Chapter 65
After a while, their battle ended in a narrow victory for Yang and Blake. However, it came not from toppling their opponent through strength and teamwork. Though Weiss had certainly become a better fighter compared to when they last fought—even better than they remembered Pyrrha being—they too improved. No, it wasn't that they won. It was just that she lost. Her defeat was entirely a result of aura exhaustion, something none of them expected.
It was the constructs Weiss could create. They were durable—durable enough to take multiple hits from Yang before dissipating. Not only that, but if Weiss so chose, they could even use different elements. On top of all that, she could create as many as she desired. The only issue was how much of her aura it required to make each and support their abilities. If they were more cost-efficient or if Weiss had a larger aura capacity, one or both of which were likely to happen in the near future, she would have definitely won.
It was something Yang couldn't seem to get out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. Not even after a long, perhaps too long, shower.
The blonde brawler sat down, as did her fellow young adults. "Wonder what's keeping Ruby up."
"Imagine the sister with the speed semblance being slower than Ms. 'thirty minutes to brush my hair'." Weiss replied, smirking at Yang.
Yang shrugged nonchalauntly. "Hey, we've all got some quirks, Ms. three hour shoe shopper." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, her smile reflecting her friend's.
"Hm, funny, I remember waiting over an hour for you to find 'the right' hairbrush." Weiss retorted, her face twitching in apparent annoyance.
With an outside perspective, Blake saw two cloud-like apparitions surrounding her teammates. One was bright, wild and fiery, the other was calm yet bone-chilling. It felt real enough that they might have caused rainfall in the middle. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the few drops of sweat that came down the back of her head most certainly wasn't.
She slowly shook her head and sighed, loud enough to catch their attention. "No fighting right now, alright? I'm too tired for this." she said with a flat look.
"Aw, I thought you'd be up for a little cat-fighting." Yang remarked. Several seconds passed in silence, and Yang felt two pairs of dagger-like stares driving themselves into her very soul. Then all at once, the three cracked up into laughter. It was maybe the first time Weiss had ever laughed following one of Yang's puns. It was something for the latter to be proud of, and she certainly was.
The noise didn't last long. They stopped laughing shortly after and became quiet. Weiss gulped, building the courage she needed to speak. "There's something I want to ask you both. Yang, If one day the Grimm just up and vanished, what would you do?"
"Hm?" Yang grunted, tilting her head in confusion. "Uh, well… not sure actually. I used to want to travel the world, but we're kinda already doing that. So,.. maybe be a professional boxer, or a motorcyclist. I think I've got both down pretty well, wouldn't mind a lifestyle like them."
Weiss thought about her answer and nodded. She then turned to Blake. The black haired girl looked like she was straining herself, as if she was keeping something in. "Blake?"
Blake exhaled deeply, letting her tensed body relax as it needed to. "What I've wanted hasn't changed. I want the world to be a better place for both Humans and Faunus. There's still a big difference in how people see us, and I want to change that. I just… don't really know how. I am never going back to the old me, but I don't know what to do."
"Yeah, and I don't picture you being the political type." Yang remarked, looking sympathetically at her partner.
Blake shook her head. "I'll think it over when we're done with this… mission? Whatever it is. It's the biggest priority.".
"I suppose that's fair… then one more thing. If, what would you do if Madara suddenly disappeared?"
The two didn't immediately react, causing confusion in Weiss. However, it only lasted a moment.
"You realized it too, huh?" Yang asked, receiving a nod from the heiress.
"We've talked about it actually, once or twice on our way to Vacuo." Blake explained. "I knew about it for a long time. He's distancing himself more and more. I've seen it happen a few times, and even done it myself. He's doing it for our sake, whether we may want it or not. But both times, we came to the same conclusion." Her lips curved, and she smiled thinly.
Weiss raised a suspicious yet hopeful eyebrow, "Which was?"
"He-" before Weiss could get an answer, the room was quickly filled by a flashing red light. An alarm rang, and a voice began announcing a state of emergency.
Instinctively, the three jumped out of their seats, looking at their surroundings to see that others emerging from different rooms. The ground was shaking slightly, but was certainly noticeable. For being a floating island, they never once felt Atlas shake. Something was certainly out of the ordinary.
They didn't need to say anything, and all knew what it was that they needed to do first. Their weapons and scrolls were nearby, and whatever was to come would probably need them at the ready. After that, finding Ruby and Madara wherever they were was top priority.
Madara and Ruby stared at one another, standing maybe five steps from each other. That five became four, and then three. Simultaneously, his arm raised slowly and steadily. Though they both seemed rather calm, Ruby was the opposite internally. She didn't know what was about to happen, what he was about to do. Her entire body tensed, her mind racing to think of the first move she'd make, and the first counter she'd perform.
Before she could even move, Madara reached Ruby. However, he seemed to have been slightly off the mark. Much to the surprise of everyone, his hand was planted atop her head. The more bizarre aspect was the utter lack of other movement, He just seemed to be holding his hand over her.
Ruby remained quiet, cluelessly looking at the room's other inhabitants. Their equally confused expressions gave her nothing to work with either. "Uh… I, what?" she uttered.
"I'll wait a little longer."
It was pointless to remind Ruby of the "dangers" or "losses". It was pointless to even ask, as he already knew the answer. The path she chose to walk was already chock full of such things. She was already beyond the point of no return. Whatever was to come, whether it be a small-scale terrorist attack, or a worldwide Grimm invasion, she would run forward without ever looking back, all to protect the people and things that she valued.
For the first time, he wondered about that. Perhaps this was the reason for her semblance; her speed, a power that seemed to grow more and more. She started like a bullet, small yet quick, only to grow into a lightning bolt, much greater and much faster than ever before.
And as thunder follows lightning, she took a moment to react. Perhaps it was a little too fast, as in her haste she nearly choked on her own spit. Instead she abandoned words, showing her answer with a smile nearly a mile wide. She fiercely nodded her head, in part an effort to shake his hand off of her.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Ruby asked, looking cluelessly at her brother.
"From what I've just been told, We have a problem." Ironwood interjected, lowering his scroll from his ear. He looked to Madara, "Something is preventing most of the shields from reactivating, and as we speak multiple swarms of Grimm are heading towards both us and Mantle. We can't waste anymore time."
Without further ado, they piled into the elevator, bringing them up to the surface as fast as possible. During their ascent, Ironwood swiped frantically through his scroll. "Dammit!" he cursed, practically on the verge of breaking his own teeth.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked concerned.
Ironwood sighed, "The fleet is mobilizing, but it won't be fast enough. There's not enough ground troops to protect Mantle."
"What about the local huntsmen and huntresses?"
"They won't be enough either. This is an attack on an entirely different scale."
"They were waiting for this moment." Both Ironwood and Madara concluded.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Lights protruded from the ceiling, flashing bright red. Simultaneously, a voice echoed throughout the corridor, alerting everyone about the state of emergency.
Madara was the first to separate himself from the others, walking off without warning or waiting. "Ruby, find Yang, Blake, and Weiss. Make your way to the ground." He commanded. Without waiting, he vanished, inexplicably leaving behind a swirl of leaves. At top speed, he crossed entire chunks of the massive academy in mere steps.
He moved towards one of the docks, where there wasn't a single airship. Now outside, he could hear the screech of countless Grimm, and see their large avian bodies slamming against an invisible barrier. Several automated turrets fired upon those that managed to squeeze themselves through momentary openings.
By standing on the edge and looking down, he could see a few bright lights on the ground far below. It was Mantle, the ground-side portion of the Kingdom of Atlas, and the largest source of world's dust. Of course it was large, and guarded by multiple layers of walls, but what surrounded it was a pitch black "ocean". Grimm of every size, airborne and soilborne, small and massive, were moving together in order to swallow up the "island".
It was a diversion, or perhaps it was actually part of the end goal. If the black sea engulfed Mantle, it would be an enormous blow to the strongest kingdom, and the rest of the world as well. Even if it didn't, and Atlas managed to fend off the attack, it would still be a good enough diversion to leave the true prize wholly vulnerable.
With the multiple Tailed Beasts in mind, eight shadow clones were the maximum. Eight with the ability to manifest the Susanoo, at least at the second stage, would still allow him to confidently fight someone as strong as a Maiden. Immediately after emerging from their smoke clouds, the eight doppelgangers leapt off the edge. Maybe not annihilate the incoming siege, but they could certainly reinforce the city's defenses substantially. The appearance of the "Azure Titan" would serve as a boost to their morale, or at least ease the civillian's fears.
Motionless and silent, Madara watched the eight descend. Their bodies quickly fading from sight. A minute later, he saw a blue light appear on one of the city's edges. Another, and another, until there were eight blue fires in an octagonal pattern.
But he wasn't the only one looking down and observing. Madara as well was being watched from above. There was something slowly descending towards him. That thing moved slowly but steadily, and without making a single noise. Its appendages were practically being dragged along, as if they weren't necessary. To make its presence known to the Uchiha, the creature let out a low snarl.
Madara immediately turned around to see a Grimm. He had seen its kind only once before, in Headmaster Lionheart's office. The jellyfish-like creature with sharp red tendrils. He was ready to attack, but gave pause. Like its predecessor, it acted unlike regular Grimm. Like its predecessor, It wasn't there to attack him. Like its predecessor, it was merely a messenger for someone.
The Grimm stuck its tendrils into the ground, anchoring itself and lowering its elevation. The red gas that swirled in its marble of a head cleared away. And suddenly, a different voice came from the creature.
"Madara Uchiha." It was a woman's voice; one that, though he hadn't heard before, he certainly recognized.
"How did nobody notice this thing?" He thought, staring at the stationary Grimm. "Camouflage? Diversion? No, surely Atlas would have some kind of tool for that much. Teleportation?"
"You do not need to be so tense. At least for now, you're not in any danger." The Grimm, Salem using the Grimm, continued to speak. "The Relic of Creation was used, and that made this conversation possible."
"How did you disable the shields?"
From the glass-like sphere, Salem scoffed. "That doesn't matter, now does it? While we can, let's talk about what does matter. I know what you are, and who you are. I know that you are not from this world; An alien so to speak. Not only that, but so are those multi-tailed creatures. I also know why you are searching for them. Must be quite the daunting task for just one person, not knowing where they could be or who else may be aware of them."
Madara's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. "What's your point?"
"The Grimm will destroy Mantle; even you have limits. Yet it would only take one command from me to put a stop to them. In order for that to happen, there's something I need."
"The relic of creation." It was obvious, no?
"Not quite. That can be achieved later, of course. More importantly, what I want is for us to help each other. What I can offer you in this alliance? Well, how does 'a large orange animal with more tails than any other' sound to you?"
The gas in the Jellyfish-like Grimm's head moved again. The colors changed to display something eye catching. Just as she said, it was a massive animal; a fox. There were over a hundred black chains covering its body. Its mouth was forced shut, its limbs and nine distinct tails were also impaled into the ground. It looked like a trophy, one that would be mounted to a rack, but it was most certainly alive.
"Surely you know where you can find me. I'd like to speak with you directly, and depending on what happens after that, this creature will be yours. I recommend that you do not waste time. The Grimm on the surface certainly won't. Until we meet again, Madara Uchiha." After she finished speaking, the light in the creature faded. As if it was a machine that ran out of power, it fell to the ground, lifeless. Its body soon evaporated, leaving nothing behind.
Madara let out another sigh, a mixture of relief and frustration. He looked out at the horizon, where she was, and where it awaited him. Being the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine Tailed Fox was by far going to be the biggest challenge. To think it had already been wrapped up like a present; it was almost too good to be true. However, he couldn't pass up on the opportunity he was offered.
He looked back at Atlas Academy, and shook his head. "We do what we must."
With a few hand seals, his body lightened enough for him to float off of the ground. Just like that, he departed from the harbor. With as much chakra as his shadow clones had, they could fight for at least half a day if not more. By that time, he would surely be done with what he needed to do.
END