Main theme: Metro Exodus rap by Jt Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden
Arc Theme: Through The Valley by Shawn James (The Last Of Us 2 trailer edition)
Theme: Fallen Empire from the Destiny 2: Beyond Light soundtrack
To the masters, they are always the victors. And to the victors, the spoils.
Famous saying of slave fighters during the Rights Revolution
"Where does this go?"
"In storage bay."
Malcom sifted through the box of scraps in front of him on the screen, and then pulled out a broken aura dampener, "What about this?"
"Also in storage bay."
"And what about-"
"Also in storage bay. Everything in box go in storage bay of Pilgrim's Flight."
Malcom scowled through the screen, "Y'know, boss, when the big boss said that we'd be working for these people, I expected us to be, you know, killing more people than we actually are. Not sifting through damaged goods."
"Damaged goods good scrap. Good salvage. All salvage good salvage."
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"
"Hired to do job. Collect salvage. Easy job. Get paid when job complete, yes?"
Malcom looked to the side, "Well, yeah-"
"Then complete job. Get salvage and Nuckelavee on Pilgrim's Flight. No fuss."
Malcom looked up to him, and then frowned, "Fine," and with that, the transmission was cut off.
The Tinkerer hung up his portable computer, and got back to applying the finishing touches on the effigy before him. The silver and grey metal chamber around him glowed an oppressively bright white as the silver and red clothes of fabric patterned the peeled metal walls. Scraps and shards of technology lost to time littered the floor as he continued to weld together the monument to a dead person in front of him.
A motor servo here, an arm casing there, a screw and a stray optic right up there, and-
Something beeped on his computer.
Looking down at his portable computer, he found the problem. Something had attempted to access his jamming network without permission, and was currently creating a spoof key to access the Choir's systems.
If that spoof key was created, then it could easily access his homemade network, and bring the entire jamming network down, revealing everything that they had been doing in the Sleeping City to the mankin and beastkin humans of the kingdom nearby.
…
He deleted the notification and got back on with his work.
Nearby, a Grimm Disciple of the Choir of Silver looked to him and blinked its single eye, "What was that?"
Underneath his helmet, his eye narrowed in amusement.
"Oh... Nothing important."
Many years ago, the Gladiatorial Arena- The coliseum- of the Sleeping City served a very different purpose.
Years ago, it was the Grand Mausoleum of New Fortressa, and served as the centrepiece of the city, standing tall as the most regal and elegant structure in the funeral city, with pillars of pure gold and diamond holding the painted walls and ceilings up as the greatest artesians- Painters, scholars, actors, philosophers, and the like- Made those coloured walls their resting place alongside the richest and wealthiest corpses on Remnant.
The Grand Mausoleum was the resting place for the one percent of the one percent, the best and brightest of the world going there to peacefully die, their treasures and greatest mementos being stored away in grand tombs to die with them, their names and faces painted into the walls, and made immortal through their legacies.
Every single facet of human and Faunus life, and perhaps human and Faunus life itself, owed their existence to the people buried away in these walls.
But then, the Great War came to pass. New Fortressa was continuously ransacked by the forces of the war, and the Moving City made its final resting place, ironically, next to the once biggest graveyard on Remnant.
Almost everyone in the soon-to-be Sleeping City was killed, down to the men, women, and children. Their rotting bodies would litter the grounds around them and join those sleeping forever in the tombs around them, clogging up tunnels with their stench and rot, as colonies of scavengers of all kind, both animal and sapient, made the rotting city their home as they pillaged and raided every single tomb that they could find for riches and valuables, whilst what was left of the Sleeping City's population once known as Dreamer's Edge (A pseudo-kingdom that had made its home within the old Moving City) Turned into Grimm worshipping cults, before finally being driven extinct around a year ago.
During the Colour Revolution, the Sleeping City was continuously vandalised by young artists and adventurous explorers, leaving graffiti and smatterings of rough art all across the graveyards shattered walls and bunkers, and during the Rights Revolution, the corrupt leading families of Remnant had the entirety of the Sleeping City ransacked further for all of its valuables and treasures, and had the Grand Mausoleum hollowed out and turned into the coliseum of the modern day, so that they might have a place for their slaves to battle it out against each other, right until the end of the Revolution during the final uprisings, when what was left of the Mandarin collective known as the Revanchists gave their lives to free all of the slaves locked away in the Sleeping City, and allowing them to flee into the wilds of Solitas, where they all joined the Faunus house that lived out there called the House of the Winter Shore.
Now, the Grand Mausoleum- Now the coliseum of the Sleeping City- Was a dilapidated wreck, just like the rest of the city. Its walls were crumbling and collapsed in on themselves, its walls tarnished and faded, its tombs demolished to make way for the rows of pews and seats that made up the stands overlooking the arena below.
It was a symbol of appropriated history. A desecrated relic of times long since past.
And Eri was going to blow it all up.
Having snuck into the halls of the coliseum through one of the many holes in its foundation, as well as attempting to infiltrate the Grimm's jamming network-
Spoof-Key progress: 12%
-Eri had decided that there was a much better plan to freeing Master Jaune and Mistress Melanie available to her.
Blow the entire stadium to kingdom come.
And so, with that plan in mind, Eri had snuck her way through the broken hallways of the coliseum, past all of the Grimm drone guards (Since everyone else was too busy staring at the screens on the walls or were in the arena stands themselves), And into the armoury of the coliseum, pinching as many explosives as her tiny frame, 4 arms, and her twin fans could carry, all in a small sack beneath her as she scurried from generator to generator, trying her best to avoid the cameras all around her as she silently killed the few Grimm that she couldn't avoid, hiding their equipment away as their bodies disintegrated into nothingness, and then wormed her way into the internal structures of the generators, and planting those remote explosives within, linking them with her own systems, allowing her to detonate them whenever she wished.
If Mother Nora could see her now, she would be proud.
…
She really needed to talk to her Mother and Master team about their relationship together.
But, that wasn't the mission. Right now, she had to worry about how to save Master Jaune and Mistress Melanie.
Another Grimm drone passed by outside of the generator room, and a Disciple in a silver cloak looked inside. Eri hid herself within the insides generator, shutting off her optical lights as the Grimm peered inside the room, not looking for anything in particular (Specifically the bag of explosives hidden behind the generator), As it narrowed its eye, scoffed, muttered a few words to itself in its own language, and then walked off. It must've been looking to talk with the Grimm that had been working on the generator, and thought that it's gone on break or something.
Eri wormed her way out of the generator's components, grabbed her bag of goodies, and planted one more remote explosive in the generator internals. Peeking her optic through the doorway, she saw that it was clear, and made her move once more. There were separate generators all around the stadium instead of a single one, each of them powering a different system, so that if one of them went down, not all of the coliseum would be brought offline. Clever on paper, and in practice.
But now, it served more towards Eri's advantage than theirs.
Spoof-Key progress: 18%
Hold on Master Jaune, Mistress Melanie. I'm coming to get you.
This's pathetic.
That was what the aging Techion known as Tock thought to herself as she watched the proceedings down below, her boisterous voice betraying the annoyance and lack of approval that she found within herself from watching the two Hunters in training stalemate, and even best her Undertakers and damnable pet dragon as well.
The crowds cheered at the violence as the boy took another swing with his sword at one of her own, almost decapitating it as it jumped back, spear in hand and duelling the boy as the girl summoned flames in her hand and forced back another of her Undertakers, all the while the dragon began to tire itself out, lagging behind the fight as its eyes slowly began to close.
A simple press of a button sent its collar on overdrive, shocking it back into the fray.
If Tock still had the physical capacity to twitch an eyelid, she would. However, her new status as a Techion had denied her that. Instead, she just gnashed her metal jaw together (She didn't really need it for speaking, since she had a voice modulator built into her. She only needed it for biting and ripping apart her prey), Flicked the sharpened nails on her 4 robotic arms, and watched the humiliation of her followers below.
She thought back to the first time that she had met Salem. Or rather, the first time that Salem met her.
As all stories began, it was a dark and stormy night when Salem emerged in her lonely little cabin, and asked for her services, suddenly just appearing out of nowhere and asking- No, demanding that she served her.
Tock, of course, had signed up immediately. The big bad Grimm queen hadn't even needed to pull that whole immortality shtick with her that she apparently pulled on almost everyone else.
After all, why would she ever want to turn down a job that just revolved around killing people as violently and destructively as she wanted?
Get to kill a whole lot of people any way that she wanted?
Score.
Her first task, of course, was to kill one of those fabled Silver-Eyed Warriors that she talked so much about.
No problem. Killed one that called herself the Grimm Reaper. Tore off her arms and legs and let her bleed to death as she scooped her eyeballs out of their sockets and held them between her sharpened teeth as a present to her new master.
Fun times. Fun times indeed.
And so, she was sent off on her quest- In her very long life, all the way up to her old age- To cull the last Silver-Eyed Warriors left out in the world, both when they were a threat, and, heh, before they became a threat.
Some kills were more fun than others, after all.
But then, everything changed when Salem decided to bring that... Girl into the mix.
That was less fun.
Suddenly, everything in the Land of Darkness changed, and the Daughter and her Ascendant Court had taken control of the Grimm. A massive civil war broke out between the Grimm still loyal to Salem- The loyalists- And those loyal to the Ascendant Court- The separatists- And eventually, the separatists won out, and Salem's court were either scattered or repurposed for the new leading figures of the Grimm.
She remembered spotting Salem next to the Daughter, their battle long and difficult for each other.
The Daughter won, and had Salem on her knees, a chain and collar around her throat as she was renamed the Mother Eternal, and knelt before the Daughter like a pet.
Tock had been caught in the crossfire of the civil war, and the few Grimm that were loyal to her personally (All former members of the Ascendant Court's armies, ironically) Had rebuilt her into her Techion form, so that she might lead them to...
Well, to do what they do best, of course.
Kill people.
And as luck would have it, they had found a permanent contractor for their new mercenary life. Sure, Templar and his lot were a bunch of fucking religious nutters, who were always going on about galivanting off on some religious crusade, but if they wanted her to do nothing but kill people, then who the hell was she to complain?
That, and she got to throw people in gladiator arenas for amusement. That was always fun.
(And who knows? When Templar announces their crusade and all of those cells in Vale begin their attacks on the people within, maybe she would be sent to join them for the slaughter as well.
That'd be fun, Atlas' presence be damned.)
And not only that, but her loyal Undertakers had been with her every step of the way, eagerly fishing out the hearts of their victims through their bloody chests, shucking their skin and wearing them like masks. They had truly done her proud.
But now?
Now her loyal minions were nothing more than an embarrassment.
They were loosing to kids. Nothing more than a pair of kiddies! And worse yet, they were being humiliated, at that! She was all up for a good- Gods, she loved a good fight! But this? These were her followers, and they were supposed to have taken these children apart, down to their bare bones, and left them as bleeding messes as they tore them to pieces.
And yet they were loosing.
And even her pet dragon was failing this fight!
She growled, and let loose another shock of electricity into her dragon, sending the beast into a fresh frenzy as the monster practically frothed from its beak with rage and continued its attacks, all the while she continued to fake the enthusiasm in her voice as she made callout after callout about the battle below, the crowd eating it all up as her Baron attendant behind her asked in a barely coherent fashion, "Frustrated?"
"Immensely," Tock scoffed as she switched off the microphone before her, and collapsed into her seat, scraping her fingers over her sharp metal jaw and bringing up sparks, before scratching her rectangular glowing gold eyes and going, "These idiots... Me Undertakers're meant to be the best hunters 'n' killers this side of Remnant, and yet 'ere they are, gettin' owned by a pair of kiddies still in their firs' years."
She growled to herself, rubbing her metal face in annoyance, before her jaws snapped together, and she realised her mistake.
"These idiots're good at killin' civies, not Hunters," she groaned in frustration, "Ain't ever had a fight 'gainst 'em. 'Course, these kids are just firs' years, but that makes it even more humiliatin' fer them, and fer me."
"Unfair to Undertaker, yes?" the Baron, surprisingly, spoke up with, "Children survive Initiation Massacre. Children strong for survive. Children strong than most."
She scoffed again, "Sure," before cocking her metal head to the Baron draped in a silver cloak, and going, "Y'know, yer a lot more asser'ive than before. Yer usually a lot more meek than this."
"That other Baron helper."
"'Other Baron'- How many of you lot are there?! You at leas' 'ave a name?"
"No."
"'Ow the 'ell do yer all tell each other apart, 'en? Yer all look the same!"
"Say same about human."
If Tock could still blink, she would've. Instead she just paused, before barking out a laugh- Her metal teeth clanging and gnashing together as she did- And went, "Yer a snarky one, aren't you! 'M Startin' to like you already!"
She then folded her metal hands together, and looked back down to the battlegrounds below, watching her Undertakers and dragon continue their duel against the children below.
"Can't say the same 'bout me friends down there, though..."
Suddenly, the boy was forced down by 2 of the Undertakers, before being picked up and thrown across the arena, just as one of the dragon's wings caught him in mid-air and slammed him into the wall, leaving him groaning as another Undertaker pulled him down to the ground, and moved to stab his spear into the boy's gut, armour or not.
Tock's interest peaked up at this.
"Though that might change, soon enough..."
Flipping on the microphone once more, she stood up from her seat and spoke in a boisterous tone once more.
"Well, would you look at that, boys 'n' girls! Looks like our home team are finally gainin' the upper hand on 'ese young Hunters!" she cheered into the speaker system, as did the crowds around her as they leaped up in a chorus of celebration, "Looks like we're in the final stretch of 'his fight now! Start placin' yer bets if ya 'aven't already, folks, and let's see who comes out on top!"
For once, the enthusiasm wasn't faked.
A few seconds passed, before she then looked up and went, "Eh, fuck it! Let's put some music on, yeah?"
"Er… Yes?"
"'At's more like it!"
And with that, she began to fiddle and fuddle with the controls in front of her, before-
"Bingo!"
-Pressing the button closest to her, choosing one of the songs in her playlist, and then letting it roar.
"And 'o the fuck says that Vacuoan music is shite?"
An oath sworn in scars
"Who the fuck is playing heavy metal?!" Melanie screamed to herself as she-
Omni vortex lies
-Jumped in between a pair of Undertakers and used her semblance-
Accept the order
-To boost herself over a swiping dragon's wing as it screamed at her, before summoning-
Ignore the others
-A ball of blue fire into her hands and shooting it off into the flamethrower Undertaker, smothering it in blue fire as she dashed in between the Undertakers with hunting rifles, allowing her Manglers to blast them both in the chest as she then went, "Actually, why the fuck do I care? I just need to-"
The-
She then spotted him, about to be stabbed in the abdomen by one of the Undertakers.
-In-
"JAUNE!" she cried out as she-
{BOOM}
-De-
-Created a blue explosion at the bottom of her feet-
-Cent-
-And rocketed across the arena grounds-
-Void
-Twirling under the body of the ruined dragon-
Ti-
-Between another pair of Undertakers-
-Ny-
-And then throwing the bladed heel on her foot-
-Fall-
{SLICE}
-En-
{SPLATTER}
-Toys
-Right through the neck of the Grimm, decapitating it and letting its body roll onto the floor in a shower of black blood.
As the heavy metal continued to bleat and rave, Melanie picked up the metal spear that the Undertaker had been using before she killed it, twirling it around in her hand and letting the electricity crackle and burn on its blade, before-
An oath sworn in scars
-Using it to duel with the two Undertakers before her, clashing their blades together as-
Omni vortex lies
-The smoking Undertaker with the flamethrower ran up to where she was standing and-
{FWOOSH}
Enforce the mission
-Moved to roast her alive with its fires, only for hers to win out as she absorbed all of the flames coming towards her, and then-
{FWOOSH}
Eyes close at the end of a cross hit
-Returned all of that fire to the fighter, now much more powerful, and much more volatile.
The-
The Undertaker began to panic-
-In-
-And almost dropped its flamethrower as-
-De-
-It began to scream in pain from being cooked alive in its own suit-
-Cent-
-Flailing its arms about as the blue fire turned to orange and began to burn away its armour, clothes, and flesh.
-Void.
The Undertakers near it all had the common sense to run from the flamethrower Undertaker as-
Ti-
-It's backpack beginning to crack open with flame and light-
-Ny-
-As it did its best to try and seal these patches with its bare hands-
-Fall-
-But it was all for naught as the light and fire continued to build and build and built, until-
-En-
{KA-BOOM}
-Toys
-It exploded in a shower of smoke, flame, and burning cloth and metal.
As the crowd began to boo and jeer at the slaughter of one of their champions, Tock quickly scowled to herself, and muttered, "On secon' thought, these idiots are idiots, and I hate 'em."
As the students began to cheer and catcall at the sudden move pulled by Melanie, Skipjack was the one to call out, "Woohoo! Go Jaune! Go Melanie! Go boss and bosset! Show those Grimm bastards what we're made of! Gods above, I love them!"
But as the students continued to cheer and work on their escape route, one of them looked onto the screening with widened eyes.
"Melanie," Neon Katt began to herself, "Was I..."
…
"Was I wrong?"
…
She didn't know anymore
"Get up, Jaune," Melanie called out to her partner in combat as he pulled himself out of the ground, "You're not out of the fight yet, are you?"
"Ugh, not yet," he shook his head, and looked at her through his helmet, "Thanks for the save. I owe you one."
Melanie laughed, "Guess that makes us even!" and once more, they threw themselves into the fray.
Three Undertakers down. Only six and a dragon to go.
No pressure.
Cross-country caravans
As they charged back into the battlezone, the music continued to blare and play, blasting across the arena and echoing beyond its walls and stifling cheers and boos, and creating a cacophony of lyrics, screams, and cries of battle, whilst the outside world remained ignorant of the proceedings of the chaos within.
Vacuoan aliens
Jaune pulled out two of his pistols and began a shootout with the two Disciple Undertakers with hunting rifles, doing his best to avoid the stomps and swipes and blows of the dragon above as its collar continued to torture it into a maddening frenzy, its eyes bloodshot and widened with insanity as it continued its relentless assault against the two Hunters in training below.
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
That was a definite lie, through, as Melanie was definitely feeling something past the adrenaline and blood-pumping action.
It was pain. The pain of her arms and skin burning and malting itself from her body as her fires continued to lick past her aura and burn her skin, the increasingly large wings of metal and fire on her back only working to damage her nervous system even more as her aura kicked into overdrive to heal it all. But the damage was slowly being done, chipping away at her body piece by piece.
One day, there would be a reckoning for this, but today was not that day.
Cross-country caravans
Jaune rolled to the side as the dragon slammed its beak into the ground where he once stood, cracking the floor and sending dust up as it swiped its head to the side like a morningstar flail and then let out a roar as its chipped beak slammed into the ground once more, Jaune firing his two pistols at the collar of the beast, each round pinging off of the giant metal ring as it shocked the dragon even more and sent it into an even bigger frenzy than more, swiping its claws and talons at Jaune once more.
Vacouan aliens
Melanie, meanwhile, continued to duel with the pair of Cleric Undertakers that had been part of the battle, holstering her Manglers and throwing down her knuckledusters as she channelled her energy absorption/manipulation semblance through them, and crafting them into long fiery blades that left blackened burn marks across their armour, melted the leather and animal skins, and turned the cloth covering them into flaming ashes as she continued to duel with them, slowly melting through their blades and burning through the skin on her own arms as they began to peel and shrivel like rotten fruit, the bone becoming more and more prominent in her arms as the flesh was slowly malted away.
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
"Whoever's playing this has decent taste at least," Melanie muttered to herself, "Well, at least for me personally," as she did a backflip and disengaged her knuckledusters, pulling out her throwing knives and tossing them at the Undertakers, throwing herself backwards and creating an explosion behind her- Thanks to her flaming wings- That propelled her towards Jaune, pushing them both out of the way of one of the dragon's strikes as she then yelled out, "Jaune, where the hell is Eri?!"
"I don't know! She's probably busy still planting the explosives!" Jaune shot back to her as he then tapped the side of his helmet, opening up his communications as he then told her, "I'll try to contact her again!" dodging a round from the Undertakers with hunting rifles as he then called out through the comms, "Eri, where are you?"
(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿) ~(°°) (°°)～＼(((￣(￣(￣▽￣)￣)￣)))／ Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
Eri shot back the message to Jaune over their shared communications as she finished planting the final explosive in the last of the generators, the blue glow and hum of the machine commingling with the glow of her own systems as she buzzed out of the internals of the machine with a spring in her flight.
\( ^0^ )/ (づ￣ 3￣)づ ● ◉ «◉»
"Well, it better be a big one! Now get out of there, before the Grimm find you!"
( •_•)⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ
She twirled in place, and moved to the door, but was stopped by-
{CI-CLICK}
"Grr..."
-A silver cloak wearing Disciple aiming its gun at her.
Aw crud.
"Eri? What's happened? Eri!?"
"Jaune, what's going on?!" Melanie called out to her as she kicked back one of the Undertakers, and picked up the spear that she had discarded earlier to duel with the Cleric Grimm once more, bullets whizzing past them as the dragon continued its maddening attack, "What's happened to Eri?!"
"She said that she'd planted her bombs and that she was going to sneak off, but she went dark after that!" he pulled himself back as an electric spear scraped his chest in a swinging blow, shocking him with electricity, though his aura protected him from its lingering effects as he then called out to her, "I think we're on our own!"
Neither of them chose to contemplate the meaning of that.
The dragon slammed its head down into the battlefield once more, and kicked up a cloud of dust that dirtied the both of them, as Melanie coughed and then growled out, "Fine, we'll get out of here on our own!"
The dragon howled, and its collar released a crackle of electricity into its systems once more, causing it to wail and shriek in agony as it was driven madder and madder with pain, flailing itself around and increasing its violent outbursts of insanity as the withered thing only continued to bring harm onto itself, whilst the Undertakers around it only worked to weave their way around the beasts and continue their battle against the two Hunters in training.
Melanie and Jaune observed the dragon and the collar around its neck, and noticed one singular part on it. A rounded circle built into the creature's collar that held a giant blinking blue light in its centre. That was the central point from which all of the electricity that was used to torture the beast had been coming from.
The collar's battery. That had to be it.
"Jaune! That blinking light! That has to be the battery for the dragon's collar!" Melanie yelled out to her partner in combat as she continued her fight against the spear welding Undertaker, "If I can drain it-"
"Melanie, no! There has to be another way!"
"I'll be fine!"
"Your arms are not fine!"
"They will heal! My aura will heal them!"
"Your semblance is killing you, Melanie! It's burning you down to the bone! If you use it anymore-"
"Then I will live with the consequence!"
"You might not live at all!"
"Yeah I will. I know I will," she pushed the Undertaker away, and flexed her hands, just as the music began to kick off again into its second half, "My semblance is running out of juice. When I give the word, hit me with the overcharge shot on your Wire Rifle."
Jaune remembered talking to Melanie about using the overcharge addition to his ML-15LE- Or Wire Rifle- As a booster for her semblance, long before Jaune knew of the damages that same semblance would do to her, and went to warn her against it, "Melanie-"
"What other option is there, Jaune?!"
…
"I don't know."
"Exactly, now get ready to fire on my word."
he scowled under his helmet, and pulled Crocea Mors from his waist, "Roger that..."
"Good. Now let's move."
Blinded without time
The two of them began to run around the dragon as it continued its flailing attacks, the both of them flanking around the two sides of the beast as they fired upon the Undertakers surrounding it-
Curated formal yarn
-Each shot bouncing and embedding themselves in their armour as the two with hunting rifles fired back at them, reloading their weapons before taking aim once more, only for one of them to realise that they had taken too long in reloading as-
Accept the mission
-Melanie pulled out her Manglers and-
{BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG}
-Sent a series of rounds rocketing towards its body at almost point blank range, tearing its armour and protection apart, before eviscerating the Grimm within, and splattering its smoking black blood all over the ground, before Melanie used the fresh corpse as a springboard to leap up, pull the spear that she had stolen from off of her back, and-
Products of indecision
{STAB}
-Sent the spear through the weakly armoured head of the other hunting rifle welding Grimm, slicing through the rusting armour of its helmet, severing its head in two like a knife through fruit, and cooking the corpse in a giant shock of blue electricity as it dropped dead to the floor, right as she used the spear to swipe through the neck of one of the last Disciples with spears, slitting its throat and letting it die a slow, painful death.
The-
Jaune, meanwhile, busied himself with the last three of the Undertakers, as the spear welding Undertaker charged as him, only for him to deflect it with Crocea Mors and his shield, before, with his free hand, pulling out one of the knives connected to his shoulder (He really was a walking armoury) And pressing it through the weak leather armour around its neck, and into its throat, black blood leaking out as it dropped to the floor and drowned from its own blood filling its lungs-
-In-
-Just as the last two of the Undertakers charged at him- The Cleric Grimm- Welding four swords in their four hands, to which-
{CLASH}
{CLANG}
-They then began to duel with him, sending flurry after flurry of wild, manic attacks towards him and forcing him on the defensive as he was pushed further and further back-
-De-
-His sword and grip waning and lessening in strength under the constant barrage of attacks from these two Grimm, until he was finally able to twirl around one of the blows of the Cleric Grimm and-
-Cent-
{SLICE}
-Sent a swinging blow into the burnt armour and skin of its chest, knocking it back into its fellow Grimm, just as-
-Void
{BOOM}
-Melanie once again made herself known to the three of them as she came rocketing forwards, covered in splatters of fading Grimm blood, and launched her feet into one of the Cleric Grimm, sending it spiralling to the floor, and leaving the last one to Jaune as he twirled his sword in hand and sheathed away his knife, just for the Cleric Undertaker to launch itself into a reckless frontal assault once more, swinging its blades around with abandon as Jaune did his best to avoid them, before-
Ti-
[SLAM}
{CRACK}
-The dragon slammed its head down again, almost crushing both Jaune and the Grimm to death, before Jaune suddenly came up with a idea, and gestured to the Grimm with Crocea Mors to come at him, goading it into attacking him, to which it took the bait, and-
-Ny-
-Charged at him, swinging its swords with reckless want for blood, only for Jaune to block each barrage of blows with his shield, almost tripping up as the Grimm applied a swing of one of its swords to his legs, but stepping back in time to avoid it as nearby, Melanie applied a single hand to the now burnt and nude chest of the other Cleric- Thanks to all of her attacks- And-
-Fall-
{BOOM}
-Sent a burst of blue fire through the Grimm, leaving a giant hole in its chest where a heart would be located, killing it immediately, and using up most of the energy in her semblance in the process, while nearby Jaune continued his fight with the last of the Undertakers, deflecting blow after flow, before-
-En-
"RAAAUGH!"
"Augh!"
-The Grimm was able to get a successful swipe at his legs and trip him up, making him fall to the floor, the Grimm letting out a laugh as it raised up its swords, about to deliver the finishing blow, before-
A shadow loomed overhead.
Jaune smiled, Bingo.
He rolled to the side, seconds before the shadow came down, and-
"SQUAAACK!"
-Revealed itself to be the dragon, slamming its head once more into the ground and-
-Toys
{CRUNCH}
-Crushing the last Undertaker to death in a smoking black pile of broken armour and fading gore.
Jaune winced at the sight, and then smiled once more, Just as planned.
However, neither Jaune or Melanie were given any rest as, in a possible fit of rage from whoever was commanding the beast, a massive shock of electricity encompassed the dragon, burning its skin and remaining feathers and leaving smoke dancing from its body as its eyes shrunk once more in maddening rage.
Jaune and Melanie looked at each other. It was time to end this.
Cross-country caravan
The two of them charged at the dragon, its head coming down for another blow before it threw itself up into the air-
{FIZZLE}
A hardlight dome? the two Hunters in training thought to themselves as the back of the dragon skimmed against a suddenly shimmering blue field above, Shit. That just complicates things.
How the hell were they suppose to get out now?
-Before speeding back down and-
{CRASH}
-Slamming its feet into the mud and dust covered floor below, cracking it as it then-
Vacuoan aliens
-Spun itself around to use its tail like a whip, slamming into Melanie and almost breaking her aura as she-
"Woah, this thing really moves!"
-Clung to the end of the dragon's tail like a lifeline, whilst it threw its wing forearms back into the ground and-
{SLAM}
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
-Almost caught Jaune in its wake, before swinging its head down and-
{CHOMP}
-Attempting to bite down on him, its beak jagged, yet sharp, like cleaver blades, but not quick enough to catch the young Huntsman-to-be as he jumped out of the way and deflected a glancing talon blow with his shield, scraping across the paint and metal and bringing up sparks as it growled and screeched once more at him, its eyes rattling in its skull and riveting from side to side.
Cross-country caravan
On its tail, Melanie began to crawl up the dragon's body as it swung from side to side, slamming itself into the wall as its tail curled up instinctively, allowing her to let go of the tail and-
Vacuoan aliens
-Fall onto its back, clinging to it tightly and digging her burnt and blackened arms and hands into its feathers and skin as the dragon roared and wept, flying through the small air that it was allowed to occupy, trying to shake Melanie off as it-
{CRASH}
-Slammed itself into the wall once more, dislodging ancient brick and stone as Melanie continued to cling to it, crawling closer and closer to its collar with each passing second.
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
Down on the ground, Jaune ran around the dragon as it slammed its body into the ground and skidded across the arena like a tidal wave, before it swung its wings at him once more and-
{SLAM}
"Ack!"
-Whipped him with its tail, flinging him to the side and smacking him against the wall, leaving a dent in the stone as it cracked and crumbled around him.
Cross-country caravans
The dragon roared, and charged at him as the sapphire light swirled around it once more, its jaw snapping open and dulled against the light as it reached the wall-
{CHOMP}
-And clamped its jaws down onto the armoured boy, pulling him out of the wall, and beginning to squeeze down on him as his armour began to crack and crinkle underneath the slowly increasing pressure.
Vacuoan aliens
Jaune screamed as his aura and armour continued to crack and wither from defending against this creature's endless onslaught as it continued to clamp its beak down on him and crack him open like a can, but found enough purchase within himself to rip his arm free and wiggle his Wire Rifle out from his back as he balanced it against his chest, all the while the dragon took to the air again, and-
{CRASH}
"Augh!"
-Threw its head back into the earth, rattling him immensely, and almost causing him to let go of his Wire Rifle, but his grip held strong, then stronger still as the dragon took to the air once more.
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
The song was nearing its end, as was this battle.
As the dragon twisted and turned in the air, trying to shake its passenger off as it continued to clamp down on the prey in its jaw, Melanie was thrown around on its back as it continued to slam and crash itself onto every surface of the arena, including the hardlight dome above as it tried to grind her into paste.
Before, suddenly...
She lost her grip, and was thrown off of its back and into the air.
Cross-country caravan
Her deadening arms flapped uselessly in the air as her semblance ran out of energy to use. She found herself flying through the air, and then falling towards the ground once more, moving quicker and quicker by the second as the dragon looked up at her and narrowed its eyes, sapphire light dancing all over it as it spread its wings out and prepared for the final confrontation.
Melanie wouldn't give it the fight that the spectators wanted.
She wouldn't kill the dragon.
She would save it.
"JAUNE! NOW!"
"But-"
"DAMMIT JAUNE, DO IT NOW!"
She could tell that Jaune was scowling underneath his helmet, but still didn't waste a second as he levelled his Wire Rifle against his chest, charged up a great big shining blast of golden electric light, and then-
{CHOOM}
-Sent it rocketing out into the sky-
{CRACK}
-And right into Melanie, smothering her in a golden glow.
Vacuoan aliens
Melanie let out a war cry as her semblance channelled the energy that was now covering her, and pushed as much of it into her back as she could, before pushing her aura to her arms and legs, and-
{BOOM}
-Letting the ball of energy explode behind her, throwing her downwards towards the dragon like a rocket, before she reached the dragon's neck and-
{SLAM}
{CLANG}
-Slammed herself into the giant beast's collar, right where the blinking blue circle was located.
Letting out a roar of her own, Melanie threw all of her aura into her fist, wretched it back, and then-
{SHATTER}
-Threw it back into the circle, shattering it.
Melanie and the dragon screamed as-
{BOOM}
{CRACK}
{FIZZLE}
-They were both covered in electricity, but Melanie's eyes turned from their usual olive green once more to a bright shining blue as she drained the collar of all of the electricity within it and channelled it back into herself, her arms flaring with sapphire fire and burning away more of the skin on her body as she roared in unison with the dragon (Dropping Jaune from its mouth as it did) Against the pain, before she levelled her hand to the sky, and-
I pull the trigger and I feel nothing
{KA-BOOM}
-Released a great beam of bright blue light into the sky, clashing the the hardlight dome overhead, and filling the world around them in an almost blinding sapphire light, as if the sun was opening up around them and swallowing them whole, burning away the world in its hot, never-ending gaze.
And then, as soon as the light began...
It faded away, and the world was revealed once more.
The end of the song marked the end of the long, exhausting battle for the two of them, and they had emerged victorious in the fight against them, to the boos and jeers of the crowd around them.
In their holding pen, the students looked onto the victors of this battle and cheered their hearts out, arms in the air in celebration.
Blake just shook her head at it all, and looked to the side, uninterested in it all.
Leadpipe looked to her in suspicion and worry.
Tock, meanwhile, was angst at this loss. Angst, and enraged, as she muted her microphone and yelled out, "Oh, those fuckin' idiots! Absolutely useless, they are! How could they lose to- AUGH!"
She looked back to her assistant, and pointed a finger to it.
"Get security down there, and kill 'em! Kill the both f'them, and send the dragon down to the fuckin' pen! I'm gonna carve it up for fuckin' snacks for this!"
"Security already on way," the Baron assistant replied with, "Deal with problem downstairs. Rout to arena field now."
Back in the arena, the dragon's collar broke in twain, and fell to the floor below.
So did Melanie.
Having been freed from the jaws of the dragon, Jaune ignored the cracks and dents in his armour as he ran to the side, and caught Melanie before she hit the ground. Carrying her bridal style, he looked down to her, and saw-
Oh, gods...
Her arms were black and scabbed with first, second, and third degree burns, her skin peeling and malting away like shells from the heat, revealing the white fat layers underneath as her aura began to refill the holes in her body and string her nerves back together like laces, as if they were worms reaching out for each other. The skin across her body was red from the heat, and covered in white patches where the skin had flaked from the fires. Her back looked like someone had been using a heated scoop to spoon out her reddened flesh before applying a lighter to it, and her tired eyes were bloodshot and dulled as blood began to pour out of her wounds and smother her arms and back in a shining red, her clothes burnt and ruined and revealing the blackened armour plating and Kevlar pads underneath.
She gave him a weak smile, "T-Thanks..."
"Never do that again. Never make me do that ever again."
She chuckled, "No promises," before sniffing the air, "...Why does it smell of burnt chicken?"
"That would be the dragon."
"Oh... Why does it smell of burnt bacon?"
"That would be you."
"Oh..."
Then, behind them, the dragon let its head fall to the ground once more.
Melanie and Jaune jumped in place, and the girl in his arms pushed herself out of his arms as she looked to the dragon and went, "Okay, okay! Bad joke, bad joke! I get it, okay, I-"
The dragon let out of soft groan, and its eyes looked at the both of them in thanks.
Its clear, healing eyes that shone a healthy forest green.
Its shock collar was gone, and with that its torture.
And it was grateful.
"...I get it."
Melanie reached forward, and put her hand on its beak. Jaune succinctly did the same afterwards, as the dragon closed its eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
Freedom was in sight.
Then, behind them, one of the grand gates in the wall burst open, drawing all of their attention, and a red, black, and bronze drone with a little blue light in the middle burst through, waving its four arms about in a panic as it sped right towards them as fast as its 2 fans could carry it.
"Eri?" Jaune asked, to which he got a long winded set of whistles and beeps from the little drone in response, "Eri, you're okay! I thought we'd..."
Then, he finally saw what had been chasing her out into the open.
"Oh... Aw crud."
Dozens of Grimm swarmed out of the gates and into the field. Disciples, Barons, Scions, Life-Givers, Long-Shots, Rocketeers, Juggernauts, Lashers, Pumas, Lancers, Clerics, Marauders, Guardians, little Grimm drones, and so on entered the arena and surrounded them, training gun after gun on them as they lined up in sections and rows around the dragon and those next to it.
From another gate, dozens more Grimm began to file out as well.
And then another.
And then another.
And then another.
Soon, every single one of the gates had been forced open, and the Grimm had swarmed out of them in the dozens each, aiming each and every one of their guns at those in the centre of the ring, ready and eager to avenge their now dead champions.
"Well... This isn't good."
Down below, two Disciples gathered by one of the generators, toolboxes in hand as they looked over the glowing blue machine before them.
"That little drone did something to this thing," one of the Disciples said to the other as they pointed to the machine, "We don't know what. It could've been hiding in there for all we know, but I seriously doubt it."
"So take it apart, and see what it's done to the generator?" the other asked.
"Basically."
"Right on, then," the Disciple flipped its wrench in its hand, "I'll get to work."
"Well then, can't say that this is how I imagined it all goin' down, but boy, does it make me just a right wee bit cross!" the commentator above spoke to the crowd, as well as the two Hunters in training below, as a threatening, oily growl could be heard in its voice, "And hoo boy, you would not like me when I'm cross with yer! So here's what's going to happen! I promised 'is crowd 'uman blood, and by the fuckin' gods, 'M gonna give it to 'em! So why don't the both of you just lay down and die already, yeah?!"
Jaune and Melanie looked around at the dozens upon dozens of guns pointed at them by the Grimm. They were completely surrounded, and would be shot to death as soon as the overseer above ordered them too.
To any other person, this would be their doom.
But Jaune and Melanie were not any other person.
They were Hunters.
And Hunters did the impossible every single day.
Jumping onto the back of the dragon, they latched their hands around its fur and feathers as Eri attached herself to Jaune's back, the dragon in question stretching its wings out high and mighty as it looked up to where the speaker was in her stand, and let out a defiant roar to its former master.
All she and the crowd did was laugh.
"Are you- AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you serious?!" the speaker asked incredulously as she waved her four arms about, "You are underneath a giant fuckin' dome, you muppets! Yer got nowhere to go, yer ain't gonna get anywhere at all, and yer got a hundred guns pointed at yer that'll tear yer both new assholes as soon as I say the word!"
Another condescending laugh. Jaune could practically feel the giddy, manic smile that this woman was given off behind her Techion features as her jaw gnashed together.
"Tell me: Do you really think that you can escape from all of this?!"
And then, from Eri, Jaune got a message:
( •_•)⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)
Showtime.
"...Heh."
[5]
Jaune looked up to Tock, and underneath his helmet, he gave her a smug grin, "Oh we're going to get out of here, O speaker mine."
[4]
"The real question, though, is this:"
[3]
"Are you?"
[2]
"What the hell?"
The Disciple peeked his head into the open vent of the generator, and looked at the blinking red light in confusion.
"...Is that a bomb-"
[1]
{KA-BOOM}
Part of the coliseum leaped upwards into the sky as a massive explosion tore up the foundations and destroyed everything in its wake, a flower of orange and yellow and black blossoming as it reached the sky, raining down hot death onto anyone that got in the shadow of its deadly petals and thorns. Rockets of flaming brick and metal rained down like a typhoon onto the world below, killing dozens upon dozens of Grimm as they crashed and detonated upon impact, spraying their victims with shrapnel wounds and riddling them with stone shards like bullets from a loaded gun.
{KA-BOOM}
Another humongous explosion tore apart the world around them as the coliseum was being ripped to shreds, Grimm spectators sent flying left to right as they were burnt to death by the flames.
{KA-BOOM}
And then another explosion tore apart another section of the wall.
{KA-BOOM}
And then another.
{KA-BOOM}
And then another.
{KA-BOOM}
And then another
{KA-BOOM}
{KA-BOOM}
{KA-BOOM}
The ground beneath the dragon began to burst, then collapse into flame and smoke, burning the feet of anything still standing in the arena, Grimm or dragon.
And overhead, the hardlight dome faded into nothingness.
"FLY!"
The dragon soared up, and-
"WAIT! MISS! SAVE I!"
"SAVE YERSELF, YER USELESS TWAT! I'M OUT OF HERE!"
"BUT MISS! I-"
Tock used her claws to decapitate the annoying attendant, before retching one of her other arms up to fire the harpoon in her hand at the dragon flying away, just as the fires reached up and almost got her.
{BANG}
{STAB}
Right on target.
-Flew right out of the fresh smoke and fire, its passengers aboard clinging on for dear life as the Grimm carrier above swerved itself out of the way, just as the fire grew...
Grew...
Grew...
Grew...
And then...
It bloomed.
{KA-BOOM!}
The entire coliseum was engulfed in a massive explosion, killing every last Grimm within, the resulting fireball so big and so devastating that it toppled nearby already fragile and ruined buildings, shattered the cliffside that it had been built on, sending the burning remains tumbling down into the bottom of the Valley of Giants, and could be seen and heard from Vale itself.
The shockwave of the explosion hit the students trapped within and sent many of them tumbling to the ground as the windows around them shattered and splintered from just the deafening sound alone, the winds carrying the noise for miles on end, all across the Sleeping City and beyond.
One student blinked, and then looked up at the static television, having lost all signal to the coliseum, "Are... Are they..."
Are they dead? was the unspoken question that no one wanted an answer to.
DJ was the first to reply as he picked himself off of the ground, and tapped his own systems to track their scroll signals, "They're okay! They're alive, and they're moving out of that place, with the help of that dragon of theirs!"
This elicited a cheer from almost everyone in the room, roaring in celebration once more, but was silenced as DJ queered his head curiously to the side.
"They're just... Being really erratic about it."
"I said it once, and I'll say it again: This thing really mooooooooOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Melanie's sentence was lost in a scream of fear as the dragon that they were riding on twisted itself around in the air once more as it flew through the Valley of Giants, the massive skeletons and skulls of the giants looking down on them judgementally as they flew in between their exposed ribs and bones, swerving past the stain white bone and calcified remains of these ancient beasts, weaving in and out of them in a rabid, almost manic like fashion.
"Oh god why is this thing flying so crazy!?"
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST DON'T LET GO!" Jaune screeched out as they were flown into a loop once more by the feathered dragon as it swerved upside down, almost hitting the wall of ancient bone next to them, before swerving out of the way of it and then-
"Oh god oh god oh god oh god why!?"
-Sent itself into a downwards spiral towards the ground-
"OH GOD WHY!?"
-Before, just before hitting the ground, swinging itself back up to avoid the lakes and rivers etched into the stone down below at the rested feet of the giants, etching so close to the waters below that both Jaune and Melanie could see their own reflections in it, right before the dragon soared back up into the air-
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I REALLY HATE THIS!"
-And spun itself around once more, intent on swinging something off of itself as it flew wildly through the buffeting winds around them.
"What the hell is making it act so mad?!" Jaune screeched out, "Does it not like us for beating it up earlier, or is something else latched on-"
A bullet whizzed past from behind them.
"-To it as well... Well, that answers that question!"
It was the Techion from before, latched onto their dragon via a harpoon connected to one of her four hands, pulling herself closer to the both of them as she raged and growled against the winds.
"Are you kidding me?!" Jaune yelled out to the Techion as she finally latched a cold and hurting metal grip to the dragon's tail, drawing blood as she herself roared at them, her metal jaw gnashing together and bringing forth black oil and a hint of red blood.
Melanie just growled at the sight, "As threatening as a fucking kitten!" and pulled out one of her Mangler Shot-Pistols, aiming it at the Techion woman and firing, Jaune doing the same with one of his own pistols, as the Techion returned the favour with the giant cannon that she pulled from her back.
Soon, it was a shootout between the three of them as the dragon continued to swerve and fly manically through the air, with no coordination or purpose other than to loose the unwanted intruder connected to its tail, each bullet and blast either embedding itself or bouncing off of her armour as she-
{ZIP}
"OH SHIT!"
-Pulled herself right towards the two Hunters in training on the dragon's back, thanks to the harpoon in her arm, lifted up the glass faceplate covering her mouth, and went to bite her jaw down into Jaune neck and tear his head clean off in a bloody mess of gore-
{CLANG}
{SCRAPE}
-But was stopped as Jaune wedged his Crocea Mors in place between her monstrously sharp jaw, all the while her cutlasses, honed and empowered by electricity dust, continued to swipe at him and claw out parts of his armour and aura each and every second as she screamed out at him, "I'M GONNA SKIN YOU ALIVE FER WHAT YOU'VE DONE, BOY!"
He just growled back, "You think I'm ever going to let you?!" right as-
{SLICE}
{SPLATTER}
"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
-He swung his sword out of the Techion's jaw and cut it clean off, spraying him with black oil and red blood as the now severed lower jaw fell to the ground below and the Techion devoted one of her hands to pawing at where her mouth once was, piercing itself on the sharpened metal teeth present there, before-
{CI-CLICK}
"I'll see you in hell!"
-Melanie pointed her Mangler straight into the Techion's head, and let it roar.
{BANG}
The first shot impacted with part of her throat and where her missing jaw was, shredding the armour and bring forth a torrent of black and red liquid and blood.
{BANG}
The second shot went right through the lifted up glass shield and embedded itself into one of her rectangular optics.
{BANG}
The third shot went right into that same optic, and tore the metal and components apart, revealing the real organic eye held in a metal vice within, darting from side to side as-
{BANG}
-The final shot came in, and impact with the middle of the Techion's head, the final blow of the impact causing her to loose her grip on the dragon-
"NO!"
-And fall to the ground below.
She screamed out in rage and fear as she fell to the hard floor below, crying and flailing her arms about for naught as she fell and fell and fell.
Jaune and Melanie looked at each other, and the both of them smiled as Melanie cried out, "Ha! I think we got her-"
A long, frightened whistle from Eri silenced them, as the hum of an ascending engine caught their attention and convinced them to look behind themselves, and at what was now chasing the dragon.
"No..."
The Techion that they had just fought was picking itself out of the roof of an ascending Grimm Carrier- The same one that had been hanging above the now destroyed arena, its weapons primed and loaded.
The Techion roared, "FIRE!"
Jaune and Melanie shouted, ""NO-""
But it was too late.
{RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA}
{CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM}
The carrier's guns roared, and the dragon did its best to turn and swerve around the raining red death coming towards them, but-
{BAM}
"SSSCCCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
-It was all for nothing.
The dragon was hit in its wing-
{BAM}
-And then its abdomen-
{BAM}
-And then its chest, the once majestic creature coughing up blood from its beak as its eyes began to close, and it began to die.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO PLEASE DON'T DIE PLEASE DON'T DIE PLEASE DON'T DIE!"
The dying dragon began to swerve out of control, swinging from side to side as blood began to soak its fur and feathers, right before-
"HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!"
{SLAM}
-It crashed itself right into one of the massive skeleton ribs of the giants, and continued to tumble downwards, right into the wall.
"BRACE YOURSELF!"
The dragon swerved around, and Melanie and Jaune lost their grip.
With the last of its strength, the dragon took Jaune and Melanie into its own sharpened claws, holding them close to its chest and using its wings to shield them as it-
{CRASH}
-Hit a cave dug into the mountains, and fell still, its saviours weakened, and then knocked out cold.
DJ's head retched back from his readouts, and all he did was mutter, "Oh no..."
Skipjack and the rest of High Command looked at him, "What? What's 'Oh no'?"
"..."
"DJ!"
"...Jaune and Melanie... Their readouts are still here, but... But they've gone still..."
Everyone froze in shock, and in horror.
"I think... I think we really are on our own."
On the top of her carrier, Tock savoured the sight of these annoying human children and her disobedient little dragon crashing into the walls of the Valley, burrowing itself into one of the old caves that the old dragons used to hide away in before the Choir of Silver and performed their little extirpation and culled them all for fur and bone.
Oh course, they didn't get them all, but hey, if she got a pet dragon out of it, then who the hell was she to complain?
Well, apparently she was definitely one to complain, as not only had those two annoying kiddies killed her old fan club and revealed it for the incompetent idiots that they were, but they had also ruined her gladiatorial arena, massacred her adoring fans, and thereby ruined one of her favourite past times!
So she was allowed to complain.
And she was definitely allowed to take this just a little bit more personally than she usually would.
But now, it was easy picking for her. Their dragon was dead or dying, they were weakened and trapped in a cave with no way out, and if Tock had her way, then she was going to be skinning them both alive, and using their still living corpses as torture toys for the rest of their lives!
She could be very petty whenever she wanted to be.
With a slam of her foot, the Carrier beneath her began to glide closer to the cave which they had crashed in, closer to her mark, closer to making sure that they were either dead of alive, closer to getting her revenge for ruining her face and her hobby and her followers and, most of all, her pride-
Her communications began to buzz, and a line opened up to Templar, "I must say, you really do know how to have the most explosive parties. Pity that they always end in someone dying."
She growled, "I ain't in the-"
"Where it any other day, Tock, I would've executed you for getting so many of my followers killed in such a needless display of incompetence. But unfortunately, preparations are already underway for our great crusade, our agents in Vale are ready to begin, and I need a big dumb weapon to throw at the apostates of the world."
Another growl, "Templar, I ain't-"
"Return to the Cathedral. I may still find some good use for you yet."
"But-"
"Now."
The comms were switched off, and Tock let out a roar of anger at the mere possibility of her prey escaping from her grasp, black and red liquid seeping from where her jaw once was as she threw her four arms out in a fit of rage.
Nevertheless, the Carrier beneath her flipped itself around, and began to head back to the Cathedral in the middle of the Sleeping City.
Her prey would have to wait for another day.
Oh, but it would come, that day.
It would come, indeed...
…
…
…
…
How were they still alive?
Being thrown off of the dragon like that and hitting the face of the cliff and the ground below... Aura or not, it would've killed them. It should've killed them.
So how were they still alive?
Jaune felt himself being gently placed against the floor next to Melanie, as nearby, something big rolled onto its side, and-
Melanie!
Jaune scrambled to her side, his aura already healing his wounds from the battle, and looked through the darkness of the cave around him against the circle of light from the hole in the ceiling above that shaded the giant cave around them in a deep shade of grey, and traced his hands over her body, watching her aura slowly begin to recharge and heal her wounds, closing up gaps in her skin and threading torn muscle fibres together as she winced and forced herself awake.
She was alive!
She was alive.
Good. Great. Awesome.
Melanie winced against the light pouring in from the hole in the ceiling above, and muttered, "Are... Are we dead?"
"No..." Jaune replied, "No, we're- We're alive."
He did his best to ignore the, "Dammit..." that she muttered.
Placing his hands gently on one of her arms, he then asked, "Can you still feel your arms? Can you still use them?"
"Can we just skip that part where I say that everything hurts?" Melanie winced as she flexed her hands and fingers, and then her legs and toes, "Because- Did I tell you?- Because everything really does hurt," at Jaune's nod, she let out a cough at all of the dust in the air, and asked, "How are we still alive? I don't think- I don't think we were supposed to have survived that."
"I-I don't know," Jaune replied, his memories still recollecting themselves as to what happened as he then said, "I mean, all I remember is being thrown off of the dragon, and then-"
A soft whine of pain filled the air around them, and their eyes widened.
""The dragon!""
The two of them scurried up onto their feet, wincing and groaning all of the way through, as they looked towards the creature wheezing and taking its dying breathes in the middle of the cave, bathed under the golden glowing light of the sun shining through the hole above.
The dragon.
It was on its side, and also on death's door. Three gaping gunshot wounds riddled its body, and sent rivers of crimson blood pouring out and staining its once majestic fur. Its eyes were closing and sleepy, and its breathes were shallow and short.
It was dying. It was about to die.
"It... It saved us," Jaune muttered as they walked up to their dying saviour, "It could've done anything else- It should've tried to save itself, and yet... It... It saved us... It actually saved our lives..."
Melanie looked to him in shock at the revelation, and then up to the beast above, "Is that... Is that true?"
The dragon looked at her, and gave a soft whine, as if in agreement.
"Oh... Oh, you... You didn't need to... You really didn't need to do that," Melanie said as she let her forehead rest against the chipped and worn beak of the dragon, "You didn't need to- To save us... You should've just saved yourself..."
The dragon let out another groan, this time of disagreement.
"Please... I don't... I don't need anymore people dying one me... I don't want anyone else dying for me..."
An image flashed in her mind. A girl almost identical to her, but with short hair and in a pure red dress, throwing her arms out wide and inviting the Brothers Grimm to tear her to pieces.
She hadn't wanted her teammates to meet the same fate.
That's why she had always been tough on them. That's why she had always been harsh on them.
A tear trickled down her face, and onto the beak of the dragon.
She just didn't want them to die like everyone else...
…
…
…
…
{FWOOSH}
Melanie lifted her head up, and looked towards Jaune.
He was covered in pure white flames.
His aura.
"Jaune," she slowly began, "What are you doing?"
"...Aura can heal all wounds, right? Or most wounds, at least, right?"
"...Jaune, no one- No one has ever been able to use their aura to heal another person."
"Well..."
He looked at her.
"Well maybe they just haven't tried."
Looking down at his hands, he refocused all of his aura into his hands, forming miniature suns in the palms of his hands, as he looked at the dragon before him, and then-
"Let's hope this works."
-Pressed his hands against the animal's chest.
{FWOOSH}
The dragon let out a rejuvenated roar, and a bright white glow came over the beast as Jaune's aura spread itself across its entire body, closing up wounds and hiding away great scars that stunted and held it back from becoming the great dragon that it once was before. Bone fractures were sealed, muscles were threaded back together like cloth, fur grew back once more, and the gaping wounds in its body itched closer...
And closer...
And closer...
And closer together...
Until...
They were stitched shut, faded pink spots and streaks stained into its fur being the only proof that it had ever existed.
Every single wound on the dragon was filled, paved over, and healed completely.
The dragon was saved.
And Jaune, for his part, was almost completely drained out aura, and collapsed to the ground.
"Jaune!" Melanie cried out in fear and shock as she ran to his side, pulling him back onto his feet as she then said, "How did you- Are you okay?"
"Yep. Just... Just a bit tired, is all," he muttered to her as he began to regain his footing, "I just- Wow, that took a lot out of me."
"Yeah, I imagine it... How did you do that?" Melanie blinked as her friend was soon able to stand on his own two feet, "I don't think... I don't ever remember anything like that-"
She stopped, and blinked, a memory playing before her mind.
"The Air Bus... When our Dropship crashed into the Air Bus, a giant white glow came over us, and we were able to survive."
She looked at him and both of their eyes widened in surprise.
"Was that... Was that you?"
Jaune paused, staring at her in equal confusion, before looking down at his hands, and pausing in deep though.
"I... I don't... I don't know."
Behind them, the dragon let out a groan once more, but it was one of healed rejoice rather than pain now, as it tilted its head down and let its healed beak tap against the floor.
Melanie and Jaune couldn't help but smile as they went to pet the once more majestic beast in all of its glory, their hands gently patting the dragon's beak as Jaune then said to it, "Thank you... For saving us... Thank you so much..."
The dragon let its eyes close in satisfaction as it hummed in agreement, before-
"RAUGHR!"
-Whipping its head around at the sudden roar from behind it, as something began to-
{STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP}
-Walk towards them from the darkness, three pairs of blood red eyes peering out from the blackness towards them, as a trio of growls filled the air around them, followed by the scampering of many feet behind it, as a flood of commotion began to fill the darkness of the cave around them, hundreds of new creatures surrounding them like a crowd- Like spectators to the main event.
Jaune and Melanie just growled and readied their weapons, pointing them towards the red eyes in the darkness ahead. They really weren't in the mood for any more of this to...
The creature stepped out of the darkness, and into the light, revealing a creature with black skin and shards of metal growing out of it like armour, with four legs and deep black and bright white wings, a long barbed tail that ended like a flanged mace, and three heads connected to three long necks, a glowing orange heat emanating from the darkness of their jaws.
A Thunderstorm dragon, supposedly just a story- A myth. A type of dragon so rare that it was considered nothing but a legend.
And Jaune and Melanie had just stumbled into its home.
With a unison of three roars, the three-headed dragon conjured up a torrent of flames from their mouths, and readied to send them right into the intruders below and burn them alive for trespassing, before-
"Raugh!"
-The dragon that had saved them got in the way of the Thunderstorm, and began to roar and shriek at it, almost barking like a dog guarding its master.
"What?! What are you- Hey!" Melanie yelled out to the dragon before them as she pointed her guns to the floor, "What are you doing?!"
"Please, stop it! You've already done so much for us!" Jaune cried out to their saviour, "Don't martyr yourself just for us!"
But neither dragon cared about them anymore, as the two of them continued to trade barbs and blows in whatever language that they were speaking, like dogs trying to assert themselves as the alpha of the pack, the two of them- The mythical and the ordinary- Snapping at each other and letting out roars and growls, before-
"RAUGHR!"
-The Thunderstorm lifted up all three of its heads, and-
{FWOOSH}
-Covered the ceiling above in a torrent of fire, bring full light to the room around them, and leaving no more secrets to hide.
And against the heat, as Jaune and Melanie looked around, they saw what had been hidden from them.
Dragons. All of them of different shapes and sizes, and all of them looking battered and bruised.
But more than that, it was what was underneath them- What they had to climb over and trip up on that horrified them.
Bones.
Dragon bones.
Dragon bones that had been picked apart and pulled to pieces, barbed and cut into shreds, not by dragon claws or bites...
But by precision weaponry and bullets. Swords and guns and bayonets had massacred most of the dragons that once made the Valley of Giants their home, all of their remains pulled apart by their hunters and predators above for rugs and jewellery, before being piled into the corners and hidden away in the darkness by those that had once called them their family.
And the two Hunters in training knew who was to blame for this slaughter.
"That Techion monster and her Undertakers... And the Choir of Silver... They did this, didn't they?" Jaune said as he put away his weapons and waved a hand over the desecrated bones that surrounded them, looking up at the Thunderstorm dragon above him as he then asked, "They killed your packmates, didn't they?"
All that the Thunderstorm did was let out an affirmative growl.
"Yeah..." he nodded, "They tried to kill us too, for their own sick amusement, just like they did with your kind," he gestured to the dragon next to him, the one that had saved Melanie and he, "They tortured him as well, but we healed him," he summoned what little aura that he had into his hand, and let it form a small white ball of fire, "We saved his life, and he saved ours."
The dragon that saved him snorted and let out a roar once more, stretching its arms out wide as if to back up his point.
…
…
…
…
"Please," Jaune pressed his hands together and began to plead with the Thunderstorm dragon before him, "Our friend is in danger, and so is probably every other person in the Sleeping City. If we don't do something soon, then they are surely all going to die."
The Thunderstorm snorted again in dismissal.
"Please, if the Undertakers and the Choir aren't stopped, then they'll kill everyone in the Valley of Giants, both all of us," he gestured to himself and Melanie, representing mankind, and then to the Thunderstorm, representing the dragons, "And all of you. And once they are done slaughtering everything here, they're are surely going to move on and kill even more people! They will move on to kill both dragons, humans, and Faunus! And they will keep killing and killing and killing and killing until we're all dead! If we don't do something, then so many more of our kind are going to die!"
The Thunderstorm regarded him in silence.
"Please... We need you... More than ever..."
Silence even more.
"Please..."
Next to him, the dragon that saved him snorted, and gave out a groan of... Something. Whatever it was definitely caught the Thunderstorm's attention.
…
…
…
…
A snort from the Thunderstorm, and then-
"RAUGHR!"
{FWOOSH}
!
…
…
…
…
Jaune looked around, and saw that only the roof had caught flame once more.
The Thunderstorm let out one last roar, and flew outwards, through the cave's entrance, past the many ribs of the giants outside, and into the open, a massive flock of its lesser dragon pack following in its way, right towards the Sleeping City.
It had agreed to honour his request.
Jaune paused, and stopped in place.
He had..
He had actually done it.
He had somehow-
Somehow!
-Convinced a mythical dragon to listen to him, and help him take down a giant faction of Grimm that had been hunting its kind down for who knows how long.
How had he...
How had he been able to do that?
That shouldn't have even been possible.
So how did he do that?
(Faraway, a girl in a red dress looked down at him and smiled.)
"JAUNE!"
He felt Melanie pull him towards her as she smiled at him and manically went, "That was incredible! How did you- How were you able to talk to that dragon like that?! How were you able to do that?!"
"I don't... I..."
He looked down at his own hands.
"I have no idea."
Near them, Eri chirped back to life as the dragon that saved them tilted its head down for them, so that they may climb atop it and ride it as their steed once more.
Melanie looked at Jaune, and Jaune looked at Melanie.
Their questions would come later.
"You ready for this?" Jaune couldn't help but ask.
Melanie just smiled, "Hell yeah."
They climbed atop their new dragon, were flown outside, and joined the fray once more.
"That psycho Techion wants blood? Fine."
Melanie and Jaune looked to each other, and gave a feral smile.
"We'll paint the walls red with hers."
Reviewer response time:
Xealchim: Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. I've always done multiple viewpoints within a chapter to grab every angle in a story, as it just works best for me, but I will try to streamline the viewpoints down a bit in the future if it's making you uncomfortable.
MadTitan9: Well... That's not the response that I was expecting.
avatarlopes: Well, I have to say, thank you so much for the long review! Seriously, this made me blush a bit, it did. Thank you so much for reading and enjoying!
Guest: Once again, thank you for the long review! I always do like those kinds of reviews that go into detail about what they think about my work, and I like the theory that you've made! Not quite on the mark, but it's really interesting regardless!
I've decided to create a reviewer response section, just like on Cult of Silver, to encourage more of you lot to review! Seriously, I'm averaging about 400 views on this story every time I upload a new chapter, and yet I'm getting barely anything from it! What's up with that, people?!
Anyways, new chapter done, and the other main villain of this arc has revealed herself: Tock! Originally she wasn't supposed to have this large of a role, but now I've just decided, "Screw it! Let's give her a bigger role than before! I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't!"
And once more, please leave a review, follow, favourite, stay safe, stay healthy, and I shall see you all next time!
Titanmaster117 out!