"Why so quiet, my dear? You aren't even on Apokolips yet and that smart mouth of yours seems to have stopped working." D'Kay's second mouth remarked snidely.
Weiss didn't respond, her gaze remained fixed on the ocean which crashed against the cliff side that they were on, a lush meadow behind them as they waited for Darkseid's supposed hunter.
Buildings which resembled the remains of an old prison lay behind them, D'Kay having levelled them with her powers to make sure that they wouldn't be interrupted by any other people.
I hope Conner and the rest are okay. Being under her control for so long must've had some negative side effects on their brains.
"I myself will not be accompanying you to Apokolips because my beloved and I will be on our honeymoon, ensuring the survival of our indomitable race." D'Kay added, interrupting Weiss' thoughts.
She grimaced, but said nothing, trying not to gag knowing full well what 'ensuring the survival of their race' meant.
Another gray portal opened to their left, just a few feet from the cliff side, saving Weiss from having to endure any more of D'Kay's menial and condescending conversation.
"Ah! Could it be…"
Martian Manhunter came tumbling out, restrained in a pair of glowing handcuffs, restricting his powers and keeping him in a state of confusion to keep him from being able to form coherent thoughts.
The creature that came after him however...was something that would remain burned in Weiss' mind for the rest of her life.
A Cheshire grin was carved into the mask that the creature wore, a single blue eye revealed behind it which was partially obscured by faded blond hair which was disrupted by an ivory horn that protruded from its forehead.
White armor with gold lining covered its body, but it was cracked and bloody in places, giving it splashes of bright red, which matched perfectly with the red of the sash that hung from around its waist. A cracked sword and an even worse shield rested on his arm, the Arc family crest now turned upside down and blood red instead of gold.
"At last! Darkseid's Huntsman has arrived with my beloved!" D'Kay screeched, scrambling to pull up the disgusted Martian Manhunter who looked half dead and beaten to a bloody pulp.
Weiss fell to her knees as tears started streaming down her face and she started shaking uncontrollably. She could feel her Semblance, her Aura, start to pulse at her fingertips, trying to burst outwards with the flurry of emotions going through her.
She looked up and saw the blue eye behind the ivory Cheshire mask. The cornflower blue that she had looked into when she had rejected him time after time when they were at Beacon. The cornflower blue that she had grown to tolerate and then accept as a true friend in their adventures across Remnant.
"Jaune?"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
"FUCK!" Conner growled, punching yet another crater into the ground of the Grotto, ignoring his now bloody knuckles as he continued to take his anger out on the ground.
"Why did she have to do this?! That fucking idiot had to go and try and be a hero and give herself up!"
Wonder Woman watched with sad eyes as she saw Conner beat the ground and his fists into dust, the Grotto now empty as the rest of the Justice League and the Titans had gone to rest and recover.
"She's not even from this world! She's known us for all of two days and she's ready to throw away her goddamn life. T-two days…" Conner choked back tears as he kneeled in the middle of the crater. "You've gotta tell me that they found her, Diana. Where is she?"
The desperation in his voice shook her to her core, but the Amazonian could do little more than shake her head.
Conner's face contorted before he stood up, not bothering to dust himself off or even register the pain pulsing from his damaged fists.
"I'm going to go look for her."
Diana knew that him going out to look for her would just result in more trouble. "Conner-"
"You can't stop me. You said that Raven and Jinx could only sense that she was still on Earth?"
Diana nodded.
"Then I'm gonna get someone who can find her." He sniffled, sheer determination and willpower being the only things that were keeping him from collapsing.
As if on cue, the elevator doors opened, revealing the intrepid reporter Lois Lane holding a stuffed blue panda bear in her arms, Zwei and Wolf, Conner's super powered and genetically enhanced canine partner, at her side.
"You called for a pair of super powered pups?"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
"This has to be another dream. I'm going to wake up and find plants attached to my wrists aren't I?"
Weiss was in near hysterics as her friend looked down at her, the grin that was carved into the Grimm mask unrelenting and unmoving.
"Is this one from your world too, my dear? Well, well, there isn't much life in this one, but the negative emotions spouting from him are simply divine." D'Kay taunted.
She tried to place a hand on his shoulder mockingly, but before she could even get close, Jaune had drawn his sword and cut off her arm, the green limb dropping to the ground and sizzling away into dust.
D'Kay just rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "And now I've to deal with the menial task of regrowing a limb." She complained, as if having her arm cut off were more of a nuisance than anything else.
"Darkseid told me that this Huntsman was rather chatty when he was alive, spouting off about some sort of Pyre? His new form seems to have fixed that, and it appears it's worked brilliantly hasn't it?"
In a flash, Jaune directed his sword to her neck, his single eye glinting murderously.
"Take monster…leave." He ground out, his words muffled from behind the mask. "I...deal...Snow."
Weiss could only assume that by Snow he meant herself, and looking at him, it took every fiber of her being to keep from bawling like a child.
"Darkseid...Boom Tube...Half hour."
She looked at Martian Manhunter, currently pinned to D'Kay's side as she prattled on about their honeymoon, who was staring down at her with such intensity, as if trying to telepathically communicate with her.
Logically, Weiss knew that the handcuffs were restricting his powers and that lowering her Aura was the most reckless thing she could do in a situation where it protected her mind from the vicious alien that kidnapped her, but seeing as Darkseid's very own Huntsman stood before her, she didn't have very many options.
The minute she lowered her Aura, she was bombarded by a splitting headache, but among that headache, she heard a voice.
Weiss, if you can hear me, blink twice. I repeat, if you can hear me, blink twice.
Weiss blinked twice, making Martian Manhunter stop, visibly relaxing as he looked over to the ocean so as not to alert their captors.
These handcuffs are restricting my powers so at the moment I can only reach you. Does anyone know of our location?
"No, and it will stay that way." D'Kay spoke, making Weiss bring her Aura back up instantly and inadvertently closing herself off to Martian Manhunter again.
D'Kay's arm extended and she grabbed Weiss by the neck, nearly snapping her in two if it wasn't for her Aura. "Did you really think that I wouldn't hear your little conversation? Your attempts at taking me beloved away from me?!"
Weiss choked and clawed at D'Kay's arms, too panicked and frantic to bring forth a Glyph or Summon anything. She was positive that D'Kay was going to snap her neck, but before she could, Jaune unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her neck, dark energy swirling around it.
"Let…go."
Much to Weiss' relief, D'Kay let go and dropped her, leaving her to gasp and hack as she tried to get air back in her lungs.
"I suppose there is no reason for my beloved and I to dawdle. After all, our honeymoon on Mars awaits!"
Martian Manhunter scoffed, and if it was possible for him to roll his completely red eyes, Weiss was sure he would've done it.
Another portal opened, this time revealing a grotesquely large gray face, only red eyes and a red omega symbol on his forehead to stand out among the array of gray wrinkles.
"You will do as you were instructed D'Kay and wait upon the arrival of the Boom Tube before leaving with your…" Darkseid paused in disgust. "Prize."
Weiss fought the urge to shudder as an unexplainable pressure came over her, beating down on her as if a Gravity Glyph was bearing down on her consciousness.
The gray faced creature's gaze shifted to her and it was as if the pressure had multiplied by a thousand. "The insect with the Light Energy, what an honor to finally meet you."
Plucking up courage from the deepest part of her heart, Weiss stood up straight and glared at the being that had caused her new friends so much pain and suffering.
"I wish I could say the same, ugly. And as for this Light Energy that you're looking for... well let's just say I think you'll be disappointed."
Weiss had traded her Light Dust for Kryptonite back at S.T.A.R. Labs knowing that if things went south and she was captured, it would be safe.
Now if Weiss were to die, at least she would have the satisfaction of keeping her Dust from him.
Darkseid did not look amused. "And what do you mean by that, insect?"
Weiss smirked, trying to appear smug despite herself. "Check my rapier and you'll find that the crystal of light you're looking for isn't there."
"D'Kay, inspect the sword."
Myrtenaster, which was lying a few feet away from Weiss, floated from its place into D'Kay's hands.
She brought it up to her face and looked at the revolver, spinning it with her finger until she had inspected every cartridge.
While she was busy, Weiss focused intensely on the Dust that was in Myrtenaster. She had never tried activating Dust that was so far away from herself, but if she wanted to get Martian Manhunter and herself out alive, she would have to find a way.
She reached out to the Fire Dust and focused as much Aura as she could through it. Caitlin's advice was still fresh in her mind and she'd make use of it.
It took some concentration, but when the Fire Dust lit up and glowed a fiery red color, Weiss smoked victoriously.
A blaze of fire erupted from the sword, blowing back D'Kay and Jaune, overloading the handcuffs that contained Martian Manhunter and shorted them out.
The cuffs clicked and fell off of him, giving him his powers back and allowing him to distance himself from the fire since it no doubt affected him the same way.
He used telekinesis to break Weiss' own handcuffs, letting her dive and pick up Myrtenaster, using Glyphs to backflip away from the fire.
While she much preferred using ice to fire, she knew full well how to use it. Loading Wind Dust along with the Fire Dust, Weiss guided the fire to turn into a vortex that surrounded D'Kay and Jaune, leaving her to scream in agony as they tried to claw their way out.
Martian Manhunter ran up to Weiss and took her hand. "Excellent thinking, Weiss, now let us-"
Before he could finish his sentence, an ivory spear adorned with gold protruded from his stomach, the darkness that emanated from it blocking his ability to heal or stop the bleeding.
Jaune walked out of the fire without batting an eyelash, leaving D'Kay in there to suffer.
He thrust his hand forward and called the spear back, darkness swirling around it until it turned into the cracked sword that it used to be.
"Huntsman, capture the girl and kill the Martian, but leave her in acceptable condition. You have precisely fifteen minutes until the Boom Tube arrives, or else I will personally make an appearance on Earth to end your life and that of the others that Salem has brought me." Darkseid warned, the portal the he spoke through closing after him.
Weiss nearly choked on air.
Others? So Jaune isn't the only one who's been captured and turned into a Grimm?
Looking at Martian Manhunter's writhing form on the ground, she realized that she didn't have time to grieve for her friend.
The Creature of Grimm standing before me is nothing but a blasphemous effigy of the real Jaune Arc.
"Martian Manhunter, are you alright?" Weiss asked, noticing how slowly his body was healing the stab wound.
He pushed himself off the ground, grunting in pain as pure agony seared through his body. "I will manage."
"As long as D'Kay is-"
Before Weiss could finish her sentence, Jaune slashed an arc through the air, sending dark energy to the vortex that trapped D'Kay, making it dissolve into the air.
When the fire cleared, D'Kay pushed herself off the ground, her body turned into green mush from the stress that the fire had put her under.
"You crave to see my insanity inflicted upon you?! Nothing will get in the way of my union with my beloved. NOTHING!"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
"Conner. I was wondering when you would come to visit me."
The hero in question put his hands in his pockets, trying to push down the feelings of guilt and grief that resurfaced after seeing her comatose body again.
Wolf sat at his side, still as a statue in respect for his master's old comrade. Zwei on the other hand, immediately jumped on the bed and started licking M'gann's face, looking incredibly downtrodden when the giant pink person that smelled like happiness didn't respond.
"I meant to after I found out that you were…" He struggled to find the right word, as 'alive' didn't seem right. "Conscious. But a lot of things happened since then."
"I sensed it the moment D'Kay stepped in the building. Unfortunately, my powers were too weak and if I had done anything, I would've alerted her of my presence."
Conner's hands felt sweaty for the first time in a long time, and he did everything in his power to appear less nervous, but he knew that M'gann could see right through him. "I know you're still healing and your powers are recovering...but I need your help with something."
"You need me to read their minds and find out where Weiss is?"
Conner didn't know whether or not she used her powers to figure it out, but nonetheless he nodded. "I gave Wolf and Zwei something with her scent on it-"
"-A stuffed panda? That you won her at the Kansas State Fair?" M'gann asked, in a teasing tone that made Conner's face turn bright red in annoyance and embarrassment.
"Can you find her or not?"
"It seems the Ice Princess has thawed your heart." She commented, and even though she was completely paralyzed, he could hear her smirk loud and clear.
"I thought you said that you wouldn't peek into other people's minds without their permission?"
"Technically, I haven't. The words 'Weiss', 'ice', 'princess', and 'lo-"
His eyes narrowed. "Hey-"
"Have been bouncing around your head this entire conversation. Pretty loudly if I might add. It is technically not snooping if your thoughts are so loud I can't help but hear them."
Conner sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This really isn't the conversation I wanted to have with you right now."
"Sorry," She giggled, directing her powers to look into Zwei and Wolf's minds, finding the exact coordinates to Weiss' location. "It looks like they both know where she is."
"Where is she?"
M'gann hesitated, not sure if the canines were giving her the exact location.
"Alcatraz."
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
D'Kay released a wave of telekinetic power that blasted the grass clean off the earth. Martian Manhunter held out his hand and created a barrier, blocking the wave with a thought.
Jaune, undeterred, rushed at them, the dark energy swirling around his sword coming together to form a broadsword.
Weiss loaded Lightning Dust and countered his strike, using the gold in his armor as a conductor and sending a surge of electricity through him.
Before Weiss could strike again, D'Kay picked her up and flung her across the plain with her telekinesis.
"Whoa!"
While flying through the air, Weiss used Gravity Glyphs to stabilize herself, creating some under D'Kay and Jaune to lift them up into the air.
Martian Manhunter then took it upon himself to bring Weiss back to the ground gently, and then slam Jaune and D'Kay into the ground roughly, creating craters in their wake.
"The fire. Use it again to weaken D'Kay. I'll do what I did last time and throw her into the sun to kill her once and for all." Martian Manhunter advised, his voice monotone as always.
"But won't the fire affect you too?" Weiss asked, loading the Fire Dust anyways.
His face remained impassive. "I will endure."
Knowing that they didn't have much time left, Weiss created another vortex of fire around D'Kay and Jaune, this time using Gravity Dust to hold them down to the ground.
"AAAHHH!" D'Kay cried in agony, making Weiss glad that she couldn't see them beyond the flames.
"I'll toss her up in the air. You can take it from there, right? I'll deal with J-the Huntsman."
Martian Manhunter nodded and flew up into the air just as Weiss reversed the Gravity Glyph and shot D'Kay up in the air.
"You'll never be rid of me! I will follow you to the ends of the universe! Through life and death! Through-"
Finding D'Kay's incessant screaming to be too much for her ears to handle, Weiss used an Ice Glyph to freeze her amorphous body, keeping it in the state of mush that it was in and shutting her up for good.
Martian Manhunter shot her a grateful look, and in the blink of an eye, they were both off in the direction of the sun.
A black arc of energy came her way, cutting through her Glyphs and forcing her to dodge as she was reminded that she still had one opponent left.
She had very little time to escape before the Boom Tube came down, whatever that was.
Meaning I have to defeat the Grimmified form of one of my friends in under ten minutes.
"You're nothing more than the remnants of Jaune's last emotions in a husk. A shell created by Salem to hurt me."
Weiss loaded Water and Wind Dust, the Ice Glyph under her filled with so much emotion that icy winds started swirling around her, freezing the grass underneath her.
"Snow...white." Grimm-Jaune rasped, drawing his blade and his shield. "...die."
Anger flooded Weiss as she realized that her friends didn't even have his weapons to bury with him like a true Huntsman. "Those weapons don't belong to you. They belong to the person whose face and armor you're wearing."
Without missing a beat, Weiss coated Myrtenaster with ice and charged at him, speeding across a line of Glyphs to gain momentum.
Their swords clashed and he was forced back, allowing Weiss to get in a series of thrusts and slashes which created more and more ice on his body as she went.
More dark energy swirled around him as he changed the form of the sword into a broadsword, the darkness extending the sword's reach and width until Weiss child no longer counter as easily.
The new weight of the weapon forced her to deflect and dodge, moving fluidly as she continued to sneak in quick strikes which caused more ice to erupt from his body.
Right as the lower half of his body was covered in ice and Weiss found an opening, a dark tendril came out from his back and countered her strike, creating an explosion of black energy and ice.
A glacier formed between them as Weiss was blown back, nearly sending her over the cliff side and onto the sharp and jagged rocks that lay at the bottom.
To make matters worse, when Martian Manhunter came back down from the sky, he wasn't alone.
He and D'Kay were locked in an aerial battle, sending waves of telekinetic energy at each other and pulling out random chunks of the cliff side and throwing them at each other which made fighting Jaune even more difficult than it already was.
As Weiss skated across a line of Glyphs, the earth in front of her cracked and flew upwards, causing the rest of the cliff side that they were on to crumble.
"Whoa!"
With another Glyph, Weiss jumped backwards from the fissure, Jaune following soon after, jumping from rock to rock as they fell down the cliff.
Before they could even hit the ground, he jumped off the rock and slashed through her, but before he could use another rock to propel himself towards her again, she used Earth Dust to gather all of the stray earth and rocks and trap him in a rock tomb.
Using another Glyph to jump off of and land safely on the ground, Weiss lifted up the cluster of rocks and slammed it back in the ground.
When the rocks broke apart however, Jaune was nowhere to be found.
"What?"
The shadows that the rocks cast gathered together, drawing themselves out of the ground until they formed Grimm Jaune, making Weiss huff in frustration.
"Fantastic. He can turn into shadows too."
Looking at the ocean to her side, Weiss created an Ice Glyph and coated her heels, skating across the Glyphs until she reached the ocean. She loaded Lightning Dust and fused it with the Ice Glyphs and created spears of electrified ice out of the ocean.
Luckily, with the water from the ocean, Weiss didn't need to expend so much Aura as she didn't need so much Water Dust to form the ice.
Jaune jumped off the rocks and slashed through the spears of ice, shrugging off the electricity that coursed through his body as he drove his sword into the sand, creating dark shockwaves that tore across the water and through Weiss' Glyphs.
Using some form of energy manipulation, he supercharged her Glyphs against her will, turning them black and froze the entire bay, electrocuting her as the energy reversed against her.
"Aah!" She cried, dropping Myrtenaster on the ice beneath her as the electricity coursed through her.
Jaune charged at her from the beach, allowing Weiss all of two seconds to get her bearings and grab Myrtenaster before he charged his sword with energy and hit her with the flat side, sending her reeling across the ice and back onto the beach.
An explosion sounded from over the cliff side, reminding her that D'Kay and Martian Manhunter were still fighting as well, and if her last encounter with the Justice League was proof enough, D'Kay would be a formidable foe for him.
As Weiss tumbled back onto the sand, she used a Glyph to stabilize herself and get on her feet, using a Wind and Fire Glyph to kick up the sand and turn it into glass, pelting Jaune with storm of shards.
With the combined power of the fire vortex and the glass shards, she sent up flying up into the air, crashing into D'Kay and sending them back over the cliff.
Summoning a Queen Lancer, Weiss jumped off a Glyph and onto it, flying towards Martian Manhunter.
"Got any ideas about how to finish her off?" She asked, jumping down from the giant insect.
"Green Martians are nearly immortal. Any damage we take is easily healed and while we are weak to fire it is simply a psychological weakness. Your powers alone are I sufficient."
Ignoring the jab, Weiss felt her heart drop at the thought. "Kill her? I thought heroes were supposed to be above that."
Martian Manhunter scoffed. "That creature is no more alive than the abomination that you've been fighting. Darkseid's ability to bring beings back to life is blasphemous and a crime against the laws of nature. When they're brought back to life, their souls are altered and they can never truly reach peace after death."
Weiss took in a sharp breath and looked at Jaune.
With Adam, it was different because he was an enemy from the very start. It was easier to accept that he'd always been dead. But looking at Jaune…
She shook her head. Without her Light Dust, finishing him off would be harder, but she had always been partial to ice anyways.
"Can you restrain D'Kay and the Huntsman? I have an idea."
Without waiting for his approval, Weiss used an Ice Glyph to create a ring of sharp spires around the four of them, the spires bursting out in fragments that made them look like deadly flowers.
"Flowers...how beautiful." D'Kay marveled before her face upturned into a nasty snark. "They'll be perfect for your funeral!" She roared, releasing a psychic burst of energy that sent Weiss flying.
Martian Manhunter caught her with his powers and reversed her trajectory, sending her flying towards Jaune.
He extended his arms and enlarged his hands, trapping D'Kay and using his powers to restrain both her and Jaune, forcing them to the ground with telekinesis.
As Weiss sailed towards Jaune, she used a Gravity Glyph to increase her speed and impact, Myrtenaster crossing with the corrupted version of Crocea Mors in a burst of sparks as she pushed him back, tumbling forward after him.
As she tumbled, she stabbed her rapier into the ground to stabilize herself and loaded Earth Dust.
Creating a giant Earth Glyph under the entire dome of ice, Weiss sent a shockwave through it, shattering the ice and sending Jaune and D'Kay into the air.
She breathed and created multiple Glyphs around her, using a technique that she hadn't used since her first battle against the Arma Gigas.
She loaded Hard Light Dust, blue light sparkling and trailing from the Myrtenaster's tip as she spun and waved her sword in a circle, sending bolts of energy at both Jaune and D'Kay. Glyphs formed around their bodies, trapping them and leaving them suspended in midair as the rings restrained them.
Using Wind and Water Dust, Weiss coated Myrtenaster in ice and opened a Summon Glyph overhead, mixing some ice in it as well.
"I'll never leave my beloved! How dare you try to defy me and my love!" D'Kay screeched, letting loose burst after burst of psychic energy.
Martian Manhunter blocked her attacks and reinforced Weiss' Glyphs with his own powers, making them turn purple as they were infused with the energy.
Jumping into the air with a Glyph, Weiss Summoned her Arma Gigas' sword and propelled herself off of the Glyph, using Myrtenaster and the giant sword to run through both D'Kay and Jaune, making jagged spires of ice erupt from both of their bodies, disrupting their healing abilities.
Despite being cut clean in half, D'Kay continued to wail and struggle to the last moment.
"I'm going to enjoy this much more than I should." Martian Manhunter muttered under his breath, using his powers to hold D'Kay's frozen body in the air, sending it rocketing to the sky with him following not long after.
When the two Martians had become no bigger than tiny dots in the sky, Weiss looked back down at Jaune, and what had become of him.
She fell to her knees as shock tore through her, driving Myrtenaster into the ground to keep herself from falling over completely.
The Grimm mask that covered his face broke off and dissolved in a cloud of smoke, the rest of his body dissolving along with it.
"Jaune?" She asked, hoping that he was back to his normal self.
As the mask broke off, the haziness that had obscured Jaune's sight cleared and the control that Salem and Darkseid had over him was lifted.
Underneath the mask was Jaune's scarred, but still mostly intact face. As he blinked, the right eye that had been turned Grimm red reverted to its original blue, tears starting to form and fall down his face as he came to.
"W-Weiss… is… r-really you?"
Jaune sobbed as he tried to bring his hand to her face, only to realize that his arms were made of Grimm and that they were slowly dissolving into smoke.
His mouth was scarred and disfigured, scars blemishing his lips and lower facial structure, hindering his speaking ability.
"It seems his body was mutilated to be able to host the darkness that comes from your world. He won't survive." Martian Manhunter explained bleakly.
Tears fell down Weiss' face like a waterfall as she crawled over to him, taking his head into her lap.
"Jaune… what happened to you?"
He coughed up more black smoke, his lungs turning to ash like the rest of him. "Salem… Vacuo… fall."
Adam's words resounded through her mind and the horror of what was going on back in her own world finally hit her.
"What about my team? Yours? Please tell me they're still alive. I-"
Tears streamed down Jaune's faced as he shook his head, knowing that he didn't have time to explain everything he needed to. "Haven. Safe haven. You… got to-"
Before he could finish his sentence, two red beams came down from the sky and he pushed her away with what little power he had left, leaving Weiss to watch as what was left of her friend was obliterated by the evil beam.
The second beam chased after Martian Manhunter, moving and changing directions as he did. "Weiss! Escape before-"
The Green Martian was cut off as the red beam blasted through him. He glowed bright red before the beam ripped his atoms apart, tearing him apart on the molecular level until he disintegrated into the air.
"J'onn!" Weiss screamed, horror coursing through her and tears streaming down her face as she realized the sheer power of the creature before her.
"It seems that you really are quite the formidable adversary, insect, but your resistance is futile. Give up, lest you end up like the Martian."
A portal of a thousand different colors opened over Weiss, a vortex of winds blasting through, trying to pull her in.
Using a Gravity Glyph, she tried to fight against it, but when it started pulling up the earth around her, she knew that it wouldn't be long before she was overpowered.
"I've grown tired of watching my subordinates fail to obtain you and your crystals. And while your treachery inconveniences me, Salem has assured me that the energy that resides within you will be enough to open the portal."
Weiss' concentration faltered. "You want to steal my Aura?"
"Your life matters little to me. And I'm sure that my scientists will learn much about your kind in the process."
Darkseid's face disappeared as the portal grew twice as large, emitting intense light of every color in the rainbow as well as some that Weiss had never seen before, striking her Glyph and making a crack tear through it.
The Gravity Glyph under Weiss disintegrated as the vortex of light and wind grew too strong, pulling her into the air.
As the world around her faded into bright colors and raging winds, a blur of red, yellow, and black came at her, strong arms surrounding her as they tried to escape the pull of the portal.
"Conner! What are you doing here?!" Weiss asked, creating another Gravity Glyph under them to help him resist the pull.
"Trying to save your ass!" He grunted, hugging her tightly despite himself and blaming the rapid beating of his heart on the adrenaline. "You think sacrificing yourself makes you a hero? It just makes you an idiot!"
Weiss just smiled and shook her head, realizing that they would have to have their heart to heart later, as the situation that they were in wasn't the most appropriate.
"We can talk later! We need to get out of range of the portal!"
Weiss spun her revolver to land on Wind Dust, but because it was a similar color to the Kryptonite, and because of the countless colors bursting from the portal, the revolver landed on the Kryptonite, sending a green pulse through Conner that made him go pale.
"Put it away! Reach into my back pocket! I brought your Light Dust! If you used it to open the portal here, maybe you can use it to close it too!" Conner explained through grit teeth as the Kryptonite continued to sap at his strength, allowing the portal to pull them closer and closer.
Hastily pocketing the Kryptonite and switching it out for Light Dust, Weiss loaded it and tried to prepare an orb of light.
When she felt Conner's grip on her falter however, she knew that they would both be lost to Darkseid's grasp.
"NO!" He cried, the effects of the Kryptonite eventually taking away his ability to fly, leaving them defenseless against the pull of the portal.
Gritting her teeth, Weiss hugged Conner to her and focused as much Aura as she could through Myrtenaster.
As they were sucked into the portal, Weiss took exactly a split second to marvel at the beauty of the colors around her as they travelled through the tube.
When that split second was over, she enveloped herself and Conner in Light Energy and slashed a gash through the side of the prismatic Boom Tube.
The entire Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum arced around the gash as the array of colors pulled her and Conner in, straying from the original course of the Boom Tube.
Eventually the colors grew to be too powerful and the Huntress and the Kryptonian were blinded until all they saw was white.
The energy surged through them, supercharging Weiss' Aura until it came to be too much and she blacked out.
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
"I never intended for you and I to meet this way, but you are much more… daring than I had anticipated, Weiss Schnee."
Weiss felt weightless when she woke up. She also felt warm, as if a soft light had been lit inside her and it was warming her from the inside out.
When she opened her eyes, however, that feeling was replaced with immense confusion as she saw a giant glowing white alien baby the size of a planet underneath her.
The baby was sleeping, tucked in the fetal position as it floated in a vast galaxy of stars, its light radiating to the farthest reaches, Weiss looking down on it as she floated in the space above.
"Who- what are you?" Weiss asked, a million different questions running through her mind. Though one was more prevalent than the others. "And where's Conner?"
"The Kryptonian is healing. Being in such close proximity to Kryptonite for an extended amount of time, especially after your previous encounter with him, wounded him severely."
Weiss looked down at the baby, realizing that the energy that radiated from it felt extremely similar to that of her own Aura or Ruby's Silver Eye powers.
"You- this isn't the first time you've helped me is it? You're the one who the Green and the Red answer to."
The being hummed. "Not necessarily, but both of their powers reside under my domain. I am the embodiment of all Life Energy that exists in the universe. I am the Life Entity."
Somehow, most likely by the Life Entity's powers, Weiss knew exactly what the being before her was. Images of nine different primordial beings, each one representing a different color of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum, flashed through her mind.
"All life shares my essence, and the people of Remnant, the people born from Dust, are able to harness that power. Your God of Light, one of the Brothers Grimm, was created from the same energy that I was and bestowed it upon your world."
"Creating life on Remnant." She realized, remembering Jinn's history lesson.
"When Warp first created the portal and tried to send you to your doom, you should have died, but I saw a light in you that I have only seen in a few other people and I knew that you would be instrumental in defeating Darkseid once and for all."
M'gann was right. Me coming to Earth was no coincidence.
"So you're the reason why I'm on Earth?"
"And also the reason why your molecules weren't torn to shreds when you decided to use Light Energy to disrupt the Boom Tube." The Life Entity chimed in, making Weiss feel sick to her stomach.
"And what do you expect me to do now? You know how powerful Darkseid is. What can I do that the Justice League can't?"
"You have the ability to harness Light Energy. Your soul is filled with it and Darkseid's powers are fueled by the need for destruction and chaos. He's a vessel of Dark Energy and his alliance with Salem means that he will be in possession of even more."
"But-"
"You've nearly arrived at your destination. Your home may not be how you remember it Weiss, but if you succeed in saving it and return to my domain alive, there is a chance to restore it and reverse the effects of Darkseid's influence."
Her heart stopped.
"My home? Are we going to Remnant?"
"Be careful Weiss and remember: meet with me where the golden dragon lays to rest when you've completed your task."
Before Weiss could ask any more questions, the world went white.
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
"Move out of the way!"
"Evacuate the city while you still can!"
"Everyone please enter the Bullheads in a calm and- AAHH!"
"Mommy!"
"Is that a Griffon?!"
"It's a Wyvern!"
"My cabbages!"
When Weiss came to, she saw the city of Haven crumbling around her. Being back in Remnant felt strange, but incredibly nostalgic despite the battlefield that was around her.
She sat up and looked around, realizing that she was in the middle of the city, right in the downtown shopping center of Haven, which was swarming with Grimm and panicking people.
When a dinosaur/bird/dragon Grimm that she had never seen before plucked an old man from his cabbage cart and ate him whole, she created an Ice Glyph under it and created giant spires of ice under it, stabbing right through it and reducing it to smoke and ash.
The intensity of the attack made Weiss realize how much Remnant's atmosphere did for Dust as as she felt the crystals in her rapier brighten, supercharged with energy.
She like to her side she saw Conner lying next to her, snoring away despite the Grimm howling and screeching as they attacked.
"Conner, wake up! We need to get out of here right now!"
She used a Glyph to pull him up to his feet as his senses alerted him to the situation around him.
"What the- where the hell are we?"
Weiss grabbed his hand and created a line of Glyphs, heading in the direction of Haven Academy which was hopefully safer than the middle of the downtown area. "I'll explain later, but we're in my world."
They ran through the shopping center, but before they could reach the end, a loud explosion blew through the side of the mountain that the shopping center was attached to, tearing through the bridges that connected the buildings and causing the people who were running across them to fall to their deaths at the bottom of the ravines under Haven.
A winged Beringel wearing red armor with an omega symbol burned into its helmet flew through the giant while in the wall, banging its fists against its chest as it roared into the now empty space.
"Weiss," Conner stooped in his place, staring down the Beringel. "You see the symbol on the monkey's forehead? That's Darkseid's crest."
"So that's how Salem was able to destroy so much of Remnant. Her Grimm have been supercharged by his powers."
Conner cracked his knuckles. "For some reason, I feel recharged and like I've got energy to burn. We can take it."
The Beringel roared and flew at them.
"Well now it looks like we don't have much of a choice." Weiss grumbled, using Ice Glyphs to launch bolts of ice at its wings to try and ground it.
The Beringel dodged her Dust with a surprising amount of grace and flew directly at her.
Conner intercepted it and grabbed its wing, turning and slamming it on the ground. "HAAH!"
Weiss coated Myrtenaster in ice and ran to it while it was down, dealing quick strikes and making ice emerge all over its body.
Before she could get away, the Beringel turned and swatted her away like a fly with the hand that wasn't frozen, sending her tumbling into a fruit stand.
"Weiss!"
Conner tried to run back towards Weiss, but before he could, the Beringel caught his foot with its own and lifted him up before slamming him on the ground, leaving a sizable crater.
Grateful that her Aura had been recharged to overflowing by the Life Entity, Weiss picked herself out of the fruit stand and mixed a Wind Glyph with an Ice Glyph, sending a flurry of super sharp ice shards towards the Beringel, clipping its wings off in a matter of seconds.
It roared in pain and turned its attention back to Conner, who was still dazed from being slammed into the ground multiple times by an oversized monkey with anger issues.
"Don't even think about it." Weiss yelled as she ran across a line of Glyphs, Earth Dust ready to go.
Before the Beringel could grab him again, she turned slashed upwards into its arm, bringing up spires of rock from the ground as Myrtenaster arced.
The armor protected the Beringel and the rocks only served to fling it into the air, making Weiss realize that the armor would make it nearly impossible to beat if she didn't do something.
As the Beringel came down, it laced its hands together and slammed down on the ground, sending a shockwave through the floor the blew Weiss and Conner back.
"Are you alright?" She asked him, helping him back up.
"I'm good, but we gotta do something about that armor, otherwise we're not gonna be able to make a dent."
Weiss looked down, noticing that the Lightning Dust in Myrtenaster's revolver glowed rather invitingly.
"I have an idea."
Loading the Lightning Dust, Weiss drew out electricity with her right hand and flung it at the Beringel, electricity coursing through it as its armor acted as a conductor.
It paralyzed the Grimm, giving Weiss and Conner the perfect opportunity to strike.
Conner flew at the Bergingel and punched it hard in the back, sending it face first through the dirt.
Loading Fire and Wind Dust, Weiss used a Glyph to jump on its back and stab Myrtenaster through a weak point in the armor.
"Hyaah!"
Sending as much Fire and Wind Dust under the armor as she could, she created an explosion so powerful that both she and Conner were blown back, bright red energy being released into the sky as the Grimm dissipated into red smoke.
Weiss and Conner were blown onto the side of the mountain, their backs hitting the wall and knocking the wind out of them as Weiss' Aura shattered from the impact as they slid down the side.
As Weiss' vision started to fade to black, a single silver eye, framed by black hair which was tinged with red stared down at her in disbelief.
She fought to stay awake, but as she succumbed to unconsciousness, she could only mutter one word:
"...Ruby?"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
A.N. So it looks like there was a bit of an issue with the formatting of the chapter so hopefully this one will actually look right. Sorry about the mix-up I have no idea what happened but let's just say having to redo the formatting for 7,500 words again is not fun.
Anyways, thanks so much for reading and until next time!
