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Chapter 13: Otherworldly
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Alright, we have one more action scene. For this one, I scored it to the soundtrack of the anime Boku no Hero Academia. Specifically, "Boku no Hero Academia OST – 01 'You Say Run'."
Enjoy : )
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Tick. Tick. Tick.
Delsin's eyes were locked firmly on the clock. So were the eyes of every other student in the class. And who could blame them? It was five minutes until the last bell rang, signaling not only the end of the school day but the end of the current semester.
Meanwhile, Dr. Oobleck was giving one of his famously long-winded and fast-moving lectures, though even he was more than ready for the day to be over. Believe it or not, teachers do have lives outside the classroom.
And so, when the clock showed that there were three minutes left, Dr. Oobleck spoke up.
"Attention class, if I could just get your attention for one more minute," he said in his usual manner.
Everyone in the room just barely managed to break their eyes away from the clock.
"While I'm sure you all enjoyed my lecture, I think here is a good place to stop. There will be more than enough to discuss when classes resume in the Spring," he began.
He smiled.
"Class dismissed."
For a moment, the entire room went still, because no one was sure they had heard him right. Then, as soon as that moment passed, most of the students were falling over themselves trying to be the first one out the door. Delsin saw a few rose petals float past, meaning Ruby had probably already managed to escape. Either way, it was still funny to watch.
"Hey Delsin," Alex said, pointing at their teacher.
"Hm?"
Delsin turned to look at Dr. Oobleck. He was using a book to hide the fact that he was filming his students as they struggled to get out of the room, a small smile on his face. Delsin smiled and walked up to him.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you Professor?" he asked.
"Doctor," he corrected, before turning to his student and saying in the most unconvincing tone "And I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Riiiiight."
At that moment, Delsin felt his Scroll buzz.
"Great, another message from Oz. What does he want now?"
He opened it.
"Delsin, I need you to come to my office right away. We have a situation that may need your skills."
Delsin sighed.
"I'll be right there."
"Good. And you may wish to bring your partner as well."
"Fine."
Delsin put his Scroll away then searched the room for Alex. He found his partner sitting with the rest of Team RWBY while they laughed at the massive pileup at the door.
"Yo, Oz wants us in his office," he explained.
"What's going on?" Yang asked.
"I don't know, it's probably nothing," Delsin replied, "We should still probably go."
Alex sighed and stood up.
"He's right," Alex said lazily.
They both turned and walked up the stairs to the back of the classroom. Without a word, Delsin released a Cinder Blast on the wall, destroying a huge chunk of it, more than enough space for them to walk through. They walked through the opening as both Professor Port (whose classroom they had entered) and Dr. Oobleck watched, both of their mouths agape. Alex raised a hand and resealed the wallwith his telekinesis, and both of them silently walked off to the elevator to Oz's office.
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When they arrived, they found Ozpin with his head in his hands. They both approached wordlessly and sat down across from him. Without moving his hands, Ozpin spoke.
"I know you are teenagers and the semester just ended, and that brings with it a degree of frivolity, but must you always vandalize Beacon Academy property every time it strikes your fancy? First, there was the vending machine incident-"
"Not my fault!" Delsin interrupted.
"And now you destroy one of the walls to my classrooms! Why?"
Alex shrugged.
"The doorway was blocked. Besides, I fixed the wall."
Ozpin sighed.
"Anyway," he said, trying to move on, "That's not why I asked you here."
His demeanor shifted completely, and Alex and Delsin's did in response.
"According to reports I just received, approximately half an hour ago, many of the electronic defenses set up along the northern edge of Vale experienced a suspicious amount of interference, far outside the norm for any equipment malfunctions or power fluctuations. Then, less than ten seconds later, the interference was gone."
Delsin just stared at him.
"And your point is...?" Alex asked.
"Delsin, on the night of your arrival, I checked every report filed to track your activities, this being before you came and found me on your own. That same night, a report was filed from a defense station not far from where you landed that met most of these exact circumstances. Same data, same time frame, down to the nanosecond."
Delsin's eyes widened slowly.
"You think someone else crossed over," Delsin surmised.
"Correct, and as such, it would be best if you could investigate. If someone came through with abilities like yours, our borders are woefully unequipped to deal with that particular kind of firepowershould they lash out."
Delsin and Alex stood up.
"Understood," Delsin said.
"Good. I've made arrangements for a Bullhead to transport you to the border station where the interference occurred. It will meet you at the Airbus station in ten minutes," Ozpin said.
The two of them turned and in moments they were gone.
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The ride was quick.
Delsin and Alex hopped out of the Bullhead, only three minutes having passed since they boarded. After a brief introduction with the guards stationed at the border, they were left to their own devices.
"This place look familiar?" Alex asked.
Delsin looked around.
"Yeah. This is where I came in," he replied.
The two of them walked forward, passing right through the security checkpoint and into the Forest of Forever Fall.
"So, what now?" Alex asked.
"I guess we go look. We're about an hour from where I landed, so starting there sounds like a good idea."
"That an hour by foot?"
"At a run. Maybe less if we really book it. At least, that's what the waypoint I set in my Scroll says."
Alex reached into his pockets and withdrew another in a long line of Lightning Crystals. He opened his mouth and swallowed it whole; his hair took on its usual shade of yellow.
"Where do you keep getting those? Dust ain't exactly cheap and you go through those crystals like candy."
"My family lives on a huge Dust deposit on what's left of our homeland in Vytal. Once a monththey send me a shipment of Crystals that they pull up," Alex explained.
"Huh. Cool."
"Now is that it or are we gonna stand here all day while I go through my entire life's story?"
"Alright, I get it, let's go."
The two of them took off, trails of Neon and electric rose petals behind them.
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After an hour running, they arrived at the site of the crossover.
"Ok, that is definitely not what I remember this place looking like," Delsin said.
Given that instead of tranquil forest land, he found himself instead standing at the edge of a crater, that was a rather mild reaction.
"Ok, so we know something happened here," Alex commented.
"Gee, as if the giant hole in the ground wasn't enough of a giveaway," Delsin replied sarcastically.
Alex chuckled a bit at that.
"So, now what?" Alex asked.
Just then, something in the crater caught Delsin's eye.
"Hang on."
He jumped into the crater and slid down to the center of it. Now that he was there, he got a closer look at the object and found it was a red and grey striped hoodie, with blue bands between each stripe. He couldn't help but feel he had seen it before.
"What is it?" Alex called.
"See for yourself," Delsin replied, holding the jacket out to him.
Alex breathed in sharply.
"Delsin, look at the inside," he said flatly.
Curious, Delsin checked the inside, wondering what his partner was talking about.
That was when he saw the blood.
As he took in the sight of that red blotch, the memories of where he'd seen the jacket before flooded into his mind. Without a word, he bolted off, the jacket still in his hand. After recovering from the brief bit of shock, Alex tried to catch up, but Delsin was a lot faster than him when he didn't have a lightning crystal in his system.
Alex followed as Delsin raced through the forest in an ever-expanding circle, searching desperately for the owner of the jacket. He chased after as best he could, and ten minutes later Alex nearly crashed into his partner's back when the Conduit found what he was looking for.
"Alex, call for a rescue," Delsin said quickly.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked.
"Just make the call!"
Alex pulled out his scroll and dialed up the border security base. Within minutes a rescue vehicle had arrived. Alex had to telekinetically lift Delsin and the person he was carrying as there wasn't enough room for the Bullhead to land. Alex himself flew up to the passenger hatch. As he sat down, he heard Delsin say something, though he could barely make it out over the roar of the engine.
"Hang in there Eugene. Everything's gonna be alright."
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Twenty minutes later, Eugene was lying on a hospital bed in the infirmary. Delsin was sitting next to him, patiently waiting. Alex stuck around with him for a while but soon left to give his partner some space. After a while, there was a knock on the door. Delsin looked up to see Ozpin, quietly standing just inside the room.
Delsin said nothing. Ozpin frowned and walked up next to him.
"His name's Eugene Sims," Delsin said, a full minute later.
"I take it he's from your world then," Ozpin replied.
"Yeah," Delsin confirmed, his eyes still locked on his friend's unconscious form.
"Is he like you?"
"Yeah. He's a Conduit."
Ozpin picked up the medical chart on the end of the bed.
"From the looks of his injuries, it appears he was shot several times," Ozpin said.
Delsin's head drooped a bit
"Hold on, I thought you said that all Conduits possessed superhuman regenerative healing abilities. Shouldn't he be awake by now if that were the case?" Ozpin asked.
Delsin sighed.
"Eugene is different. Yeah, he's got the fast-healing like all Conduits, but..." Delsin said, trailing off at the end.
"But what?"
Delsin took a deep breath.
"But, when Augustine had him in captivity, she and some of her cronies experimented on him, forcing his powers past what they were supposed to go to. She kept on pushing him and pushing him, and even though his Video powers got a whole hell of a lot stronger, his body was cracking under the stress. His healing power got weaker, so he takes a lot longer to recover."
"I see," Ozpin said.
He placed a hand on Delsin's shoulder.
"They're serving lunch in the cafeteria. Why don't you go get something to eat? I'll make sure the nurse informs you if there are any changes to his condition," Ozpin suggested.
Delsin nodded a moment later.
Slowly, he stood up and walked to the door. With one last look to his friend, Delsin walked out of the room.
After he was gone, and Ozpin was sure he was alone, he took Eugene's hand.
"You mean a great deal to that young man Mr. Sims, and he is likely the best hope Remnant has of surviving what Salem has planned. So, that being said, I hope you don't mind if I help you along a bit. I do apologize if this hurts at all."
With that, Ozpin closed his eyes, and light began to envelop the room.
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In the cafeteria, Delsin was quietly picking at his lunch, not really hungry at the moment. His friends had invited him to their table, but he wasn't feeling particularly social either. After a while, he stood up to throw away what was left of his food.
"Delsin?" a voice said quietly from behind him.
Delsin turned to find Velvet looking at him, a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," he replied softly, wanting to end the conversation quickly.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"O- Ok.."
Delsin walked away, leaving Velvet alone. If he had seen the look on her face, he would have seen that she wanted to say more and that she knew that whatever he was, he was definitely nowhere close to fine.
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Delsin was taking a walk around the campus when he got a message on his scroll.
"Your friend is awake, please get here quick!" the nurse said.
Delsin shot off with his Neon power, racing through the campus. He ran to the infirmary, happy to hear his friend was awake.
He was a lot less happy when he arrived.
The infirmary was a mess. Cabinets were broken, tables and supply carts overturned, and both the IV tree and the actual bed were split in half. The worst part was Eugene himself. He was standing over the nurse, one of his Digital Longswords in his hand.
The Video Conduit, distraught in finding himself in a place reminiscent of where he was kept for two years, hefted his sword up over his head, preparing to bring it down on the nurse's head. Delsin shook off his shock and surged forward. As the sword descended, Delsin intercepted with his Stasis Shield. Blue and purple sparks flew from the point of contact.
"Eugene! What are you doing?!" Delsin screamed.
Eugene's face contorted in rage.
"I don't know who you are, but you have some nerve trying to use the face of my dead friend against me!" he shouted.
"What are you talking about, it's me, dumb ass!" Delsin countered pleadingly.
"Shut up!"
Eugene raised his sword and swung again. Delsin's shield held firm, but only barely. He turned to look at the nurse hiding behind him.
"Go!" he yelled, "Get out of here!"
The nurse bolted for the door and quickly escaped. After he was sure she was gone, Delsin turned his attention back to his friend.
"If you won't listen, I guess I'll just have to beat it into you!" Delsin shouted.
Eugene's eyes flare blue.
"I'd like to see you try."
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(Music starts here)
Delsin landed in the courtyard. The gargantuan form of He Who Dwells followed him, and landed, standing over him.
"YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF STANDING BEFORE HE WHO DWELLS, AND WILL PAY DEARLY FOR DEFILING THE FACE OF MY FRIEND!" Eugene bellowed.
"I ever tell you how much of an asshole you sound like when you talk like that?" Delsin retorted.
Delsin switched to his Concrete power and used his Concrete launch to hurl himself upward. The massive angel swung his sword, but Delsin avoided it and landed on the blade. He quickly jumped off again and unleashed a barrage of concrete shrapnel on the angel's head. He landed on one of the pillars making up the surrounding arcade and He Who Dwells swung at him again. The sword destroyed the pillar, but Delsin managed to jump away again.
The angel raised his other arm and called up a small host of his holy Wingmen. The human-sized angels began to swarm around their summoner, and rain beams of light upon Delsin. Delsin broke into a Boulder Dash and evaded all of the beams perfectly. He silently thanked Glynda for all of those harsh combat classes and when there was an opening, unleashed a Concrete Barrage on the Wingmen, taking out almost all of them.
As Delsin rolled to a stop and his concrete armor fell away, he stared down the fifty-foot angel.
"You wanna play like that? Fine. Let's see how you like it!" he shouted, switching to his Video power.
Delsin spread his arms and not one, not two, but three Wingmen of his own sprang forth. Then he raised his left arm and pointed it at Eugene's chest. Eugene was in the middle of replenishing his hoard of angels and didn't notice the green glow on his chest.
As the Bloodthirsty Blades formed, Delsin yelled.
"Fire!"
His own angels opened fire on Eugene, and as the Blade Flurry connected, so did their attack.
"GAH!" the giant angel cried, the force of the combined attacks forcing him to stagger back a bit.
Then Delsin pressed further. He switched to his Smoke power and lobbed out over a dozen of his Cinder Grenades. As the bombs went off and He Who Dwells fell to one knee, Delsin surged forward, releasing several smoke shots on his way.
As he approached, Eugene's rage grew. The blue hue to his image slowly shifted to a violent red as he let out a deep growl. When Delsin was close, he snapped even more.
"ENOUGH!" Eugene shouted.
The angel spread his wings and punched the ground. The effect was an almost perfect copy of Delsin's Ground Smash as a wave of red Video energy blasted outward, destroying a large area of the courtyard and sending Delsin flying.
As Delsin careened through the air, unable to get any kind of control, he smashed into the courtyard's central fountain. He sank down, resting on the leg of the Grimm depicted in the statue. He was dazed from the impact and He Who Dwells stood up. With fire dancing along his features, he brought his hands together in a pose reminiscent of the classic Hadouken pose.
"NOW YOU WILL TASTE MY LIGHT!"
Delsin was still disoriented. He tried to move out of the way, or at least get behind something, but he couldn't get his feet under him. Through his haze, he could hear the power of the beam building. The light of it became blinding and he closed his eyes, all while still trying to move out of the way.
He heard the beam fire.
When the next thing he heard wasn't a chorus of heavenly angels, Delsin's eyes snapped open.
He saw a series of Glyphs between him and the beam. He turned his head to see both Weiss and a red-haired Alex with their hands outstretched. Behind him, Yang was on the pedestal standing in front of the Huntsman statue. Blake stood above him on the head of the Grimm. Ruby was next to her sister, wielding Crescent Rose in sniper rifle form. Then he heard a voice.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get up and fight back!"
He turned to see Coco, the source of the voice, standing beside him.
Velvet approached on the other side.
"Here, let me help," she said, holding out her hand.
Delsin's mind snapped back into focus.
"We know this is your fight," Velvet began, "So we won't stop you."
"We'll back you up from here. You go knock some sense into that guy," Ruby continued.
"What are you waiting for dumbass? Move!" Alex yelled.
Delsin smiled. With Velvet's help, he rose. He switched to his Neon power.
"You got it."
He shot off, shattering his old top speed by more than double. As the beam died, Alex and Weiss dropped their Glyphs.
"Fire!" Alex yelled.
In a hail of bullets and fireballs, Delsin rapidly closed on his friend. When he was only a few feet away, he switched to his Video power. He activated his wings and surged up the giant angel's form. With a hand outstretched, Delsin summoned his sword and gripped it with both hands.
When he reached Eugene's head, he smiled.
"You might wanna grit your teeth!" he shouted.
With that, Delsin swung his sword straight into the giant's head.
As the blade connected, the impact shattered the angel's form, returning him to the usual Eugene. The Video Conduit was still angry and activated his own wings to try and stabilize his fall, but Delsin kept on him. Delsin dropped his sword and surged forward again, punching Eugene in the gut.
The two of them fell to the ground, each landing several feet apart. Eugene managed to catch himself at the last second, as did Delsin, and both of them ended up on their feet. Eugene unloaded on him, releasing a seemingly unending wave of Video Torrent. Delsin returned in kind.
Eugene roared, his anger all but consuming him at this point, and unleashed his Bloodthirsty Blades. Delsin again responded in kind, then immediately Cloaked. As their Blades met and exploded into pixels, Eugene surged upwards. He unleashed another barrage of Bloodthirsty Blades, this time locked onto an immobile Delsin.
He didn't see the trick.
As his Blades made contact, they passed right through the Decoy Delsin in time for three Wingmen to close in on him. While they kept him distracted, Delsin switched to his Water power. With every ounce of his power, Delsin built up power for his latest Karma Bomb.
Water began to pool about him, coming from both from his outstretched hand as well as all of the surrounding sources. Then it began to circle around his feet.
"Sorry Eugene, but I gotta hurt you to help you," he said.
He took the water and built it up to a ten-foot circle. Then with a flourish and a spin, he sent it careening to his friend.
"Waterspout!" Delsin shouted.
By the time Eugene had dealt with the Wingmen, it was too late. The cyclone slammed into him with the force of a five hundred pound hammer. His wings shattered and he went flying into one of the pillars that were still standing. With that, he went out like a light.
(Here's where the music ends)
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The next several hours passed in a blur.
The incident in the courtyard was somehow largely unnoticed, though no one was quite sure how, and Ozpin wouldn't say a word. The repairs would be keeping Alex, Glynda, as well as an outside construction crew busy for the next several days.
When they returned to the infirmary, Alex and Glynda fixed everything up. The nurse from earlier was fine, but she would be taking a few days off to recover from the trauma, so a new nurse had been called in. They got Eugene situated back in his newly repaired bed, then, by Delsin's own recommendation, sedated him.
"Will he be alright?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, he'll be fine," Delsin responded.
"It is understandable, though unfortunate, that he was in such an agitated state. You were as well when you arrived, if you recall," Ozpin said.
"I remember."
"We'll wake him again in a few days. For now, I suggest we let him sleep."
"Yeah. You're probably right," Delsin said.
"Agreed," Alex said.
Ozpin and Alex turned and left. Delsin stayed behind and took one last look at his friend.
"See ya later buddy."
CHAPTER END
And so, the plot thickens.
You know, to be honest, I didn't even want to put a fight scene in this chapter. It was actually my utter pacifist mother's idea if you can believe it. Either way, you guys are in for a very exposition heavy chapter in two weeks when we learn how things have turned out in Seattle since Delsin's disappearance.
Anyway, remember to review follow and favorite, and I will see you again in two weeks.
Also, I have a First membership so any of you who want RWBY Volume 5 spoilers, feel free to ask and I'll tell you.