So, this chapter is dark and violent. Thanks for patiently awaiting the next chapter. And I hope to post more tomorrow.
Ren sighs deeply, getting in his fighting stance and closing his eyes "You have pushed your body to new heights. But you forgot your own creed. Our style of fighting was designed for defense. You can't defeat me by trying to apply brute force into a style designed to defend and protect."
Death smiles and clamps the mask over her mouth, and then she pulls another blindfold from her pouch and ties it over her eyes. Ren smiles "You are muting your senses to improve your ability to sense aura. I didn't realize you had advanced so far. Good thing I have been training too."
Ren closes his eyes and blocks Death's right cross, deflecting her left jab and he kicks her in the gut. The onlookers watch as Ren and Death trade shots, countering blow for blow. Death pulls out her dagger and Ren grabs her wrist, kicking her legs out from under her and wrapping her arm around her own neck. She throws Ren to the ground, and he rolls to his feet quickly, drawing his pistols from his sleeves and firing at Death. She puts up her corrupted arm to block her face and Ren leaps right at her, kicking her arm and it breaks apart into dust, his kick connecting with her face and knocking her back.
Death flexes her fingers in her good hand, smiling as her other hand reforms. She puts her hands in front of her, in what looks like prayer, then several clones of Death form from the ground up, made of the same corrupted flesh as Death's right arm. Each one rushes at Ruby's group and they find themselves quickly overwhelmed. Ruby uses her agility to avoid the clone as it rushes towards her in a frenzy. When she fires a sniper round through the clone, the clone's head is blown in half but instantly reforms. Ruby leaps onto a tree limb and dashes backwards to avoid the clone, leaving behind petals "Everyone scatter!"
Yang throws a right punch, hitting the clone in the face. The clone barely recoils from her punch, then counters with a right of her own. With Yang stunned, she launches into a flurry of alternating body shots and head shots, unknowingly powering Yang. The clone knocks her back with a powerful kick, right into a tree. Yang opens her eyes, glaring at the clone with red eyes as her hair glows. She rushes right at the clone and it laces its right arm around her right arm and gets behind her, her left arm putting pressure on her shoulder blade as she pulls the arm back and dislocates it. Yang's cry of anguish is quickly silenced when the clone grabs her chin and cranes her head to one side, delivering a heavy chop to her exposed neck and knocking her unconscious.
Nora swings her hammer at the charging clone and it darts behind her, slashing at her with her fingers extended into claws. Nora's aura holds up, breaking the claws apart. She spins and smashes the clone apart, only for it to reform. Nora leaps back from the clone, and her hammer folds down into its grenade launcher form. When the clone rushes at her she kicks it back from her, firing a grenade right at it. The clone reforms from the blast quicker than the smoke could clear, and before Nora can react the clone has closed the distance, both arms formed into blades. She rams both blades into Nora's stomach and her aura doesn't hold up against the piercing blades, both blades puncturing her chest. The clone lofts Nora up on her blades like a trophy, and then her blades dissipate and Nora collapses to the ground.
Neros stands back to back with Urania "This isn't looking too good." Urania nods "Our… odds for survival are looking rather grimm." Neros sighs "Geez, not you too." Urania giggles "Just one pun, before I bite the big one." The two clones rush right at them, and Neros launches several crescent beams from his sword, cutting the clone into pieces, only for it to reform. Urania uses her staff to raise a wall of fire around herself and Neros. The clones leap through the fire and Urania holds it's leaping kick at bay with her staff, the other clone is blasted apart by Neros. Neros gasps for air "Hey, fire uses oxygen, or had you forgot?" Urania slams down her staff and the fire dies away "That didn't work anyway, so there is no point."
Neros folds his sword down, dodging and ducking out of the way of the clones repeated slashing attacks with its arm blades. Neros blocks one of its strikes, but its arm blade turns back into a normal hand, grasping the blade and it rips his sword right from his grasp and tosses it aside. The clone rams her bladed arm into his chest, grinning as he struggles for air. Urania turns to Neros, gasping "Neros! No!" The clone laughs, it's voice a demented, hissing, viscous version of the sultry voice of Death "That's it. Cling to life fruitlessly." Neros headbutts her as hard as he can, growling in anguish and rage. He forms energy in his metal glove, using his semblance to channel energy through his glove and blast her body apart. He collapses to the ground as she reforms, and Urania runs towards him "Neros!" The clone she was fighting puts her in a chokehold from behind.
Jaune fruitlessly swings at the clone while backing away, and it cackles at him each time his blade rends apart its form and then it reforms just as easily. His back touches the tree and he holds his shield at the ready "Come on then!" The clone leaps right at him and Jaune rolls to the side, the clone ramming head first into a hole in the side of the tree. Jaune slams his shield into its back, chuckling "And stay put!" The head breaks apart and it backs away from the tree, turning to him as its head reforms. It rushes right at him, punching him in the diaphragm and knocking him unconscious. As he crumples to the ground the clone rolls him over onto his back with her arm forming into a blade.
Ren and Death dodge each other's strikes while trying to land piercing strikes with their hands, their fingers pointed forward as they thrust towards each other at a rapid pace. Ren changes his right handed thrust into a chop at the last second, using his momentum to strike Death on her good arm, snapping the bone. He takes advantage of her stunned state to kick her in the chest as hard as he can, cracking several of her ribs. She lands on her feet, swooning a little and finding it hard to stay standing. She clutches her broken arm, stumbling towards him slowly. She wrenches off her mask, grinning "I'm impressed by your progress as a fighter. I only wish I had been able to take you under my wing, and train you to be a real man, who fights for a real cause, under a real god."
Ren spits on the ground, grinning over at her "You're not my mother, or any Mother of Death. You are just a walking reminder of why hunters and huntresses are important, you remind me of why we exist. You remind me of why I became a hunter. So that monstrosities like you can no longer hurt innocent people. And soon, you will be nothing more than a foot note. When all is said and done, the victor writes history. And whoever that victor is, whether it be Salem or us, either way you will be little more than a footnote."
Death screams and rushes right at him, and he knees her in the gut, kicks her in the face and then when her head snaps back from his hard kick he goes to hit her with a hard chop to her throat. She grabs his hand with her good arm, smirking as she clutches his wrist tightly, pulling him into her arm blade. Ren gasps, collapsing onto his hands and knees. She readies herself to deliver the final blow, when Neo walks over carrying Ruby's scythe.
She walks towards Death with a look of pure rage, slamming the scythe down with the blade facing upwards. She lets out a loud whistle and Death howls in pain, clutching her ears. Death rushes right at her, slashing at her with her arm blade and the illusion shatters. Neo reappears behind Death, Ruby's scythe curved around Death. Her momentum carries her right into the razor sharp edge and the clones vanish as the woman who claimed to be Death felt her life coming to a dark close. She smiles up at Neo as her body begins to turn into black dust, laughing as her body is consumed "You are a true killer."
Neo lays Ruby's scythe down and drops to one knee, and Ruby walks to her slowly. Of everyone, Ruby and Neo were in the best shape, Ruby sporting a few scrapes and Neo unharmed. Yang slowly limps over, the left half of her body appears to be paralyzed. Helios helps Ren to his feet, and Helios take sout his scroll "I'm going to see if they can give us a lift out of here."
Tyrian walks towards the group slowly "You… killed Mother Death. Heathen!" He edges towards the group and Ruby stands in front of them, scythe held at the ready. Tyrian rushes right towards her and Qrow leaps in front of Ruby, blocking Tyrian's tail strike with his sword. He smiles over his shoulder at Ruby "How's my favorite niece?" Qrow stays on the defensive as Tyrian pressures him with repeated sweeping and spinning strikes with his arm blades. Helios leaps over Qrow and behind Tyrian, spinning and smacking Tyrian down with his shield. As he holds his shield up and prepares to fire at Tyrian, Tyrian fires several shots from his wrist mounted barrels, and Helios manages to lower his shield in time to deflect most of the small arms fire.
Helios moves his shield from in front of his body, using his sword to deflect several of the bullets as Tyrian puts some distance between himself and his attackers. He leaps up onto a building and Helios fires a slug from his shield that blasts apart most of the roof, causing Tyrian to fall through. He barges outside through the front door, sprinting at Helios and attempting to hit him with his tail several times. Helios deflects with his sword, preparing to fire with his shield, when Tyrian leaps into the air and Helios fires right at Qrow, who was in the middle of preparing to impale Tyrian from behind.
Qrow is blasted back into the same building that Helios shot apart, the crumbling structure collapsing. Tyrian grabs up Death's dagger, dashing right towards Helios. He pretends to thrust with the dagger, releasing it mid-thrust and brings his left arm up in an uppercut instead, catching Helios off guard and slashing right through his armor, leaving a deep gash from his already injured stomach to his left shoulder. Neo runs right at Tyrian, Yolanda's sword held high as she goes for an overhead swing. Tyrian blocks her sword with his tail and fires all four wrist mounted barrels at her chest, but the illusion shatters and he feels a searing pain as his tail is severed completely off. He leaps away from Neo as she prepares to land the finishing blow, leaping away to safety.