And so, we reach the beginning of the fall of Beacon. But be reminded, we will be encounter some characters that readers of the Rider trilogy would think to be dead, ENTIRE. TEAMS. of OCs from my brother, and witness the destruction of ones soul, the breaking of legs, and the blinding of an eye. Wait til you see the credits at the end of the last chapter to explain which OCs belong to the each of use.
I wrote this chapter imediately after the previous one was put up. I'm hoping to get all of the next few like this.
...
"Have you been using my research?" Dr. Rifleman asked.
"What gave you that idea?" Ironwood questioned.
"The only way your aura technology would get this advanced so quickly is if you made a breakthrough from unethical research." Dr. Rifleman answered.
"Why is that?" Ironwood asked.
"I won bore you calculations. I'm just letting you know you might not have needed me." Dr. Rifleman explained. "It seems that fate doesn't want this girl to die yet."
...
Viridian attempted to call Ruby. There was no response. He nudged Rusty. "I need to know something."
"What?" He asked.
"Penny. She has guards watching her constantly, and teammates that work for Camo. Why's she so important?" Viridian asked.
"She's a robot with a soul." Rusty whispered.
"What? How is that possible." Viridian questioned.
"I don't know. But I've never seen anything like it before." Rusty answered.
"Let me know how the fight ends, I need to go look for Ruby." Viridian explained.
"Why? What's going on." Rusty asked.
"I don't know, but I don't think it's good." Viridian answered.
"Well, I can help speed up the search." Grey interjected. "She went to the maintenance. I think she's trying to stop the fight." Grey explained.
"Why would she do that?" Viridian asked.
"Because I think Nikos is the one with the Polarity semblance. And I think someone wants to expose Penny as a robot using that semblance." Grey answered, pulling out his compass.
"Who would do that?" Rusty asked.
"Your brother threatened to do it as blackmail. And if he told Dr. Apollo, they could be making good on their threats." Grey answered.
"This is bigger than Eclipse. I think it's what Roman Torchwick and the White Fang were waiting for." Viridian said.
"Whatever it is, we can't fight it if Camo's on your trail." Grey reminded.
"So what are you going to do about?" Viridian asked.
...
Silicon observed the fight between Pyrrha and Penny, while simultaneously scanning the area with his semblance.
"Everyone report in." Camo ordered for everyone he trusted to report of their progress every couple of minutes on what they were observing.
"I have found nothing suspicious near Vale." Light explained. He was accompanied by Limone and Macaw.
"Everything seems clear around Beacon." Anna noted.
"I'm sensing some unusual activity at the Amity Colosseum, within the maintenance area." Silicon explained.
"What is it?" Camo asked.
"I hope I am mistaken, but it seems that Mercury Black and Ruby Rose are both trepassing in the area." Silicon answered.
"That's impossible! Black's leg was broken. You have to be mistaken." Anna noted.
"Even if that were the case, there are trespassers in the area." Silicon replied.
"Get over there and investigate." Camo ordered.
"That's not the only thing. Someone in the stadium is using a semblance to alter the fight." Silicon warned. "And I believe I have located Dr. Rifleman amongst the audience."
"You're already in the stadium. Rose can handle herself. We need to find Rifleman and see what she knows." Camo concluded.
"Rifleman isn't using her semblance, and she's positioned to observe the semblance user and maintenance area. She's likely to escape." Silicon noted.
"I'm going after Rifleman. I want everyone else waiting near the exits incase she tries to leave early." Camo ordered.
"I also believe Viridian may be in the Colluseum, headed towards Rose and Black." Silicon concluded his report.
"Dealing with Viridian can wait. Let's hope he doesn't cause any inconveniences. The others are more pressing matters." Camo replied. Silicon closed his scroll.
"Professor Silicon, you mind if we chat for a second?" Grey asked, walking in front of him.
"Whatever this is, I don't have time for it." Silicon warned subtlety, making his voice sound more inconvenienced than threatening.
"Which is exactly why I'm slowing you down." Grey answered. "I'm done letting you people hunt my friend." Grey explained.
"This isn't about Viridian. This is about the Tournament." Silicon warned.
"Sure it is." Grey said sarcastically.
"I think we both know there's more to this fight than meets the eye." Silicon explained.
"The question is, how do I know you're not part of the problem?" Grey asked.
"You don't, but I do know that if we hesitate now, people could die." Silicon answered. He pushed past Grey. Suddenly, a cloaked figure appeared in front of him.
"I informed you of Dr. Rifleman's location and Camo's secrecy. Now you need to know that Beacon will be attacked." The figure spoke with an echoey voice, as if it noises were bouncing around inside Silicon's head. Silicon recalled the illusion of Dr. Artemis used to direct Camo back to General Ironwood after their attack on Eclipse's headquarters during the Breach.
"Who are you, and what do you want now?" Silicon asked.
"I am Achroma. And I want to bring an Age of Chaos." The cloaked figure answered.
...
Viridian entered the maintenance area. He could hear the sounds of fighting, which he followed to find Mercury kicking Ruby into a wall. "Mercury." Viridian said.
"I don't think we met." Mercury noted.
"Nope. But I promised Yang I'd break your legs if I found out you deserved it." Viridian replied. "And something tells me she'd break your legs if she saw what you're doing."
...
Dr. Rifleman watched the tournament fight. "If you're here in the open, you either assumed I wouldn't be looking, or you wanted me to find you." Camo concluded.
"Or maybe I doubted you'd do anything in front of all these witnesses. General Ironwood is just a few rows down, you know." Dr. Rifleman commented.
"What are you here for?" Camo asked.
"The Vytal Tournament. Have you been that buried in your work that you forgot?" Dr. Rifleman replied sarcastically.
"When did you start caring?" Camo asked.
"You don't care that anyone might overhear?" Dr. Rifleman asked back.
"Selective attention. People tend to ignore side conversations when there's loud commentary, plenty of roaring, and a fight to watch." Camo answered.
"And the fight is very important." Dr. Rifleman replied. "Just yesterday, it looked like someone lost a leg."
"What makes you think didn't?" Camo questioned.
"You can only put so much firepower in a pair of boots without taking away the legs." Dr. Rifleman answered. "But I think you really should be watching the fight."
Camo looked to see the fighters. Pyrrha Nikos was facing Penny Polendina.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't have been able to stop it from happening." Dr. Rifleman said. "Even if Silicon makes it past Grey and Achroma's illusion to reach Emerald in time, Reggie Heliotrope will do her job for her. And if Reggie doesn't do it, then Achroma will."
"And what if I stop them both?" Camo asked.
"You won't. I'm certain Anna told you about the Heliotrope's aura concealing abilities." Dr. Rifleman reminded. "And if you haven't figured out who Achroma is yet, you won't do it in time to stop what's coming."
"But you could have stopped this before it happened." Camo responded.
"This can't be prevented. If it's not the tournament, it's the attack on Beacon or the CCT getting hijacked." Dr. Rifleman replied. "It doesn't matter if Onyx survived his fight with Umbra, or if Night doesn't take his sabbatical. The only thing powerful enough to end this are gods, and none of them are on your side."
Just before Silicon reach Emerald, Pyrrha used a powerful magnetic blast. The strings connecting Penny's weapons wrapped around her and sliced her body apart, exposing her robotic insides to the audience, who looked with surprise, horror, and confusion. "This is why you created Viridian." Camo realized.
"This is destiny, Forrest. I warned all of you that this would happen, and no one listened." Dr. Rifleman explained. "But now, you can see for yourselves."
...