Chapter 52 – Chamber Skirmish
Kragen
"Kragen?" Yenna gasps with her trembled voice, disbelief welling in her glassy eyes, approaching the older man.
"Yenna?" He gasps, practically mimicking her, before they both wrap their arms around one another, with tears of joy streaming down their cheeks. Yenna holds him tight, closing her eyes as she sobs with joy, as he buries his head into her shoulders. Ruby cannot help but smile as she sees him there, looking at the Architect as he lowers his rifle. The mechanical man might not have a face like they all do, but they can tell by his mannerisms that he is happy for his friend. Even after everything that happened to Gray, Vos and Serena, because of Kragen...
This felt good.
And nobody wished to tear that moment away because of past mistakes. Yenna steps back, gently caressing his cheek with a smile, looking at the man he has become. "You've gotten old..." She giggles softly, making him chuckle as he lowers his head down shyly, still just as nervous around her like when they first met at his cottage in the field. Her firm hands gently caress the wrinkles on his cheek that have formed, along with the weathering of time itself that has kept him at this age. Yet he never died or aged any further past this point, his once black hair turned white from time.
And despite how different he looks now, she does not see him any differently. The very presence seems to change something in Kragen; he looks so much lighter and upbeat. As long as the two of them are close with each other more often now, he will slowly regenerate back to his younger form, however due to the time they have been apart, that may take longer than it would in the past.
Kragen smiles as he gently caresses her smooth cheek, looking into her eyes with a smile. "You've not changed a bit, my love..." He stammers with awe, seeing she literally looks no different. Still in the incredible beauty that she was when they first met, except for the fact her hair is much longer now opposed to how it looked when it first met. Yenna originally had short hair, the same length that Ruby had and it was a brownish black colour.
Yenna cannot stop smiling, then she leans closer to him, pressing her lips to his and he holds her close, as they share this touching moment together. Qrow sheathes his sword, feeling such a sense of completion now that he is actually looking at the Spring Maiden stood before him. When their kiss breaks, he looks into her eyes with teary eyes, a sight that none of them have ever seen before. "I looked everywhere for you...I never gave up on you..." He promises her.
"I know...and I searched for you as well...but..." She stammers, thinking back on it all, looking at the others that are stood there, and looking at them. Qrow with his red eyes focused on her, and she looks at him as if she recognises him in some way. "I know you – you have been searching for me, haven't you?" She asks with curiosity.
"For around five years, yeah – a little longer maybe since Oz had me search for you as well." Qrow answers, shrugging his shoulders as he thinks on all the times he has been searching for the Spring Maiden. All the hours, all the years, all the wounds he has collected over the years to track her down.
And there she stands...
Before his very eyes.
"Well...here I am." She says, holding out her arms and her eyes slightly ignite with a violet blue pair of dancing flames that trail from her eyes. Before she extinguishes them swiftly with the blink of her eye lids. Qrow smiles, still coming to terms with this mission of his finally finding its conclusion, nodding his head with that kind smile.
"So you are." He agrees, and then Yenna looks and sees the Architect stood there. She gasps; eyes wide when she spots the Mechanical Man stood there with his rifle leant against his shoulder.
"Architect?" She gasps, seeing that he is still alive and well, looking right at her. He charismatically takes his middle and index fingers to do a mini-salute to her.
"Hello again, darling." He greets with a chuckle, as he walks over to her and gives her a hug with one arm. She turns and looks at Kragen with awe.
"You managed to get him out of Arkhonex? Put him inside of one of our old bots?" She asks him.
"Yes, wasn't a frivolous task, I can promise you that." Kragen assures as he walks over to her side, looking at the robot before them. The Architect chuckles as he stands there, looking at the two of them, clearly Yenna knew him as well before the fall of Arkhonex.
"That's a major understatement." The Architect adds, making them both laugh. Ruby smiles as she looks at the Spring Maiden, she is really different to the Fall Maiden, since she is still the original keeper of the power. Yenna looks around at each of them, until her eyes fall onto Ruby, and the violet eyes of the Maiden widen when she sees her stood there. Her one silver eye looking right at her with awe, and she slowly approaches her with disbelief. The approach of Yenna truly does make Ruby feel slightly worried as she approaches her.
"You're...you're the girl I have heard of." Yenna says with disbelief, looking down at the shorter young woman, in which Ruby looks nervous.
"Um...Hi?" She awkwardly waves, and Yenna smiles gently as she looks at the young girl. She caresses her cheek with her hand as she looks at her, amazed as she examines her body, the damage the poor delicate flower has been through.
"Far prettier than I imagined." She compliments with a smile, making Ruby blush as she stands beside Oscar. Yenna looks upon the many people here, at Pyrrha and Jaune, at Kassius...then finally at Cinder. And she can sense the Fall Maiden's gift within her body as she stands there, and her violet eyes narrow, slowly approaching her. Cinder stands there, defiant as a tree as she stares the Spring Maiden down.
Yenna stares at Cinder with stern eyes. "You did not earn the gift...did you?" Yenna questions with a snarling voice, gritting her teeth together, in which she looks away, as if her cheek had just faced the heat of a burning pyre right next to her. She flinches from her words, shocked from the fact she knew that just by sensing the way her power was granted to her, not the intimate method that Ozpin had described, or Kragen had initially intended.
Cinder lifts her head, and stares her right back in the eyes with her single eye. "No." She coldly replies, staring the Spring Maiden down with a similar glare, like staring into a reflection. Despite that Kassius is no match for a Spring Maiden; he still stands ready to protect his sister if he must. He made a promise and he intends to keep that promise at all costs, even if that means his own life.
But the person to defend her is actually Oscar, getting the Spring Maiden's attention. "She has paid for her mistakes; she wants to atone for them now." Oscar protects, looking at her, and Yenna looks at him with just the glance of her eyes, not even turning her head away from Cinder in any way. Yet she still does not look impressed by Cinder, lacking the respect and kindness that she had towards Ruby and the rest of them.
The tension builds and builds between them.
Until Qrow asks the question that was rattling around in his mind for a while now, a question that instantly defuses the situation from detonating. "Wait...what happened to the Summer Maiden? Ayla?" Qrow questions, in which all eyes fall onto Yenna as she challenges Cinder.
Then she turns still.
And almost cold as stone as she stands there, her eyes widen with shock and what even appears to be anguish. She squeezes her eyes shut, slowly turning to them as she shakes her head. "I don't know...we both fled from Ephai before the Knights Bannermen could attack us." She begins to explain, Qrow's eyes widen and he looks at Cinder, since she managed to get there too with Hazel.
Yenna looks between both the Huntsman and the Fall Maiden that helped search for both of the Maidens during that time of peace. That short time that has shattered into a million pieces, looking like to never be repaired again. "We both opened portals to get here, because we saw something in a Visionary Book hidden in Ephai, a message left behind by something. Saying that Menagerie was hiding something." Yenna explains, turning to the Visionary Book that Ruby had just experienced.
Now wishing she could unsee everything that she did.
"Then...where is she?" Blake asks nervously, glancing from the Book to Yenna as she stands there.
Yenna lets out a heavy sigh.
"We were too late, the plague was already unleashed and the civilians already turned into those Thralls. We were ambushed, and we got split up, our powers were not enough to destroy them all. She could still be out there but I don't know, when I saw the Knights of Grimm arriving...I knew they were here for us." Yenna explains, but Ruby shakes her head since she knows why they came here, and it was not for the two Maidens that arrived here.
"They didn't come here for you two." Ruby reveals, her eyes widen and she spins round to the Silver Eyed Wonder.
"What?" Yenna questions.
"They were coming for me; Vir Nominis Umbra sent them to kill me." Ruby informs, and the mere mention of his name sends a cold chill down Yenna's spin.
"Umbra..." She whispers, flinching when she just says the third section of his mysterious name.
"We were following your trail and it vanished inside of that City, but when Horridus Morbus was released in Vacuo...well we knew that Merlot had to be behind it." Qrow explains to her, remembering the long journey he took with his sister and Taiyang across Remnant in tracking her down. But the way she raises her head and her eyes look almost saddened for them, it truly worries all of them.
"Merlot?" She questions with fearfulness in her voice.
"Yeah, he figured he is the one responsible for the plague that infected my niece and our friends. We were hoping he has a cure." Qrow states, and Yenna seems to know something important from the look in her large violet eyes. The sadness she feels towards them is so strong, but before she can even speak.
His voice returns as a massive screen hidden above them in the shadows activates, the blinding light shining across the entire room. "I'm afraid this has been a wasted journey my friends." Merlot reveals, their eyes all swivel round to see the Mad Doctor's face on the screen above them, and they all grit their teeth in anger. Seeing that he is still not even showing his face.
Then it hits them.
"You were never here...were you?" Jaune questions as she stares up at the man. Merlot chuckles sinisterly with that smirk of his as he leans forward, staring down at them.
"Of course not, as I was never even at that facility you lot visited all those years ago." Merlot tells them, their eyes widen with horror with this revelation. That makes sense as well of how he managed to survive and always watched from all the cameras on the island, he was never there to begin with. Must have gone into hiding afterwards to create the illusion that he was dead the entire time.
"But...the devices that were carrying the plague..." Qrow questions.
"Aye I did help build the explosives that contained Horridus Morbus, but that does not mean that the Pathogen was created by the likes of me." Merlot states, but Qrow scowls, shaking his head as he stares up at the man.
"No...I don't believe you." Qrow growls, desperately hanging onto the hope that he could have been the key to saving his niece and the family that they have created from this plague. Merlot smacks his lips and pouts at him mockingly, acting like he feels sympathy for the man, even though he does not seem to carry a shred of emotion on his body other than joy from creating harm to others.
"What? You all still getting used to failing? I assumed you would have been accustomed to the feeling after the amount of failures you have surmised. The Fall of Beacon, the Fall of Mistral, Vacuo, Atlas...I could go on." He says as he lists them all with his cybernetic digits, and Yenna clenches her hand into a fist.
"Then why the test subjects? Why wipe out all these people?" Yenna questions, making the man chuckle again.
"A lady of science, I see? Well why don't I show you myself?" He asks them with a smile.
As he smiles, the feed that showed his face cuts away and reveals some footage of Jacques Schnee stood there in a call from Merlot himself. It seems almost definite that this meeting must be surrounding the fate of Kuo Kuana and the usage of the Horridus Morbus Plague. Winter narrows her sapphire eyes with anger, and Yenna finds the evidence that she was looking for. "It seems that the Horridus Morbus Plague is working like a charm, spread through the entire colony within seconds." Merlot informs Jacques.
"Very good, and the properties for control?" Jacques asks.
Control...
All the man is interested in...
Controlling all the aspects of Remnant, so then he can always win.
He only cares about winning.
"Well that can only be determined when the Faunus wake up here, if the plague does as our superior says it will, then yes I should be able to administer my serum into their systems. Given my scientists can capture some of them for testing." Merlot explains, in which Jacques raises an eyebrow.
"What of the Faunus you kidnapped before unleashing the plague itself on the town?" Jacques inquires curiously.
"The subjects are still unconscious, our scientists are currently administering the serum as we speak." Merlot informs.
"Good, report back to me when you have a breakthrough." Jacques orders.
The feed then jumps to the next call between the two, and clearly it must be exactly what the Schnee Father must be looking for. The talk of using the Faunus like test subjects is boiling Blake's blood.
This was her home!
"The citizens of Kuo Kuana have awoken, and it seems the plague has worked exactly as he predicted it would." Merlot informs, none of them seeing his side of the call, only seeing the face of Jacques Schnee, now looking better – must be just before he returned to Atlas after being on the run and leaving Whitley to run the Schnee Dust Company in his absence, becoming the Trinity Marshall for a while.
Yet the man is no different, since his words make them want to rip him to shreds.
"Test Subjects, Merlot. Test Subjects." Jacques corrects, baffling the Doctor.
"Excuse me?" Merlot questions.
"One does not call a mutt a citizen, only a human can be referred to by that name." Jacques coldly and cruelly says, shocking the Doctor, revealing a more moral side to the man. As moral as a Mad Scientist can possibly be, but he seems more decent than the Businessman is due to his hatred for the Faunus.
"Very well, the subjects have awoken, with multiple mutations. Acting like Grimm, in fact, attacking anything alive in its path." Merlot informs, seeming to intrigue the man.
"And the alteration tests to the Plague? Have you managed to test the applications in a more – weaponised form?" Jacques inquires.
"See for yourself." Merlot replies, as a link to a feed from one of the test subjects appears. Blake gasps with horror as she sees a young male Faunus, appears to be a Fox Faunus, trapped inside of a pod, looking around in a blind panic. There are scientists that are walking around the area, and Pyrrha turns her head away from screen to see the corpses of scientists on the ground. She slowly approaches them and Kassius notices her doing so, so he follows her.
She crouches down beside the corpse of the scientists to find something most chilling.
"Their throats..." Kassius mumbles beside her whilst they watch the terrible feed.
"They've been slit." Pyrrha concludes, looking at Kassius with concerned eyes, the claret that stains the marble floor and the open jugulars that they once breathed through. Blake's gasp gets their attention and they witness the horror of what happened to that poor Fox Faunus.
The young man wails with agony, writhing around as the administered Horridus Morbus Pathogen activates, violently attacking his body. He vomits up the jet black bile from his mouth and it seems to pour from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth constantly. His skin bubbles into the same liquid, slowly melting away before their very eyes, frightening the Scientists. Pyrrha and Kassius quickly deduce that those tests must have been done in here, which begs the question.
Why did they put such a damaged Visionary Book in the centre like that?
Jacques chuckle causes Yenna and Kragen to growl with animosity from the vile personality of the man. "Father...what have you become?" Winter mumbles with shock and awe as she stares at him, unable to even recognise him anymore from the way he is acting. Qrow looks at her and he gently taps her hand with his, getting her attention.
"You okay?" Qrow asks her supportively, and she nods softly.
"He was always a cruel man...but nothing like this." Winter stammers, but they do not even notice the crying Blake stood beside Ruby who has her arm around her shoulders after seeing that.
"Incredible, I want those to be hidden in the most recent vaccinations for all Atlesian, Valerian and Mistraalian Troops across Remnant. We need them all on our side, hide them all inside of Dust Shipments, Whitley will make sure they all get to each Kingdom." Jacques explains, revealing the truth behind the vast Dust Shipments that crossed across Remnant so often.
They were carrying Horridus Morbus vaccinations.
Meaning even Vale is not safe as well.
"Understood." Merlot agrees.
The third and final call between the two comes up, showing Jacques back home in his mansion, hands held together atop his table as he looks at the hologram formed before him. "Jacques, I have great news! We've done it! The serum has been successfully administered to the Horridus Morbus Thralls and I can command them with my very own voice. Even soldiers with certain implants can control them with speech as well." Merlot explains.
"That is great news, Merlot. What of controlling the Faunus?" Jacques asks, causing Blake to clench his hand into a fist.
"The bastard is relentless." The Architect snarls with hatred.
"You mean the unaffected Faunus still captured?" Merlot asks.
"Yes." Jacques clarifies.
"Yes, however they are not the same anymore. They are clinically brain dead now, just as mindless as the Thralls we turned the others into." Merlot reports.
"Can they wield tools to mine Dust for my company?" Jacques asks, and they never thought the man could fall any lower than he already did. Merlot sighs with disappointment to the man, showing a kinder side to his insane personality.
"Yes." He sighs.
"Good, I want as many vials of your serum sent to as many Faunus Safe zones as you can." Jacques orders.
"Jacques, you cannot just control an entire race." Merlot states.
"Why not?" Jacques asks with a chuckle, in which Merlot sighs.
"I can't even be bothered to discuss ethics with you anymore...I have crossed lines that I never wanted to cross for you already." Merlot growls.
"Are you claiming you want out?" Jacques questions, in which Merlot chuckles as a reply.
"Of course not, old friend. I just feel sick of always sacrificing innocent lives for the greater good." Merlot tells him.
"Faunus are merely animals, this is for the greater good. Now with the serum – can these properties be delivered to the Knights of Grimm themselves?" Jacques asks, revealing his true plan...to try and control the Knights of Grimm. The Grimm and perhaps even Salem, as he always planned to.
Merlot sighs.
"That's a much bigger challenge." He states.
The recorded calls end there, and Merlot returns to their view, a live feed this time, and he looks at Blake, seeing the tears in her eyes. There is a shimmer of true remorse for a few moments in his glance there. "I'm sorry, Miss Belladonna. If it is any consolation – well I guess it won't be – I never wanted to use the Faunus like this. I never wanted to waste good lives." Merlot says, but Blake snaps right back.
"But you still did it!" Blake screams with rage, tears streaming from her eyes and dripping off her chin.
"He would have cut my funding, and once I am no longer useful, I would be cast away. I have no intention of dying yet. Not until my final promise is fulfilled." Merlot states, in which some of them are curious to know what that means.
"You won't get a chance!" Blake screams with rage as she draws Gambol Shroud, acting mindlessly.
Some of them try to calm her, but Ruby draws Crescent Rose as she grits her teeth. "This game of yours is over, Merlot." Ruby snarls.
Then he smirks again with a sinister chuckle.
"On the contrary, my dear." He says.
Merlot leans forward as he smirks.
"The game is only just beginning." He says.
Suddenly Mazen lands down right in front of all of them, the impact blasts some of them all back as he lands down, creating a crater beneath his feet. Dust blasts by them as he lands, lifting his head up with his hand still pressed to the ground. Mazen slowly rises back up, towering above even Qrow with his Chainsword in his grasp, staring through his customized mask.
Pyrrha gasps as she sees the wall explode, as Krueger charges straight through the wall, only just missing her as Kassius grabs her and pulls her out of the way. The huge Rhino Faunus slides to a halt, gritting his teeth into a smirk as he stares at them, fists clenched. Vera swings across the ceiling with her webs, rolling across the ground as she lands. And in the water that is in the large room, a reservoir in fact where the power comes from – is the Barracuda Faunus, named Bonnie.
Yuma glides above them with his Bat Wings extended as he lands down with his Sub Machine Guns pointed at them from above, a smirk on his face. Both Albain Brothers emerge from the shadows with their Spiral Daggers in their grasp, charging fire dust into the blades with menacing smirks.
Then Blake hears his voice from behind her.
"Blake..." Adam coldly speaks, and she slowly turns around with widened eyes.
Adam appears behind her with Wilt and Blush slowly being drawn from the Scabbard as he stares in her direction. Her eyes focus on his cybernetic arm as he holds the scabbard in his grasp.
She knows what that means.
The old Adam Taurus is back.
Merlot chuckles. "I'll leave you all to get acquainted." Merlot states, and the feed shuts off.
Blake
Mazen bellows as he swings his Chainsword directly towards both Ruby and Blake, only for the staff of Kragen's to catch the hit, whereas Ruby and Blake both roll aside, directly towards Adam who yells with rage, slashing Wilt and Blush straight at them with force. Streaks of red energy blast out from each thrash he makes with the long red blade, Ruby dashes aside and Blake shimmers to his left, aiming her pistol at him but not firing.
She does not want to fight him, he has fought so hard to atone for his mistakes, he cannot come this far to go back to how he used to be.
Can he?
"Adam! Please stop!" Blake begs as she holds Gambol Shroud's pistol towards his head, he turns to face her, knowing where she is by her voice. By the sound of her breath and the scuffs of her heels on the ground as she stands there. He scowls viciously, staring in her direction.
"You murdered Sienna...I heard your voice, Blake. I won't let you destroy everything we have managed to achieve." Adam growls, standing right before her with Wilt and Blush held tight in his grasp.
"I didn't do it! I swear on my life!" She assertively pleads as she keeps the iron sights trained in on him. But he is beyond convincing now, he slowly raises the shotgun end of his scabbard and aims it at her face.
"You will." He says, and as soon as he fires, Ruby screeches as she slashes straight across his side, landing right beside Blake, staring directly at the man as he stumbles. He roars with rage, sprinting straight towards both of them, swinging his sword straight at them both, for Blake slam the Katana Blade of Gambol Shroud against his sword, locked in position.
Mazen bellows like the mad monster that he, jumping and spiralling through the air to slash his Chainsword across Kragen's thick aura, and his Isomacium Staff. Sparks burst out from the impact and the contact of the scraping action, only for him to strike once more, pressing both hands against the weapon as he forces it down onto the staff. Kragen holds the weapon horizontally to keep him at bay, straining, only for the Architect to fire a powerful pulse round into the side of his head. The aura protects the High Leader, but the impact pushes him across the floor.
He rises back up quickly, standing his ground as he sees the Spring Maiden stood with the two. He chuckles, smirking behind his mask and staring through the glowing red sockets that lay within his mask, identifying their weaknesses, just the Architect is doing with him. "The old versus the new." Mazen chuckles with his deep brutish voice, staring the three of them down.
"Give up, Mazen." The Architect attempts, transforming his rifle into sword form, electrical dust conducting through the metal constantly. Mazen cracks his neck, and he spins the Chainsword through his fingers, standing his ground.
"I don't think so." Mazen snarls, in which the Architect sighs as he looks at his old friends.
"I tried." He defends with the shrug of his shoulders.
"It was worth a shot." Kragen admits, but Yenna says nothing more as she conjures a pair of Elemental Swords from her powers and the combination of dust in her dress. Similar to what Cinder does, yet hers seem to have hints of spring and nature inside. Instead of flames, there are roots that climb across the hilt. The violet flames ignite from her eyes as she stares him down, and despite the fact that she is a Spring Maiden, he does not even seem intimidated by either of them.
Mazen sprints directly towards them, howling as he swings the Chainsword directly towards them, the engine built inside growling and roaring with him with smoke billowing out from the exhaust that rattles. Yenna slashes her swords across the Chainsword and ducks down to avoid the weapon, rolling right past him. Kragen spins his staff round at great speeds with superior agility despite his age, striking well placed hits against the massive High Leader over and over again.
But Mazen has a thick aura and can take the hits, and he immediately brings the Chainsword downwards towards Kragen's head with both hands, only for him to miss and scrape the metal barbed teeth against the floor. The Architect jabs forward towards Mazen, but the massive Faunus sidesteps, immediately swinging his arm round and clattering the robot in the head, knocking him off his feet. As he goes to slam his fist down into his head, Yenna launches one of her swords towards him, and the impact stumbles him. She instantly rushes to the rescue, smashing her knee into his abdomen before igniting flames in one of her hands to blast it against his chest, knocking him back.
Forming another pair of swords, she immediately slashes them over and over across his aura, moving with incredible speed. She has had thousands of years to master her powers, she has unlocked abilities that Cinder probably has no idea about. However due to being underground and surrounded by concrete, she cannot summon the roots and the flora to assist her, or even the fauna. She must rely on her powers in her body, and she also cannot rely on the weather either.
She is incredibly weakened down here.
And it is possible that Mazen knows that.
But that does not mean she cannot deal some damage, as she channels both fire and lightning through her arms at once, she launches a thick beam of the elements into Mazen. The High Leader of the White Fang crosses his forearms and something unexpected happens across his arms and body.
His aura begins to solidify into a crystal like form, one that completely deflects the elements from harming him, just causing them to envelop around him but have no effect. But he cannot move when in this position as she pushes him across the ground, the booming roar of the elements fills the laboratory. Yenna relents with shocked eyes as the elemental powers fade from her eyes, seeing the man frozen in the crystallized aura, until it cracks and breaks off his body.
He rises back up and chuckles menacingly.
"His Semblance...he can solidify his aura into an invulnerable shield, but he cannot move." Kragen determines as Mazen stands before them, pacing back and forth with the Chainsword still growling.
"Got a few tricks up your sleeve, I see?" Yenna questions.
"One or two." Mazen answers, as he sprints towards the three of them, jumping in the air and bringing the Chainsword above his head, hammering it down with all his might.
Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck hold their weapons tight in their grasp as the two Albain Brothers approach them with their Spiral Daggers in their grasp. The hooded men have constant smirks on their faces, chuckling and chortling as they stand there. "Uh...I'm sorry did we make a joke?" Port curiously asks with his Blunderbuss in his grasp and Oobleck ignites the end of his Thermos Staff.
Fennec chortles sinisterly as he stands there, charging the spiralling blades up with red fire dust. "Not all of you will be leaving this lab alive." Fennec warns, and Oobleck stares at him.
"It does not have to end like this, Albains." Oobleck warns, hoping to end this peacefully, but the Albain Brothers look at each other with smirks on their faces.
"The humans want to negotiate? Shall we?" Corsac sarcastically asks him with a raised eyebrow, his deep voice almost growling as he speaks.
"I think not." Fennec says, the two of them smirk as they prepare to battle the two Teachers.
"Fine then – you asked for it." Port sighs, stretching his arms and cracking his neck as he spins his Blunderbuss round so then the axe heads of his weapon are ready to strike them. Fennec leaps forward first, whereas Corsac attacks second, the younger twin always has been the one to attack first. He sprints and jumps towards Oobleck, stabbing downwards with both Spiral Daggers, but Oobleck rotates round and smacks his Thermos into the Fox's chest, knocking him out the air. Corsac jumps up and kicks Port in the chest, blasting a fire bolt into his chest that begins to weaken his aura, but Port just laughs as he smashes the axe downwards towards him.
Corsac slides backwards, immediately jumping up and kicking him in the head, ducking down as he lands to avoid the attack from Oobleck behind him. The fireballs from the Thermos fly right past his head and Corsac charges the blade up more, unleashing a storm of wind towards him that pushes the Huntsman towards Fennec.
Fennec lifts his head with a smirk, as he gets back up and sprints straight towards him from behind, leaping up and landing on his back, trying to choke him out as he pulls him back. He even starts to punch his glasses, which just infuriates the Doctor. Oobleck grabs him by his ear, causing the Faunus to screech with agony and launch him straight into his tailed brother. Both of them are knocked over from the impact, but neither are going down without a fight.
Port laughs, guffaws actually as he aims his Blunderbuss at the two Fox Faunus as they stand back up, staring them down with gritted scowls. "Wanna place a bet, Barty?" Port asks him, in which the Doctor could never refuse a challenge.
"I'm listening." Oobleck replies with a smirk.
"How about we make a deal – whoever takes down one of these creeps first doesn't buy drinks back home?" Port asks him with curiosity.
Oobleck chuckles.
"Sounds good to me." Oobleck agrees, and both of them rush towards the Albain Brothers.
Qrow keeps his eyes on the ceiling, knowing that Vera is swinging around above his head right now, he can hear the sound of her webs ejecting from her wrists and sticking to the ceilings. Then the webs eventually come floating down from where they stuck in the first place.
Vera suddenly swings towards him from behind, kicking him in the spine with both feet, nearly knocking him down, but he manages to roll the attack off, holding his Scythe behind his back as he stares at her. She smirks as she draws her two pistols and starts to fire them at him over and over again, in which Qrow spins his scythe round at great speeds to deflect them. But then she launches a web that latches onto his Scythe and she pulls it from his grasp.
The weapon crashes to the ground, and she immediately takes her spear and charges the electrified spearheads and she sends it flying towards Qrow, but then he catches the spear and moves out the way at the perfect moment. His Bad Luck Charm is already in affect against Vera, as he managed to catch that spear with ease. Then he throws it onto the ground as he walks towards her. She scoffs as she stares him down, still holding her pistols. "Well played, but you don't have your fancy scythe." She states, smirking as she paces back and forth with her firearms aimed directly at Qrow.
Qrow scoffs, shaking his head as he stares at her, until Winter comes shooting straight towards Vera from behind, using her glyph to zoom her across the ground, smashing both her blades into Vera's back. The impact sends her flying towards Qrow, and he immediately punches her in the face, knocking her onto her back as he walks past her. Qrow scoffs, picking up his scythe and slamming it down behind him, sending cracks through the marble that they stand on. "You talk too much." Qrow warns as Winter stands beside him, but Vera smirks, launching a web from her hand and pulling her light body back towards her spear.
She scoops it into her hands and she spins it through her fingers, aiming it directly at the couple stood right in front of her. She is deranged with that smile on her face, her silky white hair floating behind her as she paces back and forth with that spear aimed and them, charging electricity into it. "What's the plan, Qrow?" She asks him, but Qrow has his mind focused on his semblance right now.
He is terrified of anyone getting hurt because of his curse.
Or worse...
Killed.
"Try and stay as far from me as you can, Raven isn't here to counter my semblance. Try and help the others, I can handle her." Qrow advises.
"But Qrow?" Winter questions.
"Winter! Please..." He begs, and she can see the legitimate concern in his eyes. She sighs, turning to see Yuma attacking Oscar right now, diving down and stabbing both swords down where he was stood. He manages to dash out the way, but Yuma fights with an aggression that Oscar has never seen before. He fights with speed and uses his wings to his advantage, just as Vera uses her webs.
Winter looks back at Qrow and she nods, patting his shoulder as she uses her semblance to glide across the ground. Vera watches her then turns her brown eyes back to Qrow, unaware of his curse. "That was a stupid move." Vera says, tilting her head with confusion.
"So was challenging me." Qrow replies, and he walks back and forth, waiting for Vera to make the first move. And as he suspected, she does, she sprints straight towards him and goes to stab him with her spear, but he deflects that attack with his scythe, slashing straight across her aura, but before he can deal another hit, she launches a web from her wrist, using it like a grappling hook, swinging back up into the rafters.
Qrow transforms into his Crow form and pursues the little spider, returning to human form after he finds her, sliding across the beam that she is stood upon, shifting the Scythe back into its sword form, thrashing it directly towards her with all his might, yelling as he does it. But Vera smashes her spear against the impact, bouncing back on her toes, then she worms her way in from underneath his sword, scraping the spearhead across his back, but it has little to now effect.
His bad luck charm is doing him a lot of favours.
But for how long?
Yuma suddenly crashes down onto Oscar's chest, pinning him down to the ground, smirking menacingly as he presses the serrated blade of his sword against his neck with a grin on his face. "Quiet now...time to go to sleep little one." He whispers slyly, until Winter suddenly kicks him in the spine, knocking him off the Traveller who immediately gets back up, holding Traveller's Atrocity in its sword form. He spins it round, loading a new dust shell into the revolving chamber it has inside it. Yuma swings his wings and he rises up above the two Hunters, glaring down at them with a smirk. His wings flap back and forth as he hovers above their heads. Oscar turns to Winter with a chuckle.
"What took ya so long?" He asks her, keeping his eyes on Yuma as he circles them.
"Had to pick a bad guy, sweetie!" She sarcastically replies, until Yuma screeches as he dives down towards them both. He stabs the swords into the ground, just missing Winter's leg, but she slashes her sword across his aura, but he immediately comes round to strike her across the back as well, making her grunt. Forming a Glyph, she uses it to launch herself towards him. But Yuma rolls out of the way and he kicks her in the back of the head after using his wings to throw his body higher in the air from his jump.
Suddenly his body is launched across the room from a powerful boom, or at least that is what happened from his perspective. What actually happened is Oscar threw a paused bubble of time into him, and he fired around twenty bullets from Traveller's Atrocity after splitting the sword into his Dagger Revolvers. The amount of bullets launched across the room, nearly took out half his aura, and he smashes against the wall, cracks spread like the plague in the process. Oscar smirks as he stands there, before he helps Winter back up to her feet.
She laughs with amazement at how he did that, but Yuma is already getting back up, looking pissed off now. "Nice move." She says.
"I can't keep doing it though...it eats away at my aura." He reminds her, since that is the biggest weakness with using his Semblance during combat. It uses a lot of aura in the process, but Winter is here, so she pats his back with a smile.
"Don't worry, I've got your back." Winter assures with a smile. His wings spread outwards and he roars, jumping straight towards them with both swords held back and slashing them both towards them.
Jaune stands in the midst of the intense combat, looking around since he knows that Bonnie is nearby. Until she suddenly leaps out of the water and tackles him into the reservoir, she grabs him by the throat and holds him under, glaring into his eyes, able to breathe through the gills in her neck. Jaune struggles intensely, trying his damndest to break free from her grasp but he cannot.
Until a hand grabs Bonnie by the throat and she gasps with pain and shock, when Jaune realises who it is...
He does not know how to feel.
Cinder launches Bonnie from the water and she smashes against the ceiling, plummeting down and crashing into the floor, water dripping from her body as she slowly stands back up. Cinder uses her abilities to fly out from the water with Jaune in her grasp, pulling him out by his hood. Jaune coughs up the water that was filling his lungs, and he looks at Cinder with surprised eyes. "Thank me later." Cinder says as she conjures her Fall Maiden swords, seeing Bonnie standing back up with her daggers and many throwing knives on her person.
Jaune stands tall, picking Crocea Mors back up as he stares Bonnie down, glancing at Cinder, never expecting to fight alongside her. "We'll see about that." He replies, not comfortable with any of this, but she did save him there, so that is something.
Bonnie immediately launches one of her knives towards Jaune but he raises his shield, blocking the blades from coming anywhere near him. Some of them snap upon contact whereas some remain lodged in the metal. The ones that come flying towards Cinder she jumps in the air rather gracefully, slashing them in two with one swing before she lands on both feet. Cinder sharply lifts her head, her eye igniting as she blasts a lightning bolt towards the Barracuda Faunus.
She rolls out of the way and sprints towards them, slashing both her daggers at the Fall Maiden, and Cinder uses her many skills to deflect the attacks. Her swords clang against the blades of the Faunus over and over again, sparks bursting from each of the attacks. But Bonnie lands a hit on Cinder's cheek, causing her to roll backwards, but Jaune immediately rushes forward. He smashes his shield into Bonnie's chest to push her back before spinning round with Crocea Mors with a mighty yell.
He lands a lethal hit that does immense damage to her aura, causing her to stagger backwards, and then Cinder leaps forward and crosses the blades to slash in an X attack movement. But Bonnie leaps away, performing a graceful cartwheel before she dives back into the water, her legs connecting together to form the tail of a Barracuda, her gills in her neck opening so then she can breathe.
Cinder watches the water intently with Jaune beside her. "Strange time to go skinny dipping, isn't it?" Cinder questions.
She didn't expect Jaune's reaction to her joke.
He laughed.
She launches Milo directly towards Krueger who charges head first towards her, but the spear just bounces off the thick armour and her eyes widen with shock as he attacks. She rolls out of the way but Kassius swings round and delivers a powerful punch with his cybernetic fist, causing him to stagger slightly, and he backs up.
But his words reveal that was not enough. "I used all the strength in my fist and that bastard barely even flinched." Kassius reports to Pyrrha as he kicks Milo over to Pyrrha who pulls it back onto her grasp with her Polarity.
"He must have a weakness – his aura and skin must be weaker somewhere, he wouldn't be able to move like that otherwise." Pyrrha determines, remembering the many lessons that Port had taught them back at Beacon many years ago. Then she thinks back and her eyes widen when she remembers when Weiss fought the Boarbatusk, and its weakness was its belly. "The stomach..." Pyrrha realises with widened eyes as Krueger turns to them with his huge fists clenched, reaching back to grab his Maces that he uses against them.
"Huh?" Kassius replies with confusion.
"Just like a Boarbatusk, his skin and aura must be thinner around his stomach and chest, look where he is wearing the chest rig." Pyrrha examines, pointing at the pacing back and forth Rhinoceros Faunus before them.
She is right, the only real protective gear he is wearing is around his chest, he does not have sleeves and he is wearing cargo shorts. The rest has armour plates around his chest. "Good eyes, Pyrrha." Kassius points out as he flicks Lash Equinox upwards and ejecting the empty mags of Vulcan Nox. The magazines eject out from the bracers and they bounce onto the ground. Now he loads his explosive shells into the firearms he has, since they will need them to take him on. "Here's the plan, I'll wear him down with my explosive shells and you get up close and personal." Kassius suggests, and Pyrrha nods, trusting his plan.
Kassius turns to Krueger, roaring to get his attention. "Hey ass-wipe!" Kassius yells, and Krueger stares at him. "Yeah you, come on!" Kassius challenges, firing the explosive shells towards him over and over again. The shells detonate upon contact constantly, slowly but surely damaging his aura as he attacks.
Then Pyrrha strikes from behind with a yell, launching Akuou straight at the him.
Blake performs a perfect back flip as she attacks Adam, causing him to stagger back but he immediately swings round with Wilt and Blush, which only takes out another shadow of Blake. She slides backwards, but Ruby dashes straight at Adam, slashing across his powerful aura with all her might. The attack causes him to crumble to one knee, but when she goes to attack him again, he aims the shotgun at her and fires.
"Ruby!" Blake yells, as Ruby is launched across the room, crashing down beside Port and Oobleck.
She presses her hands against the floor as she gets back up, seeing Blake taking on Adam on her own, but before she can even try and help, she is forced to deflect a fire bolt from Corsac as quickly as she can by spinning Crescent Rose round with fantastic speed. Fennec sprints directly towards Ruby with a haunting screech with his Spiralling Dagger aimed at her neck.
She instantly spins round and fires the sniper rifle built into Crescent Rose into his chest, the impact sends Fennec flying back and he slides across the ground, groaning in pain.
Port laughs as he smashes Corsac across the face with his axe. "Nice shot, Miss Rose!" Port congratulates with a cheery voice.
They all continue to battle against the White Fang forces with great speed and impressive skill on both sides.
Fennec groans, but the pained sound evolves into anger. He stares at Ruby, Port and Oobleck with gritted teeth. He scowls and he reaches into one of the satchels on his belt and he takes out a dust crystal, ejecting the empty one from the hilt of the Dagger.
The crystal is purple.
The dust that can puncture through aura even when it is still up, somehow.
He takes the crystal and forces it into his Dagger, charging the purple dust into the Spiral Dagger.
Oobleck yells as he takes his thermos and smashes it straight against Corsac's chest and the impact launches him back a few feet, crashing against the wall.
Port cheers with vigour.
Then...
"Die, human scum!" Fennec roars, jumping up and aiming the Dagger at Port, charging it up and firing a fire bolt directly at him.
Port gasps with shock, jolting from the impact and the purple flash, that sends him staggering back. Ruby's eye widens with horror, and Oobleck freezes on the spot as he sees Port stood there with a shocked expression.
The bolt hit him in the heart.
Blood begins to leak from the hole in his ribs, and he lifts his head to look at the tearful Ruby Roses, and he smiles kindly with a chuckle.
"Fight well...Miss Rose..." He softly whispers.
His eyes roll back into his head as he succumbs to his wound, falling back and crashing to the ground with a thud.
And silence fills the large room.
Ruby is frozen with horror, and she collapses to her knees, beside one of the teachers she looked up to, touching his chest and feeling nothing.
He's...
Fennec just killed Professor Port.
Ruby shrieks with anguish, silver energy bursting from her eyes as she remains beside him, Blake turns with horrified eyes from what she sees. Qrow stands there as well, terrified...
His bad luck charm has struck once more...
Ruby slowly lifts her teary face, staring at the grinning Fennec Albain stood before her, and every emotion seems to become clouded.
Except for one.
Rage.
"You killed my friend!" Ruby shrieks as white flames erupt from her eyes, and she leaps straight towards Fennec, firing Crescent Rose constantly as she tackles him through the ceiling and out of the huge room.
Leaving the body of Port behind...
Author Note - Goodbye Professor Port...you will be missed
A death I have been waiting to show, and we know what Ruby is like when she loses someone she cares about, and this is different.
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- Matt
