Hello everybody, and welcome back to another chapter of RWBY BA!
Not really much to say for this chapter aside from the fact that there's a retrospective down below, so let's get right into the chapter! Thanks again to my beta for all their help!
Beta Reader: Ruby's Knight
What the… My mouth flopped open at the sight of Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald inside the girl's restroom. How did they get here? Weren't they supposed to be with the rest of the crowd? The four of us stared at each other, awestruck at the sight in front of us.
I swallowed, glancing at the three before giving them a wobbly smile. "Uh… hey guys." I rubbed the back of my head, letting out a nervous chuckle. Crescent Rose greeted them as well, letting out a clunk as I put her away. "What are you doing here? And Mercury…" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you in the girl's bathroom?"
The boy raised a brow, looking to his teammates before pointing to himself. "Who, me?" I nodded. He threw out his hands and shrugged. "Well, first of all, it's not what it looks like. You see… we were walking back to the airships to catch the first ride back when Cinder and Emi here had to use the restroom. So, like a true gentleman, I waited outside for them to finish when I heard the screams from down the hallway. So, I did what any reasonable man would do."
Emerald snorted. "Run into the women's bathroom while we were still using it. Because that's the first thing a guy thinks of at the first sign of danger." She rolled her eyes. "Killer instincts there, Mercury."
He chuckled, shaking his head with his signature cocky grin. "Of course, Emi here doesn't seem to get the fact that in a survival situation, sticking together is the best option. So yeah. They are pretty killer instincts, thank you very much—"
"Mercury, please. I think you've made your point." Cinder let out a sigh as she shook her head. "What he said is true. He did run in here and tell us about the commotion, but not much else. And honestly, we weren't planning on leaving until we got an answer." Amber eyes met mine. "Ruby, what's going on?"
"Okay, well long story short, the White Fang bombed Vale and attacked the stadium at the same time. All of the Huntsmen-in-Training are currently evacuating all of the civilians, but nobody can go through this section because of an enemy attack."
That got Cinder to hum. "An enemy attack? So the screams down the hallway—"
"—Were the sounds of people getting hurt," I finished, letting out a sigh. Hmm… I guess they really don't know about everything going on. That's good. We can use all the help we can get. I quickly straightened up, sticking a finger in the air. "I do have some good news, though! I know the person behind the attack is in this area! So I'm going over there to stop them. Once I take care of them, everyone should be able to go through this section and take the airships parked here!"
"Airships?" Emerald snapped her fingers. "That's right, the airbuses. But what about pilots? They're probably gone by now." She gave me a shrug. "I mean I don't know about you, but I know if I had a ship and something was going on in my area, I would bail."
"Maybe," I sighed. "I didn't think about that, to be honest. The pilots might've left the port, or maybe they got captured by the attacker. That doesn't take any focus away from the real threat. Stopping the enemy here comes first. And if we manage to get a couple of airbuses to speed up the evacuation, that'll be even better."
"Right…" Cinder rested her chin on her hand. "Hmm… you said an enemy, right? They attacked everyone here, right?" I gave her a nod. "How? I didn't hear gunshots, and not a lot of people can massacre an entire crowd by hand that quickly."
"It was an enemy St— Semblance! Semblance is what I meant to say." I caught my breath. "But it's like some kind of weird invisibility thing, almost like a cloud. But this cloud has these jellyfish things in it, so it's more like a swarm. It's really hard to see, almost impossible if you didn't know what to look for. And even then you might miss it."
Mercury frowned hearing that. "Well, then. That doesn't complicate things at all. But you said that it's almost impossible to see it, right? Well, how did you see it?" I froze the moment I heard that. Oh, right. I'm going to need to explain myself somehow. Gods, how am I going to do that?
"Uh… well, I kinda… don't, to be honest." I let out a nervous chuckle as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I just… uh, rush towards them and blow the 'cloud' away with my Semblance before they can affect me. And it's working pretty well so far, so… yeah!" I threw my hands out. "That's what I've been doing. But you guys should get out of here. There's an air duct some people escaped through on my way here. Head over there and protect the civilians. I'll go on ahead and—"
"Oh-whoa-whoa-whoa, just wait a minute." Mercury held his hand up, stopping me entirely. "So you're saying that we should run away, while you go in and get to have all the fun?" I nodded. The boy bobbed his head back and forth, making a face all the while. "I don't know about that… I'm not going to leave a chance like that alone."
"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Mercury—"
"Mercury's lust for battle aside, we can be of use here," Cinder said. "For example, I know how to fly an aircraft. I might not have as much experience as a pilot, but I can get by just fine. And while Mercury and Emerald don't have flight experience, they can help with the fight." She gestured to everyone in the bathroom. "We should go together to stop the attack. After that, I'll get to a Bullhead and collect as many people with flight experience as I can. It won't be long until we can use the aircraft to get to our target."
"The other sections, right?"
"Sure," the girl nodded, sticking her hand towards me. "Come on Ruby. Let us help."
Hmm… should I bring them in? It doesn't really feel right, having non-Stand users come with me to a Stand fight. These guys may die if I bring them with me, and I honestly don't know if I can handle that burden if it happens… I glanced down at the tiled floor. But they can improve our odds. They are Huntsmen, after all. And well… Yang's in the exact same position as them. One of my hands balled up into a fist. What I have to do to protect Remnant.
I looked up at them, staring into each of their eyes before nodding. "Okay.." I turned around and gestured. "These things can surprise you if you're not ready. Follow me, and stay as close as possible. I'll clear out the jellyfish when we meet them."
Emerald nodded. "Sure thing."
Mercury shrugged. "Lead the way."
Cinder smiled. "Thank you."
We crept out of the bathroom. The hallway itself didn't change too much. It was still full of empty booths, the jellyfish were still floating around without a care in the world. Emerald let out a sound of disgust. "Ugh, that's a lot of dead people. Were those people there before, Mercury?"
"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p' in the word. "Weren't there when I first ran in." The boy prodded a nearby body with his foot. "Ooh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "'I've examined this patient and I'm ready to make a declaration. Doctor's diagnosis: he's dead.'" He looked up. "Oh… the cloud's above us."
The mint-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, no way! Stellar observation, Captain Obvious. What's next, the city's on fire? The jellyfish are coming? We're not going to buy cotton candy popcorn balls anytime soon? I really want to hear what else you have to say."
"Uh, could we not talk about this and focus on something else?" I kept my eyes away from the floor and the bodies, instead focusing at the rapidly forming wall of jellyfish twenty or so meters away from us.
"Don't worry about that, Riding Hood." Mercury clicked his tongue. "But Emi, I'm so honored to know that you want me to speak more. Most of the time you're trying to get me to shut up. But hey, I'm up for talking all day and night if that's what you want." He gave the girl a wink, causing her to shake her head.
"… Gods, I already regret what I said earlier. Let me make this clear then: Mercury, if you don't shut the hell up—"
"How do you work with these guys, Cinder?" I turned over to the leader of team C.M.E.N, giving her a confused look. "Maybe it's just me, but they always seem to argue with each other whenever they have a chance. Doesn't that affect the group?"
"You'd be surprised. It might seem like bickering from the outside, but this is normal for them. They argue more than they should, sure. But I wouldn't say that's a problem." Cinder brushed something off of her skin. "They're good at what they do, and these… discussions get put on hold when they're on the job. So I let them have their arguments. No need to step in if it isn't a problem in the first place."
"Hmm… okay, then." I let out a sigh, turning to look at the wall again. Crescent Rose shifted in my hands, taking on its sniper rifle form. I pulled the bolt back a bit. "Okay, I still have plenty of these…" I muttered, looking at the green-tipped bullet inside. My hand locked the bolt in place.
"Alright, to start out… there's a jellyfish wall a couple meters away from us. None of us are going to pass through that alone. So, I'm going to fire an air bullet, which should knock some of the jellyfish away. I'll run through the hole with my Semblance and blow them away. That should make a big enough gap in the wall for you guys. If you follow the exact path I take, no one should get stung—"
We all froze in place as a 'creak' rumbled off to the side. I bit my lip. "What was that?"
"I'm not sure," Cinder replied, glancing around. "I don't think it's anything worth worrying about. It seems like the occasional structural strain a stadium like this would be bound to have. After all, there have to be tens of thousands of people moving around at once. That's a normal thing—"
This time metallic banging noises vibrated through the arena. Like somebody moving around nearby, and not just through the arena. I took a sharp breath. "I don't know… that doesn't sound like something that's happening throughout the entire building. If anything, that sounds like it's coming from the air vents."
Mercury nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Ruby here, boss. Maybe it's a rodent or something?"
"Those thumps are way too loud for a mouse or a rat. They sound bigger, like… people sized." I turned my head towards a nearby ground floor grate. There's no way one of the civilians happened to wander in our direction. Jaune would have helped them reach the other section, not come here. I felt a bead of sweat slip down my face. Could this be it? Did the Stand user stumble on us? I made sure the bolt of Crescent Rose was seated. If they did, and they happened to be traveling through the vents…
I started tiptoeing towards the vent. "Everyone, get ready. I think they're here." The clacking of weapons unfolding sounded behind me. This could be it. I hope a single wind Dust bullet to the head stuns the user long enough for us to restrain them. After all, wind Dust bullets are non-lethal projectiles… right? I lifted the sniper rifle up to my face. Another rumble of metal in front of me. There's definitely someone in there. My index finger twitched. Who's in there…
A hand flew out, pushing the grate out from its place. I dropped down and pointed the weapon into the duct. "Stop! Who's there?"
"Oh gods— Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" My eyes widened as a set of tiny moose antlers poked into my field of view. The petite girl's eyes widened before she shrank into a ball. "Please don't shoot!"
My jaw dropped. "What the— Bori? Is that you?" She nodded her head, crawling out of the vent and standing up. She was covered head to toe in dust, and no amount of brushing could get all of it off. I swallowed. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with the rest of the civilians in section G. How did you get over here?"
"Uh, well— My group ran into some people crawling through the vents right as we reached the landing pads. A lot of people were hurt, I heard." She started running her fingers through her hair. "I didn't want to come back, but… well… I, uh—"
"No need to beat around the bush," Emerald groaned, rolling her eyes. "Just spit it out already—"
"My sister's here somewhere!" All of our eyes widened at that.
"What?" I asked.
Bori nodded. "I was going to message my sister and tell her I'm safe. But you know how the messaging app has a location tracker for your friends? I noticed that she's in the arena." The girl started shaking. "I… I… she told me that she couldn't come to the festival with me today due to work. She must've gotten out from work early, and she wanted to surprise me. But now she's in here somewhere with the jellyfish you were talking about!"
I covered my mouth. Oh my gods… The rest of team C.M.E.N. looked just as uncomfortable as me. For once, Mercury frowned when he heard that. Emerald winced, diverting her eyes away from the woman. Cinder muttered something about location trackers under her breath. I finally broke the silence, saying, "If you knew that, why did you come here? Why not tell a Huntsmen to call me?"
She looked like she was ready to faint right there and then, almost hyperventilating. Finally, Bori took a deep, sharp breath. "I want to— I want to do something for once. To be the older sister she deserves."
Her bottom lip quivered. "It's just— I've been a bundle of nerves all my life, yet she stuck by me. She gave me company when people bullied us as kids. She kept me intact when I had nervous breakdown after nervous breakdown. She kept me from shutting myself away from society and embracing horrible, horrible thoughts." Bori shivered, looking at her shaking hands. "She's such an amazing person, and I owe so much to her. And— and I owe it to her to be there for her, just this once."
Cinder took a sharp breath, pressing her lips into a thin line. "That's so… noble of you, Bori. But you should go back to the other civilians and get off the stadium before anything else happens."
"Right!" I stepped forwards. "We can take it from here. That's our job, after all. Your sister would rather want you alive than die for her, I'm sure—"
"But I can help you with the jellyfish!" The girl stepped forwards. "Remember how I said I used to work as a lifeguard? Well, they have ways of mitigating the effect of the sting. Like… uh… Well, there's this product called 'Sting No More' you normally use to deactivate the venoms in the stingers, but I don't have that on me… Uh…"
She glanced around before her eyes landed on a nearby food vendor. "There should be some around here somewhere… Oh!" She yanked out a jug of vinegar. "If you get stung, you can deactivate the 'poison needles' using this! After that, get some warm water and pour it over the affected area to deactivate the venom inside the body. If you find zinc gluconate, that stops the venom from causing heart failure." She shook her head. "Look, I know how to perform these techniques and what to find! I can be useful! Please, just let me look for my sister! She's at the landing pads, and I need to get her out now!"
The amber-eyed girl let out a hum. "Thank you for telling us that. Again, you'll be better off getting back to Vale as soon as possible, but we'll use the information you've given us and search for your sister ourselves—"
"Actually, she might be helpful," I interrupted. Cinder gave me a surprised look. I held my hand out. "Look, Bori has helpful information on how to handle the jellyfish. She can be our medic. Plus, think about it. There's probably going to be tons of people ahead of us who were attacked by the jellyfish. The more people we have to help deactivate the venom, the more people who live!"
"And what about her? Won't you think she'll be a target for the attacker, or maybe her sister? She can potentially trap us somehow—"
"And how is that different from having you guys with me? Mercury and Emerald can help me stop the attacker, you can fly an airship, she can help prevent more people from dying. I'm putting you guys through as much risk as her. And if you say that your being here can help this go easier, than I'm going to take all of the help we can get." I pointed at the girl. "And Bori is helpful."
"But she doesn't have her Aura unlocked—"
"There are some people who look like Huntsmen lying on the floor. Aura isn't going to matter against the jellyfish. You're just as likely going to get stung and die as she is. I have a stall I traveled this hall with, so if the situation gets worse, we can just have her stay there. And besides, just look at her eyes." I turned towards her. "She might be frightened, but those eyes have courage. Someone who wants to keep the people she loves safe… she's not going to fail us. Trust me."
Cinder closed her eyes, her forehead wrinkling before she let out a sigh. "Fine. She can come with us. Bori, is it?" The woman nodded. "You know exactly what you're getting into, right?"
She nodded. "I do. And I won't let you guys down."
"Alright, then!" I clapped my hands together. "If that's taken care of, let's continue on!" Crescent Rose appeared in my hands again. "So, like I said before. I'll shoot a hole in the cloud wall with an air bullet before using my Semblance to—"
"Uh, Ruby?" I glanced over at the mint-haired girl. "You know how you said that the weird hazy mist is supposed to be a crowd of jellyfish, right?" I nodded. "Well, you might want to see this." She pointed towards the wall.
I turned to look and gasped. Bori was walking towards the wall. But instead of converging towards her, the jellyfish just… opened up for her. My eyes widened. What in the world? They shouldn't be doing that. What makes her different? Bori looked just as confused. I don't know what's going on, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Come on, then." I gestured to the others. "Let's go, everyone."
I rubbed the back of my blonde hair as I stared at the security camera screen. One of the civilians was looking up at it, a balding older man. "And you're sure that's everyone?" I asked.
"I've counted my family. They're all safe. It's the same for everyone else. I don't think anyone else is missing anyone aside for the ones we… left behind—" He held back a choking sound. "Sorry. I'm dwelling too much in the past."
"No-no, it's okay." I waved my hands, even though no one was around to see it. "I've just— There are so many people we had to leave back there, and it's— I wish we could've done more to get them out as well."
The man sighed. "You won't believe how many times I thought that as a fireman. How many people we could've saved if we arrived a little sooner, if we were a bit quicker with the uptake, if we could lend a hand instead of sitting at a desk coordinating with the others. Trust me, I know exactly how you're feeling right now. But you've done all you can to get us over here, boy. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I sighed, glancing away from the screen. "If it means anything, my friend down there will do her best to save whoever she comes across. But you should get everyone off of the stadium right now."
He nodded. "I understand. Keep doing what you're doing."
"Right." I ended the call, letting out another sigh as I leaned back in my seat. That should be the last of the guys from section H. Everything else is in Ruby's hands. Same thing for the rest of the Stand users still down there. They're the ones holding the line, making sure that no one gets hurt.
And I'm still trapped in the surveillance room. I rubbed my eyes and let out a groan, glancing at Ciel's scroll to my right. Its screen taunted me with a thumb scanner and the dreaded keypad. Of course, they locked the door mechanism like that. What self-respecting security system wouldn't have multiple lock systems in place?
The rest of the room isn't any better. The air vents here are too small for even a tiny dog to squeeze through. And even if someone could fit through it, the actual grates are welded shut. This is a concrete room, so nobody can just bust through here. Well, at least not me. The door is solid metal with hydraulic locks bolting it in place. The only way of opening it: the electronic key, which is currently stumping me with that dumb passcode. This room is perfectly built for an expected invasion. Not many would be able to break into this room. But when I need to break out of it…
Another groan escaped my mouth. Gods, why do you do this to me? Couldn't you give me a break just this once? I mean, helping the civilians find their way out is nice, but there's bound to be more Stand users on the stadium. And someone's bound to run into someone they can't fight against. If only I can help instead of being here… I started flipping through the camera footage. Ruby's already trying to track down one of them, there's bound to be more somewhere.
Every channel I landed on each had something grim to show. One channel had White Fang members currently going hand to hand with some Huntsmen-in-Training. Another showed the bloody aftermath of another struggle, with several civilians and White Fang bleeding on the floor while the rest of the crowd tried to bandage everyone up. Yet another showed Weiss limping with several other individuals to the exit. One of the civilians had a buff White Fang member with a giant chainsaw slung over his back. But many of the civilians looked malformed, torn apart in a literal sense. I'm glad they're still alive, but at what cost?
And that's not even considering what's going on in Beacon or Vale. The bombs probably let Grimm into the city, but how much of it's currently contained? How many people down there managed to get to fortified buildings? How much negative energy is in the air right now because of this attack? I let out a sharp breath. I hope to gods Blake and Yang took care of the Cupid. If this attack doesn't kill us, I don't think anyone can survive the next one—
"Hahhh… hahhhh…" What the— My hand wrapped around Crocea Mors before swinging it around. Behind me, two meters away from the point of my sword stood a wobbly Ciel. Her chest trembled, making loud, wheezing noises every time the girl breathed in. Her legs in particular looked like they were going to collapse. Ciel shouldn't be up right now. If she's not careful, she's going to hurt herself even more than what I've already done to her.
Determined bloodshot eyes met mine. "Jaune Arc—"
"Ciel, don't take a step further," I ordered, jabbing my sword forwards to make a point. "Just sit down and rest. This is for your own good. Attacking me isn't going to help anyone."
She shook her head. "No… I'm not here to fight." Ciel pointed at the screen. "The footage. This… this isn't right. What's going on? Why are people dying?"
"You don't know— Right. You don't know." I took her scroll. Of course she wouldn't know. A sigh flew out of my mouth. "The White Fang made their move. They've bombed Vale and they're having Bullheads drop off people to attack Beacon and the Amity. The Stand users, my friends are out there fighting to protect everyone from the White Fang attack."
"No… this can't be possible." Ciel shook her head, staring at the screens. "This shouldn't be possible. The attack was supposed to be just the Amity Colosseum, so how in the world did they get the resources to bomb Vale yet cause so much damage to the Amity?" Her eyes widened. "…The Dust thefts and the Stand users. That's how they brought on so much destruction."
Her head bowed down, just barely stopping before meeting the ground. "I have to apologize. I let the selfishness of myself and my Kingdom get the better of me, and your Kingdom has suffered as a result. We never wished for this to happen, you have to take my word for it."
"Ciel… I'm sorry as well." I swallowed. "We let mistrust get between the two of us, between our Kingdoms. Maybe if we had worked together instead of worrying so much about the fate of the Arrow, this might've never happened." I started shaking. "A part of me wants to point fingers, blame others for everything that's happened. But we're not going to go anywhere looking for scapegoats or excuses. We need to save people right now."
I threw my sword to the side before extending my hand. "So I want to start over, from the beginning. From a truthful place, so we can reach a goal together." I smiled. "The name's Jaune Arc."
The girl stared at my hand for a moment, before taking it with a relieved look on her face. "Ciel. Ciel Soleil, specialist of the Atlesian Army. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, and I hope that our working relationship is a lot more fruitful than previously."
We backed away from each other, sizing the other person up. I finally let out a sigh. "Well, now that's out of the way, let's get you caught up." I pushed a nearby swivel chair towards Ciel before sitting on my own. I started typing on the screen. "From what I can tell, the White Fang are being pushed back. That's good, since we're trying to evacuate the civilians using the parked airbuses. Most of the sections have a ton of injured people, and there's no easy way to tell just how bad it is down there."
"Luckily, so far we've only seen two enemy Stand users. Weiss has taken care of one of them, and Ruby's currently going after the other one. The rest of the White Fang are regular people, and everyone is holding up against them."
I started flipping through the channels again. "We can get a decent amount of civilians out of the Amity and into a fortified shelter in Vale if this keeps up. But we need professional emergency care for the wounded right now. I tried calling Vale's emergency system, but they haven't given me a response. I think they're too focused on keeping Vale afloat to come for us."
The specialist nodded. "Understood. Give me a moment." She took her scroll from me and dialed something in. "Titan-Actual, this is Feathered Sun. Requesting medevac to extract civilians, target: Amity Colosseum. We need medical personnel and armed Knights, there's still a significant enemy presence here." She nodded her head. "Limited transport? Not an issue. The situation calls for medics to bandage and transport wounded civilians to docked airbuses and armed forces to guard against a counter-attack… That's right… Preferably a group of four medics and a squad of Knights per section…"
"Tell them to avoid section H," I whispered to her.
"Avoid section H. Currently too dangerous… We have people on that. Yes. Yes sir. Thank you, sir." She ended the call. "They're coming for extraction, ETA five to ten minutes. We're fortunate that a small section of the medical division wasn't currently overloaded with requests from Vale. In summary, you will have the medical team needed for the wounded civilians." Ciel put her scroll away. "Is there anything else we need to concern ourselves with right now?"
"Not unless I get a call." I nodded my head, flipping through the channels yet again. "Aside from that, we're better off looking through the live footage and switch between looking for stranded civilians and keeping an eye on Ruby. She has a lot of ground to cover if she wants to find the Stand user attacking that section, so any useful information we can get is vital— Huh?"
I stopped, staring at the footage. Ruby wasn't rushing forwards like she was previously, instead going to each person on the floor and pouring… something on each of the victims. Four other people were with her, each going to a different person and pouring some kind of substance on the wounded. I narrowed my eyes. Wait a minute… That's team C.M.E.N with Ruby. What in the world are they doing there? Were they just in the wrong place at the wrong time? I shrugged my shoulders. I mean, they're good help.
No, what I'm more focused on is the last person with them. Who is that? I narrowed my eyes. I don't recognize her. Maybe a civilian who survived the jellyfish? That's fine, but why didn't Ruby send that girl away to a safer section? Why bring a civilian into a dangerous environment? Man, Ruby has a lot to explain…
I narrowed my eyes. Something's not right. Aren't they supposed to chase after the Stand user? Why are they focusing their efforts on the civilians instead of the user? Did they already find them?
I flipped through the channels yet again, searching for the signs of a battle. The user has to be here somewhere… Even if it's just a beat up body—
Right as I landed on the docks camera view, my eye flew towards a shadowy figure sitting under the hood of an airship. Wait a minute… Who is that? I watched the figure reach over to a jellyfish and pat it on the top of its head before gently pushing it away from the landing pads. What the— That's the Stand user! I leaned towards the screen, narrowing my eyes as I tried to make out the figure.
They stood up, stepping out of the shadows and into some light. It's a small woman, maybe mid-twenties. Small antlers stuck out above the White Fang mask she had on her face. She had a head of vibrant red hair.
My eyes widened. Wait a minute… I flipped over to the footage of Ruby and the others. The moose woman… red hair, antlers, similar look… Oh gods… that's not good. I need to call Ruby! I snatched my scroll and dialed the girl. "Ruby!" No response. What? I looked at the screen. Everything's… normal. The call is connected, and it should be going through to her. But she's not picking up. It all but confirmed my realization.
I shot up from my seat. "Ciel, get the door open and take my spot on the seat. I need to get to section H as soon as possible." The girl let out a sound of affirmation, pressing a couple of buttons on her scroll. A click came out of the steel door before popping right open. "Thanks. Just help out anyone who calls, and contact me if anything pops up, alright?" She nodded. With that, I rushed out of the door.
A flurry of sweatdrops rushed down my face as my feet pounded against the cement floor. Oh gods. This isn't good. Not good at all. I increased the density of my legs, making every step go farther and faster. I need to get to Ruby now. She's in danger right now. She's already under attack, and not just by the jellyfish Stand user. There's somebody else working with the White Fang with her. Ruby's going to be betrayed.
"Hey, are you still alive?" I whispered to one of the downed people, crouching down. I brushed my cape back as I glanced over the man. Long, thin, angry red gashes slid across this man's face, the result of a jellyfish attack. The person didn't speak, but he did let out a small gasp. "Whew." I unstarted uncapping the bottle of vinegar I had in my hand. "Sit tight, sir. Everything is going to be okay, just close your eyes and let me pour this on you." With that, I let a small stream of the unpleasant smelling liquid drip onto the wounds. He started squirming the moment it made contact with his body. "Try to keep still. This is going to help with the stings."
He eventually let out a sigh, his muscles relaxing. I straightened up, turning to look at the moose Faunus standing up and brushing herself up. "Bori!" The redheaded girl turned to look at me. "I've gotten this person!"
"Thank you. I'll take care of him." She walked towards me and crouched over the person, pulling out a supplement bottle. "Here, take this."
I wiped my brow, adjusting my cape after I lifted the bottle of vinegar away from the person lying in front of me. "Whew… I think that's the last person in this section." I looked at the three Huntsmen-in-Training behind me. From the looks of it, Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder finished some time ago. They stood around, waiting for Bori to help this last person. I walked over to them. "Whew, I think we got all of them! Or at least the ones that are alive." I smiled, turning back towards the Faunus girl. "You know, I'm glad we have you around, Bori."
"Eh?" The woman jerked back. "Really? I mean, it doesn't really feel that way." She dipped her head down. "I know I showed you the guys the vinegar method for cleaning out jellyfish stings, but I'm not going to be of much help once we reach this mystery person. I just came here to find my sister. But when the actual fighting starts, I'm just going to be a hindrance to everyone else."
"Don't think of it like that, Bori!" I said. "You managed to save these people! They wouldn't have had much of a chance if you never suggested pouring vinegar! Then there's your suggestion for supplying the body with zinc! I know I wouldn't have ever thought of that! And even if this mystery attacker tries to go after you, the jellyfish won't come near you!" I rested a hand on her shoulder. "You're doing a fine job, Bori. There's no need to doubt yourself."
Bori nodded, giving me a small smile. "Thank you."
The gray-haired boy let out a long yawn. "Well, if we're done playing emergency rescue team with all of these guys, shouldn't we finally make our way to the landing pads? There's still that guy on the loose. You said yourself that we needed to get this done as fast as possible, right Ruby?"
I nodded. "Yeah, of course! I'm just going to call Jaune first, tell him to relay the message to everyone in the other sections." I pulled out my scroll… only for my eyebrows to rise up in confusion. What the— the screen's all glitchy. I can't make out any of the text without it becoming all garbled up with the flickering screen. I turned to look at the team leader of C.M.E.N. "Uh… Cinder? Is your scroll fine?"
"It should be." She reached for her pocket and opened up the device. "Mine should be working fine— Wait a minute." Her eyebrows furrowed a moment later, making a quick glance at Emerald. "It is glitching." She closed it immediately. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, my scroll's all glitchy," I said, tapping at the screen with a huff of frustration. That's weird, I'm sure that I didn't bump against anything recently. I just called Jaune with that. What's going on? I narrowed my eyes. Wait a minute… I remember this from somewhere… The simulation! My eyes widened. Oh gods, somebody's using a jammer!
"Guys, the White Fang's using an ECM jammer!" I turned to look at everyone. Most of them had looks of surprise and shock on their faces. As for Emerald… she looked like she was getting a bit pale. "I can't communicate with Jaune or the others. And I guess that's going to be the same thing for you guys' scrolls too." I started fretting. "That's not good. We need to go after the attacker now—"
Emerald suddenly broke into a sweat, grasping her head as she kept an eye on both me and Bori. "Agh! Something's ringing!" She stumbled towards me. "Make it stop, make it stop!"
Before I can react, Cinder smacked the scroll out of my hands, smashing it on the floor. Emerald released her head, letting out a gasp. I let out a gasp of my own. "Oh gods! Emerald, are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen!"
"Yeah, no. It's fine." Emerald winced, bringing herself upright again. "I'm kinda embarrassed to say this, but… well… I'm uh… sensitive to certain frequencies. It gets especially bad through a scroll if there's any kind of signal interference. It gives me bad migraines. Yeah, that's right. It's, uh, a weird health problem."
I gave her a nod. "That's okay. Again, I'm real sorry about that. I didn't know that you suffered from something like that!"
"Mmhm." Cinder stepped forwards, brushing a lock of hair back. "It's an unusual thing to be sensitive towards, but it's just like somebody who's sensitive to microwave beams or radio waves. They can't really help it." Cinder shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's best if we don't have our scrolls on for the time being. Until we find the jammer, we should keep them off."
"Got it." I groaned. "That's kinda inconvenient, but then again, what can we do?" I smiled. "At least we're maybe a turn or so away from the airships. Once we pass through the last wall of jellyfish—" I turned to look at the thick, pale, flowy wall in front of us. "—We're going to meet the person doing all of this."
The black-haired woman nodded. "We will." She sighed. "Some part of me feels sad for the White Fang of today. They suffered for so long. Most Faunus just want better lives for their families. They do everything in their power to live a quiet life, but they keep being followed and attacked by uncaring people, just because of their Faunus traits. The fact that it had to come to violence is sad, but almost inevitable. And honestly… it's sad what they might face if they lose."
She stared into the air, letting the world fade around her. As for me… I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Okay? Uh… that came out of nowhere. I leaned over to Mercury. "Don't you guys worry a bit about Cinder? Like, don't you worry about the things she says sometimes?"
He shrugged. "Sorta, but not really. Honestly, I don't care that much for what Cinder has to say about the world. As long as she keeps me focused on something, who cares about her rambling? At least I can still do something."
I turned towards the girl with the mint-colored hair. "What about you, Emerald? Don't you think this is weird, even for Cinder?"
"No. I trust that Cinder knows what she's doing." Emerald glanced to the side. "Her views on the world— Whew." Emerald swiped a lock of hair in front of her. "I don't know how to describe it, but you can just feel how much it means to her. It doesn't really bother me at all." I rubbed the back of my head. Huh.
"Alright, he should be good now," Bori sighed, finally standing up before dusting her hands off. Those words cut through the awkwardness lingering in the air, pulling us back together. "I guess that means there's only one place left to go: the landing pads."
Cinder snapped out of her thoughts at that moment, nodding along with the moose Faunus. "Right. The landing pads. The only place left…"
A distant, inhuman shriek ran through the stadium, causing the place to rumble. My eyes widened. What was that? Where did that come from?
Cinder bit her lip. "We don't have much time left. We need to hurry, now."
I nodded my head. "Yup…" I turned towards the civilian. "Bori, I just want to ask you one last time. Are you okay with going with us?"
"As sure as I'll ever be." She nodded her head. "I'm so close to where my sister should be. I'm not going to back away now. Not when she's so close to danger." The girl shivered. "I'm so scared… but I'll do it."
"Okay." I stepped in front of her. "I think now's a good time for the stall." I pulled it towards me. "Get in. I'll tell you when to come out, okay?" Bori nodded, climbing right in without a complaint. I turned towards the others. "And you guys ready?"
They nodded. "More than anything," Cinder whispered. We moved forwards, parting through the jellyfish with the help of Bori. One more wall of jellyfish separated, revealing the docks. None of the ships have departed.
"Hmm?" a feminine voice called out from the airbuses as we walked in. "You finally came. You think you can take the airbuses, or maybe you're here to stop me." A shadowy figure stood up from within an airship, putting on a menacing pose. "But I assure you, none of you are going to make it out alive. Not on my watch."
"Huh?" Bori called out, her voice muffled by the stall. The shadowy figure flinched. Bori started, "Wait a minute… I'd recognize this voice anywhere…" Bori climbed out from her cover, revealing herself. "Can it be?"
The shadowy figure let out a sound of confusion, stepping away from her cover. "No… there's no way… you were supposed to be away from the colosseum." She stepped into the light a moment later. I gasped. Her outfit was typical of the White Fang's, the usual gray and black garment with the Grimm mask. But her hair… she had the same shade of hair like Bori. Her stance was similar to Bori's. They even had antlers in the same area, although this woman had deer antlers instead of moose antlers. My eyes widened. No way.
The White Fang member lifted the mask away from her face, revealing a set of light green eyes staring at the moose Faunus in horror. "My gods… Bori?"
The woman let out a loud gulp, staring right back at the White Fang member. "Deery?"
⇐TO BE CONTINUED= 9/28/2018
Russel's Bizarre Adventure - Act 3
An Ursa pulled itself to the surface, wiping its face before letting out a ferocious roar. One of the nearby civilians, a man in his thirties, shrieked at the sight, sending a tire crashing down from the barrier. It turned towards the frightened man, eyes glowing at the scent of fear in the air.
"No! Stay away!" The man hollered once more, falling flat on his bum and backing away as the creature of Grimm treaded towards him. "Stay away!" The monster didn't heed his warning. He threw a nearby rock at the thing. It bounced off without a fuss. The Ursa's right above him now. "Oh gods, please no, help me gods!" It raised a paw, and he recoiled. "Help—!"
A pillar of ice pierced through the Ursa's chest, killing it instantly. I reached the man a moment later, pulling him up to his feet. "It's okay!" I yelled. "I'm here! Don't worry about the Grimm! Keep going and finish the barricade!" The shocked man didn't say a word, giving me a single nod before rushing to pick up his material.
I muttered a curse. That was close. Way too close, in fact. We can't let the Grimm get that close to the civilians. We can't afford the wave of panic that can send through the volunteer group. But we need more firepower. Enough that the Grimm can't even make it to the surface.
My eyes flickered back. Current progress on the barricade is… decent. There's roughly a tenth of it fully erected. Enough so that we can put gunners in place to kill the Grimm before they surface. And the foundation is getting close to completion.
On top of the incomplete barrier were Sky and Dove, firing into the abyss alongside a group of four Atlesian soldiers with machine guns. And that's not counting the Atlesians lined against the wall, gunning down any creatures that managed to gain purchase on the edge. Dazzling streaks of light flew into the hole, piercing through the darkness within. Silence no longer exists, replaced by the constant dying cries from the creatures of Grimm, followed by the wet sounds of ichor splattering within. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, and they did were doing a good job at culling the horde.
Despite all that… I bit my lip looking at the monstrous claws raking against the lip of the hole, some managing to gain purchase. A significant amount of Grimm yanked themselves up to the surface, roaring at the rounds bouncing off their armor. The Atlesians fight well and fight bravely. But gods… the fact that there are still Grimm breaking through is not a good sign. I gritted my teeth. I didn't think I would say this… but now I really, really wished we had more Atlesian Knights to support us.
One of them, a three-meter tall Creep, turned to stare at me. I guess I'm up again. I twirled my blades in my hand, widening my stance as it approached. Gods, another one. I sighed. Let's just get this over with—
A solid 'clunk' sound rang through the plaza. The Creep fell to the ground, revealing a panting Cardin. Oh… never mind, then. We exchanged nods before Cardin rushed towards a Beowolf.
Around the arena, each Huntsman was going all out. The man in gray straight up cleaved through a different Beowolf's body with a single swing. He took just enough time to comb through his hair before jumping back into the fray. The Schnee-looking woman absolutely flew around the breach, scoring through the horde of Boarbatusks and sending a splattering of the black liquid flying. I puckered my lips. Good thing we didn't have to fight her. I don't want to think about fighting somebody with her skills.
But Amber… holy cow, Amber somehow is on a different level. This Huntress would be the picture next to the definition of grace. She is an absolute master at using Dust to her advantage. Fire Dust, Wind Dust, Ice Dust, Lightning Dust: it didn't matter what element she was using. With a swing of her staff, she easily combined each element and used them to rip through the Grimm with a frightening amount of efficiency. And best of all, it seemed like the Dust crystal on the top of her staff never ran out. I'd love to learn some tricks from her.
… I'm not falling for her, I swear.
I spotted a Beowolf that managed to slip through the cracks. My knife flashed with a practiced twirl. Let's take care of this one. Before it could even react, I was already on it, ramming both of my daggers into its back and yanking right, pulling it away from the civilians. One yank up sent my blade through its spinal cord, killing it instantly.
Whew. Another close call. I should probably pay more attention to this stuff. I let out a sharp gasp and looked at the in-progress barricade. With a unified grunt, the citizens pushed the final car up right then and there, finishing the foundation. Already they moved to fill in the gaps with removed tires and scrap metal. Maybe twenty percent of the second layer has been built now. The one Sky, Dove, and the Atlesian soldiers were standing on. Already we had some soldiers move from the ground floor to their perch, erecting turrets and bringing more firepower to the table.
Thinking about it now, this isn't too bad. I cleared my parched throat, climbing on an overturned car to catch my breath. I can feel my body start to creep towards its limit, and it looks like Cardin's in the same situation. But the other Huntsmen and Amber were still going strong. And thankfully, it's just the weak swarm-type Grimm we're fighting against and the occasional Ursa. If we can get the rest of the barricade up, that should be enough to entrap the Grimm. I nodded my head. Okay… We can do this. This is hard, but manageable. We just need to hold on long enough to—
A giant shadow enveloped us all of a sudden. Huh? It just went dark, like the gods turned off the moonlight… Did the Atlesians finally bring in their warships to help us? I glanced up… and my jaw dropped at the sight. Flying above us was… I don't even know how to describe it. It reminded me of a bat and a horned lizard combined together, then made a hundred thousand times bigger. That thing must rival the size of Atlas's airships! Its eyes glowed alongside what looked like a gem piece on top of its forehead. Pale red wings swung through the air, the monster strolling through the night sky.
I swallowed my saliva. Beads of sweat rained down my neck. Oh my gods… that thing's huge! Describing it as a dragon would be overstating the scariness of fictional dragons. This thing was nothing short of a demon. At this point, everybody else started to look up at the sudden object in the sky. Even the Grimm paused their attack to observe the flying monstrocity above us. Cries of terror rang out from behind the barrier. I resisted the urge to join them.
"Holy—" The scruffy Huntsmen muttered out loud. "Either I had way too much whiskey before this, or I didn't have enough to deal with this."
The white-haired woman could only nod in response as she let out a sharp breath. "Not enough. There isn't enough hard liquor in the world that can wipe the sight out of my mind, let alone yours."
Run. Cower. Get to safety. My mind screamed those commands, but my body refused to move. I started trembling. A creature of Grimm even Huntsmen fear. One that has to be thousands of years old, considering the size of its carapace. Several ion beams flew through the air, slamming against the soaring monster. Despite that, the creature kept flying forwards, shrugging off the blasts. Holy— I don't think there's any weapon that'll work against that thing, let alone any Huntsmen. How are we supposed to fight against that?
It opened its mouth and let out an ear-piercing screech, sending all of the citizens cowering. A long, large strand of inky black fluid started dripping from the bottom of its jaw, landing right outside the barricade. With that done, the flying monster flew away.
… What? What just happened? I turned around and looked at the glob that landed in the plaza. It bubbled and frothed, forming into a pool. I narrowed my eyes. Huh? Is it some kind of acid or something? It sorta seems as much. I don't think it'll be too dangerous, but we can just tell the rest of the civilians to stay away from it—
A muscular arm broke through the surface of the pool, causing me to flinch back with shock. Holy— what in the world is that? I watched as another arm emerged and grabbed the concrete. It's eerie watching the pool shrink as bit by bit, a gorilla Grimm emerged from the pool. A really, really big Beringel. It easily towers over the barricade we had set up. If that thing even touches the wall, that's it. We're done for. The whimpers of the civilians pressed against the barricade reached my ears. This time, I went along with them. It let out a ferocious roar.
"Hey!" Amber called out. "What's going on back there?"
"Beringel…" I muttered under my breath. The creature turned to look at the barricade in front of us.
"What?" It charged.
"Beringel!" My finger squeezed the trigger, forming a solid wall of ice in front of me. The Beringel slammed into it a second later. The wall cracked on impact, but barely managed to hold up to tons of force. It probably wouldn't survive another hit. "That dragon— It made a Beringel outside!" The volunteer group broke rank there, letting out screams of terror as they went off in different directions, abandoning the wall we had set up. And they weren't even in danger. My eyes widened. "Hey! Get back here! The barricade— You can't leave it unfinished!" That only served to heighten their fears. I cursed. Gods, why let my Stand backfire right now?
Amber pulled herself up next to me, letting out a gasp immediately after seeing the massive creature. For some reason, she wasn't affected by my Stand. "It's no use… I think we've lost them. We need to take care of that Beringel now. Oh gods… How are we going to keep this up…" She groaned, tapping her foot. "Russel, protect the civilians if that thing comes near." She brought her staff up. "I'm going to get rid of this thing before it causes too much trouble."
"You're going to kill that thing? It's a freaking Beringel! They can shrug off Dust blasts like nothing!"
"Who said I was going to use Dust?" With that, she started towards the beast, rummaging through a pouch at her side.
"Amber!" the Huntsman barked at her. I glanced over. The caped man had a massive scythe out, cleaving through a row of Creeps like a hot knife through butter in the blink of an eye. He reminds me a lot of Ruby, now that I think about it. His face grimaced as he finished off his attack by decapitating an Ursa. Sheer terror was painted on his face. "Don't do anything stupid! We still need you alive!"
"Don't worry, I have a plan!" Her hand produced some kind of dusty stone. "You just need to buy me some time! Trust me on this one, Qrow!"
The bearded man gritted his teeth. "No! Your Dust is better utilized defending the barricades. I'll take care of it, you two make sure that the barricade gets made!" Under his breath, he muttered, "I've never felt so scared in my life." Before Amber could argue with him any further, Qrow jumped over the foundation and bolted towards the Beringel, scythe in hand.
"… Tsk!" Amber let out a sharp sigh. "Gods… But this Beringel isn't a one man job… we need it gone if we hope to get the volunteers to build again." She turned to me. "Russel, we're going to need to work quickly, then. Give me your hand." When I did, she pressed the stone into my palm. "This is raw chalk. We're going to use it to create a circle roughly the size of the Beringel. I'll show you why once we're done." With that, she dusted her hands, using the ring to cover them with chalk before running her finger across the ground. A chalk line formed where her finger moved. "Come on, we don't have much time."
"Uh… okay." We worked fast, and before we knew it, we formed the circle. Amber dusted her hands one more time before pressing them against the circle. The tiny golems moved into the circle, filling it up with a lot of browns and blacks. "Thanks. Now move out of the circle. You probably don't want to fall in." I narrowed my eyes, stepping out. Wait, what?
Everything inside the frame changed, revealing an image of… the edge leading to a giant rocky chasm. My eyes widened. What the— Holy, that looks so real… And all that out of a chalk drawing?
"I found this place in the mountain ranges of Mistral," Amber groaned, her voice straining. "The Samaria Canyon… a deep chasm. It's supposedly one-point-six kilometers deep, more than enough to kill anything thrown in." Before I knew it, the drawing became real. My gods… it looks like I'm actually staring at the real thing.
Her knees buckled; veins swelled up on her forehead. "Russel… get Qrow's attention. Push it in."
"Right." I looked up, now seeing the not-so-clean-shaven man locking his arm around the Beringel's neck. "Qrow!" He looked up at me. "Over here! Throw the Beringel in!"
"Agh, can't believe you guys didn't listen," Qrow called out, still swinging forwards and dragging the Beringel towards the image. "But if it means not dealing with this, I won't complain!"
"Just hurry!" Amber grunted. "I don't know… how long I can hold a portal this big!" Her eyes started rolling up into their sockets. "I'm… about to…"
With one final grunt, he pushed the Beringel forwards, throwing himself off at the same time. The good news is that Qrow actually managed to be right on the mark, shoving the monster straight into the hole. However, right then and there, the 'portal' snapped shut before the Beringel completely fell though. Its right arm was severed at the shoulder, causing it to roar in pain. However, it managed to prop itself back upright with one hand, eyes glowing with absolute hatred.
"Oh gods, that's not good," Qrow muttered. "I guess we just have to try this again. Come on, let go." I nodded, but we got no response from Amber. "Amber?" Qrow and I glanced down, only to gasp when we saw Amber lying on the floor. "Amber!"
The man rushed over to her and checked her heartbeat. "She's still breathing, and her heart's still beating," he confirmed. "I guess she fainted. But gods… that's one Huntress down." Qrow pulled Amber over his shoulders, stood up, and glanced at the enraged Beringel. "And we still got one big gorilla to fight."
I gritted my teeth. He's right. What in the world are we going to do with Amber down?
"Are you guys done with the Beringel, yet?" Cardin called out from inside the barricade. Several thunking noises followed his voice. "There's a ton of these guys around! I don't know how long I can hold up against these Grimm alone!" Above him, the Atlesians were also slowing down. I can feel the miasma of fear coming from them. It's as if they're ready to bolt. And the civilians are scattered… Oh gods, why did it have to come to this? If it wasn't for my Stand, this wouldn't have happened—
My eyes widened. But my Stand can fix it as well. I shook my head. I can't believe I'm thinking this right now… but it's the only option I have. I felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around my neck. If everyone's all scattered up, I have to rally them. If the people are scared, I need to replace that fear with something else. I stood up. It's time for 「FEEL GOOD INC」 to truly shine.
A pulse flew through the area from my Stand. Everyone straightened up the moment the pulse hit them. "We will not surrender," I thought. The civilians running away stopped in their tracks. "We will not stop. We will fight back." The Atlesian soldiers shot back to their usual disciplined stance. Cardin let out an energetic roar, renewing his assault in earnest. Qrow took in a sharp breath, muscles relaxing as he seemingly stood reinvigorated by words he can only feel.
The civilians started marching back to the barricade, although they passed over their dropped materials. If they did pick something up, they were held like baseball bats and the like. With a roar, they all collectively charged the wounded creature of Grimm. Oh no. The not-so-good part about this Stand. I can't control what everyone does, just how they feel. And while the feelings were supposed to target my team and the Atlesians, well… it applies to everyone. They're going to attack the Beringel, no doubt. And they're going to get its attention. I started forwards. Well, I just have to keep the Beringel's attention on me.
I fired an ice shard at the creature, beaning it in the back of the head. "Hey!" I yelled. The creature turned to focus on me. "You want something to fight? That's going to be me!"
That was a bad idea. The Beringel roared at my defiance, picking up an abandoned car and throwing it at me. Jumping to the side didn't stop the car from exploding and riddling me with shrapnel. I let out a gasp as they pierced through me. I coughed out a mouthful of blood and dropped to my knees. Oh gods. Still, I stood my ground. I can't break. I'm the only thing holding the crowd together. I stared down the gorilla, watching it roar in fury as it grabbed another car to throw at me.
But before it could do anything, the crowd was upon it. It was an unfair fight, to be honest. The Beringel was fighting on two fronts: Qrow dealing a ton of damage on one end, the civilians harassing it and taking cheap shots wherever they could. The creature was absolutely confused, instantly overwhelmed by attackers at all angles. It dropped the car. But before it can swing at a person, I fired off an ice shard, pinning its remaining arm to a building. I let out a bloody grin, pushing myself to stand even with the shrapnel in my body. "Keep going."
With one last strike by Qrow, the Beringel slumped to the ground, dissolving into the air. Everyone roared at their victory, including me. We did it. We stopped the threat. I collapsed to the floor. Ow… I don't think I'm going to be fighting anymore. As I was being taken off the battlefield, I focused on one last thought, and smiled as the crowd moved with even more fervor. I think we'll be okay. We're going to survive.
My last thought? "Finish the barricade."
=TBC=
Retrospective: Six Days was one of those Stands that admittedly, I created for the sake of the story. The attack on Vale needed Stand user villains to fight against, and well, Six Days was what I came up with to sell the scope of the attack. As you guys know, this is one of the few Stands I decided to adopt darkmist111's Stand idea over the one I had. But what did I originally have in mind for this Stand?
Six Days was originally inspired by the concept of trypophobia, or the fear of closely packed holes. It would've worked a bit like Sticky Fingers, where surfaces the Stand touched would decay and form those packed holes, which Banesaw can easily rip through to create more combat options. At the time, I felt that it fit with Banesaw, a figure I imagined disfiguring people and destroying their lives with prejudice. Now... I personally feel like an ability like that would fit someone more sadistic. Banesaw I felt is a brutal character, but hardly sadistic. And honestly, weight transference worked better against Weiss.
Moving on, the Cupid fight is one I felt very uncomfortable writing. Like many people said before, it's not an easy thing to kill a child, to kill innocence even if you dehumanize them. Even though I knew I'm not actually killing a child, every fiber of my being felt it was wrong. Why did I write it? For one, the story's always been about stopping the Stand threat against Vale. To end the Stand threat, the source needed to be eliminated. The Cupid dying marked the beginning of the end.
Then a big aspect of the Cupid fight was the idea of motherhood. When you boil the fight down to its essentials, it's basically a challenge of taking a baby's toy away. Only that the toy is a catalyst of mass destruction and the baby can rip your face off. This scenario was actually inspired by my time volunteering for a parenting class. How should you raise your kid? What do you do to get your child to agree with you? How should you treat your child as they grow older? Those questions were in my mind when I wrote that chapter. I only hope I did some kind of justice to what I've picked up there.
Finally, Warflower. This is one of the first battles I thought of making when I first thought of RWBY BA, and I loved how well it came out. That battle felt like a "lightning-in-a-bottle" moment, something truly special. It's the definitive 2 v. 1 Stand fight in this story, and I never felt more creative writing this section. But it might not always been that way.
My original idea for Warflower was to have an ethereal "tree" of blood rooted to Adam. Bloody vines would snatch people from maybe four meters away and steal their blood all vampiric-like, a vicious call for more violence and more payment for the mistakes of the past. And as more blood is collected, the "tree" got more engorged and would grow. If left unchecked, Adam can very much collapse to the sheer size of the Stand. But the tree can regurgitate the blood like an acid, melting anything it touches.
I ultimately abandoned this ability simply because spike formation is one: a lot simpler to write and think battles through, two: will not instantly fail when Yang finally unlocks her Stand, and three: is a lot more subtle about its themes than the tree. Don't get me wrong, I put in a lot of thought into the blood tree idea. So much inspiration came from reading about carnivorous plants. But sometimes, good ideas need to be scrapped for a more engaging story, and darkmist111's ability gave me a better story than the blood tree.
Let's get to the reviews!
mastergamer14: Alright, then. I'll go through these Stand abilities one by one.
Pyrrha and One Ok Rock... I like the Stand name. I personally don't think it fits Pyrrha, but it's a good name nevertheless. Both geokinesis and mineral/metal composition are solid foundations to a Stand ability. I personally lean towards mineral/metal composition, since it has strong synergy with Pyrrha's Semblance and I feel that the ability is specific enough to create interesting scenarios. Of course, these scenarios are highly dependent on setting, but I like the implied challenge of making it work.
Ren and Odd Future... Odd Future is another good Stand name. You're definitely on a roll regarding that. And probably manifestation as you describe it sounds like one hell of a Stand ability. Making the improbable possible fits with Odd Future. I personally don't think it fits Ren, though. He's never been a character I would associate with luck or probability. However, I think that with proper setup, this Stand and ability can work with him.
And now for Nora and Live Wire/Thunderstruck. Three for three with the Stand names. You're pretty good with that. As for the ability, Live Wire/Thunderstruck definitely feels like an improved Red Hot Chili Peppers. Being able to manipulate electrical impulses on top of electrical "absorption" makes Live Wire an incredibly strong Stand when facing electricity. I would argue that combined with Nora's Semblance, this makes her easily the most broken Huntsmen/Stand user out there. I feel like she needs to be nerfed somehow. If Nora had a tazer or Lightning Dust on her, that can be an easy win button.
Guest: I know, right? I'm glad you enjoyed it!
metacllica: Oh man, I don't even know where to start. It's like you've taken the words out of my mouth. I honestly don't think I can comment on your review and provide better insight than what you already have, but thank you. All I can say is that this is one of my favorite Stand fights I've written to date, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it as well.
tuskenpaw: Thank you, tuskenpaw! I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter's battle, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
Ultimate Kuuga: Thank you, Ultimate Kuuga! And yeah, Adam got wrecked in that fight! Loved the final end result!
rabidhandsquirrl: I hope this chapter answers your questions well. Thank you for reading!
Mathew Cipriano: Thank you! And as for Everyday Boy, this has always been a weird one. The idea is that Everyday Boy manifests under Jaune's skin and over his muscles, which means he doesn't outwardly reveal whether he has his Stand out. If I was to create a drawing or something to show it off, I'd probably stylize it like Midoriya with the glowing "veins." But in-universe, it is not supposed to be spottable by even Stand users.
doa570047: Yup. Combustion vs burning up. It seems like the same thing, but that mistake can easily be fatal. And yeah, honestly there isn't much you can do to develop an ability past "spontaneous combustion."
As for your questions on Warflower, the conditions are that the materials need to be in a certain range for the bubbling effect to occur. And for organic materials, it just has to be non-living.
Funny thing: I considered having Warflower apply to living organic material as well. But then I realized it's easy to shoot spikes out of his victims before using a ground spike for the kill. That's the dominant strategy for the ability with that addition, and I don't enjoy writing that, so I scrapped it. Basically, Adam can't use his Stand on living people. However, if there's a corpse, Adam can theoretically use his Stand on it.
Going back to Yang, her Japanese VA does yell out ORA when punching. But from what I've seen, it was referenced only once: during the Initiation arc. Every other time was normal cries.
And to end this, we go to Russel. Yeah, his ability is game-changing, depending on who has it. But like Okuyasu, his ability is restrained by his mental blocks. But if Russel got cocky... I wouldn't want to go against him.
That's all for today! I'll see you all in the next update!
Next Chapter Update: September 28, 2018
