Author's Note: Happy New Years everyone!
Chapter 45: VRSZ Ravagers Final Act
Fifteen Minutes Before the End of the Previous Chapter
Setting: Eastern Border
Remus, Zelts, and Loden finally made it to the airship where everyone was evacuating and Team BASG were fending off the Grimm that tried to attack them. Silver was on the ground with Fenrir, firing round after round at any Alucards that dared to come near the airship. Blood and Bianca took a more direct approach to deal with the flying swarm. Blood ran out of ammo in Ceasefire so he abandoned the guns and flew through the thicket of Grimm while carrying Bianca by grabbing her arms. Since she was holding onto Blood's arms, Bianca can't use her guns to attack the Grimm though she had a more powerful weapon in her arsenal. Blood was a very fast and agile fighter. He dodged all the Grimm bats that came for them, zipping through the sky while drawing the attention of the Alucards away from the remaining citizens that boarded the airship. While doing this, Bianca had Stardust activated and let the shining particles float in the air as she left a trail everywhere Blood flew. The shining Stardust particles began to outnumber the Grimm in the sky, shining light down on Fortuna for the first time in hours. Blood returned to the ground with Bianca, landing near Zelts and Remus with all the Grimm tailing behind them.
"Zelts, if you would?" Bianca asked and he knew what she wanted.
Zelts split his Heart of Gold into wingblades and spun them in the direction of the Grimm, creating a spiraling windstorm that captured all the incoming Grimm and Stardust particles. Zelts made it larger until it was a large tornado that sucked in all the Alucards and Stardust particles in the sky, covering the green tornado into a mixture black clusters and brilliant light. This move sucked in all the Grimm that would attack the airship and the citizens used this time to board the vehicle.
Zelts kept the tornado going with all the Alucards unable to flying out of the vortex and Bianca used her semblance to eradicate the Grimm in one fell swoop. She snapped her gloved finger with the fire dust woven in and the Stardust particles kindled into flames, engulfing and scorching all the Grimm inside while transforming the tornado into a massive inferno that brightened the area. This was similar to Zelts and Violet's Petal Storm: Hellfire.
Back on the airship, the members of Team CLSH, Onyx, and Ghost noticed the vortex of fire and all of them felt like they'll be fine.
Zelts stopped creating the tornado and the Alucards that weren't burned to cinders fell from the sky like fiery rain. They landed on the ground where they were burned to death. Zelts and Bianca's combined strength was able to eradicate all the Grimm in this area, reducing the number of Alucards flying in Fortuna tremendously.
"Nice," Silver complimented after watching such a dazzling display. "Glad you guys could make it. Where's Violet?"
"Not here, meaning she's still somewhere in Fortuna," Remus answered.
"Alright, then let's get her," Silver said.
"Where would she be?" Zelts asked.
They all heard something collapse immediately after Zelts asked the question. They saw a building crumble to the ground. "That's a good place to start," Silver said.
"Then let's go," Remus said, taking a more direct approach than he usually does. He placed a hand Silver and Zelts then used Checkpoint to teleport to that area, leaving Blood and Bianca to talk about their own plans.
"Now that the Grimm are here and the last of the people are on board, I'll go get Lady Clair," Bianca said.
"I'll get Clair, Bianca," Blood told her. "I'll be able to get there faster in the air than you on foot." Blood told Clair and didn't give her time to discuss the matter. He flew into the air toward Fortuna to locate his boss and Bianca decided it was the best course of action though she still wanted to be there to protect Clair. She decided to stay with airship in order to safeguard it from any stray Grimm.
Setting: Ruined Fortuna
Remus teleported himself and his team using Checkpoint along with his bionic eye to reach the exact location where the building just fell. With most of the buildings in Fortuna reduced to rubble, it was hard to distinguish where they were. A lot of structures and landmarks were destroyed so neither of them could really tell what district they were in, but they quickly learned Violet wasn't the cause of the building falling.
All three of them heard the sound of loud stomping and looked past the clouds of dust and smoke to see a massive Grimm. The mangled, draconic body discerned that it was a Jabberwock, just like the one they faced long ago. The beast had its red eyes on all three of them and let out an ear-screeching shriek. It released a powerful burst of blue flames from its mouth into the sky before charging toward the team.
"Ah shit," Silver complained before he and the others were attacked..
Setting: Clair's Office
Clair was watching the remaining Grimm in her city and deemed it was time for her and Sterling to take her leave. She wasn't happy with how things turned out. Her city, her Fortuna, which she worked so hard to cultivate, has been destroyed and by a fellow Vantablack no less. She felt foolish for not seeing Carabosse for the dangerous person that she was, but couldn't dwell on it now. "It's time uncle."
"Indeed. Let's be on our way," Sterling agreed.
The two were about to exit her office room until the doors were opened from the other side. Carabosse entered the room like she owned the place. Despite the horrible feeling of her aura suffocating the room, she walked in with elegance and class befitting of a Vantablack. Sterling looked at his younger sister with contempt and Clair began to adopt the same expression until she saw Ebony casually walked in. Her silver eyes met Clair then she smiled and waved at her like they were friends. Throughout this whole crisis, Clair still didn't know what to make of her cousin.
"Hello Sterling. It's nice to see you one last time," Carabosse said.
"Last time?" Sterling questioned.
"Yes, this will be the last time we encounter one another. I'm only here for Clair. I wish for her to come along with me. I want to train her to use her semblance for-"
Sterling pulled out his pen and transformed it into a short sword when she talked. "I won't let that happen! Not while I live!" Sterling pointed his blade at Carabosse, specifically at her heart, and his eyes were full of conviction.
"… I suppose you're right. As long as you are her guardian, then getting her to my side is impossible. You have been a great influence on her and have no doubt installed your morals onto her, but with the right molding she can be an agent of destruction," Carabosse said as she walked to the door leading to Clair's bedroom.
"Why me?" Clair asked in confusion.
"Your semblance is like mine. One that manipulates people to your will, but you refuse to use it that way which is why I want to take you under my wing and help you cultivate it into a fine weapon. Just like how I trained young Ebony here." Carabosse answered.
"I don't plan on doing anything like that with Songstress. After uncle and I get out of here, I plan on laying the ground work for my next project. My people need a place to call home after all," Clair stated.
Sterling was proud of his niece while Carabosse thought it was just pretty words. While she opened the door that led to Clair's kitchen and bedroom, she pressed a button on her scroll. Carabosse used Somnus on Sterling to make him heavy-eyed and sluggish so he wouldn't properly react to what was coming. Responding immediately to her call, Grayson swung into Clair's office from the window and attacked Sterling, as per Carabosse's orders. Grayson's surprise entrance caught the two Vantablacks off-guard and Grayson used this moment to slash Sterling on the back before landing in front of him.
"I'll go pack your things, Clair," Carabosse said smugly as she went through the door with Ebony following behind her.
Sterling parried a strike from Grayson's grapple sword, but he could barely stay on his feet. Not only was he fighting against sleep, but he was also weaker in his old age. Grayson was much faster as he was able to land some gashes on the older Vantablack, chipping away at his aura. Clair was very similar to Violet when it comes to combat; she didn't like being the damsel in distress. She was about to use Songstress to subdue the ravager, but Grayson was aware of her semblance. Grayson clashed with Sterling once more then pushed him away, that's when he noticed Clair beginning a melody and lunged for her. He had his sword ready to kill, not for Clair but for the one he knew would come and protect her. Sterling quickly got between the two and had his pen sword directed at Grayson's heart. The mercenary swerved his body to avoid the blade as well as still drive his weapon into Sterling and he succeeded, plunging his sword into Sterling's chest while the pen sword stabbed into his shoulder.
Clair looked on in silence at the sight before her. Sterling Vantablack, her loving uncle who has been with her since the death of her parents, the man who helped her build Fortuna into what it was and the one of the few people she could always trust, was dead. She didn't respond verbally, she couldn't. No words could describe what she was feeling, though the tears filling her eyes did the job rather well. She silently shed tears at the horrible end that fell her uncle and didn't pay attention to what happened next.
Violet entered the room to see the end of the spectacle and charged straight for Grayson in blind fury. Both leaders of the Freelancers and Ravagers fell through the window of her office to fight their battle. Feeding off of Violet's killing intent, the Alucards began to follow them. Clair was left alone in her office with Carabosse and Ebony Vantablack walking back into the room, leaving Clair at their mercy.
Setting: Ruined Fortuna
When they swung down from Concordia Violet saw her moment to strike. She threw an ice Enigma at Grayson when he tried to land on the roof of a building. She was aiming for a kidney, but got his left leg instead, freezing it and causing him to loosen his grip on his cable. The extra weight of the ice threw Grayson off his original trajectory and he fell through the window of the building instead of the ceiling. He tumbled into the building and hid in the shadows of the room to wait for Violet to arrive. It was silent for a disturbing long time. Grayson wasn't sure what she was doing. With her Invisibility, Violet could be in this room without being noticed or plotting something from the outside. He had no idea.
Grayson heard explosions and felt the building rumble. Outside the building, Violet was throwing fire Enigmas at the ruined building and making them all explode on impact which brought the building down. The building was beginning to fall apart, starting with it splitting in two. The room Grayson was in was split down the middle and a couple of Grimm entered. Four Alucards flew in to building along with a cable knife that hooked onto the split wall of the building. Violet swung in to jump on top of one Alucard then leaped on one after another like they were stepping stones. She ignored the Grimm because her real target was Grayson who stood before her, stabbing his sword into the ground to keep from falling over. Violet had a fire Enigma in her hand and threw it at Grayson like a small fireball after she leapt off the last Alucard. Grayson aimed Tawny's arm guard at her then fired several feather blades her way.
Violet dove down to avoid the blades as they hit and slayed all the Grimm instead. She rolled on the ground to cover the distance between her and Grayson while pulling out one of her kukris in one movement. She tried to slash Grayson with her knife only for her move to be countered by Grayson defending with his grapple sword. The two were clashed in sword and knife with neither landing a blow. Grayson blocked Violet's attacks while Violet blocked and evaded. The building was about to fall over and crumble, meaning the two needed to escape. Grayson threw his grapple sword into the wall closest to where the building was split and reeled himself up. He climbed to the edge and threw his sword again to a nearby building where he reeled himself. Violet activated the gravity dust in her kukris to lighten her body so she could jump high on the floor that was now a wall because of the fall building. She used the dust to make sure she stuck to the wall and run up it toward safety until she noticed that Grayson's explosives fell from above, showing he didn't want Violet to make it out alive. The bombs fell past Violet then went off, consuming the room in a large explosion. The building collapsed and fell to the ground with no sign of Violet coming out of the room.
Scanning the are from the nearby building, Grayson wanted to believe that Violet died in the explosion and building collapsing on top of her, but he knew that she wouldn't be killed by something so trivial. He searched for her from his on top of the building then felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see some more Alucards were trying to attack him and he responded with Tawny's arm guard. He launched more feather blades at the eight Grimm before him. All the bat Grimm were killed from being stabbed by the storm of blades sent their way, killing all of them as well as using up all the ammo in the arm guard. He dropped the weapon now that it was useless.
In one quick moment, Grayson felt something hit his stomach hard then felt his body get cold. It wasn't the coldness of death but actual freezing temperature all over his body. Appearing out of nowhere was ice covering his chest and left arm and in front of Grayson was Violet, deactivating Invisibility to show se was still alive. He knew from past encounters that she wouldn't go down easily. He broke through the ice using his broadsword and Violet threw a wind Enigma at his feet. The wind dust inside the throwing knife created a small gale of wind that propelled Grayson in the air and off the building.
Violet's original plan was to have him fall helplessly to the ground while encased in ice, but he reacted faster than she anticipated. Even though the battle appeared to be in her favor, she had to remember that Grayson is an extremely capable fighter. Not to mention his semblance, Vitality, allows him to survive in harsh conditions and harder to kill in battle. Fatal wounds for him can be mendable so Violet had to deliver a killing blow that's definite, like cutting off his head or plunging an Enigma through his heart like he did Sterling. Either way, she planned on making sure he meets his end.
Grayson was falling off the roof of the destroyed, two-story building until he threw his grapple sword at the side of it. He swung down to the ground in safety then retracted his blade back into his hand. With the moving about in his battle, Grayson hadn't realized he was a fair distance from Concordia, probably about four blocks away. This was getting hectic, but all he needed to do was survive the night until he and his Ravagers were the last ones standing in Fortuna. He threw his grapple sword onto the side of a building then reeled himself in until he was high in the air, then threw it again at another building.
He reeled himself in to reach the structure, but an Enigma cloaked in earth in the form of a blade ripped through the air. It cut through the cable connecting him with his sword and Grayson started to fall while in mid-air, but dove for where his sword was. He was able to grab it and crash through the window next to it. Seeing as how he couldn't use his grapple sword to run around, Grayson figured this would be where they duke it out. He backed away and wielded his sword in a combat stance. Violet busted through the window with an Enigma in her right hand and her stretched shirt collar covering her mouth and nose like a mask.
Grayson acted first by throwing several of his bombs at her, but she responded by tossing the throwing knife in their path. It was an ice Enigma that created a small wave of ice when it hit the ground in front of the bombs which were encased in ice before they went off, rendering them useless. Violet pulled out her kukri and used the fire dust to cloak it in flames. She wielded it in one hand as she jumped over the ice to face Grayson who moved in to strike when she jumped. He struck her side, slashing at her gut and aura, knocking her to his right side. Violet went for him and spun around with both arms out. Grayson stepped away whenever she got close and waited for the moment to move in and strike. He found his opening in the form of Violet's unarmed left side and dashed for her when she turned to her left. He was ready to run his sword through her until he faltered, stumbled, then rolled away from her. The side of his face had bits of frost on it and Grayson looked back at her.
"Sly bitch," he said.
Violet deactivated Invisibility in her left hand, showing she had her other kukri cloaked in ice, taking the form of a jagged saber. She was able to cut Grayson's aura when he tried to attack her earlier. A burning knife in one hand and a frozen sword on the other, Grayson was in a battle against ice and fire. Both combatants charged for one another then clashed weapons. They bore down on each other until Grayson pushed Violet off then tried to slash her repeatedly, but she was able to dodge or block his attacks. He delivered a strong strike against the ice blade and Violet refused to let up. Their clash lasted a few seconds before they each made their move. Violet was going to cut him down with her fiery kukri and Grayson had one more bomb left on his person. He tossed the bomb in between them and Violet raised her knife to slit his throat, but the explosive went off first, engulfing the both of them in an explosion.
Both of them were sent flying from the force of the explosion. Grayson landed on the ground and skidded against the floor. His aura began to break after his body stopped moving. Violet was knocked into the wall on the other side of the room and the strong impact knocked the wind out of her as well as break her aura. The explosion itself shook the building greatly. It was unclear whether the entire structure was going to collapse, but neither of them cared. Violet and Grayson just wanted to kill each other, one for revenge and the other for the fun it.
Violet was still doubled over from smashing into the wall, but Grayson was on his feet thanks to Vitality, though he was still in tremendous pain and slowly trudged his way to Violet. She was on her hands and knees, doing her best to catch her breath until she felt Grayson's metal boot crash into her jaw. The blunt force knocked her off her hands and feet onto her back as she spat blood out of her mouth. Grayson began to chuckle to himself as he repeated the action, kicking Violet in her side and causing her to shout in pain for a moment. She curled her body into the fetal position while Grayson continued to stomp and kick her body, leaving bruises. He put his boot on the back of her head and started grinding his heel.
"Aha…ahahaha…ahahaha! Looks like I win!" Grayson mocked as he continued his assault. "Where's your smile, Violet? Where's that Cheshire grin you're known for when everything goes your way? Where!?" Grayson shouted as he kicked her again.
"To hell with Carabosse and her plans! I'm killing her now!"
After having his fun, Grayson thought now was a good time to finally end Violet's life. He had his sword in hand and backed away to get a good, clean cut on Violet. With his sword hand ready, Grayson moved in to deliver the final blow. Violet stayed in the fetal position the entire time in order to find the opening she needed to end this and she found it. Violet had one kukri in her hand and dashed toward Grayson. The two met, crossed blades, and passed each other with blood on their weapons. Violet had blood running down her face and Grayson had blood dripping from his body. Violet's kukri severely cut Grayson in the abdomen and he fell to the ground. Violet received a cut beneath her left eye that reached across the base of her nose.
The wound wasn't deep, but it did bleed and she knew that it will leave a scar. It will be a scar just like all the others on her body though this will be the first one to be on her face. She clutched her face because of the bleeding and the throbbing pain. After everything she has been through, she was very close to passing out, but Violet didn't care about the scar, the blood, or the pain because she was the last one standing. The duel between them ended in her victory.
The battle between the Freelancers & the Ravagers was finally over.
Grayson's semblance was a passive one that helped him survive all these years as a mercenary. Even now, Vitality was keeping the bleeding to a minimum and keeping him conscious, but it didn't make him immortal. If he doesn't receive medical treatment, he'll die. Violet turned around to her defeated for with the intent of killing him to get revenge on Sterling and for bringing such destruction and misery to Fortuna. She was ready to kill him until someone spoke out, and it wasn't Grayson.
"I think that's far enough."
Violet and Grayson turned their heads to see the person intervening on their battle was Ebony with her sword with traces of blood on the blade. Beside her was Blood himself and he was carrying a massive blade, specifically half of Zelts' Heart of Gold. She didn't know what this predicament was anymore. Why was Blood carry half of Zelts' weapon? Why was he here with Ebony? Why was Ebony here? And whose blood was staining her blade?
"What the hell is going on?" Violet wondered. Little did she know, her scroll was going off. On the screen of her scroll was Remus' cobalt delta symbol, signalling his life was in danger. Her scroll was like this for a while, but she was too focused on her battle with Grayson to notice.
Most antagonist nowadays have tragic backstory, insecurities, or noble sides to them to get the audience to sympathize with them. It's to show that they are human despite their actions which has become a popular thing to do in pretty much everything. Grayson isn't that type of character. He lives as a mercenary, betrays his friends, kills people, lies to everyone, and tries to ruin Violet's life just for the fun of it. The same with killing Sterling. He did it just because he could and it would traumatize Clair. Violet has said and I have said many times before; Grayson is an asshole with a devil-may-care attitude. He doesn't need to be liked. He just needs to be a true antagonist and true antagonist don't just challenge the protagonist, but also takes away the things they cherish.
Chapters 46 & 47 will be about events that are taking place during the battle between Violet & Grayson and events that happen afterwards.
