Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 94 is here. As always, I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks a lot once more for your continuous support of the series! Reading/ following/ favoring it... you are the best!
See you all next week with chapter 95. Until then have fun and be well!
"An artificial…" Ruby whispered "Spawn of Eldergrimm" Weiss finished her thoughts. "Are you insane?" they both screamed at Azure, who just laughed out loudly as 009's full protoplasmic body came into view.
"How many times do I have to hear that?" he murmured. The girls both took defensive stances, ready to counterattack. "How many times did Dr. Merlot have to hear that from your ignorant, oblivious mouths?"
"Stay behind us Martina" Weiss addressed the trembling, whimpering girl "we will not let him get you, I promise!" The monster slowly kept its advance, oozing with energy and- what is this sizzling sound?
Cyan eyes shone in determination as Weiss jumped in front of the two other girls. She swung Crown forming a shield, just in time to deflect a black-green energy beam shot from the monstrous being's body.
"This is the thing that shot us from the dark in the prison room! Watch out for the sound it makes when preparing its attacks, Ruby!" a burst of petals helped the caped girl to reposition on the monster's left "got it!"
The mass of black goo stared at them through thousands of temporary eyes before they melt into its form once more. It seemed cautious to at least the point of seizing their movements carefully before acting.
"An advanced intelligence system, based on carved flesh from Grand Mother's body acting as its core" Azure's voice announced. Weiss and Ruby gritted their teeth in anger at his excited, inhuman mannerism.
"Massive flesh, formed by all the captive Grimm it devoured after you forced me to activate it- which I am grateful for; trust me" he laughed.
In a split second, silver met blue. Weiss raised her weapons vertically. She pressed a small trigger that allowed her to select the dust canister she would like to use without unnecessary movement. She chose earth.
Ruby saw that. It made sense- having to protect Martina her friend had no choice but to go full defense in front of that thing. In that case… it's up to me to take it down! Crescent Rose whirled and Ruby burst forth.
Numerous tendrils lashed out from the creature at them, covering the entire room in a sinister black web of dripping darkness. Martina let a horrified scream and cowed in fear. Weiss simply flicked her left wrist.
A monstrous slab of earth burst up in front of them, smashing all of the attacking appendages away. Nasty, bubbling goo splashed on the floor.
Meanwhile Ruby avoided all attacks without breaking a sweat. They are numerous and look dangerous, but they can't catch me like this! She let a huge grin form on her face as she reappeared next to the monster.
The crimson scythe whirled in a tall arc, slicing one on the appendages. Before she could even determine what her attack resulted in, she spun around and created a wheel of crimson death that tore off all the protruding tentacles, creating huge splashes of bubbling flesh.
There was no reveling in their victory, however. The splashed, oozing pieces of gooey plasma started at once to vaporize, filling the air in a heavy, sizzling miasma. Ruby dashed away to avoid the nasty vapors.
Meanwhile, the monster's flesh reformed again, replenishing all the flesh they had cut off from it. "Of course its Eldergrimm core provides astounding regeneration capabilities as well" the excited voice said.
"And let's not forget one more thing; the immense offensive power it packs due to the ingenious application of Spectators' blood, ignorant courtesy of Ms. Itazura herself" he added via the zombies' mouths.
"Oh Shut UP!" Ruby roared and prepared to charge again- until her silver eyes stared at a dozen green orbs that slid over the wet black ectoplasm, sizzling with power. "COVER ME! WEISS!" she screamed.
It was rare for Ruby to shout for help. It was so rare; it geared Weiss in full alert. The fact that three dozen green eyes sizzled at the pale girl and her charge, gleaming with murderous intent, helped as well.
A quick thrust forward with Myrtenaster sent a surging wave of energy that materialized as a couple more slabs. They both cracked under the massive beams, but held long enough to protect them from the assault.
At the same time, Weiss' left arm sliced down and formed a small rock monolith between Ruby and the wave of energy beams. The attacks fell on it, scattered around and dispersed, leaving burning trails on the wall.
This, of course, was half its purpose. The Schnee girl had realized it the moment her partner had asked for help. The main reason behind the slab's creation was to serve as a massive foothold for Ruby to use.
"Hi-Yah!" a surge of petals flew towards the monster, materializing for a split second before cutting off a huge chunk of flesh with Cr. Rose's sharp blade. She then burst away and landed on the monolith's side.
The monster started reform again. Myrtnenaster danced on the misty air like a skilled paintbrush, creating 3 additional monoliths in an X-formation around it. "Oh?" the excited voice pondered. She ignored it.
Ruby crushed a small wind crystal in her hand. A burst of air enveloped her, making her hair, cape and clothes billow as energy burst forth from her agile body. She glared at the monster, still reforming quickly.
Perfectly synchronized with her, Weiss had already switched Crown's chamber to ice and formed an extended frozen glyph from beneath its disgusting body. She activated it, the moment Ruby charged forth.
Mighty waves of cold energy pulsed through its flesh, slowing down its reaction and frostbiting its shapeless skin, encasing it in a frozen crust.
Red petals filled the air, as Ruby attacked with the power of a tornado. She passed by the monster dozens of times, using the four pillars as a means to change her trajectory without losing speed.
Every time she passed, she cut down one huge frozen piece of 009's flesh, sending it vaporize on the floor, walls, monoliths and ceiling. The attack lasted a few seconds, but she managed to cut it at least thirty times, considerably reducing its size before she landed away from it.
Safe behind Weiss, Martina stared at the girls' performance with her mouth wide open. She had barely registered what had transpired. She felt as if she had just watched a pair of dancers perform on stage- they were so in harmony, they hadn't even tried talk to each other.
"Excellent. Brilliant! Amazing!" the voice was now even more excited. And both huntresses, despite their anger at Azure's shenanigans, could understand why; even at this state, 009's flesh still kept regenerating!
Ruby coughed in her palm to control her rasped breathing. She wasn't used to handling dust as much as the others did, so it always put some strain in her. She looked at Weiss and received an encouraging smile.
She seems fine; that's good. Her silver eyes glared at the monster and the black-greenish mist that rose from its fading, splattered pieces of flesh. It felt weird… were her throat and eyes that dry before?
Ruby coughed. Her partner stared at her- but stopped as she felt her left eye itch in pain. Tears started running down her cheeks. Behind her, she heard Martina choke, gasp and sneeze.
"Oh, did I mention its blood is heavily toxic and quite effective in large doses?" the closest zombie to Weiss commented and the girl severed its head with a quick slash. "We have to change room!" she screamed.
Immediately after that, a burst of pale, white and red petals left the vapor-filled laboratory. As they entered the prison room, however, the whirlwind broke and the three girls crashed on the floor, coughing.
"Gah…gah… of course it would mess with our auras…" Ruby stood up and stared at the half-open door. "I don't want to think how potent it is…gah…" Weiss pointed her swords towards the same direction.
"Are you ok, Martina?" the red-caped girl gasped. "Yeah; it didn't affect me that much" she replied. "Good; stay behind us please" the blonde girl added "we don't know when this thing will-" "WEISS!"
It was Ruby's turn to protect her partner, as a couple large beams came down from the dark ceiling. She grabbed the pale girl and burst away, letting the beams scorch the floor where they were standing before.
Blood dripped on them. No, wrong. Nasty, sizzling black-greenish liquid flesh dripped on them. "OH SHIT!" they both swore and jumped away again, Weiss grabbing Martina with her as she rolled on the ground.
Seconds later, 009 fell on the floor next to them with a mighty thud. A heavy cracking sound accompanied it. It morphed, stared at them with myriad fading eyes and unleashed a swarm of dripping tentacles.
With her back on the floor, Ruby made a one-two kick with her legs and rolled backwards. She used Cr. Rose's tip as a makeshift pole and shot to propel away from the advancing appendages.
Weiss quickly created an icy dome and sealed both of them away. The tendrils slammed on it, shaking them to their core. "Ahhh… no... please just no…." Martina whimpered and Weiss hugged her tightly.
"I am here, Martina. I told you already. We are not going to let you die. We are-" a crack on the dome's surface made her stop. "Can you trust me and stay here for a minute?" she asked, albeit a little hurriedly.
The girl, tears running down her cheeks, nodded. The cracking noise let them understand the dome had been breached. But Weiss didn't mind. Because she knew Ruby had already sliced the appendages off.
As her partner landed next to her, the severed tentacles started turning into poison. "Courtesy of yourself to inform us, Azure" she exclaimed as she shot forth a blast of wind that blew the venomous mist away.
The Grimm Spawn towered over them, slowly and steadily replenishing its lost parts. The pair coughed again and glared at the hulking, undying monstrosity. It formed a dozen eyes and let out the familiar sizzle.
"We need a plan" Weiss commented, creating another earth slab to cover them from the onslaught. "This thing has to have a weak point. There is no way that bastard created an immortal being!" she shouted.
"In his delirium he mentioned a core, didn't he?" The monster rushed at them, trying to engulf the huntresses with its mass. They dashed left and right, both shooting at it to drag its attention away from Martina.
"I don't like the sound of it" Weiss made a pirouette and skated left, severing a couple tentacles and blasting the poison away. "I know" the reaper replied, shooting down another one "we do Blazing Lance."
"I knew it" beams seared the floor and ceilings, forcing Ruby to burst in succession to dodge them. Weiss skated away and only used a minor shield to cover for her charge. "Keep it off me for a minute" she said.
The brunette grinned and crashed another crystal in her hand. I have started using them too much lately- Yang will not like this. The moment the dust's fiery energy was released, Ruby activated her semblance.
Ignoring all usual attack methods, she burst around the being in circles. Behind her, she left a trail of scattered, burning petals. More- faster!
She accelerated, pushing her semblance to its absolute limit. Or rather, she broke past it. The flaming petals transformed into a blazing ring of fiery wind that engulfed the creature inside it.
The immense energy melted all tentacles that dared approach. Beams were scattered, but she cared to intercept only those who targeted her partner or the poor student. The room got scorched from both sides.
And then, Weiss' melodious voice announced the word she had been expecting to. "Ready!" the sound of her roaring glyphs and sizzling dust filled her ears as she momentarily landed next to her partner, grabbed her and then activated her semblance once more.
Straining from the massive energy release, Weiss launched both of them forward, combining Ruby's kinetic force with her own Lightning Stinger move as the silver-eyed girl activated her own power again.
This was Blazing Lance- an attack slower and more taxing than Weiss' more precise and elegant version. But, at the same time, its destructive power could only be compared to dust powered heavy artillery fire.
A blazing, lightning-fast cylinder obliterated experiment 009, leaving no trace behind as both girls crashed on the wall, gasping for breath. They quickly jumped up, clothes and skin thoroughly crisped.
"I hate this combo" Weiss panted and ran at Martina who hugged the petite girl back crying tears of joy. Ruby let out a relieved sigh as she checked the remains of the monster and found nothing but ashes.
"Excellent. More than I was hoping for" and then, the voice they didn't want to hear, entered the room, still possessing one of the scientists' corpses. All three girls turned at it, raising weapons.
"I can't even believe how strong you two are" he sounded so excited, it disgusted and unnerved them to no end. "The amount of data I just got from this battle is phenomenal!"
"You… ASSHOLE!" Ruby stomped the ground, her patience near its very limit. "You keep preaching about data, grand mission and such, while all you do is create monsters and torture people!" she screamed at him.
"I am not going to spend any more time on you- I got what I wanted. I have to find a way to get data from the other two before Grand Mother ends up killing them or driving them mad" he nonchalantly remarked.
Time seemed to stop for the two huntresses. They felt as if a frozen hand had gripped their hearts and refused to let go. Azure wasn't even willing to let them ask him about it. He released his hold on the corpse at once and let it fall on the floor, making a sound like breaking glass.
-ο—
"NO YOU DON'T!" Weiss screamed and ran to the lab- only for Ruby to grab her "there is still poison inside there, Weiss! Please, calm down!"
Weiss stared at her, seeing the same worried expression she was sure she currently had "we have to find him, Ruby! He knows where Yang and Blake are! I don't care if he is lying or not- we have to save them!"
"I know!" she replied. "But Weiss… this is Yang and Blake we are talking about! We have to find Azure and help them, yes, but not at the cost of our own lives; you know this would be the same as killing them!"
Martina blinked, staring towards the two huntresses. They looked more than a pair of sisters having an in fight rather than a pro trying to snap her partner back to her senses.
"Keep doing what we have to and trust Yang and Blake's skills; we find Azure, secure him and have him tell us where Grand Mother's temple is" the brunette said, trying to convince herself as much as her partner.
"You are right" Weiss averted her gaze and took one deep breath. Ruby smiled at her, trying to hide her own nervousness. "But how are going to find that lunatic inside this facility? It will take us hours to check it!" she complained before lowering her gaze to think.
"For starters, we can exclude the upper levels… unless they have concealing systems in place. Optical camouflage is quite effective and there is the chance of more enemies- Ruby are you ignoring me?"
The white huntress had noticed after a few seconds that the brunette had averted her gaze and stared at the dimly-lit wall in their right. She tilted her head in deep thought and turned at her confused teammate.
"Weiss; you said that the Valkraghast back in CC facility had used the ventilation tubes to outrun you and the security guards, am I right?" she asked with visible interest in her voice.
"If what Sophia and Kendrick told me was true, then yes" she clutched the white scarf draped around her neck. Then, her heterochromatic eyes opened wide "you don't think that-" Ruby cut her off with a grin.
"Oh yes; time for Val to shine."
-o—
The underground depot was truly unnerving him. Sure, now that 009 had been destroyed, the lake was a much safer place and his SUV car was packed ready to leave, but Azure still hated the water canals that connected this place to the lake and to the underground temple.
He stared around at the three dead test subjects in front of him- two students and the fool who had started the entire show by allowing RWBY to trace them in order to steal some money from him.
He tossed his long blue hair behind his neck and scoffed. Next time, he would be more careful. Quite possibly, he would only use zombies as his assistants- he could ask Bistre to assassinate some prominent and useful scientists whose skills he could recreate via his semblance.
Speaking of zombies, the last five remaining servants of his picked up the bloodied circlets from the used subjects' heads and stored them in the backseat along with a dozen liquid fog capsules and his laptop.
He had nothing to feel sorry for- the fog machine had been destroyed, he had amassed an incredible amount of data and all he had to salvage from the place were already inside the car- including a small, safely tied vat that contained an incredibly precious specimen in the front seat.
Now all that remained was to create the diversion he needed. He had already infused the canals with a specially-made concoction that would eat away Salem's runes and release the captive beast.
All he needed was to open the water valves and allow the lake to fill both this place and the temple. Even if RWBY managed to survive being drowned, they would be eaten by the Eldergrimm along with Cherry.
Even as he thought of this, two corpse-guards opened the valves and a heavy, musty smell filled the atmosphere, accompanied by the sight of the canals slowly rising. He stared at the heavy garage door and-
A loud explosive sound filled the room and made the Professor turn around in a rare moment of confusion. Smoke entered the depot and seemed to be coming in from one of the ventilation ducts.
And then, fast as thunder, a huge Valkraghast Grimm jumped out of the smoke and fell on top of one of the guards. The force behind the slam was so great that Azure's control was lost at once, releasing the body.
The tall Grimm stared at him from about twenty meters away. It was truly a terror to behold on its own, but the worst part was not that. It was the fact that the Grimm was a vivid white-bluish color unlike the normal pitch black. And that could mean only one thing- he frowned.
Ruby and Weiss walked out of the smoke cloud. Their clothes destroyed and their skin charred in many places, auras nearly depleted and bodies smeared in grime, both huntresses had a gaze full of determination.
"Stop them!" he roared and ran to the van. Ruby jumped forward and attacked the first two zombies. It shot at her and rolled on the floor. Weiss commanded the Valkraghast to engage the other two at once.
The towering creature lashed out with its stinger and impaled one of the corpses, sending it crash on the floor. The other one shot at it and completely broke Weiss' remaining aura reserves.
It was more than enough for the girl, however, who jumped on the zombie and impaled it with Myrtenaster, charring its flesh by a heavy release of fire dust. The sound of breaking glass indicated her success.
Ruby, on the other hand, jumped away from the hail of bullets. She rolled on the floor, kicked the zombie in its stomach "I am really sorry" and drew Thorn from her waist, severed its head and broke the scientist's control.
Meanwhile, Azure was in a state of panic. He had been expecting them to make short work of his guards. How did the find him? It must have been the Valkraghast's exceptional tracking abilities!
The mentioned Grimm faded away from lack of aura, but Schnee took down two zombies with her! Rose would be done with the last one soon! And then, what?
They would capture him and force him in jail. Or maybe even have him executed. They would stop his experiments. Worse, they may even go as far as to destroy his data!
He would never realize Merlot's dream.
He would never shut the mouth of everyone who had ridiculed his mentor and the entire project they had been working on!
He picked up and put on a specially designed circlet. Rose must have shouted something at him, but he didn't care anymore. He had to end this- he had to make sure his experiments would bear fruit!
Seeing his enemies run at him, Azure took out a small syringe- one that contained the only dose of Grimm control concoction he had made by using Grand Mother's blood- and injected himself with it.
Euphoria struck him. He felt elated, uplifted, ascended. The amount of energy, the sheer amount of images, colors and scenes that played in his mind was a sensation unlike any other.
Unknowingly, he passed through all the scenes that Grand Mother had shown Yang and Blake before. He saw himself become one with the crowd, but even more vivid than the two girls had.
He felt his mind connect to the cosmos. He felt the surge of immense power Grand Mother's mind was. He felt it come closer… he felt like he could touch it if he wanted to- oh how much he wanted to!
He felt his aura diminish. He didn't care. The loss of his aura was all too insignificant a price to pay for this. He felt the massive, otherworldly and inhuman presence. He stared at it and reached out his hand to-
The Daughter of The God of Darkness decided to be merciful to the man whose insolence, curiosity, arrogance and greed had awakened her mind from its deep slumber.
She allowed his mind to touch her- and reveled at his agonized screams as it collapsed under the strain, failing to even try and control her as his original intention had been.
Without even realizing the horrible pain he had experienced, Glaucous Azure fell dead on the depot's pavement, his empty eyes reflecting the flooding canals and the horrified expressions of Ruby and Weiss' faces.