RWBY

Origins Of LUNR

Chapter 43: I'll Never Forgive You

Outside on the quad of Haven Academy, the battle between the White Fang and the Menagerie Faunus as well as the Mistral Police Force continues. One of the Mistral airships shines its searchlight on three White Fang soldiers.

"Ceasefire, immediately!" Mistral Policeman said over a P.A.

The three try to run away, but they are stopped by a combined group of Menagerie Faunus and Mistral policemen led by Ilia Amitola. Eventually, two of the White Fang soldiers drop their weapons and hold their hands in the air to surrender when they are surrounded. The last White Fang soldier tries to fire his weapon, but it is whipped out of his hands by Lightning Lash and he is tackled and restrained to the ground by Ilia.

"Thank you." The female Rabbit Faunus said while smiling.

Ilia looks at the rabbit Faunus with a smile and nods back. Elsewhere, Lance stands proudly over Adam Taurus, who was on his knees before standing back up.

Adam, who was seething, glared at Lance "I'm going to make you regret ever coming back…"

"More police are on their way, Adam. Huntsmen too." Lance stated.

Adam chuckled evilly "Still too afraid to face me on your own." He mocked.

"I'm here for Haven, not you." Lance retorted.

Angered, Adam points Blush in front of Lance with Wilt in his left hand, while Lance draws Takemikazuchi.

"Heh, you are still afraid, and you should be. I've made powerful friends while you've been away." Adam taunted his former respective.

"Oh yeah?"

Adam looks to his left as Sun Wukong approaches him holding Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in its staff form.

"Where?" He asked.

"Tell me, does Blake make all of her classmates fight for her?" Adam asked, pointing Wilt towards Sun.

"Nah, it's a volunteer gig. I'm just sayin', for someone who claims to have such great friends, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people here willing to fight for you." Sun added.

Adam looks around, seeing his followers surrendering to the overwhelming numbers of forces Blake brought with her, only proving Sun's point right. A searchlight then shines down on him.

"You can try and make me regret coming here, Adam, but honestly... I've got more important things to deal with." Lance quickly responded.

"Oh is that so, then maybe you're too busy to know about what happened to the high leader!" Adam exclaimed, knowing it would get Lance's attention.

Lance's eyes widened as he heard Adam bring up his mother. Lance wasn't stupid, he knew there had to be an important reason why he would even bring up his mother. Lance knew in his heart, what was coming next. He knew what he was about to hear as he gritted his teeth.

"What happened to my mother?" He asked with bitter disdain in his throat.

"You know Lance, it's truly a shame that you wish to protect these humans. It's a shame that people you wish to protect are the same people who brought down the high leader." Adam stated, lying through his teeth.

Lance's eyes widened as he listened to Adam's words. His heart dropped as he tried to control his breathing but he couldn't. He was so certain that Adam wouldn't lie about that, he knew he had nothing to gain from it.

"The high leader is dead Lance. She was killed by humans who infiltrated the White Fang's throne room." Adam was lying about what had happened but he knew that Lance's emotions would sway his judgment into belief.

"Stop lying!"

Adam looked to see one of the White Fang members looking at him as he threw his weapon on the ground. "What are you doing?" Adam asked, with anger in his voice.

"I'm done with this Adam, I'm done fighting my family. You should stop this fighting and stop your lying. You're the one who killed the high leader, and took her spot on the throne." The White Fang soldier announced.

Adam gritted his teeth for a moment before turning his head to see Lance giving him a death glare. Lance balled up his fist as he started to shake and his breathing got heavier as rage was starting to consume him. Ghira saw this and walked over to Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder. Before he could speak Lance slowly looked at him with nothing but empty rage filling his eyes. Ghira was shocked by this and quickly let go of him and slowly backed away, knowing there was nothing he could say that would calm Lance down.

Adam lets out a frustrated growl and swings his sword at Sun, but the monkey Faunus counters his attacks by swinging his shotgun nunchucks. Adam was then knocked away by Sun who smirked at him. Adam bolts, with Sun giving chase. Adam runs away into the bushes and trees while Sun continues to pursue him, but Lance calls out to him.

"Sun, stop!

"But he's getting away! We could take him!" Sun responded.

"No, he's not! I won't allow it!" Lance exclaimed.

Sun's eyes widened as he saw black lightning surround Lance. He knew Lance was pissed and there wasn't much he could do to change that. "This is not your fight, Adam is my prey. I'm going to finish him, once and for all!" Lance exclaimed as he pressed off the ground and dashed into the bushes and trees following after Adam.

Sun's attention is then drawn to Haven's Great Hall where he sees Blake with their old friends and allies fighting off their enemies. He smiles at her then goes back to help Ghira and the others.

Back inside the Great Hall.

Hazel Rainart launches fireballs from his fists with his fire-Dust enhanced arms at Weiss Schnee's summoned Queen Lancer. The Lancer dodges out of the way of the blasts while Krisis lets out a powerful roar and morphs his right arm and extends it towards Hazel. His arm wrapped around Hazel's left arm and he prepared to lift him and slam him but Hazel used his strength to hold his ground.

Hazel then used the fire dust that was in his arms and manipulated them to burn Krisis's arm off of him. Krisis roared in pain before Hazel rushed at him and uppercutting him, sending him into the air.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of Team JNPR and Team ARAM try to regain their strength during the current situation. "You guys okay?" Jaune asked.

Lie Ren coughs while Nora Valkyrie groans in exhaustion. "Surviving…" Ren quickly responds.

"I don't know how that big guy is still standing. He recharges his Aura faster than I've ever seen!" Arrietty stated

Oscar Pine watches Qrow fly in with his bird form, before transforming back into his usual self.

"He's sheer willpower. Krisis is even having trouble with him." Qrow groans in pain.

Oscar takes cover behind a nearby column. "We just need to get him to his limit!"

The Queen Lancer summoning is then shown firing projectiles at Leonardo Lionheart, who defends himself with Stalwart. He then knocks the summon away with a flame torrent coming from his weapon. Hazel uses the opportunity to launch a combined fire and lightning attack which causes the Lancer to dissipate. Weiss stares in shock as her summoning disappears. Suddenly, Blake jumps in and kicks Hazel to the ground before jumping next to Weiss and Ruby Rose.

"Are you hurt?" Blake asked.

"N- No! I just remembered you being more of the quiet one." Weiss responded. Uzziel quickly lands beside her.

Hazel and Emerald slowly advance toward the three of them. "Not today," Blake said frankly.

Blake draws Gambol Shroud, while Ruby holds up Crescent Rose. "Alright," Weiss said while holding Myrtenaster defensively. "Well, what's the plan, Ruby?"

Ruby nods in thought. Lionheart tries to launch an attack on her, but Ruby shoots at his shoulder. His Aura flickers before Lionheart runs out of the room through the doors behind him in fear.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Mercury said, watching Lionheart run away.

Hazel lets out a fearsome roar, while Emerald and Mercury just watch him. Ruby calls out their team attack. "Checkmate!" Blake and Weiss run forward, followed closely behind by their leader.

Meanwhile, Diana and Estelle were clashing their blades as they moved at immense speed. Estelle swung her blade three more times in mid-air before delivering a kick to Diana's stomach and sending her flying to the ground. Estelle then sheathed her blade for a moment before unsheathing and quickly sending a razor-sharp wind blast at Diana who quickly dodged it.

"You think you're worthy to battle me?" Diana asked as she pointed her sword at Estelle.

Estelle smirked and as she sheathed her sword "One hundred percent." Estelle said with confidence.

Estelle was about to make a move until she heard Diana say "Oh my!" which stopped her in her tracks. She noticed that Diana was looking in a different direction and looked towards the same direction to a tense battle between Uzziel and Mercury.

The two were trading multiple blows, Uzziel using his hands and Mercury using his legs. Uzziel quickly punches Mercury and sends him flying back and then starts to dash at him. Mercury glared at him and started sending multiple shots from his feet which Uzziel dodged by jumping left and right while continuing to move forward.

Aura quickly surrounded Uzziel, taking the shape of a wolf as he made his way towards Mercury. Once he was close enough Mercury took a step back as Uzziel took a swing at him with his right hand in a slashing motion using the claws from his aura. Mercury smirked as he spun around and kicked Uzziel in the face which made him stumble back.

Mercury jumped back a few feet and then fired a few shots at Uzziel, who quickly fired back from his tonfa. As the bullets collided the two stopped firing and Mercury started running towards Uzziel at full speed.

Uzziel quickly shot the ground with Ice dust, causing the ground to turn to a slippery sheet. Mercury who was caught off guard slipped on the ice and was sliding towards Uzziel who changed the shape of his aura into a Gorilla. Uzziel balled his fist and punched Mercury as hard as he could and sent him flying. Mercury's aura flashed showing that he was running low on it which worried him a little.

Estelle, who was watching, smiled at her little brother who continued to impress her. To see him hold his own in person made her a very proud sister. But she knew she had important matters to tend to. She looked back at Diana who was still watching the boys and with immense speed, she used this opportunity to catch her off guard.

She quickly swung her sword and created another wind projectile that would come flying towards Diana. A smirk crept up on Diana's face as she quickly sliced the wind projectile in half with her blade with the same force and speed.

Estelle's eyes widened as she saw this but then quickly smirked as she knew she shouldn't be surprised. "Now that was just rude, did your mother teach you nothing?" Diana asked.

This slightly angered Estelle but she managed to keep her cool and keep the smirk on her face. "It's your fault for taking your eyes off your opponent. But don't feel bad, it was a rookie mistake." Estelle mocked.

"You're right it was my mistake. I'll continue your execution now." Diana replied as she pointed her sword at Estelle.

While that was going on, Damien could be seen flying towards a wall. But before he could crash into it he landed on his feet and looked in front of him.

"Get lost Dyna," He said as he gritted his teeth.

"Don't get testy junior." She quickly retorted.

"Then don't test me." He replied before dashing towards her. Holding up his blade he took a swing at her head which she quickly ducked and followed up with an uppercut that made him stumble back and hold his chin.

As she jumped away from him she put her hands up in a fighting position "I'm guessing Tanya was a helicopter mom." She stated.

"She worked under Ironwood." Damien quickly corrected her.

Dyna smirked when he spoke, "Too bad she's not here to fight for you."

Back above ground, Lionheart bursts into his office and runs behind his desk, frantically opening drawers trying to look for something. Suddenly, he hears ominous clicking noises and looks up to notice a Seer floating menacingly in front of his desk. A familiar voice comes from it.

"And where might you be going?" Salem asked.

Lionheart started stammering "Uh, your grace! I was just looking for something." He chuckled nervously.

"Leonardo, do you have something you wish to tell me?"

Lionheart doesn't say anything for a bit, before telling Salem his response.

"It was Cinder! She altered the plan! Huntsmen showed up here! Qrow! Several students, one with the Silver Eyes! The White Fang attack, it was stopped!" He said before pausing.

"I don't know that they'll be able to recover the Relic... Your grace, I can still be of assistance! If I leave now, I- I can avoid the authorities and come find you, I'll do whatever it takes! Your grace?" He said in a terrified tone.

Out of options, Lionheart aims his weapon at the Seer, but it uses one of its tentacles to knock it off his wrist. Lionheart tries to run, but the Seer wraps one of its tentacles around Lionheart's ankle, causing him to trip and fall.

"Please, ma'am! I'll do anything! I can still be useful!" He begged pathetically

The Seer aims its sharp tentacles at Lionheart. He tries to crawl away, but more tentacles wrap around his body.

"Please! PLEEEAAASE!" Despite his pleas, Lionheart is dragged towards the Seer, The sound of a stab can be heard.

"Please…" He said weakly. Lionheart's dying breath can be heard as another stab is heard as well.

In the Land of Darkness, Salem herself stares at the Seer in front of her on the table, leaning her head on her hand in disappointment. "Coward…"

Back at Haven, Oscar is seen defending an exhausted Qrow while Ruby and her friends hold off their opponents, who are all exhausted as well. Nolo, Regulus, and Midori are seen trying to slash and shoot Paul from close range but Paul was very skilled in dodging.

He laughed as he jumped back and put his hands behind his back before pulling out what looked to be a customized grenade launcher. As he was about to pull the trigger, Nolo quickly shot at Paul's hands making him drop the launcher. As the launcher fell to the floor a portal appeared behind him. Regulus's fist would quickly appear from the portal and connect with Paul's jaw which made Nolo wince in pain showing that he knew what that felt like.

As Paul stumbled back Midori held out her hand and sent a powerful blast of wind at Paul sending him flying into a wall. His body bounced off the wall and fell onto the floor which made Nolo cheer. "Smackdown!" He exclaimed as he put his fist in the air. Regulus and Midori both looked at him and smiled.

"That's enough! Just give up." Uzziel ordered.

Mercury who was on the ground, snarls, and yells in frustration, slamming his fist into the ground.

"It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the Relic, and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down." Emerald said proudly.

The platform leading to the vault is heard coming back up. Everyone stares as Yang comes back up with the Relic of Knowledge in her hand. Emerald looks in surprise as Cinder didn't come back up. All of Yang's friends look up to her and smile.

"Yang.." Ruby said with a gentle voice.

Hazel seethes while tears stream from Emerald's eyes. Paul growled in anger from this news while Damien grits his teeth. Yang smiles back down to her friends and shares a glance with Blake, who looks down for a bit before looking back up to her. Emerald falls to her knees and begins to sob. Mercury and Hazel slowly start backing away.

"Emerald, get up, we need to go," Mercury said as he kept his guard up.

Emerald shakes her head and remains stationary. "Emerald!" He exclaimed.

Emerald looks around as her breathing gets frantic. She holds her head and lets out a scream, activating her Semblance. Suddenly, the room turns dark as black smoke rises from the ground nearby. From it, a giant effigy of Salem and Terror, limbs bent and deformed, towers above everyone in the room. The giant Terror bared his fangs while the giant Salem opens her eyes, and lets out an ear-piercing scream as it swoops down over everyone. Afterward, everything returns to normal, Ruby shakes in fear as she comes to terms with what she had just witnessed. Everyone in the room is still present, except for Emerald, Mercury, Damien, Diana, Paul, and Hazel, who have disappeared.

"Wha- what was that?" Blake asked.

"An illusion. But an accurate one. That... was Salem and Terror."

Outside, Hazel is seen running and carrying an unconscious Emerald over his shoulder, with Mercury, Damien and Paul following not too far behind him. Up in the tree branches, Diana watches her allies run, before she too leaves.

Back at Haven, Blake sighs in relief now that the battle is over before she hears the sounds of her parents and Sun run into the great hall. "Blake, we got a problem," Sun said.

Blake raised an eyebrow "What's going on?" She responded.

"It's Lance, he found out that Adam killed his mother and he chased after him," Ghira explained.

"He hasn't returned yet," Kali added.

"He killed Lance's mother?" Yang asked in shock.

"We have to find him now. The look Lance had on his face showed that he's ready to fight to the death." Ghira stated.

"Why didn't you follow him?" Arrossire asked as he walked towards them.

"That doesn't matter, right now we need to find him." Miyabi chimed in.

Aura formed around Uzziel's body and took on the shape of a wolf as he started to sniff around with his nose. Estelle smiled at this, seeing how smart her little brother was.

"I found his scent. Follow me!" Uzziel said as he ran off.

Miyabi, Estelle, and Dyna followed after him. Yang handed the relic to Qrow and followed Uzziel as well. Blake and the other's were about to follow until Qrow spoke up "Stay here." He said which made all the young huntsman and huntress stop.

"It's unlikely but if Salem's team comes back for the relic we're going to need you all to help keep it. Let them take care of Lance." Qrow said.

Meanwhile...

Adam had finally stopped running as he got as far away as he could. He smirked as he turned around and looked behind him. They would be foolish to follow him out here, he could pick them off one by one… or so he thought.

The sound of someone landing on the ground could be heard in front of him as he turned around to see Lance standing before him. Lance was looking at the ground as Adam kept his eyes on Lance.

"Following me was a big mistake, Lance. There's no one here but us, there's no one here to save you from me." Adam stated in a cocky tone.

"You're wrong." Lance's response carried a grim weight.

"What?" Adam asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Lance clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth "I'm not the one that needs saving. YOU DO!" Lance yelled as he lifted his head to show the glare in his eyes.

"The last time we met I told you I was going to kill you… and on my mother's honor, I promise you… I'M GOING TO SEE YOU DIE!" He yelled out in complete anger. Adam showed a slight bit of fear as he took a step back. But he had decided that he was going to see this to the end. Adam put a hand on the hilt of his sword preparing for his second bout with Lance.