her towards his favorite meditation spot for the first time since their temporal leap.
"Why are we here?" Nora asked curiously.
"So that I can teach you." Ren said matter-of-factly making her giggle.
"And just what are you going to teach me?" Nora teased as Ren stood behind her.
"That it's alright to not be alright." Ren said making her pause instantly. "Your smile fools everyone, but not me and you know it. You're burdened by secrets, secrets that you cannot share."
"H-how–"
"Because I know you and honestly, you think I of all people don't have secrets?" Ren asked skeptically. "I will teach you meditation, how to cope with your burden. So that you can find one-ness with yourself. For once you find the path of enlightenment you will never feel defeat." Ren said before gesturing Nora to mimic the flow of his movements, ignoring tears that fell from her eyes as she eventually did so.
*Flash*
"The fight's not over." Hazel began as he stepped forward only for a pink-lightning bolt to slammed into his neck.
*CRACK!*
Once it did, an after-image of Nora slamming a palm strike into his neck could be seen before it vanished along with the lightning bolt. Hazel's legs buckled, his eyes widening as he felt his body tremble despite feeling not pain.
*CRACK!*
*CRACK!*
*CRACK!*
One by one multiple lightning bolts slammed into Hazel's body, each one accompanied by an image of Nora slamming palm strikes and other blows into various nerves clusters and pressure points around Hazel's body. The large man simply fell to his knees, as he looked over at Nora whom glanced back at him.
"You won't find what you seek down this path." Nora said knowingly before turning away from him. Hazel's body went limp as, even with his aura still protecting him, Nora's debilitating blows simply removed its ability to function properly. Hazel could do nothing but watch Nora walk away as his massive body fell down.
*THOOOM!*
With Hazel incapacitated, Nora focused her attention on a trembling Roman and a scowling Adam.
"Uh...Hey kid…I know we got off on the wrong foot–"
*CRASH!*
Roman stopped talked as Nora's hammer smashed through his image like glass, making her glower as she felt the static in the air shift. Glancing back, she saw Roman being held by Neo behind her.
Neo.
Neo.
Neo.
"You." Nora said darkly, the image of the fallen Empress flashing through her mind as Neo shuddered at the feeling of pure hatred being directed towards her. Neo's eyes widened again as her and Roman's images once more shattered when Nora tore through them.
*CRASH!*
*CRASH!*
*CRASH!*
The mute thief was now completely terrified as no matter where she tried to run away with Roman, the enraged huntress managed to find them somehow and seemed particularly intent on seeing her dead for reasons she didn't know.
"Enough." Nora said menacingly, and Neo decided then that she didn't like that tone. Nora threw her hammer high into the air while holding on to its handle tightly, sending both her and it into the air like a reverse lightning bolt.
-Glynda & Qrow-
"God damn it, no one authorized a god blast." Glynda cursed, filling Qrow with dread.
"I take it that's not good?"
"It'll wipe these docks off of the map." Glynda said bluntly, making Qrow curse. "Still, Nora's severely weakened and she can only hold that form for two minutes max on a good day with her current body. The attack should be weakened enough to not cause too much damage."
-With Nora-
BGM: END
Nora's body returned to normal, all her power flowing to her hammer as her wounds reopened. Gritting her teeth, Nora held her hammer tightly as she fell down towards Neo and Roman without mercy.
"Die!" Nora boomed before slamming her hammer down upon them only for their images to shatter once more. However, instead of hitting an empty spot, in their place stood Adam whom blocked the blow with his blade. Nora's eyes widened in horror as the ground beneath them shattered as her power was absorbed by the faunus.
"This power…you might actually be a god." Adam admitted with a sinister smirk as the red on his body began to glow brightly as a crimson lightning engulfed his body. Effortlessly knocking the drained Nora to the side, he placed a hand on the hilt of his blade. "Too easy." Adam scoffed before running past Nora and towards his true target, the terrified and frozen form of Blake. Time seemed to slow as the world itself seemed to turn red and black as Adam gripped his blade tighter, a pulse of pure power ripping free from his body. Blake attempted to make a clone but even then, she was too slow to escape the radius of the attack.
"No!" Blake heard before a pink light flashed before eyes, her heart stopped when she realized Nora had used her incredible speed to throw her very body over Blake's to block the oncoming attack.
"I'll just kill you both!" Adam growled out before drawing his blade.
*SHING!*
Everything.
Everything in front of the man simply began to disintegrate from the force of his deal attack. Even many of his own men found themselves torn asunder by the might of their leader who was blinded by his own rage.
A few of the airships the were attempting to fly away with the dust also found themselves destroyed along with the dust as everything in front of Adam simply ceased to exist. Even Adam, whom had put all of the stolen power into the attack found himself awed by the destruction he caused, never having been able to do something of this magnitude before. In the distance both Glynda and Qrow found themselves shocked as half of the docks simply vanished into nothingness.
For a moment Nora's aura managed to hold up, protecting both her and Blake but try as she might, she knew she was spent as she felt her aura cracking as Adam's power rushed over them. Still, Nora held on as tightly as she could.
She was a Valkyrie.
She either left the battlefield last or not at all.
And in the end, she accomplished her mission, and drastically reduced their enemy's resources for their eventual invasion on Vale.
She did her job.
Now it was time for the other to do theirs'.
Giving Blake one of her patented smiles, Nora gazed down at the horrified huntress.
"Don't worry, Blake, you'll be fine. Everything will work out in the end." Nora said, making Blake's eyes water as she saw Nora's aura fading away. She tried to knock the woman of, roll her over or something to stop her inevitable death. However, it seemed Nora intended on keeping her grip strong until the very end.
"No!" Blake screamed, Nora's solemn smile being the last thing she saw before being blinded by a white light.
*KRANNNNNNNNNNNNGGGG!*
…
…
…
When the light died down, Blake opened her eyes to find Nora's body slumped over hers. Blake blinked as her body felt stronger than it ever had before. Sitting up, cradling Nora's still intact body in her arms, she looked up in confusion towards Adam. Despite his mask, he seemed just as mystified as she was that she and Nora were still one piece. Glancing back, she noticed that she was now sitting on the edge of the docks, the rest of if having been disintegrated.
Hazel trembled a bit at the sight, not of the two huntresses surviving, but all of the deaths Adam had brought upon his own men.
They swore their loyalty to him.
And he erased them without a second thought.
"D-damn…don't tell me I drug you to hell with me." Nora muttered looking up tiredly at Blake. Blake looked down at Nora, mystified as she saw that both of their bodies were now covered in a white almost flame-like aura. "Oh shit…we're alive?" Nora asked making Blake nod mutely. "That idiot, always with the dramatic entrances." Nora muttered fondly, confusing Blake greatly.
BGM: Battle on the Deck- Maple Story OST
"Tch." Adam clenched his fists as he looked up before leaping back just in time to avoid a powerful blow from Crocea Mors as Jaune landed between him and the huntresses.
"Tired already, Valkyrie? You've lost your edge." Jaune teased, holding his hand out towards her.
"Like you're one to talk." Nora said with a tired laugh as he pulled her up to her feet, Jaune's aura slowing the immediate bleeding from her most severe wounds. "I swear, you have the worst timing ever."
"But did you die?" Jaune asked as he deployed his shield while Nora's hammer flew over to her.
"You're still going to fight!?" Blake asked incredulously.
"Of course, I'm standing, aren't I?" Nora questioned as if her near death hadn't fazed her in the slightest. "Besides, the cavalry is here." Nora said as broken airship parts could be seen floating in the air before slamming down upon Adam who was forced to cut through them. Glancing to the side he found Pyrrha and Weiss entering the battlefield.
"What do you know? You made it." Jaune said, making Pyrrha smirk.
"Like I'd miss this. You know I've been itching for a fight." Pyrrha said as Weiss drew her weapon.
"I too have been a bit bored lately." Ren said, stepping from the shadows, startling Blake as he seemed to have come out of nowhere. "Where are the others?"
"We split up in the city but they should be right…"
"Blake!" Ruby called out in the distance where they could see he rand Yang entering the docks.
"…there." Jaune said. Ruby grabbed Yang's arm before they both vanished in a swirl of rose petals before reappearing in front of them.
"Oh my god, are you alright!?" Ruby asked in alarm as Yang pulled Blake to her feet. Yang's fists tightened as she looked at the destruction that surrounded them. She and Ruby had been on the way when they saw half of the docks suddenly disappear. She didn't know what exactly caused it but she knew that whatever it was it was aimed at her friends.
And that just wouldn't do.
"Nora." Yang interrupted, her voice not conveying worry or relief like Ruby's was. No, her voice only contained barely restrained fury as she took in Nora's state and her possibly life-threatening wounds. The shorter huntress looked as though she were going to keel over any moment. "Who did this?" Yang asked as she placed a hand on Nora's shoulders as Ruby shuddered.
She knew that voice.
It was the voice Yang used when she was only going to ask a question once.
At times like this, the last thing anyone wanted to do was make Yang repeat herself.
However, when the relief of finding her lost teammate faded, Ruby too began to take quickly take in the situation. It was almost startling how Ruby's express quickly shifted as she reached the same conclusion as her sister.
Someone had just tried to kill their friends.
This wouldn't do at all.
Teams RWBY and JNPR had become like their family over the past few months, and one didn't harm their family without facing dire consequences. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Nora didn't even have to answer as Adam made himself known once more.
"More friends, Blake?" Adam asked making Blake shudder, something that didn't go unnoticed by Weiss whom narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Don't worry, I have some friends too." Roman said as the sound of an airship flying over them could be heard, inside of it were three masked individuals whom immediately jumped out when they heard the sound of twisting metal.
*SCREECCCCH*
*KABOOOOOOM!*
As one, the three masked newcomers landed before Roman. The metal ball of fire that was once their airship fell into the water as Pyrrha lowered her hands.
"Well, never thought Mistral's golden child could be so ruthless. That was quite expensive you know?" The masked woman said nonchalantly as a single flame escaped the right eye-hole of her mask. "Did you really call us to deal with children?" Cinder questioned dryly as Mercury and Emerald prepared for battle.
"One of those children literally just crushed an airship with their mind." Roman said dryly. "So yes, I do believe some assistance may have been necessary."
"Gnh…grrr… MOOOOOOOOOOVVVEEEEEEE!" Hazel roared in pure fury, demanding his body listen to him. Whether it was sheer will, or an unbearable strain that he himself couldn't feel, his body seemed to snap to attention as he broke free from the paralysis Nora had put him in.
"Hazel?" Cinder whispered, her eye widening ever-so slightly as she saw the state he was in. "Perhaps our assistance was necessary." Cinder said quietly, her hands igniting with flames.
BGM: END
-Glynda & Qrow-
"This is what we were waiting for." Glynda said as she began to record the scene. "This just might be a full-on war on the docks."
"That's them…" Qrow said with gritted teeth, their face was hidden again but he knew without a doubt he was staring at the people whom had ambushed the fall maiden. "Glynda, can they take them?"
"More than likely, their enemies don't know their true strength while the knights at the very least know exactly what to expect." Glynda explained, silently praising Qrow for not jumping in the moment he saw those who made him fail his last mission.
"Big picture, I have to look at it and play the long game, right?" Qrow asked, as if reading Glynda's mind. "Tonight, is about a message. What message? I still don't know but you'll fill me in."
"You're learning," Glynda said with a patronizing smile that made Qrow glower at her.
"I'm going to hit you."
"You'll try. Now let's see how they fare? Shall we?"
-With the Knights-
Ruby gripped her scythe tighter as she looked at Cinder. Those flames and the fact that she was with Roman quickly made her realize that it was the same woman that had attacked the dust shop that fateful night. She also knew that whoever that woman was, was enough of a threat to make Glynda go all out on sight. As far as Ruby was concerned the flaming woman was the biggest threat. It was then her silver eyes moved over the rest of their enemies while she thought about the current state of her allies.
"So, Jaune, what do we do?" Pyrrha asked, though the vicious smile growing on her face and the way her body shifted anxiously let Jaune know that Pyrrha wasn't expecting any answer but "Fight."
Instead of giving an order, however, Jaune glanced at Ruby and surprised them all by repeating Pyrrha's question to her. Though they were both team leaders, Jaune was both older and a higher-ranking student overall, when both teams were together like this they had all just assumed he would take point.
"Well, Ruby? What do we do?" Jaune asked again as tension rose. "You seem to have already come up with something." Seeing that he was truly expecting her to take charge, Ruby felt herself slip into a focused state not unlike the one she slipped into against Blake and immediately responded.
BGM: Throne- Bring Me the Horizon.
"Jaune, you take on the big guy. Pyrrha, deal with the fire lady. Nora, Ren, deal with Roman and his lackies." Ruby barked out, instantly pissing off Mercury and Emerald when they realized they were the lackies. "Weiss, watch over Blake, she's too shaken to help." Weiss even surprised herself when she immediately stepped in front of Blake, weapon drawn fend off potential attackers.
This was no time for personal feelings.
She was a huntress. It was time for her to act like it.
"Yang you're with me. Let's go!" Ruby shouted before both she and her sister blasted off towards Adam. Cinder immediately found herself having to burn melt away a piece of scrap metal when Pyrrha suddenly charged her down, laughing as she did so.
"Don't disappoint me!" Pyrrha ordered before she and Cinder found themselves locked in a cosmic rematch.
"This will be a piece of cake, you're barely standing, kid." Roman chuckled as he looked at the wounded form of Nora. "You'll die if you keep this up!" Roman said as Neo smirked.
"I can live with that." Nora said as she hoisted her hammer up onto her shoulder, blood spilling from her wounds as she and Ren stood back to back while he gazed down upon Mercury and Emerald. Meanwhile, Jaune and Hazel sized each other up as they walked towards each other as Jaune placed his blade in his shield before collapsing it. Slowly, they picked up speed as Jaune raised the sheathed blade by its handle and transformed it into a greatsword that he dragged on the ground, creating bright sparks as his aura began shining brightly.
*BOOOOOOM*
Hazel's fist met Jaune's blade, the ground shattering from the impact. For a moment the two just glared at each other before they simultaneous began attacking each other at blinding speed, creating dozens of shockwaves.
*FWOOOOOOSSSSHH!*
Pyrrha held back a stream of fire with her shield, narrowing her eyes at Cinder before doing a quick dodge roll to escape. Recovering quickly, Pyrrha threw the spear at Cinder whom flew to the side to avoid it. Raising a black tinted hand, Pyrrha began to make quick movement switch it causing her spear to chase Cinder down, maneuvering the weapon around any of Cinder's attempts to destroy it.
"Get back here!" Yang roared as she went to deliver a vicious right to Adam only for him to duck under it. Gripping his blade, he went to cleave her in two, only for a swirl of rose petals to slam into the blonde and send her out of harms way while Ruby leaned back just far enough for the blade to fly over her head. Yang quickly recovered with a flip and shot towards Adam once more as Ruby released a shot that sent her towards him as well.
"Damn humans!" Adam cursed as he found himself defending against the onslaught of the sisters from opposite directions. Whenever he would try to counter attack one of them, the other would jump in and put him back on the defensive. All he could do was bide his time as he blocked their attacks with his blade and felt his power grow.
"This…" Blake trailed off quietly as she watched the carnage.
"…is the group of idiots we call friends." Weiss interrupted making Blake look up at her. "There are only two types of huntsmen, I see that now. Idiots and cowards. I always called them idiots, but it's only recently that I realized I wouldn't want to have them any other way." Weiss said before frowning as she looked down at Blake in disgust. "You however, are trash. Not because you're a faunus, not because, you were with the White Fang, but because you will sit there and willingly let your loved ones fight for you because you are too scared to do anything. What's worse is I'm being forced to watch over you, but orders are orders."
BGM: END
"What could I do? Huh? Answer me! Am I coward? Yes! I admit it! When things get tough I leave because it's easier for everyone that way!" Blake snapped, her eyes glistening. "You don't know Adam! You don't know how strong he is! They can't beat him!" Blake snapped as Ruby was kicked back across the battlefield before Adam was for to dodge a barrage of shots from Yang's gauntlets while Ruby got back to her feet.
"You're right, they probably can't beat him." Weiss said with a nod before a fierce determination burned in her eyes. "But you know what? I bet we could." Weiss said before looking back at the fight. "If JNPR can't finish faster, they will die. And you know what? Those deaths will be on you. And they will be on me for following orders I believe are wrong."
"Weiss–"
"I'm not here because I have faith in you, Blake, I'm here because I have faith in them and they have faith in you. They see something in you that I truly don't believe exists. They see a fighter." Weiss said before scowling. "You Faunus are supposed to be oh so in tune with your instincts. Yet here you are. It's supposed to be fight or flight. Either fight or get the hell away so I can, but don't just sit there."
"I…" Blake trailed of her arms trembling as she realized Weiss had a point. She could have left by now.
Yet she didn't.
"I…"
"Can't move. You're struggling. Something is there stopping you from running." Weiss said, as if reading Blake like one of her favorite books. "How about you do us all a favor and let that side of you that's keeping you here win?"
"I-I…"
"You're a Belladonna, right? I've been told your father is a powerful man, a good man supposedly, surely you have some part of him in you? Waiting to get out?" Weiss questioned, narrowing her eyes. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get the hell up. Stand and fight!" Weiss ordered as Blake's trembled an unfamiliar feeling flooding her veins.
["Blake…"] Blake's heart clenched as she began to remember her father's voice.
*flash*
"I want to be big and strong like you, daddy! I want to help our people too!" A five-year-old Blake said, tears in her eyes as she stared at the back of her father whom was standing on a balcony overlooking the Menagerie.
"Haha! And you will, one day!" Ghira said with a feral grin as he lifted his little girl up in arms and turned her to face the village surrounding them. "One day all of them will look up to you for guidance, but that day is not today. You're a good girl with a good heart, which makes for a great leader. That said, its hard for a great leader to keep those attributes. You're kind, but that's not enough. Sometimes you will have to get angry and it's how you use that anger that will determine just what kind of leader you can be for our people."
"B-but anger is a bad thing, right?"
"When you're using it to harm others? Yes. Our people are tired and hurt my little cub. That said, an eye for an eye will just make the world blind." Ghira said wisely as he wiped away Blake's tears. "However, when you're using that anger, that rage, to protect? Letting the animal in you be free to defend its home? You will find a power you never thought possible. I wish I could tell you that it will be easy, but I'm afraid your father isn't strong enough to make things right for our people before you come of age."
"B-but you're the strongest!"
"One of them." Ghira said with a cheeky smile and a wink. "But I'm far from the strongest. Someone will always be stronger than you Blake, even now I'm talking to someone who will far surpass me in time." Ghira said, making his daughter look at him with wide eyes. "And I know that when that day comes, you will use that strength to do what is best for our people." Ghira said before kissing Blake on her forehead. "Just promise me, don't be afraid of the beast within."
*flash*
["It will be your greatest ally."]
BGM: Judgement- Devil Man Crybaby OST
"Gnh!" Blake grunted holding her head in pain as she felt a fire flooding her veins. Her body shook in pain as it shifted in agony. Weiss looked done in confusion as Blake gritted her teeth, sounds of bones cracking and joints popping as her fangs elongated. Claws spring from Blake's hands and dug into the concrete with ease as her muscles tightened before Weiss' very eyes. Looking up through her bangs, her vision blurred by tears of pain, she watched in anger as Yang was knocked to her back with Adam now standing above her with his blade poised to kill.
*Ba-dump*
"Noooooooooooo-AHHHHHHHH!"
*BOOOOM!*
Weiss was knocked back a few feet as an invisible power erupted from Blake's body, her scream now a roar which echoed throughout the night, chilling the hearts of all whom heard her. Her roar distracted Adam enough for Yang to slip away as he watched in disbelief as Blake ran towards him on all fours, her claws tearing through the concrete as she approached.
Fight or flight
Fight or flight
Fight or flight.
"I will…" Blake though before leaping up and descending upon Adam, her vision now clouded by a red haze, her mind fueled by her primal rage. "Fight!"
*SCHLICK!*
Immediately, Adam rammed his blade through Blake's chest, his instincts taking over as he– for a split second– felt genuine fear facing Blake. He twisted the blade deeply making Blake growl before grabbing his blade with her bare hands. Confusion turned to dread for Adam as he suddenly felt a presence behind him. Glancing he back, he did so just in time to find a claw descending upon him with enough force to sending him crashing back through the docks.
*SHIINNNNG!*
Stabbing his blade into the ground, Adam used it to brace himself and recover from the knock back before looking up in fury towards the two Blake's that now stood before him. A black mist escaped the chest of the one he stabbed before the wound healed.
"It's solid?" Adam questioned incredulously. Across the docks, Ren sent both Mercury and Emerald flying back with well placed palm strikes to their chests. Glancing over at Blake, even Ren couldn't help the smirk that graced his lips.
"Finally. You have substance." Ren muttered before stepping back, easily dodging a blast from Mercury.
*THOOOOOM!*
Glancing to the left, Adam growled as he saw Weiss walking towards him, a massive shining knight climbing from the ground beneath her.
*FABOOOOOM*
"We're not done yet." Yang bit out angrily, her power continuing to rise as the ground beneath her began to melt. Behind him, Ruby landed on a crane and gazed down upon him, her eyes shadowed by her bangs as her shoulders shook. Blake managed to distract Adam, but Ruby knew he was moments away from killing her sister.
It was official.
There was no one Ruby hated more at that moment than Adam.
"You're going to pay for that."
Two silver lights flicker beneath the shadow of her bangs briefly before her eyes began to shine brightly. Ruby's body tensed as she felt an influx of power filling her, threatening to consume her.
She knew.
Deep down she knew.
This power…it was only a taste of what Jaune and Glynda had been preparing her for. A mere fragment, but it was enough. Ruby glared down at Adam coldly as she focused on the feel, etching into her memory, trying to capture as much of it as she could.
BGM: END
-RWBY's Mindscape-
"Oh? You made it." The Empress said as she stepped out of a large pool of silver light. The glowing liquid fell off her body as she gazed down at the bloodied and battered form of Ruby whom was bound by rose thorns. Ruby said nothing as she continued to drag herself forward, digging her fingertips into the ground until they bled. "Such determination." The Empress mused as she knelt down before Ruby and cupped her hands inside the pool before offering a taste of the liquid to Ruby. "Here, a taste…" The Empress said kindly.
*SMACK!*
The Empress blinked owlish as she looked down at the liquid that was smacked out of her hands before looking at Ruby curiously whom glared at her in defiance. Grunting, Ruby continued to drag herself forward until she was at the edge of the pool.
"You'll do it yourself, is that it? Admirable." The Empress mused as she watched Ruby dunk her face inside the pool.
-With Pyrrha-
Cinder watched in anger as she stared at a massive wall of fire only to see a black silhouette appear before Pyrrha stepped from the flames, embers licking her body as she held two spears in her hands.
*BANG!*
*CLANG!*
"You're from Mistral, aren't you?" Pyrrha asked as Cinder barely had enough time to block her attack, their weapons struggled for dominance as gazed heatedly into each other's eyes. "Your power can't hide the desperation, the rawness, that can only come from the lower levels. No matter what you do, nothing will change who and what you really are. A scared little girl." Pyrrha taunted, making Cinder roar with fury before her body was engulfed in flames sending Pyrrha sliding back.
"You don't know a damn thing! You have no idea just what you're up against." Cinder said angrily as she flew up into the air, tired of playing around as her power amplified drastically, making Pyrrha shudder with anticipation. However, before they could continue their battle a weight seemed to set upon the battlefield that made body her and Cinder's tremble for the briefest of moments. As one they both found themselves turning towards the source of it.
-With Nora-
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
As Nora tore through the Neo's illusions, she and her opponents froze at the sudden shifted in the atmosphere.
"R-ren…" Nora stuttered out after the man landed next to her, her vision beginning to waver slightly from the loss of blood. "…is that?"
"Yes." Ren said quietly as tears slid down Nora cheeks.
-With Jaune-
*BOOOOM!*
"Do you get it yet!? I don't feel a single one of your blows!" Hazel shouted as Jaune's greatsword struggled against Hazel's forearms.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Jaune taunted as his body began to shine with a white light, cracks began to appear on Hazel's aura surrounding his forearms as Crocea Mors threatened to cleave his limbs off. Aura shattering, the legendary blade cut deep into his arms before Hazel leapt back to avoid losing them. As one they felt the sudden weight and Jaune wasted no time in slamming his sword into the ground before him, both hands gripping the blade's hilt tightly.
*FLASH!*
"Everyone, get ready!" Jaune ordered, his eyes filled with power as he reached deep into his soul. With a battle cry he raised his blade high into the air, a pillar of light engulfing him and fueling all of his allies. "Lancaster: Anti-Army!"
-With Ruby-
Her team buckled from the sudden influx of power from Jaune. Ruby shuddered as she felt her soul intermingle with his on a more intimate level. Her strange new power mixing with his and becoming one.
She felt invincible.
BGM: This Will Be the Day- RWBY OST
"RWBY…" Ruby began, alerting her team. "…end him." Ruby ordered making Adam sneer as he turned to face her, blade drawn.
"Just try–" Adam could barely finish as Ruby was already in front of him, scythe poised to strike. Cursing, Adam and Ruby immediately began clashing weapons, the two locked in high-speed combat. So fast, the two struck at each other, their weapons were nearly invisible to the untrained eye. The power releasing from Ruby's eyes acted as a superior version of the 'visor' she made with her aura. She could see all of her movements and allowed herself to attack faster.
And faster.
And faster.
"How can't I keep up?" Adam wondered, feeling blows against his shield as he failed to match her impressive combat speed. "She's just a girl–" Adam's thoughts stopped when a devastating right hook from Yang sent him flying back towards Blake. Blake drew her weapon, six solid clones forming around her before they all leapt up and attacked him from various directions. Growling, Adam released a flurry of wild slashes instantly that tore through all of the clones and dispersed them as Blake landed on all fours. When Adam landed he went to rush her only for the summoned knight to land between them, tearing up the ground from its impact as it brought its massive blade down upon him.
*KRANNNNGGG!*
*BOOOOOM!*
Adam managed to block the strike with his sword, bracing his weapon with both hands as he felt the power being absorbed inside of him.
"Ladybug." Ruby said as she and Blake flanked Adam instantly making him curse as he found himself getting attacked from both sides. Trying to recover from the attacks that sent him crashing back, he looked up just in time to find both Ruby and Blake burying their knees into his face.
"GAH!" Adam grunted, his mask cracking a bit. Blake threw her weapon at him, holding on to its whip as it sailed past his head, missing him by an inch.
"Bumblebee." Ruby ordered before a propulsion glyph appeared beneath her feet and sent her flying into the air. Behind him, Yang caught Blake's weapon and with a mighty pull, Blake sent Yang flying back up to Adam. Clenching her fist tightly, she punched him with enough force to send him crashing through dozens of cargo containers. Above them, Ruby and Weiss descended from high in the air. "Ice flowers!" Ruby ordered as they descended. Weiss quickly created a glyph in which Ruby shot at, releasing a barrage of bullets creating powerful cryo-shots that slammed into the downed Adam and buried him under a pile of ice. Landing next to Yang, Weiss created two glyphs beneath Ruby and Yang's feet that sent them blasting off towards Adam.
*CRASHHHHHH*
"That's it!" Adam roared, his power overflowing as he stood in a stance Blake knew all too well. "I'll destroy you all!" Adam declared, patience gone as he drew his blade. However, unknown to him, to Ruby it was as if he were moving in slow motion. Thinking quickly, Ruby actually used her scythe to pull up Yang's foot, making her sister trip as Ruby ducked making Adam's blade sail mere millimeters over their heads. Due to their close proximity, they managed to avoid the resulting wave of destruction before it could expand and engulf everything before him.
"Blake!" Weiss shouted as she tackled Blake to the ground, her knight mimicking her actions and landing above them, taking the brunt of the attack for them as it shielded its master and her teammate. Adam could only watch as the knight disintegrate as all of his targets escaped his attack. At that moment, Ruby kicked his legs from underneath him, sending him stumbling forwards as Yang slammed a powerful uppercut that send him flying up into the air. As he fell back down, the sisters stood back to back, their arms crossed before them as they gathered as much of their power and anger as they could.
"Summer Rose." Ruby said before, as one, they ripped their arms apart. A silver and golden light ripped from their bodies, merging into a flaming dome of power the slammed into Adam. The faunus screamed in agony as he felt his very aura being burned away by the attack which continued to grow. Massive molten fissures spread across the battlefield from the attack as flaming geysers erupted around the docks.
*FABOOOOOOOM!*
Eventually, the dome erupted sending the burned form of Adam flying through the air, his blade stabbing into the ground as the sisters stood back to back, in a crater that was quickly filling with water. Their powers were both exhausted as they stood tired, holes and tears in Ruby's cape as burning rose petals showered the battlefield.
BGM: END
BGM: Rules of Nature-Jason Miller
Hitting the ground hard, Adam coughed up blood, his aura cracking as he forced himself up onto his hands and knees. His body trembled with pain as he looked up towards his blade which was stabbed into the ground between him and Blake who was regaining her bearings. Glancing to side, Blake noticed that her weapon had been flung away. Glancing towards Adam's blade and Adam himself who was on the opposite side of the battlefield, she made a decision.
The same one as Adam.
As one, the two former partners ran towards the blade and each other. Realizing two legs weren't enough, Blake easily fell to all four as she rushed towards the weapon in an attempt to keep up with Adam's speed. Still even as Blake's primal rage overtook her, it was clear that he was going to reach to first.
*FLASH!*
Time seemed to slow as Blake looked down to find a blue glyph appearing beneath her, courtesy of an exhausted Weiss whom was stabbing her weapon into the ground.
"Get him!" Weiss boomed, her glyph sending Blake catapulting the Blake towards the weapon. Nearly immediately, Blake reached the crimson sword and gripped it in both hands. Time seemed to stop, all color leaving the battlefield except red and black.
Silence.
For a moment that's all there was as the two silhouettes of former partners froze in front of each other. However, time waits for no one and immediately it resumed.
And Blake did not hesitate.
*SHING!*
"AHHH!" Blake roared, the blade held in front of her as Adam stood behind her, his mask shattering an expression of disbelief was frozen on his face. Falling forward, one of Adam's horns snapped off as his right arm was completely removed from his body. Flicking the blood off of the blade, Blake turned to face him, blade held tightly as she prepared to end this nightmare once and for all. However, before the blade could connect.
BGM: END
*Crash*
Blake's eyes widened in alarm as Adam's form suddenly shattered leaving nothing behind but his arm, fragmented mask, and horn. Quickly turning around, she saw that as the members of team JNPR landed fatal blows to their opponents, one by one they all shattered and simply disappeared as burning rose petals continued to rain down upon the former battlefield.
BGM: Home-RWBY OST
…
…
…
"Well…that was a thing." Nora said after a moment, breaking the silence. "Go team~" Nora cheered tiredly, placing her hammer down before falling back. However, before she could hit the ground, Ren caught her. "Sorry Ren, if I was able to take her down, we probably could have caught everyone."
"You did your best." Ren said quietly. "Think of the big picture, we need them around a bit longer despite how much we may hate them." Ren said before kissing Nora on her forehead. "I'm just glad you came back to me."
"Always." Nora murmured, snuggling into his arms a bit longer. "Now if you excuse me…" Nora trailed off before her body went limp in his arms. He was concerned for a moment until he heard her light snores which made him chuckle.
"Rest, you've earned it." Ren said quietly as Pyrrha walked up to Jaune.
"Tell me, was that the bitch that killed me?" Pyrrha asked curiously as Jaune turned to face her. Nodding, Pyrrha sighed before pouting a bit. "You should have told me she was from Mistral."
"It matters?"
"Of course. If I lost to someone from Mistral then I could understand." Pyrrha said before smirking. "You other Kingdom's are too soft; do you have any idea how much my pride would be hurt if I was killed by someone form like Atlas? Those pansies?" Pyrrha questioned, making Jaune snort. It was then Pyrrha glared at him.
"What?" Jaune asked defensively, noticing Pyrrha's look.
"You're an amp?" Pyrrha asked accusingly. "I thought your semblance was a shield? Don't tell me that was all just aura control?" Pyrrha asked, making Jaune chuckle a bit.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but yeah."
"You should be sorry. Now I have to rethink my whole strategy against you." Pyrrha complained. It was a then something caught her attention, nudging Jaune she nodded over towards Blake. Approaching her was Yang whom was supporting Ruby whom looked completely drained. "Should we see how they are doing?"
"Nah, give them a minute." Jaune said knowingly. "They need it."
-With Blake-
"Ruby, Yang…I-" Blake stopped when Ruby pulled herself free from Yang and hugged Blake tightly whom quickly hugged her leader back whom nearly collapsed in her arms as sirens could be heard in the distance.
"Don't leave like that again." Ruby ordered quietly but firmly, her eyes closed tightly as she held back tears.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, just be here. We're your friends, Blake, no matter what you face you need to be able to count on us to help you out." Yang said, glaring at her partner whom averted her eyes. "Run away again and I'll make sure you can never run again are we clear?" Yang said making Blake bite her lip nervously before nodding. "Good. Now come here." Yang said before she hugged both of them tightly.
"Idiots, all of them." Weiss muttered, crossing her arms as she looked away form them. "Though I supposed I'm no better." Weiss mused quietly to herself.
"Weiss." Yang called out making Weiss tense before she turned to face the blonde.
"What–"
"Thank you. I was wrong about you." Yang said with a small smile that made Weiss glower a bit. "You really do care about this team, don't you?"
"Draw any conclusion you want. I don't care." Weiss said, looking away from them, her cheeks flushing slightly. Freeing one of her arms, Blake softened her expression, looking at the heiress in a new light. Despite how she felt about humans, about the Schnee's in particular, Blake couldn't deny that Weiss had shattered all negative perceptions she had about the heiress that night.
"Weiss." Blake began extending a hand towards Weiss. "Let's start over." Blake suggested, making Weiss purse her lips before sighing and accepting the hand.
"Well, I suppose there are less headaches that way-whoa!" Weiss yelped, her eyes widening when after grabbing Blake's hand, the faunus suddenly pulled the heiress towards her and hugged her tightly with her free arm. Chuckling, Yang hugged her too as did Ruby. Weiss scowled as she found herself trapped in the group hug. "Get off of me you idiots!"
"Ah, but didn't you say you were an idiot too?" Blake questioned curiously, confusing Weiss before she looked up at the smirking faunus whom was wiggling her cat ears playfully. Weiss glowered at them all for a moment, but even she couldn't stop a small smile from appearing on her face.
"You're going to be a problem." Weiss said, though her heart wasn't in it while Ruby grinned brightly as for the first time, her team truly felt like one. "Still, they escaped, didn't they?" Weiss began pulling a way from them as her expression became somber. "I don't know who they are or what they want, but they'll likely return."
"You're right." Ruby spoke up, getting their attention as they saw a serious expression on her face. "And when they do, we'll be ready as long as we keep training." Ruby said and by reflex, each member of the team turned and glanced towards their respective "mentor" in team JNPR. At that moment, Blake's eyes met Ren's and the man simply gave her a small nod.
She was ready.
BGM: END
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Volume One Finale: Arkos: Schism, a War of Roses
Will: Sweet chicken dinner, this one took me a while to edit due to the length. Then again, I was doing some stuff on the side while playing a game so that explains that…also, meme-surfing and sound trips helped that as well. Multi-tasking is life! Praise the long awesome chapters along with the short ones! All hail Rebuke! Rebuff too! X7 Entertainment Forever!
Rebuff: Damn straight!
YEAHHHHH! Now on to the reviews.
BalanceM88: Thanks for the review, hopefully this chapter answered most of your questions especially regarding Nora. As for the Atlas match you're correct with Winter however, I'll leave the actual match up a surprise though honestly when you see it won't be much of one. Regarding the world bending with volume one ending, it's time to expand a bit more outside of what canon gives us as this story is slowly but surely outgrowing the world the source material has established so far. Things such as culture, laws, etc. for Remnant will be expanded upon a bit more as the Knights gain influence.
Xhope14x: Glad to see you enjoying yourself, hopefully you'll stay for the rest of the ride!
GrissleyMan: I won't lie when I saw your review I legit thought I was responding to the wrong story reviews had no idea you read my other stuff lol.
1. Oh yeah, the interactions between these will be hilarious the tension will have to break one way or another.
2. It won't be Winter-oh alright I can't even say that with a straight face, it's totally Winter. The fight might happen soon er than you think…like in the next 2-3 chapters sooner lol.
said. Ren's ideas aren't perfect but they do bear weight. The world he lived in, fought for, and even helped create was all a result of everyone letting Salem take control. His views have definitely been warped a bit by his experiences which is why he the one that will never hesitate, the deadliest in JNPR by far. As for Blake her unintentional player status is legit why I have her be the one catching Ruby in her hijinks with Jaune and Pyrrha, the cosmic irony is glorious.
4. Yeah, like it was war. Ruby had to legitimately attain world domination. Was it with good intentions? Sure. That said, to say there isn't a lot of blood on their hands is an understatement. This chapter showed that many times when they went to battle it was not self-defense but rather to take over territories for their own. Ruby saw every life equally, the drawback to that is that after a while-especially with her near tyranny consuming her- it became a sheer numbers game. She'd easily take a hundred lives to spare a thousand.
5. Oh yeah, they definitely fucked up. Qrow will be spending a lot of his time trying to make amends and bring an end to the bad habits Yang and Ruby developed due to their family life. The therapy section was not a joke, they have issues that he believes need to be worked out professionally. (Qrow's "Angel" form isn't him becoming an actual angel btw he just has more control over his shapeshifting now. His wings are just bigger crow wings so he can fight and fly simultaneously now.)
6. Also, yeah, I have two theories surrounding Ruby's dad. Either she just inherited absolutely nothing from Tai which is possible or Summer was pregnant with Ruby and with Qrow being super edge lord and not wanting to ruin their lives, he left her making her go to Tai who she eventually fell for. In this scenario he raised Ruby as his own which means that while Qrow is her father, Tai is her daddy. In the end it's up to rooster teeth that family has literally confused people since the yellow trailer.
Deathtrooper900: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I'm honestly trying my damn hardest to avoid making OCs in this story, which is more difficult than you'd believe. The counselor last chapter was the closest I got, he's definitely on the line but he was also a character -though brief-that has appeared in some shape or form in the actual show. I too eagerly await that line XD lol thanks for the review!
Aidis: Oh yeah so here's the thing I don't have set dates but my goal, personally, is to update either KoR or SLIAG AT LEAST once a month. That's why I added that interlude earlier, this chapter is literally 3 times bigger than I anticipated. Still here's another update, sorry for the wait!
Xyz: It's not easy trying to unite an entire planet, especially when many side with the enemy. The Empress was definitely not perfect and forsaked her humanity for her people. She made mistakes and this story is basically her attempt to make amends. As for your music choices? Thank you for updating my playlist. I'll probably be using some in Volume 2!
AJ Lexie: WHAT UP LEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Yes, we must all take a moment to fangasm over Undertale music. Have fun on your trip and let me know how it goes! I'm stopping in Germany for a bit before I catch the train. Just trying to make sure I can make it through this trip with my lack of foreign language skills. (Shouldn't be too bad I spent a month in Cuba without knowing how to speak it at all, which was really bad because everyone I em thought I was from there lol)
Doubledamn: Lol I did she appreciated it, and you're right those two definitely have that same vibe. Thanks for the review!
Noise95: Glad you liked the chapter and yeah, he definitely made an error that unfortunately put a rift between them even in death/time travel
The Menace Within: Glad I could make something you enjoy! Hopefully you keep that feeling throughout the rest of the adventure.
0akarigan0: Appreciate the kind words! Just hope I can keep it up!
TheNeah: Almost lol. Yeah hopefully this time around things can work for the better. Lol well the fight is next chapter and the vol 1 finale, and the twilight one shot is unfortunately like 11k words in atm…so joking or not you're going to see that insanity at some point this year.
Dopplerdee: God damn it Dee!…don't change Dee…don't change…lol thanks for the review!
Korben600: Yeah, the first rise was not pleasant, fortunately they have a unique chance to learn from their old mistakes and do things a bit more smoothly. Qrow was Vital in Ruby's life and without his guidance, well you saw what she became. If you expect it, then this chapter shouldn't surprise you in the slightest. Nora's on the verge of death? She'll be fine…just a flesh wound no need for back up lol. Glad you liked the chapter and the fight with Ironwood's champion shall be an interesting one.
Perverted Little Angel: Appreciate it! Glad you like it and yeah, I did that before when I first started out which is why I cringe every time I get a review on one of my older stories. That said I keep them hope for that same reason as it helps me stay humble lmao. Don't get me wrong with Ironwood I like the "character" he's written well for the role he fills, if he were a person fuck that guy lol. Seriously though 5 volumes are long enough to get some info on momma Rose but it is what it is, I'll wait for volume 6.
P.S. if she is a maiden, prepare for the literary gymnastics I'm going to pull off to write around that XD.
DanteNaru: We at X7 entertainment are not responsible for any damages near the "feelz" area.
Dxdragon3895: Yup though his angel form is just more control over his bird form. Thanks for the review!
Littlest1: Glad you liked the chapter, hopefully you like this one as well! Yup with Qrow in the know, the knights have gained a much-needed ally in the long run.
Bankerrtx01: Yeah things are speeding up as Volume 1 comes to a close. The next will not drag, in my opinion, as much as the first one now that the momentum is built up.
Dandyrr0403: Glad you enjoyed the story! Who will Nora fight with? The Answer? Everybody. Lol Yup Qrow is a welcome addition and I can't wait to write him more into the story!
MoonShadowPup: You're welcome! Lol thanks for the review.
The Wolf Paladin: Either awhile or a near war to send her running back to Ren lol. The Empress honestly washed her hands of Raven, it wasn't until she started committing crimes against the Empire that she took notice. (Can't have subjects thinking she'd allow "family" members to be above the law after all.
Thanks for the reviews everyone and remember, stay classy!
~RebukeX7
-AFTER CREDIT SCENE BITCHESSSSS-
*Flash*
"Who are you fighting for!?" A bloodied Pyrrha demanded making Jaune glare at her fiercely.
"Don't you dare question my loyalty!" Jaune snapped as their blades struggles for dominance. Pyrrha sneered at him, her arms trembling against Jaune's might.
"Loyalty? Funny, where I'm from what you're doing is called treason!" Pyrrha declared making Jaune's eyes widen before a look of pure fury crossed his face, his power exploding from his body as he pushed Pyrrha down to her knees, cracks appearing her weapons as she realized that this might honestly be the day she died.
See the conclusion next chapter.
End.
