I am speed
Chapter 35
Spiraling out of Control
While Amity itself may have been in the process of being overrun by Grimm, the fairgrounds near Beacon were well on their way to being flooded with them. Many had already fled, but those brave few who decided to fight back were currently hunkered down in order to collect themselves. Among those few were Weiss and Blake, watching as the few Atlesian Knights that were in the area fired at the Grimm, doing little to actually thin their numbers.
"I don't believe this..." Weiss said, looking around in shock. It had all happened so fast.
Blake, however, was more worried about her partner, quickly calling her on her scroll. "Yang, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Yang said, sprinting down the halls of the dorms in order to make her way out. "Is Ruby with you? She's not answering her Scroll."
"No, she isn't," Blake said, Yang stopping dead in her tracks and looking worried. "Yang, I'm sure she's fine. She's our leader. She can take care of herself."
"Right," Yang muttered, clenching her free hand into a fist. She was up on Amity with that... that traitor. He'd lied to all of them. How much of what he'd said was a lie? How much of what he'd done was fake? Shaking her head, she got moving again. Regardless of what he had and hadn't done, she needed to make sure her sister was safe.
"This can't be happening," whispered Weiss, eyes widening as she thought back to the broadcast. "Penny..."
"I'm headed to the docks near the courtyard. The White Fang are releasing Grimm into the school!" Yang shouted, still sprinting through the halls.
"The White Fang is here?!" Blake shouted in surprise. She was even more surprised when she heard Grimm growling through Yang's end of the call. "Yang!"
"Ugh! Gotta go! Be careful!" Yang said, hanging up, leaving Blake alone for a moment with her thoughts.
"Blake, what are we going to do?" Weiss asked, turning to her feline friend.
"We're going to the docks, and we're doing our job," Blake said, her mind already made up. Weiss nodded as Blake used her scroll and called for her locker, pulling Gambol Shroud from within.
OOO
In the colosseum, people were still forced to contend with that fact that Oni and Fenrir were still fighting, and the Nevermore was still pecking away at the barrier, though it seemed to recoil each time it was hit.
"Warning: Safety Barriers Failing," said the security system, meaning the Nevermore was close to getting in.
Despite the many people that ran past her in a mad panic to try to get out, Ruby didn't move, still sitting there in dumbfounded shock. Was her entire relationship a lie? Why did Penny have to die? Who was this mysterious Oni, essentially declaring war on the world? Even as the shockwaves of each clash between Oni and Fenrir threatened to tear the stadium apart, she refused to move, silently drowning in her own emotions.
Up above, the Nevermore was far more active, however, and had risen from the barrier and began circling, looking to dive bomb the pesky shielding that kept it from slaughtering the inhabitants. Jaune took note of this, and though the two monster in the battleground had avoided Pyrrha as of yet, there was no guarantee they would for long.
"PYRRHA!" he shouted, hoping to get her attention. "Pyrrha, you've gotta move! Please!"
Looking up, Jaune saw the barrier flicker for a moment, making up his mind and throwing caution to the wind as he leaped over the partitions and made a mad dash to Pyrrha, completely ignoring both the combating Huntsmen and the circling Nevermore.
"Jaune!" Nora shouted, trying to get him to come back. At the moment, having one teammate in danger was at least preferable to two.
"Pyrrha, please snap out of it!" he pleaded, sprinting toward Pyrrha, but he was too late. Before he could reach her, the Nevermore dove into and through the barrier, hitting the ground and blowing away he, Pyrrha, and the pieces of Penny, though Oni and Fenrir stood resolutely in place, Oni blocking another swing and glaring at the monster.
"You dare interrupt me?" he said, pushing Fenrir back and backhanding the approaching Nevermore away. "Though I suppose you aren't entirely to blame. This area is bound to be swarming with Grimm at any moment. So many distractions... Then it would stand to reason that you and I should move our battle elsewhere!"
Before Fenrir could respond, Oni charged forward and seized him by the throat before sprinting out of the stadium and leaping off the edge, dragging the assassin along with the entire time. Recovering from its prior punishment, the Nevermore shook itself and looked at Pyrrha before taking a few steps towards her and screeching, only to be knocked back by a blur. That blur ended up being Ruby, having finally calmed her mind, at least as much as she could, and decided that one of her friends died today, and that was one too many.
"Ruby?" Pyrrha said, looking at Ruby before her.
"Leave her alone!" Ruby shouted, brandishing one of Penny's swords.
Link, still not doing too hot after being tossed aside like that by his uncle, finally managed to pull himself out of the rubble, looking down to see Ruby standing off against a titanic Nevermore. And though she was armed, it wasn't with her standard weaponry, meaning she was at a heavy disadvantage.
"Ngh..." he mumbled, trying to collect himself as he rose from the rubble. "Ruby..."
Blinking a few times, he finally fully grasped that Ruby was staring down a Nevermore, one she wouldn't be able to take down herself. Quickly sprinting back to the battlefield, he used his Semblance to quickly grab one of Penny's blades, but stopped when he looked up, seeing many lockers falling from the sky, each one pinning the Nevermore to the ground and opening to reveal the weapons of many students, each one taking them and readying them. The Nevermore quickly recovered and stood, screeching at the students who had momentarily incapacitated it. Ren was the first to move, using StormFlower in the hopes of slashing out its eyes, Arslan using the distraction to grab Yatsuhashi and throw him skyward. Sage followed suit and took to the air as well, Nora coming up and smashing the Nevermore in the head before Yatsuhashi and Sage brought their colossal blades down, separating the Nevermore's head from its body, dissolving mere moments later and revealing the momentarily shocked Link.
"Ruby, I..." Pyrrha said, drawing Ruby's attention away from Link. "I'm so sorry," she said, crying as she held one of the shredded pieces of Penny's clothing.
"Me too," Ruby said, suddenly looking angry and glancing behind her at Link. "But it wasn't your fault."
"She's right," Jaune said, taking Ruby's attention away from Link as he stepped towards Pyrrha, having reclaimed her weapons for her. "Whoever was on that microphone, that big guy with the white hair... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else."
Pyrrha nodded and stood, composing herself as she took her weapons back from Jaune.
"What about him?" Coco said, turning to Link. "Big man said he worked for him. Classmate or no, he seems at least partially responsible."
"I..." Link said, having nothing to shoot back with. Truth be told, she was right. Even if Penny's death in particular wasn't on his hands, anything Oni or his men did from this point on was.
"We can handle him," said another voice.
Link turned around to see the now-armed Team CMZN slowly circle him with their weapons raised.
"No wonder he could beat me in a 1v1," Oni said, glaring at Link. "Bastard was a mole, not a student."
"Remain cautious regardless," Takeshi said, looking over Link. "Weapons or no, his Semblance is very dangerous."
"Team CMZN, stand down."
Everyone present stopped and looked to the commentator's booth, seeing Ironwood there on the mic.
"But sir, this-!" Oni shouted, Ironwood's voice ringing out once more, louder and angrier this time.
"Stand down, that is an order!"
Oni winced, but begrudgingly nodded, backing away from Link. He didn't understand it though. This is what they were training for, what's stopping them from doing their jobs?
"I'll handle it personally," Ironwood said, seemingly knowing what CMZN was thinking.
Drawing their attention from Link, everyone looked up to see even more flying Grimm circling, many of them landing and looking maliciously at the students present.
"Griffons," Ren said, naming these new arrivals.
"Anybody got a plan of attack?" Neptune asked, Ruby glaring at Link for a moment before turning to Sun.
"Sun! I need your Scroll!" she shouted, Sun obliging immediately and tossing her his scroll, using it to call her locker to the stadium. She deliberately used it to get Link out of her sight though. Before she could grab her scythe, however, a Griffon landed on the locker and screeched at her before being blown away by a gunshot. Everyone present turned to see Port and Oobleck walking onto the scene, weapons in hand.
"Students!" Port bellowed, looking around at those present. "I think it would be best for you to leave."
"But we did a-" Ruby said, only for Oobleck to cut her off.
"Miss Rose! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it," he said, smiling at Ruby, who nodded to him before grabbing her scythe, readying it and turning to the other students.
"Let's go!" she said, all of the students making their way out of the stadium, Port and Oobleck looking at all of the Grimm and laughing.
"One final match, Barty! Place your bets!" Port laughed.
"I..." Link said, still standing there in defeat. "I can't apologize enough. I... I had no idea. I never wanted any of this, I swear."
"We're fully aware, Mr. Valion," Ironwood said, approaching behind Link. "But here we are anyway. You have a choice to make; you can either help us, or help them. I just hope you'll make the right choice."
"You," Link said, turning to fully face the general. "I'll help you. I've betrayed you, and my uncle betrayed me. The least I can do is make sure he doesn't get anyone killed, or kill anyone himself."
"You've chosen well," Ironwood said, handing Link his scroll.
"What're you...?" he asked, taking the scroll from him.
"I'm letting you atone," Ironwood said. "Call your weapons. Save everyone you can. And do it fast."
"Understood," Link said, doing just that and returning Ironwood's scroll to him. "I promise, you won't regret this."
"For your sake, and hers, I hope so," Ironwood said.
"Ruby..." Link muttered, stopping in his tracks. "I... I should have told her. Before she had to find out like this."
"It can't be helped, young lad," Port said, shaking his head. "Nothing that has happened today has been in anyone's favor. The best thing you can do is move on and do your best to right your wrongs."
"Thanks, Professor," Link said smiling weakly at Port.
"Now go, Mr. Valion. You have business elsewhere," Oobleck said, Link nodding at him.
"You too, Doctor, thank you," he said, running out of the stadium.
"Well I'm glad someone remembered," Oobleck said sarcastically.
OOO
Outside, the students gathered and watched as more civilians tried to pile into ships to flee the doomed arena, Atlas soldiers doing their best to streamline the process, many students breaking down in fear as well. They couldn't be blamed, either, as people were dying all around, Grimm, White Fang, and other criminals killing people left and right. Ironwood then exited the arena, a pair of Atlesian Knights clearing the path and gunning down any Grimm that got too close, aside from a larger Beowolf that tore them both apart, Ironwood glaring at it in rage. Sprinting towards the Beowolf, it roared at him and began running towards him, Ironwood pulling his revolver and firing at it twice after ducking a swipe from the beast, sliding away and using his free hand to slow himself. The Beowolf charged once more charging through the additional three shots that blew through it as it approached Ironwood, forcing his to duck another swing. It swiped once more, though Ironwood used his right arm to block it and held it off with relative ease, firing at the ground beneath its feet. The resulting explosion threw the Beowolf up and over Ironwood, who grabbed the beast's hand and slammed it back into the ground before picking it back up and fired one more round through its skull, killing it instantly. The students, admittedly a little impressed, gathered around the general, hoping for at least some direction.
"What's going on?!" Ruby shouted, Ironwood ensuring his gun was loaded once more.
"Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang's invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse, some... vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So I'm..." he said, pausing for a moment to shoot another approaching Grimm, hitting it in the head and taking it out immediately. "...going to take it back."
"What should we do?" Jaune asked, stopping Ironwood once more.
"You have two choices. Defend your Kingdom and your school... or save yourselves," he said, watching as the students looked amongst themselves before loading onto the drop ship before him. "No one will fault you if you leave. Let's move out!"
He quickly left, the students looking around for a moment before Sun spoke up.
"I mean... come on!" he said, hoping to put some pep in their step.
"We can take a ship to Beacon!" Jaune said, turning around when he heard running. The others did as well, turning to see Link sprinting by, running right towards the edge.
"Brace yourselves!" Coco shouted, only for Link to run right past them and jump off.
"What's that traitor planning now?" one of the soldiers nearby wondered aloud, Ruby stepping forward and looking to the ground below.
"Who cares," she said, turning away from the edge. "We've got better things to worry about."
OOO
Among these better things was Roman still hitting every button he could in his stolen airship, laughing maniacally the entire time. He'd been cooped up in that cell for a while, watching these idiots use all the fancy toys without him. Now he wanted a turn!
"Hmm... let's see, what does... this button do?" he said, hitting yet another button, causing a short siren to play somewhere in the ship. "Oh, fun! How about ... this one?" With another button pressed, the ship dumped its payload of Atlesian Knights into the ground below, though Roman didn't see it and thought the button was malfunctioning. "Hm. Alright, nothing."
Neo, still dressed up like a tiny soldier, came forward and offered Roman a black scroll with the well-known black queen emblem. Roman, gleefully as ever, took it from her and inserted it into the ship's control console, locking it in place.
"Oh-ho-ho! Now this one, this one's gonna be fun!" he said, taking a step back as all of the blue screens went crimson, the same piece being displayed on them. This had the averse side effect of turning every single Atlesian weapon currently deployed hostile, whatever scroll he'd used corrupting their code and only making them fire at people, completely ignoring the Grimm swarming them.
Qrow and Glynda learned this firsthand, watching in shock as a pair of Knights' visors went red before turning towards them and opening fire.
"What?!" Glynda shouted, defending herself from the gunfire.
Many students who stayed learned this as well, Weiss and Blake being caught off guard when the Knights in their area went rogue, with only Blake being able to react in time.
"Look out!" she shouted, pushing Weiss out of the way. Sadly, that didn't buy them much time, as the Knights in the area then surrounded them with weapons raised, forcing them to ready their weapons.
Ironwood learned this too, but was unaware of it when it was too late. His transport vessel, still loaded with Knights, was defenseless as they activated, turning on their general and opening fire.
"No!" Ironwood shouted, throwing his hands up to defend himself. Sadly, his ship couldn't take the punishment, dropping out of the sky after the gunshots began. The students, still in their own transport to the academy, could do nothing but watch as this occurred. Ruby, however, was tired of not being able to do anything, and went to the back of the bus and opened the door.
"Ruby! What are you doing?!" Sun shouted, only for Ruby to jump off and get back to the arena as the ship flew away. Heading back inside, she found it to be effectively empty aside from rubble and dirty, as well as one locker that was still in tact. Looking more closely, she saw it was...
"Link's," she nearly spat. She'd had enough of that liar for one lifetime. And now he was armed on campus, probably helping his uncle.
Shaking her head, she punched in a code and used Crescent Rose to hold on as it took off, launching herself to the stolen airship.
"Ugh..." Roman said, both hearing and feeling the thump throughout the ship. "Go see what that is."
Neo, quiet as ever, simply nodded and left to do just that.
OOO
Weiss and Blake were currently holding their own against the Knights that assailed them, Blake cutting some apart the old fashioned way while Weiss used her glyphs and some added dust to take a few more out. Though the knights were thinning out, the White Fang that quickly joined them weren't Blake being forced to deal with things she couldn't just tear apart. Weiss took care of them for her though, using a glyph to knock them all back. Going back to back, the two looked at the multitude of foes all around them before hearing heavy mechanical footsteps, turning to see a Paladin 290 fighting with some Atlesian soldiers, easy smacking them away as it shrugged off their gunfire.
"Come on!" Weiss said, blowing away those surrounding them before trying to make their way towards the Paladin. However, a bullhead came crashing down from above them, a large Beowolf leaping out before impact. Looking back down, they saw more soldiers approaching to try and deal with the Paladin, as well as the Beowolf chasing more civilians nearby. Understanding what had to be done, the two looked at each other and nodded.
"Be safe," Weiss said, the two splitting up. Weiss went to go help the soldiers while Blake went to deal with the Beowolf, tracking it down to the cafeteria. Looking around, she was startled to see it on the building above her, only to look inside when she heard a scream of pain. Squinting through the fog, she was surprised and appalled to see someone fighting a few helpless Atlas soldiers.
"No..." she muttered knowing this man all too well. "Adam?"
"Hello, my darling," he said, grinning sadistically at Blake.
OOO
This was all wrong.
All of it, from Penny's death to his uncle's declaration of war, none of this was what he wanted. But that didn't matter anymore; what mattered was that he needed to fix it.
Sprinting through the fairgrounds, he saw several soldiers in a fire fight with a few androids, and they seemed to be losing. Figuring this was as good a place to start as any, he charged forward with his shield raised and cut the androids apart, turning to see the soldiers looking at him incredulously.
"You okay?" he asked, one of the soldiers nodding.
"Yeah but... aren't you with them?" he asked, Link sighing and shaking his head.
"No," he said, turning to walk away. "I wasn't here to cause any harm. None of this was by my hand. And I'll be damned if I go down without a fight."
With that, he ran off once more, leaving the soldiers to consider his words. He did this many times over, stopping only to defend those who needed it and killing any and all Grimm that got in his way, dismantling any hostile androids he saw, and incapacitating any White Fang soldier he saw, hoping to save as many lives as possible.
Among those he'd saved were the members of Team CFVY, as they were trying in vain to deal with a special kind of Titan called an Umbral Titan, being far older and its armor turning pitch black. Try as they might, it ignored everything they did to it from Coco pumping as many rounds into is as possible to Yatsuhashi taking swing after monstrous swing at it, only for them to be pushed back.
"Damn!" Coco shouted, as this wasn't going well. Luckily for her, Link didn't take her accusations personally and came up behind it and cut straight through its torso, splitting it in two and killing it, rising and looking at CFVY before him.
"Wanted to do it yourself, huh?" Coco said, raising her minigun.
"Shut up," he groaned, Coco cocking her head to the side. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but I'm saving as many people as I can. I owe it to everyone that I've let down."
"You're right, I don't really believe you," Coco said, putting her finger back on the trigger.
"Like I said, I don't care. You're safe now, so I'm mov- GET DOWN!"
Coco had no idea what was going on, but was tackled to the ground by Link. She didn't understand at first, but her face went white upon seeing where she was standing moments before was where Fenrir and Oni had taken their fight to next, and Link had just made sure they didn't turn her into a stain on the ground.
"So much for here being safe..." he said, looking around to make sure there were no more Grimm in the area. "Get away from here, if you get too close then I have doubts either one will hesitate to kill you."
Coco, believing Link this time, nodded wordless and stood to run, the rest of CFVY following after as they ran to Beacon's courtyard.
"Now, to deal with Uncle..." Link said, turning towards the sound of their fighting. He knew he was prepping himself for an impossible task, but someone had to do it, and quite frankly, he doubted even Fenrir was up to the task. Oni was known by those who knew him as the strongest Huntsman alive, and those who knew him knew what they were talking about. However, before he could focus on his uncle, he turned towards a sound from somewhere else on campus, something like someone screaming in fear. Gritting his teeth, he figured that even if Fenrir couldn't beat him, he would at least keep him busy long enough for him to keep moving. He hoped he could at least, as the moment he went down, lots more people were going to die, and the least he could do was try to stop it.
OOO
"Beautiful," Cinder said, standing on a building on campus with Mercury and Emerald, Mercury continuing the broadcast by recording with his own scroll.
"It's almost sad," Emerald said, sounding a little regretful.
"It's horrendous," Cinder clarified, still smirking. "Focus on the Atlesian Knights."
"Oh, I'm getting all of it," Mercury said, smirking alongside Cinder. "I guess we're lucky Strife showed up before we cut the amity broadcast, huh?"
"It was to be expected," Cinder said, watching the school burn down. "Though powerful, he's predictable. But his power won't be an issue for long. Once we're done, he should be nothing to us."
"Then we'd better hope Noctus can hold him off long enough for you to get what you need," Emerald said, looking to Cinder.
"He'll be dealt with alongside Strife," Cinder said, smirking. "Whether or not he dies fighting him is irrelevant. But leaving him unattended could prove troublesome. Mercury, focus more on the Paladins now."
"Got it," Mercury said, turning his scroll to the newest addition to Atlas' army. After all, these were the best models they had, and they were currently being employed against Vale's civilians.
"Good," she said, content with his willingness to obey. "Continue the broadcast until the end."
Suddenly, a massive tremor resounded throughout the area, Cinder smiling even wider than before.
"And do not miss what happens next."
Content, she walked off, Mercury continuing to film all of the death and destruction raging through Beacon at the moment, but Emerald seemed a bit more hesitant. What was that sound?
Ozpin was left to wonder the same thing as well, the tremor interrupting him as he prepared to make his way to the ground to assist. Qrow and Glynda felt it too, Qrow being forced to stab Harbinger into the ground to keep himself upright.
"No..." Glynda muttered, looking towards Mountain Glenn. Something was happening there...
That something happened to be a gigantic wyvern breaking free of the stone, roaring as it took to the sky, flying towards Beacon. All the while, bits of its body dripped off, each drop spawning more and more Grimm.
For Ozpin, this was an unforeseen inconvenience, watching as it landed near the tower. Down below, many students prepared to fight the multitude of Grimm that spawned from it, among them Jaune and Pyrrha, the two looking to each other for a moment before raising their shields. She was distracted, however, when she turned towards the tower, seeing Ozpin standing there, looking at her. Knowing what he needed, she wordlessly left her team and approached him, confusing those who stood with her.
"Where's she going?" Nora asked, seeing Pyrrha leaving out of the corner of her eye.
"I'll go find out. You two stay here and keep fighting," Jaune said, turning to follow his teammate.
Unfortunately for all of them, atop a nearby building stood Cinder, her weapons drawn and her eyes glowing menacingly as she smirked, as they were leading her right to what she wanted, and they had no idea.
Oh, it was all too easy.
OOO
"They've certainly causing quite the ruckus..."
Approaching from downtown Vale was none other than D himself, finally having left the warehouse and stepping into the light, finally letting his form be seen. He was an incredibly tall, thickly built man of dark complexion with thick red hair styled back that reached his shoulders. His clothing was rather simple, being a simple tight black shirt with red borders and some odd archaic design over the entire thing. On his right after was an impressive golden gauntlet of similar bulk to his own large frame, but on his left was a long black glove that went most of the way up his arm, and was seemingly held in place by thick, golden chains. His pants were simply, baggy and black, being tucked into a pair of heavy golden grieves with similar designs to his right gauntlet, and strapped around his waist was a red cloak-like garment with a sort of symbol on it. But his most striking features were on his face. On his forehead was some kind of blackish steel crown with a large topaz gem upon it, centered above his large, sharp nose. But his eyes... Those sharp, sinister eyes that seemed to glow menacingly in the dark and drew all attention to them. (1)
"Their plan did call for a distraction though, so it was at least expected," he groaned, grabbing the massive blade at his waste, a large golden sword with a peculiar handle wrap and a brutal pendulum-esque tip. (2) "It will make finding that brat more difficult though. But, if he holds to his beliefs, he will likely be trying to subdue his uncle. Oh, what am I thinking, of course he will. They all stand by their beliefs, even till the bitter end."
D continued walking, getting closer and closer to Beacon, the occasional rogue Grimm proving to be too close, though he paid them no mind, even as they but and clawed at him, each one eventually realizing they couldn't hurt hm before whimpering and running off.
"Regardless, today will go down in this pathetic rock's history, as today it will finally learn to bow."
Chapter over bleh
Oh hey, look, we have a couple points again! It sure has been a while, huh? Let's quick go over those.
(1) A specific concept art for a specific villain from a specific game. You probably know the one, but I don't wanna spoil it. Hehe.
(2) A specific sword from a specific fighting game that character appears in. Or a party game, if that's your take.
I know it should be super obvious who he is with that description, but I'm not gonna spoil who he is yet for those of you who still don't know. It can't really hurt, can it?
OniHelix out!
