Qrow ducked underneath the double slashes of Tyrian's gauntlets. He rose Harbinger to block a fist from King Crimson and then jumped back as Nero's own blade lunged to catch Diavolo. The four men were deep in their fight. Sometimes it would end up as three against one, two on two or a mix of both. Diavolo dived as Tyrian's tail tried to swipe him up.
Rolling forward, his blond hair which was once kept up, now fell back. It was long and patterned in a bizarre way. The boys armor was long stripped off after Risotto Nero tried to turn it into a set of steak knives to rip open Diavolo's chest.
Qrow knee that the body that once belonged to that bumbling knight was the most dangerous. His ability to influence fate was far more concerning than anything else. Gotta keep moving… Qrow swung his scythe to scrape against Risotto Nero's aura. In return, Qrow felt the sting of a series of razor sharp tacks form from his metal flask. The man grit his teeth and with a great deal of sadness took his flask and threw it as hard as he could towards Diavolo, just as the transformation occurred.
Diavolo had seen this already. Epitaph showed him a shower of razor sharp tacks raining upon him. With a word, time was erased and he moved out of the way of the incoming damage. The red forecasted images of the metal flew down to where he was, harmlessly flattering against the ground. He repositioned himself to strike at Tyrian Callows. One of Salem's new minions no doubt!
Time resumed and he was right on top of Tyrian. King Crimson took the faunus by surprise and punched him back towards one of the walls and causing it to crack. The scorpions aura shimmered as it took the damage. Quickly foreseeing that Qrow was about to hamstring him, Diavolo once again erased time, leaving Qrow's scythe at the end of its motion in an instant. The long haired blond lunged to reach the arrow again, this time outside of skipping time. Unluckily, Diavolo lost his footing. That gave Qrow the moment he needed to leap over Diavolo and bring his scythe down on him. It crashed into him and put him on the ground. I ought to thank Jaune for his large aura pool. If he's still around anyways
Flipping around, he saw that Tyrian was trying to wrap Risotto around with his tail. It might have worked if it wasn't for the fact that Risotto used his Semblance to make razor blades explode out of the beasts tail, almost cutting it off. He screeched in a deranged way that might have shook a lesser man to the bone.
Diavolo skipped past time to reenter the fight. Appearing in front of Nero, he punched at him twice with King Crimson's fists. It hit him directly in the aura, bringing him to his knees. "I applaud you, Risotto Nero. Your teammates are proud of you. I will ensure you are reunited in the afterlife!"
Epitaph activated before he could attack again and showed him another vision of the future. A racing bullet bursting out of his back. "King Crimson!" Your luck is always convenient, Nero!"
The forecast of the bullet went through his shoulder and he stepped out of its path. With a smirk he ended the period of skipped time and laughed as the bullet slammed into Risotto Nero.
Back towards Qrow, the man was deep in his fight with Tyrian Callows. Harbinger cut across him but Tyrian countered by swinging his mangled tail between his legs and grabbing his foes weapon as Qrow dodged the strike. The weapon flew in the air and landed on the ground with a clatter.
Tyrian grinned moments before Qrow shrugged and launched his fist into his enemies face. Tyrian stumbled backwards. Qrow's fists went back and forth, slamming into Tyrian's chest and face multiple times. When the scorpion was on the ground, Qrow sauntered over and lifted up his scythe again with a smirk. He gave Tyrian no chance to rest as he rushed forward and swung around to catch his back.
A few gunshots rang out as he saw Ruby firing at him. "Ruby!" Qrow shouted in a panic. "Stay back!"
Ruby of course did not listen and rushed forward from her vantage point to join her uncle in fighting Tyrian.
Weiss was panicking now. Jaune was fully hijacked by Diavolo and Ruby has foolishly tossed herself into the fray. Back on her feet, the Heiress knew she had to do something. Anything. "Ren! Stay here!" she all but ordered. The magenta eyed boy nodded his affirmation and held Nora close. Before Weiss left she heard him speak.
"Please. Bring our leader back."
Weiss gave him a nod before slamming her rapier in the ground and speeding herself forward towards the fight. Ruby had joined in by now, trading blows with Tyrian's gauntlets as Qrow tried to ward her off.
"This is my fight too!" Weiss heard her say. Ruby you heroic dolt! she wanted to scream out but could not. She had to save Ruby from the brawl between the four. Qrow could handle it. Ruby could not!
"It's not that it's-" Qrow shouted before being interrupted by Tyrian's attacks.
Weiss saw Jaun-No, Diavolo- throw two fists that we're blocked by Risotto who seemed to be using a completely metal form of Crocea Mors. She saw his aura flare in what she assumed was his Semblance. With her big blue eyes she witnessed as Qrow's leg burst out slightly, knives flying past Tyrian and into the back of Diavolo who shrugged them off. Weiss felt sickened but undeterred. Ruby gasped at her uncle's plight but was forced by Tyrian to keep fighting. "Do you WISH to be taken?" she heard Tyrian ask.
Weiss had finally reached her foe and used her momentum to leaped in the air above Tyrian and cast a glyph above him, stepping onto it and launching forward with her swordpoint aimed directly at his neck. The weapon took a massive chunk of his aura away. "Weiss?!" Ruby cried out in shock as her partner and girlfriend had leapt to her aid. She wasn't sure if she was angry or flattered.
"Ruby! We need to let Qrow handle this!" she informed her as the older scythe wielder forced Tyrian back towards Diavolo, who lobbed a fist that was dodged and blocked by Qrow. Suddenly, Risotto twisted his hand and Tyrian felt a pair of scissors form in his arm. Without a second thought he cut open a part of his arm and tore them out. He hissed in pain before crying out to Salem and lashing out in a deep ferocity.
Weiss held Ruby down to keep her from running after her uncle. "Let go Weiss!" she screamed. "I have to help Qrow!" Ruby was wriggling in Weiss's grasp but the Heiress was older and stronger.
"Listen to me! We can't help! We just have to stay out of his way while he fights! Please! Listen to me!"
Ruby was frantic now. Desperately trying to shake loose, she was reaching for Crescent Rose, which lay on the ground. "Let go! We have to help him! We have to save Jaun-"
Ruby didn't get the chance to speak when Weiss muffled her voice with a long kiss. It took a moment for them to break, the battle going on becoming an afterthought in their moment of bliss. "We can't help if you get hurt. Or worse." Ruby did not speak. She softly looked towards Jaune, his blond hair long and wild. His eyes green and fractured. The eyes of Diavolo. He was fighting that scorpion faunus.
"Jaune will be fine. He's still in there. Fighting. He'd want us to get back too."
Ruby finally conceded to Weiss. The Heiress held her close and then handed her Crescent Rose. As Ruby turned back to return to Ren and Nora she saw Weiss looking towards the fight. "Weiss?..."
That dunce… that damn selfless dunce! Weiss thought to herself as she used her glyphs to launch Ruby back towards Ren and Nora and then fire herself towards Diavolo.
Risotto, Qrow, Tyrian and Diavolo were all facing one another again. Their fights had broken apart and once again they stared each other down. Their respite only lasted a moment before Diavolo skipped time to attack Risotto, only to be blocked by Tyrian. "You truly are interesting! Your demeanor is utterly unlike before! Our goddess will be quite fascinated! What secrets are inside you?!"
Diavolo looked at Tyrian with utter contempt. This fool worshipped Salem?! "Don't you dare speak to me like you have a clue what's going on! I'm going to transcend even Salem with that arrow! No mere subordinate can stop me! My semblance is the pinnacle!"
Diavolo lashed out at Tyrian who sucked and weaved. King Crimson left broken, shattered, stone tiles in the wake of its fists. Tyrian himself seemed to switch eye colors in a fashion similar to himself and lunged forward with what Diavolo could assume was his semblance. Tsk he thought as Epitaph showed him such events happening already.
"King Crimson! Time is erased for everyone but myself!"
Diavolo watched as Tyrian pointlessly moved through skipped time. "Such a shame. Your skills would have been an asset to Passione. Even beyond. Yet it all pales before the power of King Crimson. You don't even know how useless your movements are! They have been rendered useless!"
Diavolo saw as Tyrian's tail lunged forward, the red image showing him that he would have attempted to swing it around and stab it right in his face. "It's time I dealt with that nuisance" Diavolo said as he positioned himself right behind Tyrian and raised the arm of King Crimson in an open palm strike. When time resumed there was an agonizing scream. It sounded like the very gates of Hell had opened and it's beasts released. It was not that however.
Tyrian's tail had been cut right off in one motion. Blood spewed from the wound. With a kick to the legs he was drawn back. In a moment his screaming was silenced. The fist of King Crimson came down into the faunus's chest and exploded out of his back. Blood flew into the air and the beast was silenced. The combatants all stopped to see the brutal sight before them. Tyrian's nearly lifeless, bleeding body landed with a wet thud onto the ground as Diavolo looked over all of them. The students were shocked, but the remaining two fighters knew this was a possibility. Risotto Nero narrowed his eyes as he saw Tyrian start to slowly crawl as Diavolo walked over him towards Qrow.
I'm losing my chance! I have to strike now! The assassins thought.
King Crimson landed a heavy punch on Qrow Branwen's weapon, grinning as it did so. The man felt himself being pushed back under the weight of Diavolo's semblance, gritting his teeth as he did so. "Who is the one that's worthy? Think about it! I am the only one worth the power of requiem!"
Through gritted teeth, Qrow spat. "I don't even know what the hell you're talking about!" Qrow focused and channeled his own semblance to try and get its frequency going. And soon enough, it worked. One of the support beams that was holding up the unfinished remains of a building buckled and nearly crushed Diavolo if it wasn't for the fact he had predicted it with Epitaph and simply erased the time in which it would have hit him.
Damn that semblance! Qrow thought as he ran back away from Diavolo. Still, at least he knew his own would keep the arrow out of that bastards hands.
Suddenly, he saw the brief flash of white hair go by him. Weiss Schnee was racing towards Diavolo with her glyphs. "Wait! Stop!" he shouted but it was no use. Despite being turned away from Qrow, the bangs of Diavolo's hair flew up and showed him getting tackled by the Schnee girl. With a smirk he activated his Semblance and saw the world break apart, leaving only the forecasted movements of Weiss Schnee.
So this was the little one you had the infatuation over before the Nikos girl? Pathetic.
Diavolo moved himself behind Weiss and lifted King Crimson's arm up to come down and eliminate the Schnee girl in one fell swoop. "Time! Resume!" The scratching redness occurred and Weiss found herself standing in front of her target. She quickly turned around to see the descending arm of King Crimson. Ruby was screaming. The sound of weapons clashing against one another. This was it. I'm sorry, Ruby! Weiss thought as she braced for the end. She shut her eyes.
It never came.
"What?" Weiss said as she opened her eyes to see the palm of King Crimson just barely above her shoulders. In a flash she pulled back, taking advantage of the pause. She could she Diavolo straining, his face filled with sweat and his teeth grit. King Crimson was struggling to move and even flickering. "Wh-What?" He growled as his hand hovered in the air. Both Qrow and Nero were taken aback by this and settled for watching what was happening to their dangerous foe.
No… THIS CANNOT BE! HE'S-
"W-Weiss!" The pained voice of Jaune Arc came through from the mouth of Diavolo. Weiss opened her eyes in amazement. It had worked. To some degree it had worked. "You have to… run!"
Weiss did not run, but stood her ground. She had to save him. "You can fight this Jaune. I know you can! We believe in you! I believe in you!" She practically shouted. "You're stronger than him! Remember who you're fighting for! What we're all fighting for!"
"You worthless piece of trash" Diavolo raged. Weiss was unsure if he was speaking to her or to Jaune. "You're willing to trade away ultimate power…." His voice seemed to be strained and painful as he fell to his knees. Weiss saw Risotto Nero approach but be stopped by Qrow who broke into fierce combat. Tyrian's body was slumped over, his crawling having ceased. A streak of blood showed the path of his last movements.
"They're … worth more than you could ever know…" Jaune shot back. Weiss watched in horror as two souls battle for control over a single body. Jaune's body seemed to be writhing in agony as he fell from his knees and onto the ground. "Get OUT!" he screamed as Diavolo kept fighting him.
Weiss could see his eyes swiftly changing back and forth. The beautiful blue of Jaune Arc and the shattered green of Diavolo. Weiss kept shouting her support for the knight over the devil. "YOU CAN BEAT HIM!"
"All of this… for… for a girl? A crippled girl at that? For NIKOS?" Diavolo screeched as he poured through Jaune's memories and soul, just as the opposite was happening.
Jaune thought and thought and thought and his soul came back to one anchor that kept him from being completely and utterly subsumed and destroyed by Diavolo. Her hair was red and crimson and wholly beautiful. Her eyes were green and perfect in every way and her body was like that of a goddess. She was his goddess. She was his everything. And he promised to see her again.
And an Arc never goes back on their word.
Suddenly, he took a step. Weiss stood back and slowly began to move away. She had no idea who had won but felt the ultimate sight of relief when Jaune lifted his head up to reveal blue eyes behind those long blond bangs of his. "Jaune…" she practically said in a soft whisper before rushing to hug him.
The blond knight however could not stay. "I… I can't stay. I don't know for how long I'll have control. I'm going to try and make it to the house. You remember the plan I came up with Ruby? I think he knows by now" he said with a pained gasp as he began to move away from Weiss. "Get the second arrow! Use it on me if you have to! I'm sorry!" he said with sorrow as he began to rush for the exit of the abandoned town. His mind was shared with Diavolo so he knew exactly where the monsters old home was. There he'd find the second arrow and there he would find the answers he needed in Diavolo's diary.
"Jaune! Wait!" Weiss said but it was too late. Jaune had ran off and she couldn't stop him.
Risotto Nero was forced back again and again by Qrow. The bastard either had the best luck in the world or Risotto the worst. Every time he used his Semblance against Qrow the man would avoid certain death by having the blades just miss a vital artery or perhaps simple fail to materialize. It was maddening and worst of all it was distracting him from his prize. Diavolo had revealed himself and was now was back to his hosts personality. Now was his chance to kill him for good and Qrow was keeping him tied down.
Things got worse when he saw that blond fool begin to run off. No! I won't lose you! His red eyes widened and then turned back to Qrow. If he couldn't kill the lucky bird then he'd just immobilize him! He let go of his faux Crocea Mors and pulled all of his aura into his semblance.
"METALLICA!" he shouted as he pulled his arms back and then thrust them out. Little magnetic beings seemed to float all around them as Qrow rushed to attack. The man felt his leg ache as an untold amount of needles formed underneath his skin and burst from his leg. None of them were in vital areas but there were so many that his left leg simply crumpled and threw him to the ground.
Risotto Nero saw his chance and bolted. His aura was low no doubt but it didn't matter. He could kill that blond knight and finally end the monster that killed his team. Nothing else mattered! Risotto Nero bolted towards the same exit Diavolo took and threw a coat of iron dust over himself to faintly mask himself as he heard the gunshots of the Rose girl racing towards him.
He chased after Diavolo. One of them would die today. And it would not be him!
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cried out as she flew in a burst of petals over to his wounded uncle. She reformed around him just as Weiss practically flew over with her glyphs. Ren and Nora managed to run to him too.
"We have to go after Jaune!" Nora said with panic in her voice. She had nearly lost a sister at Beacon. She would not lose a brother now. Ren showed his support for her by putting a firm hand on her shoulder and nodding.
"But what about Ruby's uncle?" Weiss said with doubt and uncertainty in her voice. She was panting heavily as the battle had taken its toll on her. Ruby was silent as Nora and Weiss went back and forth.
Qrow finally growled out "Enough!" which shut the group up real fast. The man was holding his leg and winced whenever Ruby took a look at it. "I'll be fine. He wasn't aiming to kill me but trip me up. My aura will fix it soon. Your blond friends the one in trouble. Magnetica is gonna kill him." He hissed as pain lanced through his body.
"We're not leaving you here alone!" Ruby said with forcefulness. Qrow found himself reminded of her mother. Even through the pain he couldn't help but smirk.
"Just like your mother," he said through gritted teeth. "Listen kiddo. I'll be fine. Just in pain. That scorpions dead and there's no Grimm here. I'll let my aura handle it then head towards you guys when I'm better."
"But-" Ruby started to question again before being cut off harshly by Qrow.
"Now!"
She only nodded weakly, hesitant to leave her beloved uncle. "We'll be there. With Jaune in tow. There's a house some ways that way" she said and pointed towards the way Jaune had ran. They all knew where he was going. Diavolo's old home. His secret base.
Nora took a hand and curled it into a fist and put it in her palm with a determined look. "I'm gonna break this guys legs!" Maginhild was rearing to wreak havoc and from the look in Ren's eyes it seemed that he was hungry for save his leader too.
"Alright! Let's go save Jaune!" Ruby said and began running in Jaune's direction. While her order was clear she felt doubt in her heart.
"Ruby" Weiss said as they ran. "Before Jaune left… he said for us to get the second arrow and use it on him if we needed to… like you guys planned…"
Ruby bit her lip as her girlfriend brought up their only probable plan of defeating Diavolo. "If the arrow takes and injects aura ... then wouldn't we be robbing Jaune of an aura for good?..."
The question hung heavy in the air between Weiss and Ruby. They had no idea what it might do to him. It could very well kill him. Aura was the manifestation if the soul, so the two pondered what would happen if it was drained away and stored elsewhere.
Ruby shook her head as she saw the makings of a large building in the distance that was wedges against a cliff side deep within a forest that kept it hidden from watchful eyes. It was extremely close to Mistral, so close in fact that she could faintly hear the bustling of the city and the sound of airships in the sky.
"We'll worry about that then. Right now we have to stop this Magnetica guy from killing Jaune!"
To be continued…
A/N: A timely update?! No way! Hope you guys enjoy! The story is nearing its dramatic conclusion. There's probably four chapters and an epilogue left and StB will be DONE! It's crazy to think it's come this far. I couldn't have done it without your support! Once this is done I'll be working on more stories with flexible schedules. There will be a sister story to this about Blake, Sun and Mista called Beauty and the Bullet but that's not going to be for a while. I'm going to step back from the StB universe and work on other things like a Halo x-over and a Young Ironwood, Watts, Schnee, and Glynda fic in the works. Hopefully I'll also continue JauJaunelion and Walk Through the Valley. But those are on hiatus for the foreseeable future.
Please leave a review as always! I love reading them no matter what they are.
Oh. AND HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS?