Oh boy chapter time hehe hoho
Man, I've done so many author's notes at the beginning that I've run out of shitposts to put here. Oh well, you aren't here for the author's note, you're here for the chapter that goes beneath it
Chapter 34
Downfall
Sadly, despite everything that had been set in motion, Ozpin sat unaware of it all up in his office, pouring a drink as he prepared to watch the next round of the Vytal Festival. He knew he needed it, especially with all of the negative backlash regarding Yang's earlier stunt. Leaning back and taking a sip, watching as the randomizers ran to select the next competitors.
"Alright, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!" said Oobleck over the broadcast.
Port spoke next, naming the students as the were selected. "It looks like our first contender is... Penny Polendina, from Atlas! And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos, from Beacon!"
Taking another sip, he watched as the two prepared to fight, leaning forward once he'd heard Pyrrha was set to go. She was his chosen guardian, after all. And as such, he was at the very least interested in this fight.
OOO
Speaking of this match, the two students stood at the ready. Well, Penny was definitely ready, but Pyrrha still sulked on her end of the stadium, silently trying to prepare herself mentally for this fight.
"Sal-u-tations, Pyrrha Nikos! It's an honor to finally meet you!" Penny said, saluting Pyrrha as she greeted her. Pyrrha, still trying to resolve herself, took a deep breath and clenched her fists. Penny, paying no mind to Pyrrha's silence and not noticing her reluctance to fight right now simply shook with anticipation, cheering, "This is going to be so much fun!"
Despite how much fun Penny was having, Link and Ruby were having a dreadful time in the maintenance tunnel, facing down a grinning Mercury and a silent Fenrir.
"Mercury, what are you doing? You were hurt! Why... What's going on?" she asked, Mercury neglecting to respond and still simply smiling evilly at her.
"What are you doing with him?" Link asked, pointing at Fenrir by his side, the assassin refusing to move.
"Fine. If you're not going to tell us..." she said, moving cautiously to step around them, only for Mercury taking a step to cut her off, doing so once more when she tried to sidestep him.
"You'd better move," Link said, taking a step towards Mercury, Fenrir then stepping between the two.
"Fighters, are you ready?" Oobleck shouted over the speaker system, causing Mercury to smirk even more than before. Fenrir beside him stayed completely silent, unlike his talkative self when he was helping Torchwick.
On the battlefield just outside, Penny smiled widely as Pyrrha shook her head to clear her thoughts, scowling at Penny and readying her own weapons. All around the stadium, many leaned forward, hoping not to miss a single thing. After all, not only was Pyrrha the second highest seed in the tournament, but Beacon had something to prove at this point as a whole. Ironwood was also watching keenly, as he knew Penny well, and expected many things from her. Team CMZN also sat nearby, as most of Atlas' students were seated there, watching the fight and hoping for Penny to take the win. Levon in particular seemed excited, but he's weird, so whatever. Ren and Nora also sat at the ready, cheering for Pyrrha, though Nora clearly did so much more loudly, with Jaune sitting next to them and watching anxiously. Finally, Ruby seemed to have been right regarding Emerald's presence, and she herself sat, glaring at Pyrrha.
"3, 2, 1..." Oobleck said, counting down to begin the fight. "BEGIN!"
Penny wasted no time in deploying her swords, circling them around her a few times before launching them at Pyrrha, who dodged through the volley and blocked those she couldn't dodge, the ones that missed coming back around to Penny's side.
"Showtime," Mercury said, hearing the fight beginning outside, stepping towards Ruby, though Link stepped between the two of them.
"Run for it, I'll cover you," he said, glaring at Mercury and Fenrir, but mostly Fenrir. "After all, he have unfinished business."
Ruby looked to him in worry for a moment before he turned back to her and flashed her a quick smile.
"Don't worry, even I'm not reckless enough to fight without weapons. Once you're home free, I'm out of here too," he said, Ruby nodding and facing back towards their potential assailants. Taking a deep breath, she shot forward as fast as she could, even activating her Semblance to do so, with Link leaping forward in order to keep the two of the occupied. He was able to do so with Mercury, punching him in the face, though Fenrir was able to duck the kick that came from him and caught Ruby by the face, tossing her back into the same place she and Link were stuck in before pushing Link back as well.
Realizing that might not work, Ruby tried to get her scroll out to call, well, anyone for help, though a gunshot from Mercury's boot punched a hole in it that rendered it useless. Link quickly realized the same thing and tried to do the same, but quickly found his own scroll cut clean in half. Gritting his teeth, he turned back towards Fenrir, seeing his slowly sheathing his sword, his aura having been blue for a moment.
"Let's just keep this between us friends," Mercury said, rubbing the spot he'd been punched.
Back outside, Pyrrha was working her way through the wave of swords, smashing one more away and releasing her own weapon. Dodging through, she recalled it to herself with her Semblance, Penny quickly bringing her swords back and throwing them at Pyrrha once more.
"My word! What a tremendous display by Miss Polendina!" Port shouted, watching as Pyrrha rushed forward and bounding off of one of Penny's blades. Sword held high, she tried to bring it down onto Penny only to be blocked, and was subsequently attacked by a multitude of blades. Try as she might to defend, Pyrrha was knocked back, batting a few more blades away from herself as she flew back, Penny being knocked back as well. Penny responded first and threw more of her swords at Pyrrha, who was forced to recall her shield to her hand to defend.
"Whoo, yeah! Goooo Pyrrha!" Nora cheered, though it was clear Pyrrha wasn't doing well regardless. Looking down at her weapons, she inadvertently used her Semblance to bend and warp them out of shape before immediately putting them back into their proper form. All the while, Emerald kept a close eye on Pyrrha, waiting for... something.
Link and Ruby's situation was equally difficult, Link trying time and time again to brute force his way through the duo of Mercury and Fenrir and failing each time, Ruby trying to slip through whenever Link tried to give her an opening only to be caught by one of the two. Getting an idea, Link quickly grabbed Ruby and charged forward with her, leaping through the kick and blade swing that came from each assailant while also throwing Ruby forward, finally giving her the boost she needed the get through. Bouncing off the wall, she made a mad dash for the exit, turning to see Link catch a kick from Mercury before throwing him into into Fenrir. Fenrir simply caught Mercury and dropped him, chasing after Link as he too tried to run, Ruby turning and running upon realizing that they'd both made it.
In the arena proper, Pyrrha did a quick maneuver in order to block all of the swords that came her way, working her way towards Penny in order to land a few hits, knocking her back. She even made sure to deflect the swords that went with her. Penny wasn't done yet, and stopped her momentum, readying her blades and folding them back to form rifles, firing away at Pyrrha as she closed in on Penny, dodging through the laser bursts and stray swords before hitting Penny with everything she had, knocking her back once more. Standing up straight, Pyrrha allowed herself to smile for a moment, only to see Penny rocketing back through the use of her blades' continuous laser fire. Shooting into the air, she came crashing back down onto Pyrrha and smashed her back, skidding to a stop. Looking up, a sword quickly knocked her shield from her hand, another one coming by and knocking her sword from her as well. Trying to call it back with her Semblance, she was denied by Penny once more, being forced to defend herself from another sword , launching it back towards Penny. Penny easily moved it off to the side and behind herself, smiling since she knew she had Pyrrha cornered. Raising her full arsenal behind her.
Emerald found her chance.
Using her Semblance and giving Pyrrha a hallucination, Pyrrha was taken aback when the swords behind Penny started to multiply, numbering in the dozens before easily clearing the hundreds, perhaps even the thousands. And though in reality these swords remained in the same number as she'd been dealing with the entire time, Pyrrha had no idea, and was forced to deal with what she knew as an ocean of steel. Crossing her arms as they were launched forward, she swung them both out and mustered the strongest magnetic pulse she could to defend against this assault, launching the few real swords back with unreal force, the wires on each one catching onto Penny and pulling tightly, she herself unable to do anything about it due to being effected by the magnetic wave as well.
Pyrrha was horrified upon seeing that there were only a few swords like in the beginning, the ones she'd blocked straining as they pulled at Penny who could do nothing but stand there as they finally broke through, tearing the poor girl apart and dropping her lifeless components to the floor. Sparks flew as they landed, subsiding as her eyes went lifeless, whatever light they had behind them dying out with her. A single piece of turn fabric floated to the ground, only to be pinned to the ground by one of Penny's blades.
And all the while, Pyrrha could do nothing but stand there in mortified shock. After all, shed just done that to that poor, defenseless girl.
"No!" Port shouted, looking down at the horror scene playing before him. After all, people across Remnant had just witnessed what amounted to an execution on live TV. One watcher in Atlas seemed particularly distraught at this, and clenched his chair in rage, trembling at the sight before him. Naturally, this garnered quite the reaction, and and overwhelmingly negative one at that.
This was a reaction big enough to attract the Grimm.
Ruby finally broke out of the maintenance hall, only to collapse to her knees in defeat upon seeing Penny ripped to pieces, meaning that she was too late.
"Penny..." she croaked, tears freely falling from her eyes. Link burst out moments later, Mercury and Fenrir close behind him, though they stopped and turned back inside upon seeing Penny's lifeless remains, Mercury smiling in particular as he went back into the maintenance tunnel. Link quickly went to comfort Ruby, as though he still wasn't sure what was going on, he at the very least knew that the one he loved seemed to be in pain.
"Broadcast, what are you doing?" Oobleck shouted into his earpiece. "Kill the feed!"
"Something's wrong! We don't have control of the cameras! We can't even stop the broadcast!"
"What?! How is that possible?!" he shouted back.
In just a moment his question was answered for him, every screen they had showing static for a moment before settling on a blood red screen with a black queen chess piece emblazoned upon it, a voice ringing out from it that we knew all too well by this point.
"This is not a tragedy," Cinder said, her voice reaching all of Remnant. "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both."
Ironwood was fully aware of what she was talking about and got up to leave, walking up the stairs angrily. The Atlas students behind him all sat there in shock, as one of their classmates had just been torn apart before them, and on top of that was a machine the whole time. Levon in particular seemed irrationally upset, more than one would think, even given the circumstances.
"They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."
Pyrrha, still shocked by what she'd done, continued to stand there in shock and horror, raising a hand to cover her mouth as she tried to keep herself from crying. People all over were watching the broadcast in fear, such as Weiss and Blake watching from a stall in the fairgrounds, a crowd gathering around and watching in shock.
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."
Yang herself watched the broadcast from her room on her scroll, eyes wide in confusion as she watched it all unfold, Zwei walking up and yapping and whining, seemingly worried for her.
"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."
Ozpin too watched the broadcast intently, refusing to turn away from the screen. Though he'd never heard these words before, he knew they would come, and he knew what they would mean.
"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark."
Up in the rafter, Oni couldn't help but smirk. Why, whoever had planned this all out had quite the thing for theatrics, that was for sure. Honestly, this gave him an idea as well as he watched the Grimm surrounding the arena, drawn to the fear brewing within.
"So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"
And so down he came.
Landing in the center of the arena, Oni stood to his full height, those still present looking at the titan being as he rolled his shoulders, took a few steps forward, and seized one of the floating cameras from the air, holding it up to his face, projecting it onto the arena screens and across all of Remnant.
"Hello, people of Remnant," he began, looking around and seeing the horrified faces of those who stayed to see him arrive. "My name is Oni Strife. Many of you know me, but you do not know why. This is irrelevant. What matters is that I have decided to act. Though this..." he said, turning to look at Penny's mangled remains, "was not my doing, do not be fooled; I am no one's ally. And though this message is for a select few, you stand to benefit from hearing it as well. You know what I am looking for. And I will take it, no matter what. Thus, you are left with two options: You may either stay out of my way, or stand against me and die. The choice is yours whether you decide to save yourselves or not. From today onward, none of you are safe."
Link couldn't help but stand there in shock. This wasn't the plan. None of this was how it was supposed to happen. It just didn't make sense. Leaping over the edge, he ran to his uncle, a look of rage in his eyes.
"Uncle!" he shouted, garnering Oni's attention. "What are you doing?! This wasn't what you said would happen! You told me you only wanted one thing and you would be on your way!"
"Ah, nephew," he said, turning to Link with a look of distaste upon his face. "Of course it is. Just because you were too shortsighted to see that this was what everything was leading to doesn't mean it isn't true."
"You've lied to me!" Link shouted in return, angry beyond words. "You sent me here for information, not to hurt these people!"
"Now boy, what have I told you regarding your mission details?" Oni said, Link only then seeing through his blind rage and noticing the camera in his hands, broadcasting to all of Remnant. "You are to keep them a secret. But, it seems I couldn't even trust you with that."
"Oh no," Link muttered in a quiet, horrified voice. He'd just told all of Remnant, the whole world, that he was here as a mole for Oni Strife. But above all else, more important than anything else he'd done, he'd told Ruby, looking fearfully towards Ruby, seeing her look at him with scared eyes. Those same eyes he'd always feared she'd look at him with.
"Oh dear, it seems you've told all of Remnant that you work for me," Oni said, crushing the camera in his hands and smirking at his nephew. "Oops."
Turning back to his uncle, he ran forward and tried to punch him, only for his fist to be caught before being thrown out of the center of the arena smashing into a section of empty seats and nearly knocking him out, Oni laughing quietly for a moment.
"We will discuss your failures once I finish with this Kingdom," Oni said, looking to see the horrified Pyrrha Nikos staring at him in horror through tears. "Do you fear me, child?"
Pyrrha's lack of an answer, merely falling back and stumbling over herself as she watched the man in front of her, was more than enough for him. Laughing, he walked over to her, leaning down and looking at her.
"Good," he said with an ominous smile. "Remind me, what is your name?"
Pyrrha didn't answer at first, something that Oni did not like.
"Tell me your name, now," he commanded, Pyrrha swallowing in fear and looking him in the eye, seeing that both were different colors.
"P-Pyr-" she said, Oni standing up straight and turning away, nodding to himself.
"Yes, Pyrrha Nikos, I remember," he said, walking away from her. "You have nothing to fear from me for now, so long as you heed my warning."
Pyrrha nodded fervently, tears still streaming down her face. She wasn't sure why, but despite what she'd done, her fear for this... whoever he was, whatever he was, completely overrode her grief for what she'd done.
"Good. You're smart. I like people like you. Strong, yet understanding of your own limitations," he said walking to head out of the stadium. "Remember that, and you will thrive."
"You have your orders. Go."
"Shut up, I know."
Before Oni could leave, Fenrir burst forth from a maintenance door, leaping towards Oni and bringing his sword down onto him. Oni smiled as the blade came down, quickly pulling the blue blade he carried out and blocking the blow that came, the ground below them trembling and the rest of the stadium shaking, causing more people to scream in fear. Oni looked at the eyes beneath the mask and smiled, once more a very sinister smirk.
"Hello, Fenrir. It's been a long time."
OOO
"So, that boy was Strife-born the whole time?"
Back in D's warehouse, he had been intently watching the Vytal Festival broadcast, as he knew what was to take place, though he didn't care. He had other plans anyway, but the added chaos would prove... useful, to say the least.
"I'm headed to Beacon," he said, rising from his chair and grabbing... something. It was hard to tell, but it sounded huge and metallic. "Send word to Black Heart, he may equip himself as he sees fit and do as he pleases. However, he is to avoid Fenrir and Strife. His skills were not made with their battle in mind."
"Yes, sir," one of the scientists said, quickly sending their creation a message through the computer.
It's about fucking time, read his message, the scientist turning to the darkness D was in and offering a thumbs up.
"Very good," D said, turning to make his way out of the warehouse. "That boy has something that belongs to me that is beyond him. I am going to take it and make things right."
OOO
Shortly after Oni had finished his announcement to Remnant, the screens all went to static, Oobleck and Port fumbling over themselves in the booth to try and figure out what was wrong, Oobleck slamming the desk and turning to Port.
"The feeds are all jammed! We can't get a message out!"
"Will somebody tell me what in the world is happening?!" Port shouted, hoping someone in the tech division could do, well, anything other than sit there and watch the two fighting on the ground below.
As if the two Huntsmen fighting wasn't enough, their continued combat caused fear to spread even more through the crowd, and as well all knew, fear attracted the Grimm. And attracted they were, the alarms going off and all of the screens in the arena reading 'CAUTION' in bright letters on a flashing orange background.
"Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner," said the automated alert voice.
With the two fighting, the additional threat of a Grimm attack proved to be too much, those present refused to heed the alert's warning and ran around in a panic, Ironwood entering the broadcast booth and grabbing the mic.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please," he pleaded, "try to remain calm."
And as if it were on queue, a huge Nevermore came down onto the arena's shielding, screeching at those within before repeatedly pecking at it. While most civilians were screaming in terror at the new arrival, most students stood up and rose to the challenge.
"A Nevermore?!" Sun shouted, looking at the massive avian beast as is pecked the barrier.
"How did it get past the Kingdom's defenses?!" Coco shouted, looking at it incredulously with her sunglasses lowered.
"It wasn't alone," Ren said calmly, glaring at the beast alongside Coco and Sun, the sounds of screams, cawing, and the clashing of blades filling the stadium.
OOO
He wasn't prepared for any of this.
Watching the broadcast of his Kingdom coming under attack from a gargantuan horde of Grimm, Ozpin gripped his cane tightly, a look of shock on his face. Too many things happened too fast for him to plan around them. First, there was the matter of Oni's informant. Yes, he learned where Oni's compound was from him, as well as his desire for what was in the vault, but when and how was unknown to him, and as such all he could do was try to keep it hidden. Next, was the case of the infiltrator who put all of this into motion. Who they were, he had no idea, but he knew they had a fragment of the Fall Maiden's power, and that was possibly the worst part of all of this. Then was the case of Oni himself... he was the biggest issue at the present time. Ozpin knew that Oni was speaking to him directly. And sadly, he knew all too well what he wanted.
He was pulled fro his thoughts when Qrow and Glynda rushed into his office.
"Oz!" Qrow shouted, Ozpin pointing at them before they could say anything else.
"Get to the city!" he shouted, Qrow looking at him as though he were pleading.
"But-" he said, though Ozpin shut him up very quickly.
"NOW!" Ozpin shouted, giving Qrow and Glynda no other option than to look at each other for a moment and rush back the way they came. It's a good thing too, as the multitude of Grimm from Mountain Glenn were currently charging in. Ozpin was gravely aware of this as well, and as such called Ironwood on his scroll.
"Ozpin, the girl... I-I can explain!" he stammered, though that wasn't what Ozpin was calling for.
"You brought your army to my Kingdom, James," he said, taking a deep breath. "Use it."
Ironwood's worry faded to determination, quickly giving the signal for his troops to do their jobs.
Among these troops was a small fleet of Atlesian airships, currently being assaulted by a group of Nevermores, though this only did so much damage considering how heavily armored they were. Receiving Ironwood's signal, soldiers began scrambling around in order to begin, the head commander slamming the table before him.
"Dammit!" he shouted, looking at the screen before him listing hostiles. "This is Blue Four! Blues Two and Three, fall into defensive position!"
"Roger! Blue Three, in position!" called one airship over the scroll.
"Blue Two, what's your status?" the captain shouted, only to receive nothing but silence from their end. "Blue Two, come in! Someone answer me, dammit!"
Unknown to him, the bridge of the ship in question had been devastated by a diminutive fighter being none other than Neopolitan, having infiltrated as an Atlesian soldier before taking down everyone within. Everyone but one, that is.
Heading to the cell block, she carried with her a familiar hat and cane. Opening one of the cell doors, she was greeted by out favorite crime lord leaning out and smiling at her.
"Well... it's about time..." roman said, graciously accepting his hat and cane before making his way up to the bridge. Naturally, he did the most sensible thing and opened fire on the other airships in formation with him.
"We're hit! What's going-" and before he could even finish, his own ship crashed into the other ship next to him, blowing them both sky high before sending the smoldering ship parts into the waters below.
"Woo-hoohahahaha!" Roman laughed, having the time of his life. "Oohh, it is good to be back!"
And finally, to add insult to injury, multiple bullheads arrived at Beacon's landing platform, from inside spilling both White Fang members and Grimm. Among those White Fang soldiers was Adam Taurus himself smiling evilly at the havoc he was about to bring to Beacon.
"Bring them to their knees!" he shouted, the soldiers and Grimm all charging forth and preparing to lay waste to Beacon Academy.
The Battle of Beacon had begun.
Oh boy, now it's getting fun. Cinder is finally making her move, Oni is doing stuff, and even D is on his way! Pretty rough for Penny though. Oh, I was just torn apart writing her death!
No, I will not stop. Deal with it.
But anyway, next chapter we keep going with all of the fighting and whatnot. Because, you know, what else would we be talking about? Baking? Hell nah.
OniHelix out!
