Chapter twenty-one: Hardware failure
Italics= character thoughts
Meanwhile
Penny landed on a Creep, the force snapping its neck. Her blades shot out of her back, the wires retracting as they stabbed a wall, pulling her out the way of a Beowolf. With a smile, three more swords emerged from her back. With a light tug, she grabbed the wires and began effortlessly controlling the swords, cutting through several Grimm. She glances behind her and throws one back, the blade stabbing an Ursa. Grabbing the wire dual handed, Penny flung the beast with easy over her shoulder, the Grimm barreling through several Beowolves and a small Deathstalker. KOS-MOS landed a few feet away, missing a Grimm by inches. She stomped its foot, her heel going straight through. As it howled, she cut the things head off with her arm blade. It changed back to a hand as she summoned her ether cannon, firing a barrage of shots, each shot killing another monster. The two cut through the hoard, the Grimm falling to mist quickly. The two looked at the group of people.
"Please evacuate to the nearest safe house if available, and if not, barricaded a secluded building with nearby furniture." KOS-MOS advised.
The group nodded and ran. Penny smiled.
"Come on KOS-MOS, there are probably more Grimm nearby!"
"Understood Master."
Herald sped through the sky, dodging a hail of sharp feathers. Aiming, she fired three shots with her cannon, the first clipping a wing, causing the Grimm to flinch and slow, the second hit an eye and the third its forehead. A blade extended from her cannon. She charged the Nevermore and sliced a wing off and ran through its side, the monster releasing an cry as it fell. She looked down at the ground. Two people were facing each other, something flying at the other. A feather grazed her back. She turned to a flock of dog sized Nevermores.
"Hmm, there are a lot of you." her ether cannon's barrel widened, electric power flowing out of it "Goodbye."
A beam of electric charge tore through the flock, the Grim fleeing from it. Herald gave chase, reaching them before they even left the plaza airspace.
"Sorry, no running." she grabbed a Grimm and crushed it in her mech hand.
Copal reacted instantly, slicing the arrow in two, the twin pieces flying to the sides. The force from Laevateinn's shot made her step back from the sheer force, but she quickly righted herself, as Laevateinn pulled back a second, firing, and then a third and fourth. Copal stopped each one, slowly stepping back from each one. Laevateinn frowned.
"Huh...fine then, maybe being a bit more direct will be better." they commented.
The bowstring faded as the curved, metal bow straighten, a blue crystal forming at the top in a crescent. A blade of dark energy, the same as the string from before, shot out the crystal. The bow had changed to a scythe. A quick spin in their fingers ended with the weapon on Laevateinn's shoulder.
"Now then, float like skeeter, bite like a vang. Your weapon won't hit what won't sit still." and with that, they vanished.
In less then a second, Laevateinn reappeared, crouching in front of Copal, smiling. Three lightning quick cuts later, he vanished as Copal attempted to look at the Blade. Suddenly behind her, three more attacks, vanished. Laevateinn continued the tactic, the number of slashes decreasing until it was a constant hurricane of single cuts and disappearing. The Blade looked as though they were teleporting.
"S-Stop it!" "Stay still girl-ugh?!" Laevateinn slashed Copal's throat, silencing her.
"By the way, I'm a boy." he smirked hooking the scythe around her stomach and using it to fling the fire Blade into the air.
He crouched down and leapt into the air. Catching Copal in a second, he spun, using the head of the scythe to bludgeon her, rocketing her to the ground. The crystal head shattered, the curve returning as Laevateinn's bow returned, firing an arrow after the Blade. She struck the ground, bouncing off the stone before the arrow pierced her stomach, the force pushing back to the ground. Laevateinn smiled and did a few front flips, the weapon changing form again. He fell from the air and impaled Copal with the blade, swinging around on the handle, ripping the weapon out before landing on the ground...a horribly crack sounding as his leg bones shattered. He fell to the floor, eyes twitching.
"Ow! Owowowow! Too much, used speed too much!" he quietly cried through grit teeth.
The onlookers all had various expressions. Nia,Weiss and Nero looked worried, Morag and Brighid looked surprised, with a hint on annoyance. Blake and Perun felt a bit sick from the crunch. Yang was out of it. Port and Oobleck...missed it due to chasing some Grimm. Glynda was furious and Dante...Nero had hastily covered his eyes to make sure he didn't see any Blade stuff. He had missed the awakening too. His partner had run off to kill more Grimm. It wasn't as bad as it could have been...barely.
Laevateinn's legs healed after a few seconds, the Blade hopping to his feet. Nero released Dante, the faunus turning to the girl, confused. Nero only shrugged, a nervous grin on her face. Herald descended down to Morag.
"The Atlasian army has arrived, robotic soldiers are pouring out of the ships to kill the Grimm. I have disposed of many airborne Grimm." Herald reported.
Morag nodded as Penny rushed into the plaza, panting from her sprint as KOS-MOS stopped beside her. Her Scroll beeped and she handed it to KOS-MOS.
"...Yes General? Master is currently hyperventilation." she stated answering the call.
"What is happening down there?"
KOS-MOS scanned the area, noting everything.
"The breach in the plaza has been sealed by debris, the Grimm have mostly terminated, two unknown Blades appear to have been fighting, one bearing a possible connection Ruby Rose due to similar weapon type and slight resemblance, although this may be false due to an error on part and lacking information. The other Blade appears to be hostile as she is currently regenerating, rising to her feet and is shouting an impressive number of profanities." KOS-MOS relayed to the General.
"What?!...Is Morag there?"
"Yes, I will bring you to her. Master, is that acceptable?" KOS-MOS asked.
Penny stood up, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, that's fine."
KOS-MOS ran over to Morag, holding the Scroll.
"The General wishing to speak to you."
Morag took the technology and held it to her ear.
"Hello? General?"
"Morag, please tell me there aren't two new Blades fighting and one is Ruby's." he asked.
"If it's any consolation we don't know who the Blade called Copal belongs to." Perun yelled into the Scroll, having heard the question.
"What? Why would that help…? No, doesn't matter, this Copal, how hostile is she?"
Morag glanced at the fire Blade, now reengaging Laevateinn. Attempting to strike and burn the bow/scythe wielder, but unable to hit him.
"Just stay still!" "Or at least stop using that stupid speed!" Copal yelled.
"I'm using it less to stop leg breaking, isn't that enough?"
"NO!"
"Very hostile, I doubt she will stop. And you most likely leak the ability to properly arrest and restrain a Blade." Morag said.
"His idea of imprisoning me was handcuffing me and putting me in a small, dark room. I doubt he could contain a Blade who appears to be able to unleash an inferno." Herald added.
"Indeed, Atlas most certainly lacks ether nets, and as such could not contain a Blade."
"...Thanks for the vote of confidence." Ironwood deadpanned through the Scroll...somehow.
"I have a suggestion." KOS-MOS suddenly said as Penny ran over.
"What is it KOS-MOS?" she asked.
"If the Blade cannot be contained and refuses to stop, we destroy her core."
"But...won't that kill her?" Penny turned to her Blade.
"Yes, permanently."
"Do it." Ironwood ordered.
"What?"
"Blades are near immortal beings that wield powers we can't hope contain...without proper planning and time and investment, planning we didn't do, and time we don't have. If this Blade is dangerous and most likely won't stop, we have to force her to stop."
"Understood General, Master, permission to destroy the rogue Blade."
"I-I...we can't just restrain her, can we?...Okay…"
KOS-MOS nodded and turned to Herald.
"I require your assistance." KOS-MOS hopped onto Herald's mech carriage and whispered something, the other Blade nodding.
And with that, the two sped at Copal.
Laevateinn dodged two slashes and blocked a fireball with his shield, pushed back by the blast. Before he moved, Herald charged by and delivered a strong punch to the gut, knocking Copal into the air. She reached out and grabbed her leg, jetting into the air.
Laevateinn looked on in confusion.
"Hey, I was in the middle of something!" he yelled after.
"Let go of me!" "What are you doing?" Copal questioned as Herald threw her forward, higher into the sky.
KOS-MOS jumped on her hand.
"Launch me."
Herald pulled back and threw KOS-MOS after her.
At this altitude, chance of accidental damage to city structures is minimal. Beginning process. KOS-MOS thought righting herself in the air.
"Are you trying to throw me to space?!" "Are you stupid?!" Copal mocked as she slowed, ready to fall back to Remnant.
"No. You cannot be contained. You will not cease conflict or relent. You mean to bring harm to Vale, my Master, her friends. You will be stopped." her visor flicked down "Releasing safety lock…"
Her two metal clips on her hips unlocked themselves as two rods shot out from them, another two shooting out her shoulders, energy crackling around them. The blue energy arced to her visor as she crossed her arms. A gauge on her visor rapidly filled up to 75% before a warning flashed up, warning of her current inability to handle higher energy levels. She looked at a box, a message reading 'override limiter?' popping up. She looked at yes, the box disappearing and the bar filling to 100%, sparks growing larger. She formed an X in the sky. Another warning popped into view.
'WARNING: PHASE SWITCH ORDINANCE MAY HARM CORE SYSTEMS DUE TO UNCONTROLLED FEEDBACK, CONTINUE?'. KOS-MOS looked at the yes option.
"Blade, by order of General James Ironwood and my Master, prepare to be eliminated. Phase switch ordinance, activate."
"W-What…?"
She suddenly spread her arms and fired a stream of fast beams of light, Copal barely raising a shield in time. It didn't help much, as the beams cut through it and phased right through the Blade, leaving burns and holes. She covered her core with her hand, weapon and a small, dense shield.
"Honing in on target, focusing…" the beams grew closer and soon became a single beam of pure energy, the strength, pushing Copal away.
"S-Stop!" "Please, it hurts!" Stop, stopstopstopstop!" KOS-MOS heard the Blade plea as the beam consumed her, launching her higher and farther away.
She couldn't see, but KOS-MOS doubted little would remain of the Blade after the attack, her core most likely critically damaged, if not shattered.
The remaining power flowed around her body, as KOS-MOS gasped, a shock making her shake as a flood of flashing warnings filled her vision.
'ERROR! POWER CONDUCTORS OFFLINE, PLEASE EARTH MAIN BODY TO DISPENSE EXCESS CHARGE. WARNING, SYSTEM OVERLOAD IMMINENT, PLEASE VENT EXCESS ETHER. WARNING, VENTILATION SYSTEM FAILED, WARNING, MULTIPLE SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT! ERROR, ERROR, ERROR-!'
Her visor exploded, shrapnel flying into her face as the warning siren in her ears grew deafening.
"Mas...ter...system damage...critical...I am...sor...ry…" the world faded away as she fell, smoke pouring from her visor and body.
Penny looked on in horror.
"KOS-MOS!"
Herald flew up to her and grabbed her, flinching from the sudden surge of power arcing into her. KOS-MOS convulsed in her arms, limbs twitching, a vacant look in her exposed eye from a hole in her visor. Her core flashed bright and dim.
"Not good…"
As KOS-MOS fell from the sky, Nia finally stood, shaking her head.
Uhh, my head feels like I got decked by a gogol. she rubbing her hair Ah yeah, that Ruby kid!
She ran over to Laevateinn, who was watching the spectacle. He turned to Nia.
"Hello, quite an impressive display of power, isn't it?" Laevateinn smiled at the sky "Although she overdid it a bit, like my speed. She'll have to recover her ener-" "Hey, can you bring me up to Ruby?" Nia interrupted him.
"Ruby?"
"Your Driver?"
"Oh, the rose, why? She's safe up there." the Blade questioned.
"Because she got one hell of a burn to the eyes and if she's ever gonna see again, I have to get up there!" Nia explained.
Laevateinn looked at the girl for a second before frowning.
"Got it." he grabbed her and held her in a bridal carry-like stance before leaping into the air, landing on a nearby roof, and then jumped to another, landing near Ruby. She had been attempting to stand gripping the side of the near flat roof, eyes sealed shut by a painful looking burn. Nia jumped out of Blade's arms and walked over.
"Ruby, be careful."
"N-Nia? Where are you? Where am I?!"
"That doesn't really matter at the moment, now lay down." she ordered and turned to Laevateinn "Not a word to anyone about wat I'm about to do."
"Okay…?"
A flash of light enveloped Nia as she changed to her Blade form.
"Wait, you're-?!" "Shut it!" she hissed at him.
She pooled water in her hand and crouched down.
"This is gonna hurt, but that's just it workin' got it?" she asked, Ruby only gave a slight nod "Right."
She placed the water on her burn and eyes, pushing in down, covering it completely. Ruby let out a short yelp and started wiggling in pain and discomfort. An aura of of faint light and drops of water floated around the two.
The pain was progressively worsening, something cool flowing and what felt like stabbing into her face and eyes. Before Nia had started, the burning pain had actually disappeared, which was more worrying to Ruby because that meant nerve damage. But the pain was growing and flaring, meaning Nia was doing something positive.
"Damn it, this thing is persisted. It's like there's fire in the cells killin'em as they heal." Ruby heard Nia mutter.
Ruby felt a hand gently grab an eyelid and force it open, making her jump from pain. She saw only a red blur from the eye as liquid ran over it.
"I-I'm...I'm blind…" she whispered, realising what she saw meant.
"Hey, don't be so pessimistic. Give me a minute."
A pain shot through her eye as Nia continued to do whatever it was she was doing.
"Come on lens and junk, don't crap out on me…"
The red in her vision started to fade to a white before a black, blurry figure appeared. Her vision continued to improve until the white and black started to gain colour, the figure gaining tall ears on their head and greyish hair.
"N-Nia?" Ruby guessed, her vision still too poor to fully make out the person.
"Yep, that's enough for that eye now, got to make the other one as good before improvin' them." Nia stated closing the eye and opening the other one.
She repeated the process on the other eye, vision returning to it, to an extent.
"Okay Ruby open both eyes."
After a bit of struggling, Ruby forced them open, the burnt muscle resisting.
"Hmm, still got to work on the muscle it looks like."
Nia ran the water over her face again, the stinging returning, before cooling the pain. Ruby's vision slowly gained more focus until she was met with a blurry but recognisable Nia, although a bit different looking. A blue and red light shone on her chest.
"Umm, Nia, do you, look different?"
"Hmm? Crap, your vision that good already?" she joked.
"Well, you're blurry, but I know that it's you."
"Hmm, good enough I guess, can you blink?" Ruby blinked, only a slight resistance. "Yeah, not sure how much more I can fix, whatever the hell that fire was, it's impeding natural healing, had to force the cells and stuff to fix themselves." Nia explained.
"H-How did you do that?"
Nia froze, glancing from side to side before a flash changed her back to her driver form.
"Wait, you just changed! You didn't have the orange on just there. And there was a blue and red light…" Nia shushed her.
"No tellin' Ruby, I'd been in alotta trouble if Morag or Ironface knew you saw too much. Let's just say, it's my semble-thingy that you lot have and a little first aid." Nia smiled."
"Sure, got it."
"Well my rose, how are you?" Laevateinn asked.
"Huh, that voice. Are you that person that said I was your driver?!"
"Yeah Ruby, that there blur in your vision is Laevateinn, your, umm, Blade. Heh…"
"...Oh…"
"Ruby?!" Yang yelled from the ground.
Ruby turned and ran over to the edge, looking down at the blurry ground.
"Yang, you there? How far up am I?"
"Umm, three stories."
"Allow me." Laevateinn picked up Ruby and jumped off the building, landing in front of the growing group.
Nia rolled her eyes.
Yeah, sure, forget about me. Nia vaulted over the side of the roof and grabbed a ledge two stories down and jumped to the floor.
"Move!" Glynda ordered pushing to the front and grabbing Ruby's head, examining her burn.
Her scapula had a redness to them, and her pupils where misshapen. The part that made her frown the most was that the silvery colour of her irises had dimmed slightly, looking like tarnished metal. Nia walked over and gestured her to lean down.
"I did my best…" she mouthed into her ear.
"Yes General...understood. Professor, I explained to the General about how this girl received burns from Copal and he asked if she could be brought to the infirmary on his ship." Brighid explained walking over.
"Where's Morag?"
"She is dealing with KOS-MOS."
"Hmm, well, it's the least he can do after the mess he brought with him." Glynda spat.
One hour later
Ruby sat in the infirmary of the Atlasian carrier, eyes wrapped in bandages. She could hear someone typing away on a keyboard. Yang sat in corner of the room, away from everything with Laevateinn sitting beside her, hood fabric-like and down, wrapped in his cloak. Yang briefly glanced at him, which made his steel coloured eyes turn to her. A small smile appeared. Yang looked away. The doctor finished typing and turned to her, pulling up a file.
"Okay, well, there is good and bad news. The bad is mild, so let's start there." she glanced at the record "The skin around your eyes has suffered 4th degree burns, it should have caused severe muscle and bone damage and your eyes should be permanently ruined, blinding you. But, the muscles appear to avoided major damage, and from the eye examination from earlier, several cones and rods in your eyes have been burned away, but not too many. You'll have a scar around your eyes and will require glasses to boost your weakened vision. And the good news is the fact that you somehow only have a scar and need glasses. It's miraculous that's all you need." the doctor finished.
She stood and walked over to Yang and Laevateinn.
"She needs to keep those bandages on for a few days. She'll get a call when she's to return to get them removed and be tested and fitted for glasses. General Ironwood said not to worry though. The Atlasian military will pay for the frames, lens and contact lens that she will receive."
"Got it doc. But, how the hell did she get away with so little damage?" Yang wondered.
"I'm not sure, I watched footage of the incident from a CCTV, she suffered an incredibly hot and powerful flame directly to her eyes. It's truly unbelievable that she avoided blindness."
"Umm, maybe you shouldn't talk about this in front of the rose." Laevateinn pointed out, gesturing towards a fidgeting Ruby.
"Yeah, you're right. Hey Ruby, let's go back to the room."
"O-Okay…" Ruby whispered as Yang grabbed her hand, leading her away.
Laevateinn got up to leave and follow, but the doctor stopped them.
"The General would like to speak with you, if it's alright? He's on the bridge."
"Okay, understood." with a nod, Laevateinn grabbed his hood and caught his long hair in it, putting it up, darkness hiding his upper face, the hair somehow contained in the hood.
And with that, he walked out. The doctor sighed.
"These Blade things are weird…" she muttered.
Laevateinn reached the bridge and found not only Ironwood there, but also the Blade with cat ears, a blond Blade and a blue haired Blade he had seen earlier, her ruined jacket held under arm. The group all looked at the new Blade, a mix of reactions, ranging from curiosity, annoyance and happiness. Well, only the blond was happy, waving at him.
"Welcome...Laevateinn was it?" a nod "Got it. So, umm, could you remove your cloak and hood." Ironwood requested.
"And summon your weapon." the cat eared blade added.
With another nod, his cloak hardened and unfolded, forming the pincer like appendages, with the hood following, making the duel claws. He summoned his bow, the bowstring forming. He hung it on a one appendage.
"That is really freaky ya know." Nia commented, shuddering.
"I think it's really cool!" the blond blade added.
"It is unusually."
"Anyway, Laevateinn, we just wanted to talk to you briefly. We'll tell you more tomorrow when Ruby, but similar with want we did with Nero here, you will be pretending to be a student of Atlas, with Nero as one of your teammates. And Nia was acting as another, well, three members here would be odd, so along with you, Kora here will be-" "Wait hold on!" Nia yelled, cutting him off.
"I thought I was only meant to hang around when they went on the mission or somethin'! You want me to be on a team with Nero and Laevateinn?! While throwin' Kora in too?!" Nia finished, clearly irritated.
"Yeah? Didn't they tell you? They asked me earlier." Kora brushed off with a handwave.
"They bloody well did not!"
"Listen Nia, in a week, there is a festive and tournament, which will last a week. After that, the General is returning to Atlas. We'll be leaving too. Due to undisclosed reasons, yourself and Kora cannot finish your course. Nero and Laevateinn will transfer to Beacon as a two man team, allowing them to stay with their Drivers. We held off telling you because…" Morag said walking into the room.
"Because they probably knew you would react like this Miss Nia." Nero finished.
"Yeah, that…" Ironwood rubbed his neck.
"Hmm, got it, you'll tell me more tomorrow with rose, right wood?" Laevateinn asked.
"It's Ironwood, James Ironwood." the General corrected offhandedly.
"Oh, yeah, sorry Ironwood." he scratched his cheek nervously, apologising.
"Well Nero, let's go!" Kora cried grabbing Nia and holding her under her arm.
"Wha?! Let go of me Kora!" Nia ordered as she was carried out of the room.
"I felt bad that I had to sleep in a four person room on my own because Mr Ozpin couldn't get me a single person room, now it'll be full." Nero said walking in front of them.
Laevateinn's bow disappeared as he folded the cloak back, but left his hood as claws.
"Goodbye." he waved leaving.
"(Gasp!) We have to think of one of those team names, don't we?!" Kora yelled, still audible.
"HELP ME!" Nia shouted out, no one coming to her aid.
After a few seconds of silence, Ironwood sighed.
"(Sigh) Anyway, how is KOS-MOS?" Ironwood asked.
"She has suffered a severe seizure-like episode and is currently unconscious. Her body is healing slowly, far slower than normal. She most likely won't awaken until her body has healed."
"That was an impressive display of power though, wasn't it though?"
"Indeed, too powerfully. Her body couldn't handle it. Penny is quite distraught."
"Yeah, I can guess, but at least she's alive, and that Copal Blade is gone."
Unknown location, far from Vale
A speeding object tore through several trees and clipped an outcrop of rock, hitting the ground, the impact creating a creator. Two smaller pieces hit around the hole, virtually exploding into a mess of flesh and blood. For a minute, nothing moved and silence reigned. But, slowly, something struggled and moved, crawling out of the creator. Copal, teeth clenched, crawled out of the hole with her one, damaged arm, exposed bone and muscle straining. Her right leg, still attached, was dragged behind her, useless, due to it being mostly charred bone. She clawed her way over to a smaller impact point, rooting out her arm, although it's little more then fractured bone shards barely held together with skin. The hand lacked it's thumb, index and pinky finger. She shoved the bone into her shoulder, slight healing reattaching the bone, although it remained unusable. She crawled over to another hole, pulling out her leg, surprisingly mostly intact, only slightly damaged. She shoved into the remnant of her leg, before just collapsing fully and laying on her back, looking up at the sky.
Flesh slowly healed...bone mended the best it could...previously unburned skin turned pale, while the burns on her other side lessened. She glanced at her core. A small, shallow crack ran down it, a weak tinge of pain pulsing from it, as well as her whole body. She closed her eyes and simply lay there, healing. A minute passed, then another, then an hour, then another. She opened her eyes...and screamed.
She screamed out into the sky, the forest.
She screamed out her angry,
Her hate,
Everything...she just...released her rage, an inferno surging up and out of her. She engulfed the whole area. A few Grimm drawn to her were consumed in black flames, the Blade vented hatred, rage, resentment, bitterness, pain, all in a burning fire.
She stood, shaking. Her working arm fully healed, the other still missing fingers, but otherwise working. Both legs looked as though they had suffered atrophy, weakened. Her core shone bright, apart from the crack, which was a thin, dimmer light. She summoned a weapon core, using her teeth to pull it apart. Her weapons formed and she attached them, realising her ability to dual wield was lost as she looked at her hand. She summoned a flame to her two fingered hand.
"When I find them…" "They will pay…" "I'm going to kill all them!" She yelled out, her words fading into the burning landscape.
AN: College has returned, fun.
So, sorry for the delay, I had this mostly ready yesterday, just needed to finish it. Fun fact, most times a chapter comes out, it was mostly done the day before, I just got to finish it, which I always never do.
So, just got to say this, the whole EU internet thing that I thought was on the 22nd and had me worried if I could finish this, kill Youtube, stuff like that, turns out, a lot of stuff is happening about that I didn't know, like how it's being thrown around and appears to be dying...kind of? It's weird, but nothing's happening for a few months, so yeah, that's good...hopefully. The whole thing is complicated.
Pm, review, don't believe internet news wholeheartedly from a random guy writing fanfiction on the internet, he can get stuff wrong.
Anyway, enjoy.