A strong gust of wind followed Yang's fist, smashing through an illusion of Neo as the real one appear a few feet behind her. Yang turned quickly to block Neo's incoming strike and fire back while Neo vanished in another illusion. Yang looked around quickly before realizing she was nowhere in sight. In horror, she looked up to see Neo falling down on her with her blade drawn. Yang quickly rolled out of the way and fired a few shots at Neo while she fell, who blocked the shots with her umbrella. Yang rushed towards Neo again, who decided to stand her ground instead of vanishing again.
Yang launched strike after strike, but Neo was faster and dodged out of the way of each blow. Neo dodged another blow and ducked underneath Yang, flipping her over in the process onto the ground on her back. Yang sat up quickly, firing more shots at Neo who ran off away from her.
"Get back here!" Yang shouted at Neo, running and shooting after her. Neo stopped suddenly, turning quickly and extending her umbrella as Yang ran face first into it. She flew backwards, using her gauntlets and her feet to stop her from flying any further back. She took a few deep breaths to focus herself and charged in again, blocking to the side as Neo extended her umbrella again. Neo tried to close her umbrella and block Yang's shotgun shot, but she wasn't fast enough and had to create an illusion at the last second. The real Neo fell onto the ground a little bit away from the now broken illusion of Neo and Yang, panting at having made three illusions in such a short time.
"Guess you can't keep doing that, can you?" Yang noticed Neo's exhaustion and began walking towards her slowly. Neo noticed the look of murder in Yang's eyes and quickly backpedaled, grabbing her umbrella as she did. Yang sped up her walking as she saw Neo's face change into one of terror. "Eat this!" Yang shot herself forward and aimed a strike at Neo's core. Neo quickly dodged to the side by rolling over and drew her blade to fight back while standing. Yang quickly recovered from missing and began striking faster and faster, so fast that Neo was forced to block instead of dodge and counter.
"Finish her big sis!" Ruby cheered as the fight continued.
"You can do this Yang!" Jaune joined in Ruby's cheering.
Yang nodded her head and continued throwing her punches until finally Neo wasn't fast enough, getting hit in the face and sent into the ground making a large crater. She turned away and strutted back towards her friends, happy with her triumph.
Big mistake, Neo thought to herself as she quickly rose and ran behind Yang, slashing down her back in one long stroke. Yang groaned in pain, not expecting the blow and not having her aura ready to protect her. Blood gushed out of the long cut, and Yang collapsed onto the ground.
"NO!" Ruby prepared to rush out to grab her sister before Qrow grabbed her cloak and held her back.
"Relax, kid, your big sis is going to be fine once her aura kicks in, let's just go grab her before that ice cream chick does anything else," he reassured calmly. While he was talking, Neo turned and walked away back towards her group while Roman checked her over.
Qrow went and grabbed Yang, looking her over and happy to see that he was right about her aura. However, she had been in enough pain and lost enough blood to lose consciousness and needed to be taken off the battlefield. "Jaune! You and Ren take Yang back to the camp with the others. You two are the most hurt out of us, so we'll keep fighting while you're gone. Just get back quickly, just incase," Qrow ordered the two, who ran up quickly after the orders were given. They rushed off with Yang immediately, and Ruby ran after them quickly. "Ruby!" Qrow called out, and luckily she turned to see what he had to say. "Go find your dad after you check on your sister, and make sure he gets help too!" Qrow ordered, with the red-capped girl nodding and running after Jaune and Ren. This left Qrow, Ozpin, Tom, Pyrrha, Nora, Weiss, Penny, and Austin to fight against the still remaining four villains in front of them.
"Well, your group seems to be thinning very quickly," Mercury commented as he stepped up, waiting for the next victim to step up.
"I guess it's my turn," Austin stepped up as well, the last Tetharan the good guys had.
"Wait, Austin, maybe you shouldn't," Weiss stepped up to stop him.
"What do you mean? You guys can't take on Mercury," Austin honestly stated.
"But even if you win, Emerald still remains, and you won't be allowed to fight again until the rest of us fight," Nora pointed out.
"And how are they gonna stop me from fighting Emerald after beating Mercury?" Austin held little respect for the villains little "game" they had been playing.
"You know, we do still have an army behind us that can just go around the clearing and wipe out any of your forces they come across," Roman pointed out. "Besides, Neo and I can kill any one of you."
"Right, and you wouldn't want any of your new friends dying, now do you?" Mercury asked innocently.
"Shut up!" Austin shouted before looking at the people around him. "Well, if not me, then who?" he asked them.
"I'll take him on, and if anything gets suspicious, just come in a help whenever," Qrow stated, walking forward.
"No way, I'll take him on, your family has taken enough hits," Tom stepped forward as well.
"Perhaps it would just be best if I were to fight him," Ozpin offered.
"Why don't you four just do what we did?" Mercury asked, insinuating that the four play rock-paper-scissors to see who would fight Mercury.
"I guess we could," Tom shrugged his shoulders and earned a glare from the other members of the group. After a few moments, the four converged on each other and began playing the game.
"Rock!"
"Paper!"
"Scissors!"
"Shoot!"
Tom and Qrow both had rock, while Austin and Ozpin got paper, eliminating Tom and Qrow from contention. Austin and Ozpin turned to face each other, and brought their hands back up again.
"Rock!"
"Paper!"
"Scissors!"
"Shoot!"
Austin had scissors, while Ozpin had paper, eliminating Ozpin and selecting Austin to fight Mercury.
"Alright, it's decided! So, you're Tetharan, huh? That's cool," Mercury declared as Austin stepped up.
"It is, for what it's worth," Austin shrugged his shoulders, opening the trench coat he wore to allow his weapons to rotate around him again in a shield.
"By the way, that lovely ability you have, what is that?" Mercury questioned as they prepared for the match.
"It's a semblance passed down through my family. We're each given a set of weapons that we bond our aura with, and they become one with us. So, they react to blindside attacks I would otherwise be unprepared for," Austin explained, seeing no reason in hiding it.
"So it's a semblance? Which must mean it doesn't last forever," Mercury smiled evilly.
"It'll last long enough for me to kick your ass," Austin countered with a smirk of his own, grabbing Ekemos. Mercury charged as soon as he grabbed his claymore shotgun, firing bullets as he kicked towards him. Austin's eyes widened and he blocked as best he could while his defense was inactive and dodged to the side while Mercury flew past him.
I'll have to stick with Ekemos to make sure he can't take advantage of that little weakness I have, and I'm going to have to do it fast. My aura can only keep this up for another couple of minutes! Austin thought to himself, switching Ekemos into its shotgun function and firing at Mercury as he tried charging again. Mercury ducked under the bullets and fired back after stand, causing Austin to move while he was reloading.
Mercury charged after Austin, jumping towards him and using his boots to propel himself forward faster. Austin turned and switched Ekemos back into its claymore form, ready to stab Mercury who was being carried forward by so much momentum. Mercury saw this and moved his legs out in front of him, firing at Austin while slowing his progress. Austin blocked these shots with ease, and charged forward at Mercury.
Mercury began kicking bullets into a cyclone, surrounding him and Austin while Austin was forced to dodge and find an opening. Eventually, Austin stopped moving and tried to rush forward to attack an opening he saw, only to realize the reason the opening was there was because Mercury directed the bullets directly into him, causing a massive explosion and new fresh cracks to form into the ground.
As the smoke faded away, Austin was lucky to block most of the bullets with his swords and for his aura to absorb the other bullets and the overpowering heat of the explosion. Mercury's smirk also faded after he saw Austin alright, and quickly looked for another way to strike.
I still have one trick up my sleeve, but that's going to use up a lot of my strength. If my defense fails, however, I won't have much choice, Austin thought to himself, reloading Ekemos and switching it back into its shotgun function. "Eat this!" Austin held down the trigger, charging the shot with more dust and ammo before launching out a massive wave of death a Mercury, who had no time to dodge.
Mercury let out a scream of pain, showing that he hadn't had enough time to use his aura to absorb the shot, leaving him weak. Austin once again switched Ekemos back into its claymore state and charged before the smoke from his blast faded. Mercury didn't see the attack coming, but heard it and rolled out the way as quickly as he could. He could hear Ekemos whistle past his head after he dodged, noting how close Austin had been.
After that, the smoke blew away, revealing the two staring each other down while Mercury recovered by the help of his aura. "How much aura do Tetharans have, anyway?" Nora asked Ozpin.
"More than us humans, just as they tend to have more of everything," Ozpin replied, still watching the fight as Mercury and Austin clashed.
"But Chaney's aura didn't last long, and Austin's seems to be fading faster than Mercury's," Penny jumped in.
"We only believe Chaney to be Tetharan, so we aren't for certain that she has that much aura anyways. And if Austin's semblance is that shield his swords form, which means he is using his semblance right now and his aura is draining because of it. Simply put, the faster this ends, the more it is in Austin's favor," Ozpin answered.
"She has to be Tetharan though, so why did her aura fail so easily?" Weiss joined the discussion.
"Perhaps her aura recovers slower than her body does, so when she healed so rapidly and rejoined the fight it wasn't prepared," Ozpin theorized.
"But then Emerald should be in the same state, shouldn't she?" Pyrrha was now also involved.
"Perhaps her aura wasn't hit as hard in the fight, or maybe Emerald just has that much, I do not know," Ozpin seemed tired of the questions, so they fell silent and continued to watch.
Mercury was blown away by another shotgun blast as Austin ran after him switching it into its claymore function again. Mercury put his feet on the ground and slid to a stop, trying to punch Austin after dodging his sword strike. Austin's other swords protected him from Mercury's punch, and they both separated again.
"So, you wanna keep fighting in this stalemate, or are you gonna give up before your body does?" Mercury taunted, knowing Austin was working on borrowed time.
"I'd rather just finish you now!" Austin rushed Mercury again, swiping at him again and again. Mercury dodged each jab, with a few just grazing his arms, sides, and legs. He eventually grew tired of this and tried sweeping Austin's legs out from under him, only for his swords to yet again block his strike and throw him onto the ground.
"Any last words?" Austin smiled as he aimed Ekemos at Mercury's neck.
At that moment, the swords around Austin fell, and Mercury's face grew a large smirk. "Yeah. You're finished!" Mercury swept Austin's legs out from underneath him, quickly getting up and putting his boot to Austin's head.
"Goodbye, nuisance," Mercury raised his boot just for Austin to catch it and throw Mercury across the clearing.
"I really didn't want to do this," Austin used the last of his semblance to call his weapons towards him, having them mash together and transform. While his swords transformed, armor spread out over his body, until finally he was fully equipped in large armor and a massive two-handed broad sword that changed into an RPG. "But it seems I have no choice. Say hello to the Okaran King!" Austin ran forward with surprising speed considering the armor he was wearing.
Mercury's eyes widened and he propelled himself into the air with his boots and watched as Austin destroyed the ground where he just was. He gulped and quickly began firing to try and keep himself in the air.
"Go ahead, keep trying to avoid me, I'll just shoot you out of the air!" Austin called out to him, firing a few rounds from his RPG. Mercury saw that staying in the air was a bad idea, but had no time to dodge as a round exploded near him and knocked him out of the sky.
"Dammit!" Mercury shouted out in pain, crashing into the ground and forming a large crater. I can't outlast him if he has that kind of power and range! Mercury tried to formulate a strategy
"Come out of there Mercury, and let's finish this!" Austin called out, slamming Okaran King into the ground and shaking the earth around him.
Shaking his head, he charged out of the crater and began trying to run to avoid Austin's attacks. This proved impossible, however, as Austin still managed to hit him and knock him off balance.
"You having trouble? Allow me to help by finishing this!" Austin charged forward and brought Okaran King up to finish Mercury off once and for all. What Austin didn't notice was that his body began growing numb, and his knees shook with the effort of standing. Okaran King split back into the four swords that made it up, and his armor vanished, revealing Austin collapsed on the ground and unconscious. Mercury had a look of surprise, but quickly got up and walked over to Austin to finish him off.
"Oz, if Austin dies, we lose!" Qrow whispered to him.
"I know!" Ozpin quickly thought out a strategy. "Tom, Qrow, you'll come with me and we'll get Austin out of there."
"What about us?" Weiss gestured to herself, Pyrrha, Nora, and Penny who were the only ones remaining.
"Stay back, if we all get caught up in this, the world is lost," Ozpin ordered. "Now, let's go!" Qrow, Tom, and Ozpin rushed out to save their Tetharan friend, which distracted Mercury enough to let him be for the moment. Qrow was hit and knocked down by Emerald, who ran up and continued to fight. Tom and Ozpin kept running, and Mercury ended up kicking and hitting Ozpin's shield, leaving Tom to run up and grab Austin. As Tom turned to turn, an explosion rang out behind him, sending both he and Austin across the clearing. They all turned to see Roman had shot Tom down, and now only Qrow and Ozpin remained fighting Emerald and Mercury.
"We have to help them!" Weiss told the others. They agreed, and each of them charged into the fight. Seeing the remainder of the allied group running in, Roman and Neo also joined in the fight, with Roman taking on Pyrrha and Neo taking on Penny. Nora went to assist Ozpin against Mercury and Weiss ran to Qrow to help him fight Emerald.
"You were supposed to stay back!" Qrow shouted at Weiss as she used a glyph to throw Emerald down.
"And watch you die? Unlikely!" Weiss reasoned, dodging Emerald's sword and chain.
"Alright, I'm done sitting around, we have to help," Glynda stood and to her surprise, Blake and Oobleck agreed. At that moment, they received a call from a Vale airship. "Who is this?" Glynda demanded.
"I thought you would be happier to hear from a colleague of yours," Port's voice came through.
"Peter?! What happened to you?" Glynda furiously questioned.
"After I suffered some wounds, Ozpin sent me back with the fleet and we were on the way the way back when the feed of the fight came up. We're the closest responders, but we can use some reinforcements before returning to Vacuo," Port replied.
"We're on our way," Glynda answered and hung up her scroll, running out of the room with Oobleck and Blake following after her.
"Perhaps now is the time?" Anselm offered as they watched the battlefield erupt into new conflict.
"Yeah, no kidding," Winter rolled her eyes.
"We won't make it in time," Ironwood said solemnly. "I'll try and get in contact with the other remaining commanders and launch an assault on Tethara."
"What are you talking about? We aren't going to help? What kind of general are you?" Winter soon switched from sarcastic to furious.
"I'm being realistic! Look, I wish I could help them, but we won't make it in time, they are just too far away!" Ironwood shouted back, startling both Anselm and Winter.
"General Ironwood there is no need to act this way," Anselm scolded.
"Of course, my apologies, I just don't like being accused of leaving my friends to die," Ironwood's expression softened before turning away from them and calling Glynda.
"Ironwood? What is it, I'm kind of busy," Glynda replied through the speakers of Ironwood's scroll.
"I'm readying an invasion of Tethara to end this now, and I will need Vale's assistance. With Ozpin being," Ironwood was cut off.
"I know what you're going to say and I'm going to stop you there. I'm going to save Ozpin and the others and there isn't a darn thing you can do to stop me!" Glynda shouted through the scroll and hung up.
"Well," Ironwood was surprised by the outburst, "I guess we're going to Vacuo after all."
And there is another chapter down! Been knocking these out! Thank you guys so much for reading, and as always, please leave a review with any questions, comments, concerns, or criticisms. I will see you all in the next chapter!