Resurgence: A RWBY Fic

By Kraven Ergeist


Chapter 53


Jaune had never fought so hard in his life. It seemed every Grimm he struck down, another rose to take its place. The wreckage caused by the crashed airship had left a lot of wounded, so his primary duty was to defend the citizens of Vacuo. Yang, Nora and himself acted as the bulwark, drawing the attention of the Grimm, while Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Ren used their speed to ferry civilians out of harm's way.

The airship had plowed through part of the slums along the wall, its carapace just barely holding together, its wings and tail torn clean off, its engine still smoking from the explosion it had endured earlier. Piled around the airship were hills of sun-bleached sandstone bricks that had once been a part of the massive wall surrounding the city. The terraced rooftops of the slums spread out as far as the eye could see, those hovels and huts in the immediate vicinity crumbled and broken from the impact of the airship. All around them, guards and civilians were pulling the injured out from under the wreckage and fleeing the Grimm as Ruby and her team rushed to their aid.

"Jaune! On your six!" Yang called out as she punched an ursa's head clean off its shoulders.

Jaune turned and saw a Boarbatusk spinnint towards him like a whirling buzz saw of death. He planted his shield into the ground and focused his aura into his shield, and a moment later it was glowing bright white. The Boarbatusk slammed into it like a brick wall, breaking both tusks and tumbling away in a crippled heap.

"Nora, we're getting flanked here!" he called out when he saw a death stalker and a king taijitu approaching. "Any chance for an assist?"

"Be with you in a minute!" a loud voice called down to him, and Jaune looked up to see Nora clinging to the back of a nevermore, with Ren hot on her heels.

"No time!" Yang charged forward, rushing the two-headed snake with a flurry of blows.

Jaune gulped as the deathstalker approached him, twin pincers snapping wickedly towards him, its wicked stinger looming ominously overhead.

"Heh…" he muttered to himself nostalgically. "Still can't believe I ever thought that was the relic, huh Pyrrha?"

The deathstalker charged him and he blocked one claw with his shield, the other clasping around the blade of his sword. As he grappled with the giant scorpion, its tail jabbed down at him, forcing him to leap to one side to avoid being stabbed.

"Rrrrgh!" he growled in frustration as he tugged at his sword, trying to rip it free from the deathstalker's grasp. "Get off!"

He managed to smash the hilt of his sword into the Grimm's face, causing it to hiss in displeasure and finally release the blade of Crocea Mors, snapping and flailing its claws wildly. Jaune seized the opportunity to leap over the swinging pincers and bring the point of his sword down into the giant scorpion's back, embedding itself halfway into the beast.

As the Grimm let out another howl of anguish, its tail came down upon him, which Jaune deflected with his shield, putting all his effort into shoving the sword down into his target. He felt his aura swelling up, and soon the steel of his sword began to glow a vibrant gold, same as his shield, and with a cry of anger, Jaune shoved his sword all the way into the death stalker's back.

With one last groan of defeat, the Grimm collapsed, and Jaune withdrew his sword, it's shimmering hue dissipated, before rolling off of the carcass and onto the rubble-torn street below.

"Not bad, short stuff!" Yang called out to him.

Jaune looked over at Yang, and blinked in surprise when he saw that she had literally tied the king taijitu into a knot, both of its heads blown apart in a shower of black gore.

"Now you're just showing off, Yang," Jaune sighed, his shoulders sagging in incredulity.

Yang smirked.

"Guilty," she said, before jetting off towards her next target.

Ruby landed next to him shortly afterward.

"All the civilians in the immediate vicinity have been cleared out," she assured, drawing her scythe. "Winter says that back-up should be arriving shortly. All we've got to do is hold the line until they get here."

Jaune nodded, checking his scroll to monitor his aura. He was at about eighty percent. He needed to be more sparing with his semblance, which drained him significantly.

"I just hope we can hold out until then…" he sighed helplessly.

Ruby's eyes lit up when she saw a familiar set of faces climbing their way out of the wreckage of the downed Atlesian frigate.

"Well, at least we won't have to hold out on our own!" she shouted, before waving her arms over her head. "It's Team CFVY!"

Jaune turned his head to see their former classmates climbing out of the hatch on the side of the airship, looking a little worse for wear.

"Velvet!" Ruby shouted, rushing towards them as Jaune kept his back to her, shield raised, his eyes scanning for any signs of approaching Grimm.

The Faunus girl's eyes lifted at the sound of her name, and her expression brightened when she saw Ruby running towards her.

"Ruby!" she cried out in surprise. "You're here!"

Ruby threw her arms around the other girl, embracing her tightly as Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi simply watched, a pang of relief tempering what otherwise appeared to be looks of despair.

"Hey!" Yang called out as she ran up to the little reunion. "You guys were in that airship?"

"Yeah," Coco replied, staring back at the wreckage. "We survived, somehow…"

"I thought you guys were still in Vale!" Ruby exclaimed as she clung to her long lost friend.

"We were!" Velvet replied. "But the White Fang were restoring this airship for their purposes, and we managed to get aboard before it took off. We tried to bring it down before it could reach the city, but…it looks like we failed."

Ruby looked up at the ruined airship and the sizeable gap it had left in the wall behind it, the smoldering husk.

"At least you brought it down," Yang said consolingly.

"Yeah, and we practically gift-wrapped the city to the Grimm now," Coco shook her head. "Look at that wall! It won't even matter if we take down every Grimm on this airship, it's only a matter of time before the Grimm outside the city find their way in."

"We've already seen a massive horde approaching on the horizon," Ruby sighed. "But don't worry. Reinforcements are on their way! All we have to do is hold the Grimm here and…"

She trailed off as Ruby's eyes fell on a fifth person emerging from the wreckage.

"Lookout!" Ruby shoved Velvet behind her, pointing an accusatory finger. "It's Emerald!"

Yang aimed her Ember Celica as Ruby withdrew her scythe. Jaune turned in alarm at the sound of his team's weapons deploying and raised his sword and shield as well.

The green haired girl just blinked in confusion, pointing a finger at herself as if completely unaware of what could be wrong.

"Ruby, everyone, it's okay!" Velvet said, holding onto Ruby's shoulders from behind. "She's with us, alright? She's the one who let us know about the airship! Look, a lot of things have changed since we last saw one another."

"Yeah," Coco said, giving Emerald a slightly rougher-than-necessary pat on the back. "Without this little trickster, we'd have never made it off the airship alive."

Emerald grimaced at the gesture, but smirked in Ruby's direction. "Yeah, chill out, will you? I'm a bona fide hero, after all."

Yang pointed her finger at Emerald angrily. "Yeah, and you're the reason I got framed during the Vytal tournament!"

"Yeah, well, just doing my job," Emerald crossed her arms. "So why don't you just get over it already?"

"Guys!" Velvet said coming between Emerald and their classmates. "We can throw around blame later! Right now, we've got a lot of Grimm left to deal with, and not much time before even more show up!"

Ruby pursed her lips, still looking unconvinced.

"Well…alright, if you say so," she said, before fixing Emerald with a dirty look. "But I'm keeping my eye on you!"

Emerald just shrugged.

"Ruby, there's something else," Velvet said, her voice taking on a somber note. "Remember when you told me about the man who trained you? Your uncle, I think it was?"

Ruby nodded eagerly. "Our uncle Qrow!"

Yang's interest piqued as well. "Have you seen him?"

Velvet's ears drooped, and she clearly did not relish the thought of saying what she had to say.

"I…I don't know how to tell you this…" she said softly. "But I think-"

"Look out!" Fox shouted, shoving his teammate to the side, his ears picking up on the threat before anyone else.

BLAM!

"Fox!" Coco cried in alarm as Fox and Velvet tumbled to the ground, the rest of the team tensing in surprise.

Fox looked up from where he had landed, placing a hand on his chest where he expected to see a bullet wound. Instead, he found nothing, and saw Jaune Arc standing over him, his pristine shield glowing golden white.

"You!" Jaune shouted, glaring up at their attacker, his shield slowly fading back to normal.

Everyone looked up to see a familiar red-haired Faunus, climbing out from the wreckage. He stood high above them, atop the hull of the ruined airship, weapon pointed at them all.

And his weapon looked very familiar.

"Yes…" Adam smiled grimly, retracting the gun back into the long angular greatsword. "Me…"

Ruby and Yang's eyes flared open in recognition.

"That sword…" Ruby's jaw dropped. "Is that…?"

Yang's teeth gnashed as fury overtook her.

"That's Qrow's sword!" she shouted.

The White Fang released a guffaw of laughter, cackling toward the sky.

"Oh, this?" he exclaimed in triumph, waving his stolen sword around like a trophy. "You recognize this, do you!? Oh this is just too perfect!"

"You monster!" Ruby shouted in anger. "What have you done to our uncle!?"

"Hahahah!" Adam laughed a maddening laugh as he hoisted the sword over his shoulder. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Velvet put a cautioning hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, be careful! That man's dangerous!"

"You should listen to your friend there, little red," Adam smiled, tauntingly. "Your uncle's sword is a tad unwieldy, but it packs a punch. Here, let me show you!

He lunged towards the group, bringing the haft of his blade down towards them.

It was Yatsuhashi who caught the blow with his own sword, the two massive blades colliding as Adam descended upon them. The resulting impact caused a caused a shockwave to push everyone away, an enormous crater appearing under Yatsuhashi's feet as he struggled to fend off the massive greatsword. Ruby, Jaune and Yang tumbled in one direction, Fox, Coco and Velvet were flung in another. Both scrambled hurriedly to their feet as Yatsuhashi finally managed to push back against Adam's attack.

"Velvet!" he called out to his friends. "Coco! Fox! Get out of here!"

Adam regained his footing and redoubled his attack. Yatsuhashi tried to fend him off, but Adam was the more agile fighter by far. With a flourish, he flipped over the Huntsmen and sent a flying kick into the back of his head, sending him tumbling forward.

"Yatsuhashi!" Velvet cried in alarm.

She cast a glance at Fox, who nodded as she replicated his arm blades on her own wrists. The two of them charged the White Fang, encircling him in a blur of motion, keeping him from advancing on their fallen teammate.

Adam simply sneered, and extended Qrow's sword into its scythe form, spinning it in a dazzling whirl of motion that sent both Huntsmen tumbling away.

Coco gritted her teeth in frustration, powerless to assist. "Velvet! Fox!"

Adam's wicked smile fell upon Coco as he brought the scythe to bear.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," he said viciously. "You're next..."

Coco glared back at him, her weapon-case in hand, as she watched him lean into crouch, ready to lunge towards her.

The attack was interrupted, however, when a shrill voice pierced the battlefield.

"WHERE IS HE!?"

Adam turned to find the young leader of Team RWBY, clutching her scythe in her hands, tears dripping from her eyes as she glared at him in rage, eyes beginning to glow a pale silver.

"WHERE'S MY UNCLE!?"

Behind her, Yang and Jaune were slowly getting to their feet. Ruby, however, did not look like she was willing to wait for them to back her up.

Adam just smirked, his head tilting back as he stared haughtily at her. "Oh…you're still hung up about your uncle Qrow? Is that who you're worried about?"

Ruby's teeth clenched in anguish as she tried not to imagine the worst had come to pass.

"Where…is…he!?" she demanded angrily, her eyes burning white, her tiny body quivering in outrage, her scythe rattling in her hands.

Adam let out another laugh, before retracting the scythe back into its sword form, hoisting the greatsword languidly across his shoulders.

"Who knows?" he chuckled, drawing back his lips into a wicked smile. "Last I saw of him, he was rotting in a prison cell. For all I know, Cinder's got him strapped to an interrogation chair, torturing him for information…and if she didn't get what she wanted out of him, she may have killed him already for all I know…"

Ruby's eyes widened in revulsion and she nearly dropped her scythe, the thing wisps of silver in her eyes flickering out.

"No…" she whimpered in disbelief, shaking her head.

Yang shook her head in anger. "You're lying!"

Adam shrugged dispassionately, clutching the stolen sword in his hands. "What do I care? I mean, after all…"

He slipped into an attack position, poised and ready to strike as he smirked at the two furious young girls.

"…I've already gotten everything I want out of him."

Jaune clenched his sword. Yang gritted her teeth. But it was Ruby who made the most fearsome visage.

"YOU MONSTER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, lunging forward with her scythe, tears burning in her eyes.

At Adam's smile, a flash from memory crossed Yang's mind, and her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. Adam was taunting them, goading them into an attack. Making them reckless. Just like he had when she had fought him during the attack on Vale. And Yang had leaped right into the fray and suffered the consequences.

And now Ruby was doing the exact same thing.

"Ruby!" Yang cried in alarm, reaching out for her. "NOOOOO!"

She and Jaune tore after the young girl, but it was too late. The sword he carried may have been larger and bulkier, but he still swung it with the finesse of a polished swordmaster. Yang's eyes widened in horror as she watched, helplessly, as her uncle's blade bit into her sister's flesh and tore through her like a hot knife through butter, leaving little more than tatters in its wake.

"NOOOO!" Jaune shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.

"RUBYYYY!" Yang screamed, tears in her eyes.

Yang and Jaune both watched Ruby's limp form tumble to the ground, crumpling like a limp rag doll.

And then her image withered away into a flurry of shadows.

Yang and Jaune both blinked in shock. What exactly did they just…?

Then they heard Ruby's tiny voice off in the distance.

"Let me go!" she was screaming like a child. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Yang fell to her knees when she saw Blake, clutching Ruby in her arms on a nearby rooftop. The leader of Team RWBY had been reduced to a squabbling mess as she struggled to escape Blake's grip as she held her tightly in her arms.

"Ruby…" Yang's voice escaped in her lips in a withering lilt as she fell to her knees.

"Oh, thank heaven…" Jaune gasped as he felt his heart resume beating in his chest.

Adam pursed his lips as he stared down at the empty space before him in confusion, before turning to find his former lover off to the side, and he drew back his upper lip in a sneer.

"Blake..." he growled.

Blake wasn't even looking at him.

"Blake, let me go!" Ruby demanded, tears in her eyes, arms flailing wildly. "Blake, please! That man, he...Uncle Qrow!"

"Ruby!" she chastised, shaking her in her arms. "Stop this!"

Ruby inhaled sharply as she seemed to regain her senses.

"That man has taken far too much from us already," Blake said forebodingly as she cast her eyes back on Adam's looming form as he slowly marched towards them. "Don't let him take anything else."

Adam leaped from the edge of the wreckage down onto the slum rooftop where Black crouched, her friend in her arms.

"The more you struggle to save them, Blake," he warned, raising the greatsword over his shoulders. "The more it will hurt when you ultimately fail."

Blake glared back at the man, a look of defiance on her face.

"You're the one who's going to need saving," she said, her ears flat against her head.

He looked like he was about to retort, when a series of glyphs lit up in a straight line towards him, and the whistling screech thundered across the battlefield as he was struck in the face with a shard of rubble delivered at super-sonic speeds.

BOOM!

Blake looked up to find Weiss, standing atop the pile of sandstone that was all that was left of the wall, an arsenal of bricks levitating around her.

Right on time, Blake smiled.

"Get Ruby out of there, Blake!" she called out. "I've got your back!"

Blake took Ruby's limp form in her arms and leaped back to where Yang and Jaune were standing. Meanwhile, Weiss sent another piece of rubble hurdling at Adam as he retreated, clutching his face. She sent bolt after bolt, each one funneled through a series of speed-boosting glyphs, one after another, each one amplifying and magnifying the effects of their ammunition, in what amounted to a dust-powered rail gun.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

When Blake landed, Yang threw her arms around her little sister, clutching her tightly.

"Ruby!" she shuddered as she embraced her tightly. "Don't ever do anything like that again, do you hear me!?"

Ruby shook in anguish as she tried to return her sister's embrace.

"I'm sorry, Yang…" she whimpered. "But…Uncle Qrow…"

"We'll find him, Ruby!" Yang declared, squeezing harder. "But first we have to get out of this alive! Can you do that for me!?"

Ruby winced as she tried to sniff back her tears.

"Okay…" she blubbered helplessly.

Yang set her jaw and finally parted with her, holding her by the shoulders.

"Jaune…" she said brusquely without looking at him. "I want you to take my sister, find Ren, Nora and Team CFVY and take care of the rest of the Grimm – there's going to be more coming soon."

Jaune nodded. "Got it. But what about you?"

Yang's eyes were already glowing red, radiating a cold, glowing rage.

"Blake, Weiss and I will take care of the White Fang," she said simply. "Just put some distance between us…this place is about to get messy."

Jaune felt a shudder run down his spine at Yang's words. There was a deadly, vengeful tinge to her voice that he had never heard before. Behind her, Blake was keeping a watchful eye on the situation. It was her quick thinking that had saved Ruby just now. Even Yang and Jaune, for all their strength, had been too slow to respond.

And off in the distance, Weiss was still taking pot shots at Adam, keeping him pinned down.

BOOM! BOOM!

"I'm trusting you, Jaune," Yang said forebodingly, recapturing his attention. "Take care of my sister."

Jaune took one look at Ruby's tear-filled face and nodded.

"I will," Jaune said, taking Ruby by the hand. "Come on, Ruby."

Ruby reluctantly took his hand and let him lead her away. She looked utterly drained of strength, and was clearly in no condition to fight anymore.

"But Jaune…" she muttered softly, though her words lacked conviction. "Yang…"

"Yang will be fine," Jaune assured her. "She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

Ruby watched Yang's retreating form as Jaune pulled her away, reaching out towards her sister as she waved goodbye.

Something in her heart made her feel like she'd never see her again.

Yang turned to give Blake a grateful smile.

"Thanks Blake," she said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I mean that."

Blake smiled sweetly. "Ruby's my friend too, Yang. But don't worry – I wasn't going to let anything happen to your sister on my watch."

Yang gave her partner's shoulder a meaningful squeeze before releasing her and cracking her knuckles as she peered down at Adam as he ducked beneath the cover of what used to be the airship's wing. Weiss was still pelting his position with railgun fire.

"Time for round three," Yang glowered, giving Blake a reassuring smile. "You ready for this?"

Blake nodded. "Just don't go charging in like the first time, okay?"

Yang waved her hand. "Got it. Anything else?"

"I know how he thinks," Blake added, drawing her sword. "Let me do the talking."

"You?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "Heh…alright then…"

The two girls dropped down from the rooftop onto the rubble below, striding over to where Weiss had Adam pinned down. The ground was littered with craters from Weiss' mortar fire, and Adam was nowhere to be found.

Blake gave Yang a surreptitious smile, before raising her voice.

"You may as well give up!" Blake called out. "We have you out-matched!

Yang smirked as she saw what Blake was doing. She was using his own tactics against him, trying to goad him into attacking them while they had the advantage. If he was truly as fixated on Blake as he seemed, there was no way he wouldn't rise to her baiting. The only thing that worried her, however, was whether or not he had any tricks up his sleeve that he had been holding back until now.

The two girls stiffed a gasp, however, when Adam finally emerged. His mask was gone! Weiss' initial barrage must have shattered it completely. A trickle of blood ran down the left side of his face from his eyebrow, covering his left eye in a mat of blood as he glared back at them with his remaining eye. And as emerged from the cover of the wreckage below, he stepped out onto the rubble, putting himself in line of sight to Weiss' rail gun.

But her attack never came.

"Oh?" he asked haughtily. "What in the world ever gave you that idea?"

Shortly thereafter, Weiss leaped down from her vantage point, stumbling haphazardly as she rushed to join with Yang and Blake, panting for breath.

"Weiss!" Blake called out to her. "Are you alright? What…?"

She trailed off, however, when she saw just what had driven Weiss from her sniping position.

The chiseled and tattooed form of the White Fang Lieutenant appeared next to Adam, chainsaw blade hoisted over his shoulder as he glared ominously at his prey.

"I want the Schnee…" he said to Adam in a chilling, gravelly voice. "Leave her to me."

Adam smiled a cold, deadly smile. "She's all yours…"

As Weiss, Blake and Yang raised their weapons, all around them it seemed that even more White Fang had begun to gather around them, crawling out from the wreckage of the airship now that the Grimm had all moved onto other areas.

"Weiss, he looks pretty set on you," Yang muttered pensively, her focus not leaving Adam or his crony. "You need any backup?"

"I've got him," Weiss said confidently, re-chambering her rapier. "You just deal with Adam."

The White Fang commander lifted his stolen sword and pointed it at the three Huntresses.

"Blake!" he called out to her in a low, scathing voice. "You and I have unfinished business! It's time to end this!"

Blake squeezed the hilt of her sword, knuckles turning white as her eyes narrowed.

"Then let's end it…"