Here we are at Chapter 107. The battle continues for Ruby and Khazhak's group as they face Cordovin, while Porphyrius faces off against Adam, unleashing the true strength of his semblance. I do not own RWBY. They belong to Roosterteeth. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 107. Enjoy.
Chapter 107: Unbound to the Ground
Ruby and Khazhak's group continue their battle against Cordovin and her giant robot along the cliffs. Atlas soldiers from the military base watch their commander fight at the front, cheering for her. However, none of them are exactly doing their jobs right now, including watching the radar systems... that just picked up a red dot slowly moving towards the port city of Argus.
"You just couldn't keep this rivalry of ours between us, could you, Calavera? You had to go and rope children in to fail with you, is that it?" Cordovin taunts Maria as she fires at the airship flying around it.
With Cordovin distracted, Ruby uses this chance to climb up back onto the cliffs with the others.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Khazhak asks her.
"I'm fine. Are you?" Ruby replies.
"I've been a lot worse," Khazhak replies.
"Ruby, Khazhak, are you guys okay?" Oscar calls out on the comms.
"Are we okay? You were supposed to keep the ship away," Khazhak replies.
"I know. We were supposed to keep our ride out of here safe, but listen, I think I found a weakness with that robot," Oscar says.
"What did you find?" Voshkie'ahk asks as she walks with Nora, who carries an injured Jaune with her.
"Guys!" Ren yells and runs to their side.
"Voshkie, are you alright?" Khazhak asks, concerned for his sister.
"We can't keep fighting like this forever. If we don't come up with a new plan, and quickly, she'll overwhelm us," Tiamat notes.
"We're aware, Tiamat. I'm fine, brother, thanks to Jaune's quick thinking. Anyway, Oscar, tell us what you found," Voshkie'ahk says.
"The cylinder on Cordovin's cannon rotates and locks in a giant Dust cartridge every time she changes attack styles," Oscar explains while Maria controls the ship, just barely dodging a shot from said cannon.
"Yeah, we already figured out that part when we were all over it like honey to a bee. Get to the point," Lloyd says.
"I know, but her missile launcher doesn't lock in. It pops out instead. Her shields are down, so long-range attacks will deal direct damage. If we can get a well-placed shot in, it could detonate the missile before they're fired. That'll cause a huge explosion and destroy the cannon," Oscar explains.
"Taking out the cannon will cripple the machine. Oscar, you're a genius," Jaune notes.
"Ruby, can you make a shot like that?" Reaper asks.
Ruby thinks about it, "I... I don't know. I'd practically have to be staring down the barrel of her cannon to get a shot in. But, we'll only have one chance before she figures it out. I need an opening to try it," Ruby says.
"Well, I can probably help out with that," Maria says as she flies the airship in and hovers in front of them.
Ruby jumps onto the airship and it flies off.
"Ruby!" Khazhak yells to no avail.
The airship flies straight at Cordovin's robot. In her cockpit, Cordovin gets an incoming call.
"Hey Cordo, I've got one missile left, and I know exactly where I'm gonna stick it," Maria taunts her.
Maria growls, but then laughs as she realizes something, "One missile, you say, Calavera. That's a shame... because I've got plenty left. More than enough to blow you to dust," Cordovin replies, and pops out her missile launcher, aiming it at the airship.
"ARE YOU TWO OUT OF YOUR MIND!" Oscar shout.
"Sometimes the best approach is the most direct!" Maria replies.
Ruby kneels down and takes aim with her sniper-scythe. Cordovin smirks, but her eyes widen in shock when she gets a better look and sees what Ruby is doing.
"You," she scowls as she figures it out. Ruby fires the shot, but Cordovin's missile launcher pops right back in and the round just barely misses its target, shocking them. "You thought you could fool me?!" Cordovin yells as she aims her cannon, charging an electric blast for them.
"Pull up!" Oscar yells, and Maria does so.
Cordovin fires, and the shot doesn't directly hit the airship, but the out edge of the electric blast shorts out the airship's systems, and Maria's eyes which are connected to them.
The connection breaks, and Maria's eyes short out, "Aw! My eyes, I can't see!" she screams.
The blast hits the cliffs, just barely missing the rest of the group.
"Oscar, take control. Give us a controlled crash if you have to!" a blind Calavera tells him.
Oscar grabs the stick and starts pulling on it, the airship flying erratically in the air as it nears the cliffs.
"We're gonna crash! We're gonna crash!" Oscar yells.
"RUBY!" Khazhak yells and makes a run for it.
The airship crashes into the trees. The others gasp while Qrow jumps off the cliff, turning into his bird form and flies to the crash site, getting ahead of Khazhak. At the crash site, Ruby, Oscar, and Maria groan as they come too, still alive thankfully.
"We're still alive... We're still alive," Oscar mutters in relief.
However, that relief quickly fades when he feels the ground shake, and looks to his left to see Cordovin's mech slowly approaching them.
"Hahaha, very clever. But, even the smartest of apes cannot compete with the intellect of man," Cordovin taunts them.
Ruby looks over to Maria and Oscar as she exits the crashed airship, seeing that Maria's prosthetic eyes are damaged from the crash, and turns back only to see Cordovin aim her cannon at them again. However, before she fires, Khazhak suddenly appears at the edge of the cliffs in front of her.
"Leave her ALONE!" Khazhak yells and, without thinking, swings his grandfather's sword, releasing a Lightning Slash technique at the cannon.
Cordovin fires, but the two attacks connect, creating a large explosion. When the smoke clears, both attackers are unharmed. However, Khazhak looks to his grandfather's sword, finding cracks flowing all over it. It's a miracle the blade hasn't shattered completely.
"I told you not to use your semblance. One more technique like that, even a small one, and your grandfather's sword will shatter into pieces," Bahamut tells him.
"I didn't have much of a choice," Khazhak says as he sheathes his sword, and activates the arm blade in his right gauntlet as his last defense.
Ruby sees this happen and gets a determined look in her eye before she starts walking up to join his side. However, Qrow flies in, shifts, and grabs her hand to stop her.
"Ruby, stop!" Qrow exclaims.
Ruby slowly looks back at him, "I need you to trust me," she says, her expression unchanging.
Qrow hesitates for a moment, but then sighs and releases her. Ruby then joins up with Khazhak, standing side-by-side.
"You okay?" Khzhak asks.
"I'm fine. Sorry about your grandfather's sword," Ruby says.
"It's just a blade. You can always fix it," Khazhak replies.
"This game has been fun while it lasted, but it's over now. Surrender for you crimes and accept your punishment. You were foolish from the beginning in thinking you could defeat the Atlas military," Cordovin demands, pointing a robot finger at the pair.
"NO!" Ruby shouts.
"Forget it!" Khazhak adds.
Ruby takes Khazhak's hand in her own, "We're going to Atlas. Bigger people than you have tried to stop us before, and failed," Ruby begins.
"You swore an oath to protect the people of Remnant. It's an oath we, too, have sworn. We're not enemies here. It is the duty of huntsmen, huntresses, even the military to protect the people. But instead of upholding that oath, instead of using your power those people, you just use that power to look down on everyone. Even before the Fall of Beacon, most of the planet hated Atlas. Why do you think that is? It's because you constantly think yourselves better than the rest of the world. You may be more technologically advanced, but you've lost something far more important than that: your honor. We're supposed to help each other, not fight each other. It's what separates us from the Grimm, and from those that would harm the very people we have ALL sworn to protect," Khazhak says.
"We wanted to talk to you because we needed your help. Your help so we could keep protecting the people of Remnant. But you wouldn't listen. We didn't want to steal from you, but we did it because you gave us no other choice. Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out," Ruby says.
Everyone remains silent as they watch, waiting for what Cordovin's answer will be. However, Cordovin just narrows her eyes.
"I've heard enough," Cordovin mutters and aims her cannon at them.
The rest of the group run to them to help, but Ruby only looks to Khazhak as the cannon charges up.
"Ruby!" Oscar yells.
"Do you trust me?" Ruby calmly asks Khazhak.
"With all my heart and soul," Khazhak replies.
The pair nod and Khazhak pulls Ruby around into a spin, swinging her wide and throwing her into the cannon itself. Most of the group gasp at seeing that.
"They're nuts!" Nora yells.
"Wait, Oscar said that the missiles spring out..." Lloyd begins.
"But, the pods for the Dust get locked inside the cannon," Reaper ends.
Ruby stabs the blade of her scythe on the inside of the cannon, aiming her barrel down the inner barrel of the cannon as Dust energy builds up. She takes a deep breath, and then jumps up as she fires the shot, using the high recoil and her semblance to quickly escape the cannon as the Dust explodes and goes nuts inside the cannon. Ice, lightning, and rocks burst out of the cannon, disabling it.
"What?! No!" Cordovin yells as the cannon fails into the water due to the extra wait.
Ruby's aura takes heavy damage as she falls towards the cliffs. Weiss uses her semblance, creating black glyphs to slow her descent, and Khazhak jumps into the air, catching Ruby with his one arm and using his body as a cushion as they crash into the side of a tree. Weiss falls onto her knees, her energy spent as Reaper and Team JNR check on her.
"Weiss, are you alright?" Reaper asks.
"I'm fine. Focus on Ruby," Weiss retorts, taking a few breaths.
"Ruby? Ruby!" Qrow yells as he kneels beside Khazhak and Ruby.
Ruby groans a bit as she comes to, and looks up at him with a smile, "I told ya," she replies, making him show a relieved smile. She then turns to Khazhak. "Nice catch," she says.
Khazhak grunts with a smile, "And here I thought Lloyd was crazy," he notes, chuckling a bit.
Ruby snickers and kisses him on the cheek. Just then, the airship behind them comes back online and hovers over the ground. Inside, Oscar is with Maria as her eyes start working again.
"Oh, don't tell me I missed the good part. I didn't even get to see Cordo's face when we beat her," Maria laments, her eyes still a little out of whack.
…
Meanwhile, Porphyrius prepares to face off against Adam, and end this nightmare.
"So, you still can't face me yourself, can you Blake? You still need help from your little friends, or from monstrosities like this thing standing in front of me to fight your battles for you," Adam taunts Blake.
Yang growls and takes a step forth, but Porphyrius holds out an arm to stop her.
"Before I gut you like fish, I want to ask you something. Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that humans and Faunus CAN coexist? To live in peace?" Porphyrius asks.
Adam is a little surprised by the question, but grits his teeth, "Look at my face. This is all of the proof I need. Humans and Faunus can NEVER be together. You have no idea what I've been through!" Adam yells.
"Look at MY face! I've been where you've been. I've been hurt the same way as you. My parents were slaughtered, and I was mutilated. Humans did this to me. They took my eye, they took my wings, and they took my family from me. If anyone had any reason to hate humans, it would be me," Porphyrius retorts, with Yang and Blake behind him looking sad at hearing his past again. "I know what it's like to be filled with hatred, anger, spite, and a thirst for revenge. But over time, I realized something... That doesn't matter. What we are doesn't matter; it's what we do that matters. I could've easy gone down the same road as those monsters that killed my parents, and for a time, I did. But, I learned to not let my anger control me, to not let it define me. And also, think about it. The White Fang was created to help bring peace between humans and Faunus. My father was a Faunus, and my mother was a human, and they fell in love. They were the perfect example of what the White Fang was striving to achieve," Porphyrius explains.
"That was a fool's dream. It's impossible. The White Fang now, when I was leading it, was what it was supposed to be," Adam objects.
"And yet, now they've kicked you out. And you know why? Because you abandoned them at the battle for Haven. Because when it comes down to it, the only person you fight for is yourself. You say that you're doing what's best for the Faunus, but that's a load of crap. You kill people that don't go along with YOUR plans. You've even killed members of your own kind just because they wouldn't agree with you. You fight for revenge. You fight for bloodshed. You fight for yourself. You fight for its own sake. I may fight for the humans you hate, I may fight for the weak, Adam Taurus, but you... you fight... for NOTHING. Which is why you will never win," Porphyrius retorts.
Adam growls as he holds the handle of his sword, "We'll see if you can still talk like that after I slice you in two," he threatens him, lowering his stance.
Porphyrius narrows his eyes and readies his blades. The air blows by slowly... and then the two charge at each other. Adam unsheathes his blade in a quick slash, but Porphyrius spins and swings his left blade, engulfed in a thick veil of compressed gravity around it. When the two blades connect, Adam's gets knocked back, and Porphyrius makes a quick slash with his right blade across his chest. The two make a few strikes at one another, but none hit except for Adam getting pushed back from the gravity hits his blade takes. The purple flame on Porphyrius' right eye pulses as he releases a burst of gravity around him, sending Adam flying back. Porphyrius fires his rifles, but Adam manages to block them with his sword, drawing in their energy. Porphyrius switches his weapon into its brawler form, charging at Adam again. Adam makes another wide swing, but Porphyrius jumps into the air, engulfing gravity around his body to force him down to the ground fast. Adam barely manages to dodge it when Porphyrius smashes his right gauntlet into the ground where he was standing. Adam takes another swing, but Porphyrius blocks with his left gauntlet. Adam tries to shoot him close-up but Porphyrius spins, using his backpack to block the shot, and then makes a right hook at him. Adam blocks the attack with his sword, but gets knocked back again. Porphyrius then makes a series of punches at Adam, and though he blocks each strike with his blade, he keeps getting knocked back step by step.
"You can't keep this up forever," Porphyrius notes.
"Just shut up! I will not be defeated by some mistake of creation!" Adam yells.
Porphyrius switches back to his blades and attacks Adam. The two parry two strikes, but Porphyrius spins around to throw a roundhouse kick at him. Adam ducks back to evade it, and makes a swing that gets blocked by one of Porphyrius' blades. He sends out another gravity pulse, knocking Adam back further. Porphyrius makes a slash at his right side, then backflips over Adam when he tries to land a hit on his back. Porphyrius lands on his feet and backflips away again when Adam makes another swing. Porphyrius runs at him, but Adam sheathes his sword, red energy building, and then makes a fast unsheathing strike that hits Porphyrius, with enough force to send him over the edge of the rock bridge.
"Porphyrius!" Yang screams.
"Hahaha, well now with that out of the way," Adam laughs as he turns to them.
The two girls get ready to fight, but then widen their eyes when they notice something behind Adam. Adam feels a presence behind him and turns around to see Porphyrius... floating in mid-air.
"What?" Adam mutters in shock.
"Surprised? So am I. Now then," Porphyrius says and then flies in at Adam.
Adam swings his sword at him, but Porphyrius deflects it as he flies past. However, Porphyrius then flips his feet around and they suddenly look like they stepped on something in mid-air. Gravity pulses flow from his feet, and then he pushes off it like a springboard towards Adam. Adam fires his sheathe gun, but Porphyrius blocks the shots with his blades, getting another hit in on Adam's left side. He continues this approach, spring-boarding off of invisible walls of gravity as he flies around Adam, landing hit after hit and draining his aura. At one point, Porphyrius lands on solid ground, changing his weapon back into its brawler form and charges at Adam. Adam aims his sheathe gun at him again, but Porphyrius knocks it away and then throws another punch at it, knocking it out of Adam's hand and sending it over the edge of the bridge. Adam swings his sword down on Porphyrius when he gets the chance, but Porphyrius stops it with just a gravity pulse around his body, holding the blade in place. Adam growls as he tries to breakthrough it but Porphyrius blows the pulse out, knocking Adam off his feet. Adam rolls back onto his feet, just in time to raise his sword to block an incoming punch from Porphyrius. However, the right gauntlet, infused with gravity, breaks the blade in two. The punch collides with Adam's ace, sending him crashing into the rocky floor breaking it apart, along with his aura. Adam gets onto his knees, finding his broken blade nearby. Porphyrius walks over, aiming his right rifle at his head.
"It's over Adam. It's over," Porphyrius says.
"I won't stop. I'll keep coming back, and I'll kill you, I'll kill Blake, I'll kill every single person that ever stood in my way!" Adam seethes.
"I've been waitng a long time to do this. To finally kill you, and make you pay for what you did to Yang, and to everyone else you've hurt. But, I look at you now and I realize something..." Porphyrius begins and then lowers his arm. "You're not worth it... You never were," he says and turns and walks away. "Leave and never come back. This is your only warning," he says as he walks back to the girls.
Blake and Yang smile that he won, and that he didn't try to kill Adam. Meanwhile, Adam seethes at this humiliation at the hands of the Half-Faunus. He looks around, his eyes finding the broekn end of his sword. He moves to grab it and runs at Porphyrius from behind.
Yang's eyes widen, "Porphyrius!" she shouts.
Adam makes a slash aimed at Porphyrius' head, but he ducks and spins under the swing, swinging around to impale his right arm blade through Adam's chest. Blood leaks freom the wound as Adam drops the blade.
"Oh..." Adam mutters in resignation.
Porphyrius says nothing and pulls the blade out. Adam stumbles a few steps until he falls onto his knees at the bridge's edge. Taking one last breath, he falls over and crashes into the river below, dead. Porphyrius sighs, shaking his head, before retrieving his eyepatch and putting it back on as he deactivates his semblance. The second he does, he falls backwards, landing on the ground on his back.
"Porphyrius!" Yang yells as she and Blake race to his side. "Porphyrius, are you- Porphyrius?" Yang asks, concerned, only for it to turn to confusion when she notices Porphyrius laughing softly.
"I did it. I finally did it," Porphyrius mutters, exhausted.
"Yeah... You killed Adam," Blake mutters.
"No, not that. I mean... I finally got to fly. More so, I finally got control of my semblance. I finally did it," Porphyrius corrects them.
Yang smiles a little, "I'm glad you're alright Porphyrius," she says and kisses his forehead, gently laying her hand on his on his chest.
Blake then places her hand on theirs, "I'm not going to break my promise. I'm staying with you guys, now and forever," she says.
Yang smiles back, "I know you won't," she says.
Blake finally lets her emotions out, and starts crying, free from the nightmare of Adam Taurus for good. Yang has a hand on her face as she cries, happy that they're all still alive, and that they made it. Together.
…
Back with the others, they regroup as Cordovin tries and fails to get her machine moving again.
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Cordovin yells. "You! You're never getting to Atlas! You hear me, never!" Cordovin yells.
"You left us with no other choice. In the end, the only person you have to blame is yourself," Khazhak calls out.
"No, we'll see who's at fault when my forces destroy you! All forces, converge on my position and eliminate these pests at once!" Cordovin calls out on the comms.
"Guys! We need to move now!" Oscar yells from the airship.
"We need to get to Yang, Blake, and Porphyrius," Voshkie'ahk says.
However, they hear another call come in, "Mam, we've been trying to reach you. Argus is in danger," a soldier replies, shocking Cordovin.
"...What?" she mutters.
Khazhak and the others look out to the ocean... only to find the image of a giant Leviathan-type Grimm slowly making its way towards the city, unleashing a hellish roar that reaches them.
"By the gods," Voshkie'ahk mutters in shock.
Lloyd and Reaper look up, seeing scores of Manticore and Sphinx Grimm flying towards the city, too many to count.
"Oh crap," Khazhak mutters.
"All this negativity from the battle; it drew the Grimm here, straight to the city," Bahamut notes.
"It's a Leviathan. It began its approach during your battle. We need you," the solder on the comms says, followed by another loud roar from the monster.
The group look to the giant robot, realizing that they just disabled the only thing that can stop the Leviathan.
And that's the chapter. Porphyrius manages to defeat and kill Adam while gaining full control over his semblance now. Meanwhile, Khazhak's group stop Cordovin, only to regret it when a large number of Grimm appear over Argus, along with a Leviathan. Can Ruby and Khazhak find a way to salvage this situation? Will they save Argus? The next chapter will be the volume 6 finale. Also, keep those weapon ideas coming, you guys. Until then, Please Read and Review.
