RWBYond War
AN: I am so proud of the last two chapters. I don't think there is any way to really keep it going upwards from there. We're approaching the last stretch of this horrid night for Team RWBY. Remember that a puzzle is something you have all the pieces to and its up to you to figure it out.
Chapter 21: The Sword of Damocles
Blake slid along the rooftop onto a landing. She limped a bit at the pressure on her leg. She hissed in pain and sprayed more medical adhesive on it. She crawled on all fours and spotted the tracks for the tram Vile had escaped on.
"Blake, are you sure you should be out and about?" Jaune said into her radio.
"I'm fine Jaune." Blake said. She spotted the train coming. With her natural night vision, she could see Vile in the front car. "Train's coming."
"Blake you really need to wait for either Ren or Yang."
"There's no time." Blake jumped onto the train. She ground her teeth to keep from yelping. She cursed herself for being so weak. Sure, her friends would disagree with that notion but skill and strength were separate entities. She was by far the weakest member of Team RWBY. In terms of aura, she had always been. Back at Beacon she ranked in the lower third in stamina.
"Blake, you still haven't recovered from your fight with Adam…" Yang started.
"I appreciate the concern."
"This guy just took on Ruby!"
"Duly noted." Blake hung up her radio and took a deep breath. She stealthily slipped through a window on the tram. She could see Vile now. His back was to her. She pulled out her gun ready to fire. She pulled the trigger, the skull-round ripped through the back on Vile's head and out the front window. Then it faded.
"Did you think you could get the drop on me?" Vile held a gun up to her head. "You've got nowhere to run."
"I'm done running."
"Are you really?"
"You're not getting inside my head."
"But it's so easy…so self-conscious…but I'm not interested in getting inside your head. You're inconsequential to my desire. So instead, I'll paint the next room with your brains."
"What's faster, your finger or me?" Blake challenged. She heard the click of his gun. Empty? She spun back and around, firing at him. He dodged every bullet in the blink of an eye. Blake fell back to the doorway only to be kicked in face through the window. She swung through the flickering clone.
"Damn it." Vile said as he banged on his chest.
"Empty, so that's why you didn't finish Ruby?"
"I didn't finish her because there's still more for her to learn. When I watch her loose herself, I want to look her in the eye with my own." She rolled forward and slashed at him with a dozen strikes, each one of them missed.
Blake avoided a kick to the face with a clone only to be caught in an arm bar. She slipped out of it with an electric clone. As the sparks flew, Blake kicked Vile in the face and slashed him across the chest.
"What the hell is your deal anyway?" Blake asked as her blade slid past his arm. He caught her by the wrist.
"Legacy." He said as he sent an elbow into her ribs. "Destiny." He wound up his fist. A rune on the grieve glowed. This was… "Hope." Vile's fist hit her in the gut. The execution fist cracked her ribs. This was the move Avarice taught Yang to help her focus her powers against the Grimoire.
"No." Blake was blasted to the back of the train. She only took half the damage thanks to a last split second clone. Otherwise she'd be dead.
"In that order those three things made me into who I am today. The Seerlivey, hunter of hunters."
"Did you hear that." Blake groaned into her radio.
"That title has popped up a couple times tonight." Jaune said. "We can't find anything on what it means."
"Now I know what it all means." Vile said. The armor around his right arm fell off, broken from the battles. His hand was pale and clammy with the Cipher Sigil tattooed to the back. He pulled out both pistols and lined the tops of them up.
"Get away from her!" Yang burst from above, lighting a radiant flame in the tram. She stepped between Vile and Blake and stood defensively.
"Yang Xiao Long. Pleasure to finally meet you." Vile said. "I'm glad you're here for this moment." The handles of his pistols rotated down and together. "The first hunter was so worried about what would happen to humanity should he pass that he had the wizard seal his soul away in a piece of tapestry. That tapestry still holds the power of his semblance. It has been used by heroes throughout the generations. Now, seven such weapons exist."
"What the hell are you on about?" Yang said. Her whole body was glowing.
"These weapons are powerful." He said. "In the right hands, they can cripple even the most powerful of beasts." A long blade shot from the gun handle. "This is the greatest of these weapons. The Sword of Damocles. Named for the engineer that designed it."
"Archibald Damocles?" Yang said as she put her ursa mask on.
"He was among the first to design mecha-shift technology, creator of the gun-sword." He held the sword up and spun it around a few times. "It doesn't work all that well on people. More of a Grimm hunting weapon. But against the two of you, Arbiter and Faunas, it should do nicely."
Yang rushed him but the explosive punches were easily batted away by the sword. Yang kept up the assault, using the claustrophobic corridor to her advantage. But no matter how she punched, or how fast she moved, the only thing her fists were hitting was air.
"Hold still you little bastard."
"You'll never lay a hand on me!"
"Piss off!"
"For five years I've been training specifically to beat your little sister. Do you really think you can keep up?" Vile taunted.
"Shut up!" Yang's punch was parried and Vile lined up a stab. Yang flared up her aura to block it. Then the sword pierced right through her chest.
"You really should know this by now." Vile scorned. "You've been an Arbiter for four years. Your mother uses the same type of sword. Yet tonight you have shown just how much of a little girl you still are." Yang dropped to her knees as the blade exited her body.
"What?" She muttered. Her hair flashed as she threw a punch to Vile's knee and missed as he danced around it. He kicked the back of her head, forcing her to faceplant to the floor.
"Yang!" Blake got up and rushed Vile. They clashed swords. From what Blake, could feel, there wasn't anything that separated this sword from any other sword. Blake ducked under a swing and rolled out of the way of a shotgun kick. She used a clone to avoid the next swing in the nick of time. The blade beam it let off did hit her though. I hurt enough to cause her to stagger. With a spinning attack, Vile sliced open her torso.
"Just as I said." Vile chided. Blake screamed in pain as she felt the blood leave her body. She died, there and then. Then, there was nothing, just a cat-scratch.
Vile kicked her out of the window. Blake grabbed onto the last cart and yelped as her body strained from the effort. An explosion later, and Yang had blasted her way to the top of the train. She advanced against Vile, the wound nearly gone. At first glance it seemed like her aura closed it instantly. Then Blake realized that her own body had recovered which was odd because she had nearly no aura left.
"What the hell is that sword?" Blake said as she got back on top of the train. Yang blasted her fists into Vile's sword before backing off to avoid his next attack. Blake fired her pistol, but all the bullets were dodged. Yang took advantage of Vile's evasive stance and connected a punch to his head, knocking him off the train.
"It's like Corcea Mors." Yang said. She jumped off the train and landed on the rooftop next to Vile. Blake followed behind.
"I'm impressed." Vile said. "It seems you're not quite a monster yet."
"I'm never going to be a monster." Yang said resolutely. She ran at him and he dodged her strike. He flipped over her and blocked Blake's follow up attack. She tried forcing him back. Yang punched through her as she subbed in a clone and the attack hit it's mark.
"You've almost got him." Jaune said. "One more hit like that and he's toast."
Yang and Blake flanked both his sides. They forced him backwards. He could barely keep up with the dual attacks. His sword slid along Blake's sheath as he kicked Yang in the stomach. Blake then felt a sharp pain pierce her stomach.
"Blake!" Yang screamed. Blake was fine but her aura shattered. The wound was small, much smaller than the blade, but it was still there. Blake had never been in so much pain in her life. Vile went to finish Blake off with a kick but Blake caught his foot and tossed him back.
"Do you know why this sword hurts so much?" Vile asked. "Swords created from the sealed soul of Abraham are the deadliest weapons the Grimm had ever known. Nevermore's silver blade, Jaune's Corcea Mors, my Sword of Damocles, these blades exist for the soul purpose of slaying Grimm."
"Then…" Blake's eyes went wide in revelation.
"Faunas and Arbiter, Belladonna and Branwen…" Yang grit her teeth at the use of her mother's name. "You are both byproducts of Avis Bran. Born from Redstone and Grimm experiments."
"How the hell do you know that?" Yang snarled.
"For one, Cipher is an offshoot of the Arbiters. We were formed to seal away the knowledge that perpetuated the cycle. Secondly, a former adversary of yours let us in on the secret. We already knew of course, but finding out that the two of you knew as well…well, it's interesting isn't it."
"I still don't…" Blake said.
"Have you seen Jaune kill anyone with his sword?" Yang said.
"Now that you say it out loud…" Blake trailed off.
"It can kill people." Vile said. "But if it lays the killing blow, the victim's soul will be trapped in the blade. This is the semblance of Abraham, the first hunter."
"Grimm can get sealed too." Yang said. "Can't they?"
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner." Vile leaped in the air and stabbed down at Yang.
"The King's Chart." Yang fired ranged blasts at Vile. "That's the tapestry isn't it."
"Yes, and the one who forged this sword was Damocles, an Argentware who lived over a hundred years ago."
"You Bastard!" Yang's semblance flared. "That's Ruby's ancestors you're talking about! That's their weapons you're using!"
"You say that, but you have no idea how deep this hole goes. Only an Argentware can create such a blade. Acacia Glens created Corcea Mors after Raymond Rose supplied the material. Your mother was only able to create her silver blade because of the deep feelings she had for Summer Rose, who supplied the metal."
"And now you're twisting those same kinds of feelings for your own vendetta! There's a reason Jaune took an oath never to kill a human with that sword!" Yang's white raven form exploded from her body and lit the endless night ablaze.
"Does Ruby know that Blake's entire race was created in a lab by someone trying to unlock the secrets of Grimm?"
"She wouldn't care!"
"You're right about that. So why keep it from her?"
"Shut up!"
"Humans…what that term means to you doesn't mean the same to an emotionless blade." Vile said. He slashed away at the energy construct. "The two of you don't count as humans." He stabbed Yang through the stomach. "Too much Redstone in your veins. Just like him."
"I'm not like them." Yang coughed out. She ignited an execution punch directly into his head. Part of his helmet was blasted off and he flew into the railing on the building. Blake could see the cracks in the helmet. There were small tufts of black hair poking out from the cracks.
"What was that earlier? I'll never touch you?" Yang said mockingly.
"A slip up…exhaustion from all the fighting." Vile stumbled up. His suit flickered blue lights.
"Who are you?" Blake asked.
"Who I am is of no consequence to either of you."
"The hell it isn't!" She wrapped her hands around his throat.
"It isn't." He choked out. "Not yet." He disappeared. It was a clone?
"GAH!" Blake choked out as she felt the blade pierce her from behind.
"Your choice Branwen, chase me or save your partner." Vile pulled the sword out and jumped off the rooftop.
"GOD DAMN YOU!" Yang screamed. She ran up to Blake's side. "I'm so sorry. I should have been able to see he had made a switch."
"It's okay." Blake said. She swallowed the soldier pill Yang gave her. Blake could feel her aura healing the wounds. "He's right…I have been letting my people's origin get in the way of everything. Tonight, it nearly cost me my life more than once."
"So what are you going to do?" Yang asked. "I mean, beside taking the rest of the night off of course." She said.
"I'm going to call Sun, have him come here tomorrow." She said. "I…I think I'm ready to settle down, to prove to myself that our origin doesn't matter."
"Oh." Yang bit her bottom lip. "Oh!" Her face lit up as she picked up on Blake's visual cues. "Oh…shit." She said. "So in about, I don't know, give it ten months… I'll be the only one that doesn't have a kid."
"Don't sound too pleased." Blake said.
"Hey if I can ever find someone who can keep up, maybe I'll settle down." Yang said half-heartedly. "Maybe." She added.
"Well until you decide to grow up, you'll just have to be an honorary aunt for any kids Sun and I have…also…Yang, I need your help. Phos said my family is still alive. After this night is over, you, me, and Sun…the three of us need to find them."
"It would be my honor." Yang said.
"Thank you."
AN: There were a lot of ideas I had for the dialogue and revelations in this chapter, but I couldn't remember all of them. Only a few were actually written in my outline. So, Blake is done for the night, Yang is still fighting though. I may do a story where Yang, Blake and Sun are looking for Blake's family, but I'm not going to plan that until we learn more about them. Next time we see Vile, that mask is coming off. Next Time: Jaune returns.