Chapter 15 - Aerial Combat
Grace's Village
"If you and your friends really are protecting these civilians, then you should go and leave this to me." Julieta explained.
"I don't have time to waste with you… move!" Mikazuki hollered, as the green eyes of Barbatos lit up.
Meanwhile, Isurugi slashed through two Griffons, and just saw a blue Schwalbe Graze decimate a Teryx with his fists, realizing that familiar fighting style.
"Never would've imagined the boy who despises the Kujan family name fight in the same Mobile Suit the General once wore." Isurugi commented, chocking the life out of a Manticore.
The blue Schwalbe, is indeed being piloted by Shun, now used his wire claw to grab another Manticore before arming his 120mm Rifle and shot the Manticore up close to the face.
"Whatever these things are, they ain't human that's for sure." Shun said, before moving to the next target.
Yukio, donned in a similar Schwalbe, only his is purple, using his battle axe to cleave another Manticore in half, before firing his rifle at a Teryx.
"It must have something to do with Tekkadan's involvement in this battle. Or something else…" Yukio explained.
Back to Mikazuki, he is still struggling with Julieta, who is also keeping Beelzebub at bay, with neither of these three fighters giving an inch to budge.
"It's best you stand down." Juleita said.
"Why don't you stand down?" Mikazuki retorted.
"How 'bout the both of you get out of my way!" Beelzebub hollered, pushing back Mikazuki and Julieta with extreme force, but the two managed to keep their balance thanks to their thrusters.
"Now then… it's time for you two to die!" Beelzebub hollered, now getting ready for battle.
XXX
Venator - Control Bay
Thanks to the sudden intervention of Gjallahorn, all the Grimm turned their attention to them, allowing the rest of the villagers to be evacuated and Tekkadan preparing to leave, but not without Mikazuki. This now puts them in a strong predicament of what to do.
"Where did Gjallahorn even come from?" A teenage Tekkadan member asked.
"Oh man, we can't do anything to help Mr. Mikazuki." Another Tekkadan member said.
Orga gritted his teeth in irritation.
"What do we do, boss? I'm worried about Mr. Mikazuki." Takaki explained, feeling concerned for his superior's safety.
"Why don't we get rid of them and get the runt?" Liam asked on the comms, others realize that was a VERY STUPID idea.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Lafter exclaimed.
"We're not risking another fight with Gjallahorn after what we told you the last time Tekkadan fought'em." Akihiro explained, warning Liam about the consequences.
"No choice but to wait for Mr. Mikazuki then." Grace said, which surprised everyone.
"Mikazuki…" Yang whispered, worried enough she gripped her fists, which Ruby noticed and gave a comforting hand on her shoulder, calming the older sister down.
"Don't worry! We know Mika will take him down and come back to us no matter what!" Orga hollered. He can act tough, but in reality, he's worried about his best friend more than anyone.
"C'mon… Don't let us down." Orga thought.
XXX
Mikazuki/Barbatos punched Beelzebub hard in the face, before the Eight Prince retaliated with a roundhouse kick that Mikazuki managed to dodge and attempt to strike again, only for Beelzebub to dodge easily and delivered a heel kick to the head, crashing Mikazuki down-to-earth. Fortunately, Mikazuki easily rebounded and went back into the air, for Julieta to attack Beelzebub with the Julian Swords in whip mode, but Beelzebub dodged by moving to the side.
"If this thing can match the Alaya-Vijnana, then he must be strong." Julieta said, before managing to dodge Beelzebub's chain scythes launched at her. She dashed forward with her blades retracting back to their regular size, clashing weapons against the humanoid Grimm.
The two clashed violently just as Mikazuki rejoined the fight and shoulder-tackled Beelzebub a small distance before firing his cannons, forcing the demon to spin his blades around to deflect the shots.
"You won't beat me that way, rat!" Beelzebub hollered.
"Then let's try again… at full power." Mikazuki said, which confused both Beelzebub and Julieta.
"Let's do it, Mikazuki." Barbatos said, as Mikazuki himself became enveloped in green, transforming him into the Barbatos Lupus Rex, which shocked Julieta.
"Since when can they do that?!" Julieta thought.
Mikazuki/Barbatos Lupus Rex soon charged forward without hesitation, striking Beelzebub with his mace that had enough force to push him back. Mikazuki then launched his tail blade carefully around the chain scythes, who happen to be flowing despite the chains themselves connected to Beelzebub's arms, pulling him in with extreme force and punching him several times, cracking his armor in the process. Julieta attempted to take advantage of that, but two large Nevermores blocked her path, forcing her to strike them with her whip blades, striking down both easily when the blades themselves pierced through the heads, killing both Nevermores efficiently.
Beelzebub grew angry again at the thought of Mikazuki overpowered him. A mere human in a suit of armor beating one of Salem's mightiest generals?! His angry soon reached a tipping point. "Damn you… Damn you… DAMN YOU!" Beelzebub roared, his rage echoed the skies as every braced themselves.
Mikazuki was the only one who didn't flinch, and decided to charge forward again; Beelzebub followed suit. The two clashed their weapons with enough force to produce a powerful shockwave before releasing to continue the clash. Beelzebub swung his chain scythes around, which Mikazuki swatted away with his mace before launching his tail blade at Beelzebub, which the latter dodged the former's attack by a mile, which the blade pierced his right shoulder, destroying his right shoulder pad. Beelzebub swung the chain scythe on his right arm, while gripping the left as a close-range weapon for a surprise maneuver, but Mikazuki effortlessly countered and grabbed the right chain scythe, soon snapping the chain itself in two before his right sub-arm managed to grab the falling scythe and throwing it at Beelzebub with enough speed even Beelzebub couldn't react in time, hitting at his chest that released some black ash, much to the humanoid Grimm's surprise.
"What's going on?! This isn't like the boy my comrades and I fought back at Beacon?!" Beelzebub's thoughts became filled with fear, an emotion he and the other Princes despise, but "The Devil of Tekkadan" was someone who created that fear in him.
Shaking now in fear, he could only say, "W-What are you?" Beelzebub asked.
Mikazuki/Barbatos Lupus Rex could only stare at the now frightened Prince, and soon enough, trusted his mace at Beelzebub's chest, and upon contact, the Pile Bunker in the mace activated, heavily piercing through Beelzebub's chest, killing him for good as the Prince's red eyes faded into nothingness, and his body became cold and limp.
Everyone in the area soon saw the display, and were all shocked or awed by Mikazuki actually taking out a Grimm Prince. Having completed his mission, Mikazuki quickly flew back to the Isaribi, which allowed Orga the order to now…
"Mika's completed his job. Now it's time to head back to Beacon!" Orga ordered, which everyone complied as all the ships began to head out.
"What about Gjallahorn?" Masahiro asked.
"They're not a priority right now. Our mission comes first." Akihiro explained to his little brother.
"The last thing we want is to get into a fight with them again." Takaki said.
"And that would be playing possibly right into Salem's hands." Pyrrha explained.
Julieta stood in mid-air, watching the Tekkadan ships make their leave. Several Gjallahorn soldiers in Grazes joined her.
"Should we pursue them?" A Gjallahorn soldier asked.
"No." Julieta said, which surprised her fellow soldiers, even Shun and Yukio.
"Are you sure about that?" Shun asked, not like he cares about avenging his brother, but still letting their enemies getting away.
"We have no idea what's going on. Let's head back to Master Rustal to come up with a new plan." Julieta replied, declaring her orders.
"If you insist ma'am," Yukio said.
XXX
Land of Darkness
In the dark realm of the Grimm's very home, the remaining seven Princes of Hell just felt a strange disturbance of Beelzebub as they kept watch in a wasteland a few feet from Evernight Castle.
"It would seem… Beelzebub has been snuffed out." Mammon commented, leaning on the rocks with his arms crossed.
"Pfft! That waste of space couldn't even handle those rats ebbed with an army." Asmodeus sneered, mocking his fallen comrade.
"Lady Salem should've sent me to deal with that devil." Belphgor said, twirling the bone mace weapon in his right hand with eagerness to fight.
"Shut it, Bel. You couldn't do jack against him last time." Alistar said, in a mocking manner. That agitated the dual mace wielding Grimm.
"Both of you, knock it off. We have to deal with the fact one of our own was killed, and now the humans might have got a head start." Asmodeus explained, defusing the situation and dealing with the current issue.
"Who cares. All I want is to destroy those rats." Satan said, cracking his knuckles.
As the other Princes continue to rant their frustrations, Lucifer was silent as he pondered on what would happen if all eight Princes would vanish and the worst possibility happening to Salem, since her power was used to create them. A possibility he doesn't even want to believe.
XXX
Beacon Academy - Dining Hall
After returning to Beacon, Tekkadan decided to ask Grace to help out with refugees, as more came in following McGillis and Gaelio's successful rescue mission. Grateful for Tekkadan's support, Grace felt happy to help in anyway, which made especially Biscuit happy. Orga, Eugene, Azee, Nadi, Merribit, Biscuit, Fumitan, Isurugi and Grace delivered their report to Ozpin and McGillis at Beacon Tower about their success of defeating Beelzebub and the appearance of Gjallahorn. Everyone else, decided to get a breather before called for the next mission, are eating in the Dining Hall. Most of the students were weary of Tekkadan, but tolerated them regardless after hearing their accomplishments in Remnant so far, and were wise enough not to provoke them even to their Faunus members.
Shino was currently wolfing down some porridge, much to the others' disgust on him being too fast and not savoring his food.
"C'mon, Mr. Shino - keep it down." Ride chided, only for Shino to ignore and continue eating.
"Ms. Nora's no different." Yamahi said, pointing to the mentioned lightning user who's eating a big plate of pancakes Ren made. The two make a mental note not to say anything that could upset her.
Blake, who was eating some tuna, wasn't different despite managing her eating speed. Ruby on the other hand, was eating lots of sweets despite Weiss, Fumitan and Kudelia telling her not to eat so much or she'll get cavities.
(A/N: Life lesson: never eat too many sweats!)
Lafter was trying to feed Akihiro, the latter mildly embarrassed as his younger brother chuckled, and Chad and Dante trying their absolute best not to laugh at him.
Atra, who's been a major help in cooking everyone's food alongside some of Beacon's chefs, as well as Fuka, Cookie and Cracker to learn from Atra, has become very popular, especially to the Tekkadan Faunus members who absolutely adore her and gave her the nickname, "Cooking Goddess," which they say after being fed good food for so long. Atra sometimes feel embarrassed but kindly excepts the compliments.
Mikazuki, who is currently feeding Akatsuki milk, smiled at seeing his wife getting complimented so nicely. He did notice that someone in Team RWBY is missing, and that's Yang.
Turning his attention to Ruby, "Hey, Red Hood. Where's Yang-Yang?" Mikazuki asked.
Ruby nearly choked on her cookie, remembering her sister wanted to be alone without saying so much a word. "It's Ruby, Mika. And I think I kinda saw her outside on the rooftop." Ruby explains, which surprised some people she managed to climb all the way up.
Mikazuki decided to give Akatsuki to Ruby, which surprised her greatly, as he immediately walked to go find and talk to her. Kudelia and Atra, who just handed another Faunus member some stew, saw Mika exiting the cafeteria and decided to follow to see if there's something either Mikazuki or Yang weren't telling them.
Hush eyed his mentor leaving and makes a mental note to himself, "Mr. Mikazuki… you are good."
XXX
Managing to climb to the rooftops, Mikazuki sees a sullen Yang sitting near the edge with her legs hugged close to her chest, like she was depressed or something. He stopped walking for a bit, knowing that Yang might be angry.
"She must be pretty upset if you did something to her," Barbatos joked, which irritated Mikazuki on the inside despite maintaining his poker face on the out.
"Hey, Mikazuki…" Yang said, softly as Mikazuki heard her.
"This may be selfish, but… can I… give you a hug?" Yang asked, slightly blushing.
"Sure." Mikazuki replied, without any reason why.
"Ms. Yang", Atra and Kudelia thought in unison with worried expressions, watching Mikazuki agreed to Yang's request, both quickly realizing that the way Yang's been around Mikazuki before the two of them came to Remnant.
Mikazuki, hugging the blonde brawler, heard muffled cries on his head, "Why are you crying?" He asks.
"I don't know. Ever since meeting you, I felt a strange feeling inside me," Yang replied, starting to cry and tightening the hug, "I'm really glad for you and Atra being together and bringing Akatsuki to this world."
"I'm really happy for you two, but sad that I…" Yang didn't want to finish what she said, fearing that Mikazuki, Atra and Kudelia would receive it the wrong way.
"Well in that case," Atra's voice came up, which caused Mikazuki and Yang to release their hug to see the mentioned girl standing with Kudelia, the latter immediately guessing what her sister-wife would be thinking. "You can do it too, Ms. Yang! All three of us can have his babies! And Akatsuki would be glad to have some siblings, like you and Ms. Ruby!" Atra hollered, in a positive manner as her way of making all three of them happy with Mikazuki.
"A little too blunt, milady?" Hajiroboshi asked, mildly embarrassed by her new master's way of thinking.
While Mikazuki wasn't surprised, both Yang and Kudelia were comically shocked, and Mikazuki then said something even crazier, "So, you want one too like Kudelia?" Mikazuki asked.
"And it's no surprise you'd instantly agree whatever Orga or Atra tell you." Barbatos commented, nervously.
Yang and Kudelia's faces both became red with steam coming out of their ears. "Mikazuki! Ms. Atra! You two can't just say that out of the blue! I'm cool with this to me, but Ms. Yang's still a student!" Kudelia exclaimed, flailing her arms in the air.
"Yeah, but this way we can all be happy." Atra said, thinking of being like the Turbines, which was on Atra's mind ever since meeting them.
"H-Hold on a minute! I didn't mean like…" Yang attempted to argue, but at that moment, she began to laugh to the confusion of Mikazuki, Atra, Barbatos, Hajiroboshi and Kudelia.
"You guys crack me up." Yang said, now regaining her composure.
Yang smiled and held her hand out to Atra and Kudelia, "wanna join in?" She asks, which Atra and Kudelia smiled and joined in, forming a four-person "group" hug.
"This feels like old times when it was just the three of us," Mikazuki commented, referring to the times he, Atra and Kudelia spent moments like these.
"It's even more relaxing with Ms. Yang now." Atra said, having taken in the warmth feeling Yang gives off.
"Thanks, Atra. Guess my Semblance giving off little flickers or…" Yang said, bashfully accepting Atra's comment.
"The love you share like the season of Summer. Bright and full of kindness." Kudelia explained, giving off a season reference.
The four stayed quietly in their hug for a few minutes, before Kudelia broke the silence, "I will protect all three of you, Akatsuki, and Tekkadan no matter what. That's my new promise."
"And I promise myself that no matter what happens, Team RWBY will always be there for you guys." Yang said, making her own promise.
"Thanks." Mikazuki and Atra said, feeling reassured they aren't alone protecting each other and Akatsuki.
"Women sure are weird. No offense, Hajiroboshi." Barbatos said.
"None taken. My mistress is strange when it comes to relationships." Hajiroboshi commented.
XXX
Twelve minutes later…
Another Grimm attack happened at further east of Vale, along with another in the west and another in the north. Seeing that Salem's not wasting any time today, Tekkadan decided to split their forces in half, hopefully they won't have to run into another Prince of Hell.
The team to the east, led by McGillis, comprises of Gaelio, Team RWBY, Kudelia, Shino, Dante and Chad. The others decided to handle the north and west locations, and ordered to leave in two minutes. Those who didn't get selected were ordered to watch over the Academy, and since Akatsuki has to stay behind, he's being under the care of Fumitan, Cookie and Cracker, the trio immediately agreeing to watch over their littlest Tekkadan member and swore to look after him until his parents come back.
Right now, Hush is covering his beat-red face with both hands, and the reason is…
"We'd better get going, Mikazuki." Atra said, kissing Mikazuki's right cheek.
"We'll see you guys when we get back." Kudelia said, kissing Mikazuki's left cheek.
"And be sure to go out with *A Yang*." Yang punned, kissing Mikazuki's forehead.
"Someone kill me now…" Ride muttered, both envious and irritated of Mikazuki getting three girls now.
Liam scoffed at the sight, only to be getting an elbow to the gut by Elizabeth.
Lafter giggled, "He's becoming like good ol' darling now," which made Akihiro grumble again.
"Don't be so mean, Akihiro." Masahiro teased, only to be silenced by a soft glare from his brother, "Very funny." Akihiro said.
Shino felt depressed with Mikazuki's "wives", knelt on the ground, as Flauros laughed inside his mind.
"What does he have that I don't?" Shino asked, as Yamagi knelt next to him. Shino looked into his eyes.
"Please be careful on your mission, okay?" Yamagi asked, giving a kiss to Shino's cheek, which made him flustered as Yamagi left with Zack and Dane; Zack was in fact surprised.
Smirking, Chad and Dante dragged the dazed Shino to the ship that will take McGillis' team to the east.
"Keep an eye on him." Orga whispered to Gaelio, which he nodded before heading to the ship.
"Let's go, boss!" Eugene hollered, which Orga followed behind.
McGillis looked to the sky, knowing that war will always happen no matter what world, and it's his duty to destroy all who threaten peace!
Finally completed this chapter after almost six days! Lots of romance for Mikazuki with Atra, Kudelia and Yang; he got to feed Akatsuki. Got a moment with Shino and Yamagi too! The first Prince of Hell is also gone and what Gjallahorn wants with Tekkadan is completely unclear. Things will continue on next chapter, with McGillis' team heading to an east village in Vale.
