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Chapter XLVII

Team Loser Performs a Ritual (Part II)

The wind blowing through the town of Vale continued to increase in intensity, driving the rain almost vertically through the buildings. The previously sunny sky had been blackened by dark clouds, flashing with light and rumbling with thunder.

"This is odd," Dr. Oobleck mused as he hurried back home, cutting his day on the town short. "There was no sign of this before..."

On the other side of town, Klein Sieben had fallen into a trancelike state, eyes closed and whispering various words and phrases under his breath. "Ice, dancing, water, power-ade, grapes... Weiss... Weiss... protect Weiss..."

Ilia was making her way back towards the airport from whence she'd come, but strongly suspected this poor weather would delay any flights out of here. It didn't matter- she'd get out one way or another. She wasn't certain if it was her faunus senses or something else- something even deeper, more primal- but she knew, above all else, that she had to leave this town as soon as she could.

Goodwitch had left the shower and returned to lie down on her sofa upon hearing the scream- she was struggling against the sudden pain in her shoulder where she'd been stabbed all those years ago. Looking out her window, she found herself mouthing words even she didn't understand as she saw nature's fury raging on the outside.

Ren turned in his sleep, but found himself unable to return to consciousness- instead dreaming of an endless series of dark tunnels winding beneath the town, the events of that summer playing on an infinite loop in his mind.

Somewhere in those tunnels, he knew, the final battle was being waged.

XXXX

"That is one ugly motherfucker!" Nora couldn't help but screech as a monstrous shape made its way into the cavern alongside them.

"Is that... is that what it really looks like?" Jaune asked, eyes wide as he readied the silver knife.

"Yes," Weiss nodded, before biting her lip. "Er- no... not exactly?"

Even as she charged into danger, Yang found herself wondering the same thing. On some level, she knew this wasn't exactly Its true form- but at the same time, it wasn't another mask, either. Rather, it seemed that It was attempting to show off Its truest form, but this was the closest it could manage outside the infinite world of the Macroverse.

The monster stood nearly as tall at the chamber, on three legs as large as tree trunks. Whether they ended in hooves or claws, it was difficult to tell. It was covered in flesh of mottled grey and black, still seemingly burned by its trip through the atmosphere. From several points in its body, odd appendages protruded, seeming like claws and tentacles in one stroke. More disturbing, however, were the numerous faces twisted into its skin- expressions ranging from excruciating pain to intense fury, all seeming to scream at Team Loser as they looked upon them.

Despite the numerous appendages, there was an obvious pair of arms, ending in hands bearing long, spider-like fingers, complete with knife-like claws at the end. A head seemed to stand atop the form, but held no eyes or nose- only a large, misshapen hole filled with lamprey-like teeth. The top of Its head curled away into yet another tentacle, longer than any of the others surrounding It.

A pair of slight bulges protruded from a broad chest, and between them was a hideous, jagged scar- the origins of which Yang had just now remembered.

"Your l-l-lights!" she shouted as she bore down on this beast. "Sh-show m-me your f-f-fucking lights!"

It roared and swung one of Its tentacles in her direction- she leapt out of the way.

"I doubt It will show you Its lights as easily as last time!" Weiss shouted, utilizing a glyph to close the distance between herself and the creature. "Not after what happened then!"

"That just means we need to make It," Jaune growled, keeping quick on his feet as he looked for an opening.

"Let's get to it!" Nora called. "I owe you some broken legs, bitch!"

The creature persisted, unleashing Its otherworldy screams as It flailed Its tentacles around, eager to spear any of them upon the edges.

"I- think I liked it better- when It stuck to Its human form," Nora grunted out as she used her hammer to block several attacks on her person.

"I liked it better when Blake was here to pin It down!" Weiss agreed.

"She's n-n-not!" Yang called out. "So sh-shut up and f-f-focus on h-hurting It! Expose the l-l-lights!"

Weiss nodded, leaping back onto a glyph and using it to launch her into a series of others, rapidly darting back and forth around the creature. It flailed harder, struggling to catch her as one might struggle to catch an irksome fly.

Pyrrha saw an opportunity and took it, turning her spear around and tossing it with all her strength- she caught the monster in the shoulder, knocking it backwards. Weiss immediately followed up, targeting Its other shoulder for piercing with Myrtenaster. Nora smirked wickedly as she leapt overhead, bringing her hammer down on Its head.

"JAUNE! NOW!" Yang called, not bothering to look and find out whether he was following- she knew he was.

Sure enough, as she bore down on the creature, a flash of blond appeared in the corner of her vision. She couldn't help smiling slightly as the silver knife flashed. A last pull from the creature meant it didn't land anywhere fatal, but it was enough to bring forth those much-reviled lights. Yang dug her fingers into the wound, forcing it wider and gazing directly into the bright yellow glow.

Pyrrha moved quickly, catching Yang's collapsing form before she hit the ground and carrying her away to safety. In her absence, the monster wrenched the spear from Its shoulder and tossed it aside, returning to Its feet and prompting Weiss to drop. Nora spun her hammer around, aiming for one of the trunk-like legs, but was forced to shift to another block before she could land.

XXXX

When Yang opened her eyes, it was not to the same view of the Macroverse she had found when she had last performed this ritual. She was in a building, of some sort- a building straight out of an Escher painting, stairs twisting all around in all directions. It reminded her of a movie she'd seen as a child- The Maze. The climax had taken place in a remarkably similar setting.

"Like what I've done with the place?"

Yang spun around to see Neo standing there, parasol cast aside and blade in hand. Her words had sounded typically mocking, but it didn't match the look in her eye- she looked furious.

"Y-you changed it?"

"I figured it would come to this," Neo sighed. "You losers have always been incorrigible, haven't you? I let you escape this town, and hold up my end of the bargain out of the sheer kindness of my heart, and you still feel the need to come back and fuck everything up for me!"

Yang readied her arms, already feeling her old gauntlets materializing there. "Y-you started this f-f-fight. You k-killed R-R-Ruby... you k-k-killed Blake... you k-killed so m-many others... it stops n-now."

Neo's eyes narrowed. "You caught me off guard last time. This time, there will be no holding back. You already destroyed one of my children... no more."

Before Yang could retort, Neo had sprung forward, blade flashing. Yang blocked with a gauntlet and ducked underneath, attempting an uppercut that Neo deftly dodged.

"It didn't have to be this way," Neo spoke, scorn clear in her voice as she kept up her assault. "I even had a peace offering all ready for you- but you clearly won't be needing it."

"There's not a d-d-damn thing you c-c-could g-give me that w-would stop me from k-killing you!" Yang shouted back, once again taken by the frustration of being unable to land a hit.

"Not even your boyfriend?" Neo asked mockingly.

Yang's punches increased in intensity, but decreased in accuracy. "You f-f-fucker! I knew you h-had him!"

"He and Arc's girlfriend walked right into my arms," Neo smirked. "A quick glimpse of my lights, and she was dead- but he got lucky. He's just in a coma- or at least, he was."

Yang fired a series of blasts from her gauntlets, still hardly used to the lack of recoil within the Macroverse. "Then I'll t-t-take him b-back- once you're d-dead!"

"Too late for that," Neo chirped, her smirk rising to meet her eyes. "Not that you'll manage it, but even if you did kill me, it's too late for him- Winchester didn't wake up for twenty years after he saw my lights- and you saw just how well he recovered, even then." Her voice took a more thoughtful caste. "Just another person killed by their association with you. How many is that, now? Ruby... Blake... Ren's still alive, I suppose, but not for lack of trying... hell, even Ozpin died a few years back."

"Bullshit!"

Neo backflipped away before meeting Yang's eyes again- the fury was truly gone now, replaced with a sick glee. "Oh, you thought I was lying. No, no, no, he's dead, alright- ate one too many black holes, I guess. Don't believe me? See for yourself!"

She attacked and managed to break through Yang's guard, sending her down the stone pathway they'd been fighting on and through a nearby door.

On the other side was a large stone chamber, starlight filtering in from above. On a raised dais in the rooms center was an odd coffin, made of what seemed to be ice, or a similar crystalline material. Enshrined within it was the unmoving body of the entity once known to Yang as Ozpin.

Yang felt her heart drop. "No... n-no!"

"I can be a woman of my word when I want to be," came Neo's mocking voice over her shoulder. "Everyone you've ever loved is dead, or dying. Oh- except your mother, of course- she ditched you as soon as you were born. Smart woman- probably figured she wouldn't last a month with you around."

"St-st-stop it..."

"How long do you think your friends will last back on Remnant? A quick death, in a few minutes? Or will they keep fighting for hours, until they've lost all energy... lost all hope... huddling together for any solace they can find, cursing the woman who forced them all into this hell as death comes for them..."

"St-STOP IIIIIIIIIT!"

XXXX

Things weren't going well back on Remnant.

They had started off the fight strong enough, but the monster seemed to be recovering far too well for their liking. It was all they could do to keep it at bay, let alone go on the offensive- especially with Yang out of the picture.

"We need to destroy the eggs!" Jaune called from one side of the chamber. "We can't let there be more of these things!"

"A little preoccupied with the mother right now, thanks!" Weiss pointed out as she utilized a glyph to dodge what would surely have been a fatal blow.

Pyrrha, however, got a light in her eyes. She turned to one side, where several eggs lay side-by-side, and unhesitatingly plunged her spear into them, ripping them apart.

Almost immediately, the creature let out another roar as It turned towards her, and began to bear down.

"We can use the eggs!" Pyrrha called back as she raised her shield to block one tentacle as she leapt out of the way of another. "Destroy them, and draw Its attention!"

"MY KINDA PLAN!" Nora called out, smirking as she brought her hammer down on another of the pulsating objects.

The monster roared as it spun around, struggling to grab at both women at once- except they were on near opposite sides of the cavern.

Abruptly, Pyrrha's eyes widened. A realization came to her that she was hearing the sounds It was making twice- first out loud, then, on some deeper level- practically within her own head. Even this, however, wasn't what prompted the widening of her eyes- beneath the roars of the creature in her head, she heard something else- a harrowing scream that sounded very much like it was coming from their leader.

Jaune seemed to have sensed it too- it was he who called out, "Yang's in trouble!"

They all knew it- in much the same way they had previously sensed the danger Ren was in, they all knew that the Fire Walk wasn't going well.

Yang was losing.

"What do we do?" Weiss asked, using a glyph to dart beneath their opponent.

Jaune bit his lip. "Someone- someone needs to go under with her- she needs backup!"

"And that sounds like a job for the Mighty Valkyrie!" Nora called, grinning as she hefted her hammer. "Can I get an opening, Jaune?"

"Nora, we should think this through," Pyrrha spoke up. "This is our last chance!"

"Hey, I was friends with her way before you guys- even before Weissy!" Nora pointed out. "Besides... I owe these lights some broken legs, remember?"

She swung her hammer around and smashed another egg. "Hey, bitch! You just gonna eat and run? Don't ya know that cotton candy's the best flavor?"

Another swing of her hammer, another desicated egg. "HEY! YOU LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING!"

The creature had, indeed, taken notice of her, bearing down on her swiftly as she smashed egg after egg beneath her hammer, keeping a steady glare in the monster's direction all the while.

Nora waited until the last second to dive to the side, taking care to smash another egg upon landing. The others quickly closed in, Weiss summoning another glyph- this time for Jaune. Jaune blinked as time seemed to slow around him, but he took it in stride, leaping forward and plunging his knife into another one of the tentacles, unleashing the light once more.

The others quickly averted their eyes, but Nora fought to stare directly into them- it was more difficult than looking into the sun, but she didn't dare look away.

She felt her body crumpling to the ground... but at the same time, she was still standing, watching as her friends continued to struggle on. Her body landed on the ground, and whatever new form she inhabited took off, soaring away from the tunnels, away from Vale, away from Remnant- off into the infinite unknown.

Far below, the struggle continued- Pyrrha grabbed Nora's body and carried it to the side as Jaune and Weiss fought to keep It away from her. The lights were gone almost unnaturally fast, leaving the monster screeching in pain and fury as it redoubled its efforts to kill them all.

XXXX

So, this is the Macroverse, Nora mused. Don't know what I expected...

Stars screamed by, galaxies whizzing past faster than she could determine what they looked like.

It was difficult to determine how much control she actually had over herself in this bizarre world- she seemed to be going where she desired, but without truly recognizing her surroundings, how could she say?

A nebula flew past in the vague shape of a horse's head- she passed through a vast cloud, eyes widening as she felt the taste of raspberries.

She went farther.

She closed her eyes, and found herself calling out into the void. "Yang? Where are you? Yang?!"

She opened her eyes again, and swiftly widened them in awe at what she now saw.

It was no longer stars whizzing past, but orbs- orbs filled with... light? Stars? Galaxies? All of the above, and more. What was it Ozpin had said?

There are far more worlds than these.

Each orb contained another world. Looking behind her, she located her own- if she concentrated hard enough, she caught a glimpse of her friends, still struggling against the beast lurking beneath Vale.

But that orb over there...

She focused on it, and gasped at what she saw.

Ruby was alive- alive, and older than she'd been when she'd disappeared. She was fighting alongside Team Loser- except their weapons were far more advanced than anything Nora had ever witnessed. She could almost see herself- far younger, around the age she'd been during the first fight against It- using a mechanical hammer that, in one fluid motion, shifted into a grenade launcher.

Scanning the fighters, she realized that Pyrrha was missing- where could she be? Surely, it wasn't Team Loser without the red-headed amazon. Even Blake was there, every bit as alive as the last time Nora had seen her.

She tore her gaze away, eyes roving towards the other orbs.

A mansion- a vast mansion perched upon a hill, even larger on the inside than it was on the outside, populated by beings of many, many different descriptions. There were creatures she was tempted to describe as faunus, but they held more animal features than the faunus of her world- they looked very much like actual animals standing on two legs.

And in that orb, she saw a vast canyon- a gulch in the middle of a desert, currently being fought over by soldiers wearing two colors of armor- deep red and bright blue. Overhead, someone else was watching- no doubt unaware that they were being observed in turn.

Nora gazed into one final orb- this world was perhaps the strangest of all. There were no faunus, and the people of this world had no semblances. For reasons beyond what she could understand, her gaze was shifted towards two locations in particular- a large building at the edge of a vast city, where many people spoke together, laying out the plans for the next 'volume' the next volume of what, she couldn't say.

The other location was at the edge of a small forest- a room where a strange man with scraggly facial hair tapped away on a computer, words obediently coming into being before him, reflecting off a small pair of round glasses.

That was enough- she tore her gaze away from the orbs. She wasn't here to look into other worlds- she was here to save her friend. But how to find her? She was traveling through an infinite void, with no idea of where to go. She closed her eyes as despair started to close in. What could she do?

"Nora..."

Her eyes snapped open again- there was a bright light behind her, a light she didn't dare look into, remembering the things Ozpin had said.

"Nora, it's okay. Please... look at me."

Those words... they weren't spoken in the harsh, mocking voice of Neo. They carried a soft comfort in them, something she doubted the deadlights would be capable of reproducing. Slowly, she turned.

The light was brighter than she'd expected- these were not the dull, yellow-orange deadlights. It was almost as if she were looking into a star, except she felt no pain or immediate need to look away. Pulsating waves rolled off the figure in the center of it all- vaguely humanoid, though she could make out no features. When she looked at it, she felt as if she could see far more than she'd seen in any of the orbs behind her. Looking into this light, she felt as though she were gazing upon everything that was, had been, or ever could be.

"I... wow..." she stammered out.

"You have come a long way," the being spoke. "You sensed your friend was in trouble, and immediately moved to come to her aid."

There was something familiar in the voice... in some odd way, it reminded her of Ren.

But then the words the being had spoken registered- the calming effect this being had had vanished, and she started to panic. "Right! Yang! Yang is in trouble- I need to find her!"

"I will send you to her soon," the voice assured her. "She has a bright, vibrant will... but the deaths so many... her sister, her friend... the injury of Lie Ren, and the kidnaping of her loved one... it seems learning of Ozpin's death finally pushed her over the edge, sapping her will to continue fighting."

"Ozpin... Ozpin really is dead?" Nora asked. It was odd, feeling such regret for the death of one she hadn't recalled existing until only a few minutes before.

"He is. As it was not related to the deadlights, I won't tell you how- but he died as he lived, doing the duties I had set him."

"That you... you... who are you?"

The light seemed to shine more brightly. "You know who I am. Don't think I'm not ready to put my life on the line as well- my goal was never to live forever, but to create something that would. And I believe in your ability to keep living. Even now, I believe in your friend- and those who stand behind her.

"With you at her side, she does indeed burn- she burns with human spirit. I believe that human spirit is indomitable- that should you endeavor to achieve, it will happen. It did not happen in Ozpin's lifetime, and I believe he would regret that- but he still wouldn't have hesitated to do what he must. He knew, as I do, that the effort one puts into any task transcends oneself- and so, there is no futility, even in death."

Nora found herself smiling. "You believe we can stop the deadlights?"

"I know you can. The time has come- I will send you to your friend. From there, it will be up to you to prevail."

Nora couldn't help but smile as the worlds around her began to fade into the light. She closed her eyes, waiting for the right moment.

"Thank you... Dancer."

XXXX

Yang stood, anger fueling her as she spun around to face Neo again, raising her fist and swinging forward- but Neo stepped aside and swung her blade. In her blind fury, Yang failed to dodge or block, instead feeling intense pain as her right arm was separated from the rest of her body. She collapsed back to the ground, screaming as she looked at the stub that remained, severed cleanly at the elbow.

"I warned you already," Neo growled, anger returning to her eyes as she drew near. "You could barely beat me before, when you were all children. You've lost every advantage you had... your numbers are shorter, your divine backer is dead... and you're too old. You're ALL. TOO. OLD!"

"HEY, FUCKFACE!" screamed another voice, drawing the attention of both women in the chamber. "YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO ROCK AND ROLL!"

A wall collapsed, revealing a vast starscape behind- in the center of the explosion stood a familiar woman in pink, grinning maniacally as she hefted a hammer over her shoulder.

"N-N-Nora?" Yang stared, open-mouthed, at this new development.

"That's not possible!" Neo snarled, quickly forcing down the panic that had momentarily appeared in her eyes- after all, she had only been counting on Yang's appearance. "How did you get here?!"

"A little divine inspiration," Nora grinned, bringing her hammer around- as she did, it shifted just as she had witnessed in that odd other world- transforming from a hammer to a grenade launcher, before she opened fire. Several canisters came flying out, forcing Neo to leap back to avoid them.

"But he's dead! Ozpin is dead!"

"Yup," Nora nodded grimly. "But not the Dancer!"

"Ozpin is the Dancer!"

"You sure about that?" Nora asked, turning her launcher back into a hammer as she stepped in. "Come on, Yang- you brought us here, I ain't doing all the fighting by myself!"

"I... I c-c-can't... she's t-t-too..."

"'Too' nothing! Are you Yang Xiao Long, or are you Yang Xiao Motherfucking Long?! We're in the Macroverse, for crying out loud- get up and fight!"

Yang's eyes opened wide, the red returning to them. She nodded, almost halfheartedly. "H-h-hotter than the s-s-sun in the m-middle of J-July..."

"You burn!" Nora cheered as Yang forced herself to her feet. Light surrounded the stump of her arm, eventually leaving to reveal a sleek, metallic arm filling the space where her old arm had been severed. It was spray-painted a bright yellow, and as she drew it back, she could feel it opening up into a gun of a similar style to the old gauntlet.

She fired at Neo, who leapt out of the way, rushing forward with her blade. Nora ducked behind and swung her hammer, sending Neo out of the hole she'd just created into the greater Macroverse. The two women were close behind.

Neo flipped back onto her feet, swinging her blade to block another swing from the hammer, but was too slow to defend from the bionic fist driven into her chest, or from the shotgun-blast that discharged from it. She staggered backwards, eyes filling with hate as she prepared for the next strike.

The battle had grown considerably lopsided- and not at all in her favor. She had been forced onto the defensive- and memories of the last time this had happened seemed to be haunting her.

"Fuck you, Vacuo!" Nora called almost cheerily as she swung her hammer- Neo dodged right into the kick Yang had aimed her way, sending her back into Nora's embrace, swinging her hammer directly at Neo's head.

Her form shattered, as though they'd been watching her in a mirror that had just broken apart. The shards disappeared as they fell into the infinite abyss.

"That's it?" Nora wondered, looking around in surprise. "I thought she'd be harder!"

"No... she d-did this l-last time, t-too," Yang shook her head, red eyes still gazing around. "Tricked me into l-leaving early by m-making it l-look like she was d-dead..."

"Well, I ain't about to leave until the job's done!" Nora called out. "You hear that, bitch? We ain't leaving 'til we've got a body to show for all our hard work!"

She began spinning her hammer wildly around, aiming at nothing in particular. Yang glared around the void- even the building they had all emerged from had disappeared. An idea occurred to her.

"Hotter than the s-sun in the m-middle of July, I b-burn!" she called out.

"Yang?" Nora asked, glancing at her battle partner as if she'd lost her mind.

"Hotter than the sun in the middle of July, I burn!" Yang repeated. "Hotter than the sun in the middle of July, I burn! HOTTER THAN THE SUN IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY, I BURN!"

Her eyes finally closed in on a slight distortion- she glanced with her eyes, and Nora immediately charged, picking up on her old friend's signal.

The hammer swung, and they heard Neo's scream.

She had appeared in the midst of still more mirror-like shards, appearing almost from nothing. Nora's hammer had flown true, smashing into her legs, sending her spreading onto the ground.

Yang moved swiftly, grabbing her by the throat and holding her up.

There was no mockery in Neo's eyes anymore- there wasn't even room for hate. All there was left was sheer terror of this strange new situation she'd found herself in.

"Yang... Yang!" she forced out through the fingers closing around her throat. "I'm... the only one of my kind... thanks to you and your friends... I don't even have my children anymore... think what Ruby would want... for her sister to be a murderer? To commit genocide?"

"Don't listen to her, Yang!" Nora called out warningly, hammer at the ready.

"Yang... if you kill me... there will never be anything like me... ever again..."

For the slightest moment, Yang's eyes seemed to flicker back to their customary amethyst...

Before suddenly burning redder than they ever had before. "Good," she hissed, before raising her thumbs and driving them as deep as she could into Neo's eye sockets. Deeper and deeper they went, pressing through the organs and deeper into the skull. Neo shrieked as Yang's thumbs penetrated deeper and deeper, flames springing to life around her, spreading to the woman she was attacking.

XXXX

Neo Politan's last thought was that maybe... just maybe... It wasn't so immortal after all.

XXXX

The screaming stopped, allowing Yang to pull away and realize she was no longer holding Neo Politan, but a charred corpse. She tossed her away, before turning to Nora.

"Heh..." Nora gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. "Er... remind me never to get on your bad side...?"

"Beep beep, Nora," Yang waved her aside. "Come on- we need to get back and help the others-"

The world around them began trembling, causing Yang to stumble and Nora to let out a squeak as she fell down on her butt. Yang's eyes widened. "What- this didn't happen last time! What's going on- this didn't happen last time!"

"Dancer man!" Nora called out into the darkness- it was Yang's turn to look at her partner as if she'd lost all sanity. "Dancer guy- what's going on?"

It only caused more surprise in Yang's mind when a voice actually answered.

"The lights are extinguished- mostly. Even what remains will be gone soon enough- but in the meantime, it seeks to sever your connection to Remnant. If it succeeds... you will be unable to return to your home world."

"What do we do?" Nora asked, eyes widening in fear.

"Make your way back towards the gate," the voice responded immediately. Somehow, they both found their attention drawn to one point of light in particular- without asking, they knew that was the way. "Set your sights, and don't stop. Trust in your friends- from their position on Remnant, they may be able to buy you some more time. Trust in them, and keep moving forward."

The voice fell silent, leaving Yang and Nora little else to do but follow its advice- sprinting as hard as they could through this endless field of stars towards one point of light in particular.

XXXX

The fight continued to rage in the caverns beneath Remnant, the remaining Losers doing everything they could to stomp out eggs and keep the monster away from them at the same time. The fear and adrenaline coursing through their veins seemed to extend the time, turning what may have been as little as twenty minutes into several hours.

Nonetheless, they definitely noticed when the monster stopped in the middle of the cavern, suddenly screaming, mewling, flailing around as if in great pain.

"It... it's hurt?" Jaune asked of nobody. "But... who? Pyrrha?"

"Not me," Pyrrha shook her head. "Weiss?"

"No- it was Yang and Nora," Weiss realized, a smile breaking across her face. "They did it- they extinguished the deadlights. For real this time- they actually did it!"

The screams of pain echoed through them all- in their ears and minds alike.

But then came another voice- a much more harrowing scream.

The deadlights- they're gone... but...

HEEEEEEEEEELP!

"More trouble?" Pyrrha gasped.

"They're trying to get back... but It's trying to close the way!" Jaune muttered, his eyes closed as he attempted to discern the feelings running through him.

They all turned towards the monster, still writhing in the center of the cavern. "But It's still connected to this thing, right?" Weiss muttered, readying her rapier.

Jaune nodded. "Close in- let's end this."

They rushed forward, making their way towards what remained of It upon the cavern floor, when it reared back and began to shine. The same lights they had all begun to fear above all else poured out of the eyes and mouths of the faces surrounding the monster. Jaune and Pyrrha staggered as they caught sight of it, lowering down to the ground, eyes wide and mouths open.

Weiss managed to move faster, raising her arm to cover her own eyes, though she dropped her rapier in the process. "Pyrrha! Jaune!" she cried, before turning back to the monster, struggling to keep her eyes on It without looking into the lights.

Fury coursed through her- "What... did I tell you... about fucking with my friends?!"

She pressed forward, hand moving almost unconsciously to the pouch about her waist, finally closing her fingers around her old, trusty inhaler. She raised it up as she drew near- "Omega dust, bitch! Go back to Hell, where you belong!"

She sprayed, and the monster's screams increased in intensity, just as the light pouring from it did the opposite, steadily fading to the point that Weiss felt safe to remove her hand.

But it was too late- she screamed as she felt one of the raving tentacles pierce through her chest, lifting her up above the monster, looking down at the misshapen hole that was all it had for a face. It bore her nearer, snarling.

"And... fuck you, too!" Weiss snarled right back, raising her arm and plunging it into the beasts mouth, continuing to spray the inhaler's contents, causing the beast even more pain as it flailed around, screeching and mewling.

XXXX

Yang and Nora continued their sprint- at last, they could see the source of the light, beaming brightly amidst the vast cosmos.

...And shrunken to the point that one of them alone would barely fit through it.

"No!" Nora cried out, increasing her pace.

In the middle of the light, they thought they could see two arms reaching through- arms very familiar to them. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, it seemed, were reaching across the worlds in an effort to pull them back- but the hole was simply too small.

"Are we... screwed?" Nora asked, fatigue suddenly setting in on her with remarkable swiftness.

"I... think we might be..." Yang admitted, faltering on her own.

Before they could lay down and simply accept their fate, a deafening screech echoed through the void, and the doorway expanded, suddenly the size of a great gate. Their eyes widened, and they felt a second wind, continuing their run.

Pyrrha and Jaune appeared, eyes widening as they looked into the Macroverse for the first time. Before they could say anything, though, Yang and Nora were there, charging through the door as they called out, "NO! GO BACK- THIS PLACE IS COLLAPSING, GO BACK!"

Ultimately, the door shut behind them just as the last loser had crossed through.

XXXX

Yang's eyes flickered open to reveal the cavern ceiling above her- she'd never thought she'd be so glad to see it. She quickly rose to her feet, spying Nora out of the corner of her eye, rubbing her head as she pulled herself up. "Man... did I just do a Fire Walk, or was I just on acid the whole time?"

Yang smiled briefly before turning to the creature in the cavern's center- and her heart dropped when she saw Weiss Schnee impaled upon one of Its tentacles, her arm shoved deep into Its mouth.

Weiss continued screaming as she pulled at the inhaler's trigger again and again, intent on fighting until she couldn't anymore.

That time came as the beast came to Its senses enough to close Its mouth. Weiss's screams took a turn for the pained as she felt a hundred jagged teeth tear into her arm, ultimately ripping it away from her, leaving her at the mercy of the tentacle sticking through her chest.

It flailed around, ultimately dislodging her and sending her careening into the wall, before crumpling onto the floor.

"WEISS!"

Pyrrha and Jaune had both been revived just in time to see this final spectacle. Weiss smiled slightly as four faces came into view- the faces of all her friends, kneeling down above her prone form.

"This... is certainly an inconvenience..." she struggled to say, blood pooling in her mouth. "Yang... Nora... you made it back."

"Don't talk, Ice Queen," Nora shook her head, holding Weiss's remaining hand in her own as she struggled to look comforting. "We'll get you out of here, everything's going to be-"

"I thought... I told you not to call me Ice Queen," Weiss admonished, the effect ruined by a slight smile. "I always... hated it when you..."

A bright light seemed to have appeared above Weiss- she couldn't tell if it was real, or a product of her dying mind. An angelic face appeared within its center, smiling gently down at her with bright, silver eyes. A small hand extended out towards her- a hand she found herself reaching back towards in spite of herself.

Weiss Schnee did not speak her last thoughts aloud, whether for physical reasons or mental. She kept this final thought to herself, even as the cavern began to fade away around her.

Ruby.

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"Weiss? Weiss!" Nora screamed as Weiss went limp in her arms. Around her, the rest of her team's eyes were filling with tears.

Pyrrha looked up from the ground, only for her sorrow to be immediately washed aside in anger. "YOU!" she screamed. A black aura coated her hand, summoning her spear to her, allowing her to throw it across the cavern. "YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY AGAIN!"

The other losers jumped to their feet, spinning around to see the creature scrabbling its way across the cavern floor towards the very well it had escaped into twenty-seven years ago.

"NOT THIS TIME, BITCH!" Nora called out, an animalistic fury rising within her. "YOU ARE NOT COMING BACK WHEN I'M OLD AND GREY!"

Pyrrha's spear had pinned it to the floor for the moment, long enough for them to cross the short distance between them. Jaune readied his knife, Nora her hammer, and Yang cracked her knuckles as they bore down on their prey.

The scene was... grisly. Jaune and Pyrrha slashed away at the waving tentacles, as Nora let loose with primal cries as she brought her hammer down again and again. Yang grabbed the appendages and ripped them away with her bare hands, strength backed up by the red in her eyes and the fire in her heart.

It was no longer a battle- it was a massacre. It wasn't clear whether what remained of It couldn't or wouldn't fight anymore, but either way, it was reduced to Its squealing and mewling as the humans above continued to mutilate it.

At last, Jaune closed in for the kill. He rolled the creature over onto Its back before plunging the silver knife into Its chest, using the old scar as a guide to carve open a large cavity. Nora and Pyrrha used their weapons to help force the monster's chest open even wider, allowing Yang clear access to plunge in her hands, feeling around for a few brief seconds before closing her fingers around her target. She pulled with all her strength, and with a sickening, indescribable series of noises, backed away with a rather large organ in her hands, still giving its final few beats.

Letting out a primal screech, Yang held the heart above them all. Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha joined in, the scene momentarily changing to an ancient ritual of some prehistoric tribe, before Yang finally tossed Its heart to the ground, eagerly grinding it into the dirt beneath her boot.

At their side, the beast gave a final few twitches, then moved no more.

XXXX

Far above, Lie Ren's eyes opened, just a crack. The corners of his mouth twitched into a very small smile.

"They won."

XXXX

Gamer4 out.