Introduced as suddenly as they were to complete darkness, all but Connor were blinded. Reaching out with his senses, he found a margonite directly in front of them. Taking advantage of the creature's momentary surprise, Connor stomped the ground in front of him, causing a giant spike of stone to pierce the creature's chest. "Left!" he called out and pulled them to the right.
"What the hell? Where are we?" echoed Will's voice throughout the halls.
"An ancient place known to us as the halls. Once bright and thriving, now fallen into darkness and over run by creatures of Grimm." This was the response given to him by Hope.
"What?"
Hope was about to explain further, but Connor stopped her. "Don't bother, there will be time later," said he, pulling all along with him.
"No!" yelled Will, squeezing the bloodied left hand of Connor. Planting his feet, the large man caused the group to come to a halt. "I want answers now, or I will not continue!"
"Then you shall die here! For to stay is folly and brings promise of death."
"I can fight," said Will stubbornly.
"Not against these creatures. For in these halls lie Grimm that dwell in darkness greater than we could ever imagine."
"Then I shall die! But I stand by what I say." Seeing there was no changing the man's mind, Connor agreed.
"Fine, but not here; later, when we are safer."
"How do we know we can trust you?" inquired Reyna. "You who have so many secrets."
"Really? You're asking this now? Fine! I don't care if you trust me or not, but right now you just need to take my hand and follow. Do this, and I should be able to get us to Beacon." Hearing the sound of movement from her, he knew she had nodded in consent. "Good, now we've idled long enough. Follow!" With that said, the team was once more off to find an exit near Beacon.
"What the? How did we get here?"
"About time you showed up. What happened to you back there?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Reyna.
"Shut up! I wasn't talking to you."
"I think you happened."
"Explain."
" You have been fighting much in the past few hours. Putting both body and mind through much stress. You're running low on energy and aura."
"Strange, I don't feel tired."
"Oh trust me, once you're out of here, you will. You'll be so tired, you'll barely be able to stand."
"As long as I get us there I'm alright." As the team rounded another corner, Connor's conversation with himself was cut short. For in front of them were, by the sounds of it, about six deathstalkers. "Other way!" Quickly turning around, the group ran like hell.
"Can't you stop them?!" yell Will through the wind rushing past them.
"Are you mad?! To do so would require me to stop and fight, greater increasing the chance of us all dying." As they continued, they came an intersection. Deathstalkers behind them, Beowulfs to the left, and Arachnids* in front. Though to the right, it was empty so they ran that way. After several hundred meters, they were in a scene all too similar to one Connor had been in before. They were surrounded.
Though something was different about this situation, the Grimm were organized. Among the armies of Grimm, each one was covered in bone armor and spikes, showing age and strength. And amongst them were margonites, commanding them. Though none of the team knew any of this, just that they were surrounded. So each let go of the others hand and pulled out their respective weapons.
Each was prepared to fight the overwhelming odds and die. Though none wished to do so where their deaths would go unnoticed. "Doing have an exit in this clearing?" Connor whispered to himself.
"No, though there is one several clearings over that will take you to Beacon."
"I don't care about that one, I want one here. Is there some way you can get one here?" As he said this, the Grimm surrounding them grew louder. The group tensed in response.
"Maybe, if I do it will leave you on the brink of death."
"I don't care, if you don't get us out of here, we'll be dead anyways."
"Fine, I warned you." Once this dialogue was finished, all Grimm as if on cue gave a roar of some type and charged forward. The team was ready to fight, and almost did. Once close enough, some of the creatures of darkness sprang upon them. Each raised their weapons, ready to intercept at least one, but then a hole in the floor appeared underneath them.
Everything was dark, yet there was the strange sensation of wind whipping past his face. This gave him the thought of falling. Upon thinking this, his eyes shot open and looked around frantically. His teammates were trying to apply a landing strategy, Connor didn't have time, for the ground was approaching fast.
They were about to impact with the roof of the library, when it exploded and they passed through. All the others landed on a shelf or pile of books, but Connor crashed into a wooden table, crushing it to splinters. As he tried and failed to stand, the others made their way to him.
Hope was the first by his side, and gave him the collapsable staff. With the help of this he was able to stand, but just barely. "Thanks," said he to Hope.
"Who were you talking to in that place?" questioned Will. "Infact where was that place?"
Hope was once again about to respond, but Connor did as before. With a glare he spoke directly and only to Will. "Now is not the time for such things. For outside this room, lie much more concerning things." Connor started to walk towards the great doors of the library, when Will reached out and grabbed hold of his bloodied arm.
"I'll be damned if now isn't as good a time as any!" Just when he finished the sentence, the doors burst open and a team of four stood there, guns raised. As they opened fire, Connor tore his arm from Will's grasp, and with a flick of his wrist a wall of stone had risen from the ground to protect them. Pulling his arm back, he punched the wall. Upon contact the wall turned to spikes, which were launched at the attackers. There was soon the sound of bodies being torn apart, and thudding to the ground.
"Then you are damned." With that said, Connor proceeded to walk through the doors, relying greatly on the staff and stepping over the remains of the dead. As he glanced at them, they were all his age or younger, and he had just killed them. Nothing, he had seen enough death and caused enough that he now felt nothing.
"Is your brother man or monster?" Will asked Hope.
"A little bit of both," was her response. Hope was quick to follow Connor with her limp. The remainder of the team soon followed.
As they walked through the halls of Beacon, they could hear the sound of combat echoing everywhere. But those were not the only signs of battle. For walking through the halls they saw many a dead body, broken part of the castle, and casing for dust rounds. Once they rounded a corner and saw a team being slaughtered. The attackers killed the team and were soon after their own. Once they were dead, they soon knew who attacked Beacon. The White Fang.
Some time later, they were walking down one of the many halls of Beacon, when the sounds of battle grew almost deafening. Then the very wall next to them exploded inward, revealing the courtyard and the battle that lay beyond. The sight was saddening, the people of Beacon were losing. They were tired, beat up, low on ammo, and running out of hope.
Seeing this, Reyna pulled out her sword, Will his hammer, Hope her bow, and Connor what little aura he had to his hands. Reyna and Will charged forwards, Hope and Connor stayed behind to cover them. Reyna moved as though dancing, but with each step, an enemy felled. Will charged forwards with brutality, nothing seemed to affect him. Hope shot arrow after arrow, each shot held true. Connor raised his arm and with a flick of his wrist, sucked the moisture out of many. With a sweep of his arm, the moisture formed into icicles and pierced many more.
The fight continued on like this, and indeed they were ready to drop. Infact, at one point Connor did. His vision was beginning to darken, but just before he lost all sense, everything came into sharp focus and stood before was none other than Jess.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "This is not the Connor I once knew. You once told me, you made a promise to defend your home and all you care for with your dying breath. Yet here we are, your home being destroyed, and many dying all around. And you do nothing." Upon hearing this last part, Connor began to growl in deep anger.
"Look," she said grabbing his head and pulling it up. "Those who have lesser reason than you, fight stronger. While you lay here."
"Shut up!" he said through a growl. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" He yelled this at seemingly to no one as he rose and tossed the staff aside. "You question my strength! My pride! I am Connor! I am Ghost! I am destroyer! And I shall destroy all who stand in my way!" He yelled this in the face of Jess, though none other saw her.
"Now that's the Connor I know." With a flash she was by his side, weapons drawn. And with her was their old team. Looking at them all, a knowing if evil smile passed over his face.
"Let us rain hell upon them." With a flick of his wrists, his aura took form stronger than ever as two gladius, one in each hand. And with that, they charged forwards into the sea of Faunus that were before them.
It was amazing to all who watched, for with each stroke six more were felled. Though to him it made perfect sense, because he was the only one to see those who helped him in his fight. William fought with his crossbow, Stace and Frank each with one sword of a set, Drew with his dagger, Jess with her flail, and Bill with nothing his fists. They fought as a team, though most were dead, covering each other's weaknesses. Though since none could see his ghosts, many soon thought he had power enough to destroy the whole army, and ran in terror.
Later when the fighting had ended, Connor sat on a pile of dead bodies. He was covered in blood, surrounded by death, and laugh."You did not get more kills than me Drew."
"Yes I did. I swear forty eight or more."
"If you got that many, then I killed several thousand." They chattered on with nonsense like that until someone asked who he was talking to. "Why the dead of course… Oh fuck!"
"Yeah, sorry you can only see us when you're close to death," said Frank. "But hey, look on the brightside. Atleast you go to see us one more time before you die."
At this Connor released a sigh, and looked up with a tired look in his eyes. "I hope I survive this time." And with that everything went black and he passed out.
AN : Finishing this up just before I leave for school. I'm in a bit of a rush so sorry if the last bit isn't as good as it could be. Not much else to say. So until next time Bye!