Vol: 7 Chapter 8: The Rider's Last Ride
(Play: Red Fraction from "Black Lagoon" Eng cover by AmaLee)
I have a big gun
I took it from my lord
Sick with justice
I just wanna blame you
(A somewhat dirtied image of a Lien card flashes momentarily before it swaps to a blood stained wall of the Schnee manor a cigarette being smoked and an image of either Weiss or Winter from behind holding their weapons which seem bloodied. This then switches to a panning shot of Wolf's Pack going down its barrel.)
I am your angel
Only a call away
You make wanna break you
No matter who you are
(A bullet casing goes flying, showing Weiss' reflection before it cuts to a newspaper article mentioning a shooting in the Forgotten Shore with Weiss being shown holding a side arm, which she fires a few times)
It's all up to you
No one lives forever
Been burned in Hell
By all the pigs out there
It's always been Hell
Ever since I was born
They make we wanna break them
No matter who they are
(The next shot shows the same side arms barrel as Weiss points it at the area in front of her and a cigarette that she had in her mouth falls out as she pulls the trigger and then drops the magazine.)
Get down on your knees
Got a good head on your shoulders
If for you, I'd
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you want
Do it with dedication
I'll put out your misery
(The next shot shows a blood splatter that stains a flurry of feathers that had been blown away by the force of either a gust of wind or gunshot. Another shot shows that an empty bullet casing is rolling on the ground of the streets of Mantle in a pool of blood before it's blown away by the same wind that carried away feathers)
You made a mess
For Christ sake, this rotten world
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up the fire
Right on the power
A weapon … I have it all
(Weiss is seen sitting in the middle of the streets of Mantle for reasons unknown as the feathers drift through the air around her as the sunset flashes a few times. Then images of Jaune, Sky and Wolfgang are shown before 'Rise of the Iron Wolves: Forgotten' appears on the screen… And is shot at a few times and filled with bullet holes.)
-Weiss's hospital room-
Everyone looked at the Schnee Matriarch who was now standing in the room in front of her two daughters. Out of all the things they expected to happen right now, this was not one of them. Especially since Willow had not been seen outside of the Schnee manor in years aside from the occasional gala.
Additionally everyone was quite quick to notice the tired, almost detached look she had and just how rundown she looked. Truly, years of drinking took its toll on her. Just like Qrow, who was quick to take note of it as well.
"This isn't what I was expecting today." Ruby muttered to herself in surprise.
"Mother, as much as it fills me with joy that you're out of the manor, I have everything handled here, so there's no need for you—…" Winter started to say before Willow held up her hand, stopping her.
"Winter, please. This is between me, and my youngest daughter." The woman told her. "Not you." She added sternly while looking at the Atlas specialist, though it was clear from her expression that her words were not meant to be hurtful.
"Um… Of course." The elder Schnee daughter nodded as she stepped aside. "Come everyone, let's… give them some space." She said as she lead everyone out.
Willow then turned back to Weiss and sat beside her. "I heard about everything that happened. I'm so sorry about Wolfgang, I know you two were… Rather close." The woman said softly.
"Who told you?" Weiss said bitterly. "Was it father, Whitley? How smug were they about it?" She added angrily.
"It was neither of those two. I only heard about it through the grapevine, so to speak." Willow replied, easing her daughter's nerves. "Actually I heard about it from Klein before he was let go. He had heard about it from someone else, but he didn't say who." She added.
Weiss hissed angrily. Klein was let go? Why? Was it because he helped her escape? Where was he now?
"Where is he now?!" The girl questioned angrily.
"I'm not sure." Willow told her, before holding her daughter's hand. "But enough of that, why are you torturing yourself like this? Do you think that's going to bring your lover back?"
Weiss' shoulders started shaking as sobs escaped her and tears flowed. "I… I just… I miss him so much… I can't stop myself…" She choked out.
"It's fine to miss him." Willow said. "I felt the same way when your grandfather passed away, and I felt the same heartbreak when your father… Told me the truth." She added. "But trying to destroy yourself is not how you need to cope with your pain."
"That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" The former heiress asked.
"I'm saying this so you don't make the same mistakes I did." Willow retorted. "And they are mistakes, and I regret every choice I made that led to them."
Weiss blew her nose into a tissue and discarded it. "I just… I feel so lost." She sighed. Willow pulled her into a hug, causing her to freeze before the dam broke and she wailed into her mother's shoulder.
"It's alright, Weiss, I'm here… I'm here." The matriarch told her, hugging her into her chest. "Mommy's got you." She whispered.
(Elsewhere)
"We need to think of a way to cheer Weiss up." Ruby said as they sat in the living room of the Iron Temple. "Any ideas, girls?" She asked.
"We could take her to a greenhouse filled with flowers." Foxianna proposed.
"That's definitely an idea, but i don't think she really likes flowers." Emerald stated. "At least that's what I can gather."
"Personally I think she'd appreciate us just being there with her with a mug of warm coffee and lots of hugs." Pyrrha said, raising her hand. "I know that cheers me up."
"I was gonna say let her smash something." Nora shrugged.
"If we let her do that, then an entire building would get destroyed." Blake stated.
"True…" The ginger haired girl nodded.
"I think Pyrrha's idea is perfect, personally." Autumn shrugged. "I'm not an expert on it, but that seemed to work for me when Emerald did it." She added as she hugged her wife.
Yang was quiet for a minute before she spoke up. "I think what would really cheer her up, is bringing Wolfgang back." The blonde said.
"Not to sound like a jerk, but just because Sky came back doesn't mean Wolfgang will." The red eyed mintette stated.
"Should we tell her?" Blake asked Ruby, referring to what Yang had told them about Xol's knight.
"I think we should." The crimsonette nodded, confusing those who didn't know.
"What?" The other girls asked.
"Sky plans on stealing the secret Xol and his knight know. The secret of Necromancy." Yang told them.
"Aka the biggest heresy to the sword logic." Blake added. Autumn, Emerald, Nora, Pyrrha and Foxxianna all stared at them in shock.
"Is he serious?!" Nora exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Yeah." The Queen nodded. "Dead serious."
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in the Forgotten Shore, Jaune was about to turn in a bounty that Sienna set out for him when he saw something that caught his eye.
"Um, Sienna? What are those?" He asked, pointing at what looked to be various black market goods.
"Those are my many forms of contraband. See anything you like? It can be yours, for a price." The tiger faunus said, ringing her fingers.
"... I'll let you know if anything catches my eye." The boy replied after processing her words. As he looked around what the tiger faunus had, he came to a stop at what looked to be a fossilized heart.
"What about this?" He asked her.
"A fossilized Ahamkara heart? Why would you want something like that?" She questioned.
"I just think it could make a good… Gift. Wait, what's an Ahamkara?" The blonde asked.
"You don't know?" Sienna asked incredulously. "The God of Light made them to grant the wishes of humanity, but the buggers were too unpredictable, and were hunted down." She explained.
"Unpredictable?" Jaune questioned.
"They would often find ways to twist the wishes of those they bargained with. Usually giving the person more than they bargained for, or having it end in a 'Monkey's Paw' situation." The former White Fang high leader told him.
"Can their fossils do anything other than look valuable?" The boy inquired. "I mean, if they were that dangerous, then I can see them screwing people over even in death." He added.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I've heard rumors that they can grant wishes and even speak even in death through their remains." She replied. "Though seeing as that nothing has happened with that fossil in particular, I'd say you're safe to use it however you wish."
"Alright. How much for it, then?" He asked as he picked it up.
"Were you able to collect any lunar shards during your bounty hunt?" The woman asked.
"Around thirty. Why?" The blond knight asked in return.
"Give them to me, and in exchange, I'll give you the heart." She replied.
"Deal." Jaune nodded as he gave her the shards and got the heart in return.
(Later)
Later on Sky and Jaune were skulking around Thieves Landing, before they reached an underground motorcycle/hoverbike chop shop. "This shop belongs to Cheetara and her gang. Which means if we want to find and stop her, we'll need one of these." Joan noted.
"Then let's mount up." Jaune said before he and Sky each took a hoverbike… And immediately noticed how they performed.
"Fucking hell, these things move like a molten slag pile!" The Grimm Knight exclaimed in frustration as the nitro system acted up, letting out occasional bursts of speed.
"Hang on, we'll get on it." The AEDs said. After a few minutes of riding, the two drones were able to pick up on the issues. "Okay these are biometrically calibrated. Start trying to drive, we'll start calibrating."
Jaune revved up his bike, which looked like Bumblebee did, but was orange, silver and purple with spider patterns on it and two gun turrets on either side. And additionally, it also blew flames and toxic fumes from the exhaust.
The fumes in particular didn't affect humans that they passed, but it was immediately fatal to any Faunus who attacked them, and seconds later they'd turn into Corrupted.
"Well that's a huge downside." Sky muttered as he drove his blue and white bike around to get it calibrated.
"The weapons are the same way, try firing them." Gurren said as Grimm started to appear. Sky and Jaune did so… And Void Dust bullets flew around like they were being fired by a jumpy idiot with a gun.
"Okay, what the fuck?!" Jaune cursed at the abysmal accuracy of the guns. The Beowulf's they were shooting at all cackled like a bunch of hyenas as the shots missed them by miles. This caused the boys to growl in irritation.
'I swear, if Ruby and Augustus saw the accuracy of these things, they'd blow more than a few gaskets.' Sky thought grumpily.
"Aaaand calibrated." Joan said as Corrupted riding bikes of their own blasted past them. "They're talking to Cheetara on a secure channel. But we won't have to find her, she'll find us." She said as they chased after the Corrupted.
"Let's ride!" The Law of Pacifism exclaimed as he and his King gave chase.
"Records say that Wolfgang arrested the Rider after beating her in a race. There's Prison of Elders footage showing her swearing revenge and—well, you know the rest." Gurren told them as they rode, killing Corrupted the whole way.
After a while, they came to an area the locals called Sorik's Cut. "Picking up signatures from the Rider's gang all over this area." Joan reported.
"There they are!" Jaune yelled as they saw the zombies scurrying through a tunnel to who knows where.
"After those little fucks!" Sky exclaimed as he revved his bike and found himself looking at said vehicle. "Hmm…" He hummed, an idea forming in his mind.
"What?" Jaune asked, seeing his friend looking at the bike intently.
"These bikes could be useful scout vehicles for my army after their designs are augmented." He explained, not taking his gaze off of the bike.
"Let's worry about that later, huh?" The blonde said before blasting off. They continued searching until they came to a section of Sorik's Cut that was a cesspool of small lakes of steaming acid and broken up industrial equipment. "Eugh… Nasty." The blond knight said, pinching his nose in disgust.
That was when Corrupted started crawling out of the acid and charging at them, followed by a familiar looking cheetah Faunus. She was wearing the same garb as the Captains, had a lean runner's build with a C-cup rack, and a custom helmet in the shape of the Necromancer's symbol. Her cheetah tail was flicking behind her.
"Sate sate sate, what do we have here?" The Rider sneered. "Don't you kids think you're a little young to be playing judge, jury and executioner?" She added.
"I'm already a King, and you don't hear people giving me flak for it." Sky retorted.
"You're going to pay for what you did to Wolfgang." Jaune growled.
"Ha! You'll have to catch me first, pipsqueaks!" The woman laughed as she drove away, the flag on her bike flapping in the wind. "Get em' boys!" She yelled as she retreated.
"Let's go!" The blond boy yelled as he and his friend blasted off, taking out all Corrupted that got in their way. When they had The Rider cornered, the two then started using the turrets on their bikes to shoot at her while Jaune used his Banner Shield to block her attacks.
Growling, Sky concentrated some Stasis magic into his left hand and threw it in the zombie faunus' path, creating a wall of ice. It did nothing to stop the Rider, but shards of the wall got stuck in her body, causing her to cry out in pain as her performance waned.
"Now Jaune! Throw your shield at her arm!" He yelled.
"Right!" The boy nodded in reply as he threw this shield at her arm, slicing it off and getting a pained scream from her as she clutched her stump.
As soon as she clutched said arm, one of her gang members crashed into her and she was sent flying forward and off her bike. She then crashed into a wall and the two flaming bikes tumbled towards her and then she screamed as they collided with her and caused an explosion.
"Boom." Sky said gruffly… Before a scroll landed at his feet, causing him to blink at it. "What the…" He muttered as he picked it up. Looking it over, he guessed it belonged to the Rider. "Gurren, what's on this?" He asked. His AED appeared and set about having a look at its contents.
"Oh wow. There are blueprints for the Rider's hoverbikes on here. They could be useful." He replied.
"Forward them to the Immortal Rage's R team and have them get to work." Sky ordered.
"Right." The drone nodded.
Jaune sighed as he sat down against his bike. "The Rider's racing days are over. Guess Wolfang's hoverbike racing record is safe." He sighed sadly. "... Even though we're one step closer to avenging him… Why doesn't it make me feel any better?" He asked, looking at his hand.
"Because this isn't something you'd normally do, and your soul is aching from it." Sky said as he sat next to him.
"Oh…" The knight sighed.
(Elsewhere)
-Derelict, Remnant's stratosphere.-
The Nomad walked onto the transmat floor as Teams JNPR and IRNN stood across from each other. The man held up one of his dog tag looking coins before flipping it.
"Alright Alright Alright, let's see what we got." He said as he held up the coin, showing the symbol for bandits. "Bandits, bring a sword." He said. As the two teams got ready, he started talking. "You heard the rumors that Raven Brandenburg is the Spring Maiden? I don't believe it, but everyone keeps asking. Gotta blend in ya know." He said.
'Yeah, we already knew about that one.' Team JNPR thought in unison.
"Transmat firing!" The man said as they dropped into the tundra of Solitas. "Alright brother, kill the enemies, get the motes, and I'll make sure you get paid." He added.
"Okay, time to see what this whole thing is like." Jaune muttered as he and his team got ready to fight. The bank rose up and a dark haze covered the sky, and then bandits started stomping out of nowhere. "Well, that's new." He said.
"Should we let your Law do all the work here or…?" Nora asked, trailing off at the end.
"Probably." The blonde shrugged as he blocked an attack from one bandit, causing him to be struck down and a white pyramid shaped crystal dropped from him. "That must be a mote." He said as he picked it up and banked it.
"Small blocker outbound!" Nomad told him.
"That almost makes me wonder how tough the other blockers are." Ren mused as he dodged and gunned down a pair of bandits. Nora meanwhile took down ten and gathered fifteen motes.
"You just sicked a medium blocker on your friends! Hope you're proud, I am." The man said as Ren deposited his motes. "Look at you! Like a little Enthrallen King! You just set an Enthralled Goliath on your fellow Huntsman!" He added as Nora deposited hers.
'Okay, this is starting to feel a little ridiculous. Where does Sky find the time to Enthrall so many Grimm?' Pyrrha couldn't help but think as she took out a group of seven bandits.
It was then that a small blocker appeared just as Ren was about to deposit a few motes. "You're shedding motes brother! Whack the blockers!" Nomad told him. The blocker was a lone Enthralled Goblin.
Without so much as a word, Ren decapitated it in a single motion, opening the bank again. 'That was… Rather easy.' He noted mentally.
As Pyrrha deposited her motes, a portal generator turned on. "Portal's up! Go make a mess!" Nomad told them.
With a wicked grin on her face, Nora leapt into the portal and appeared on the other team's side with Paracausal energy surrounding her. "This is what the Enthralled feel! Revel in this!" Nomad told her as she saw Team IRNN struggling to beat the Goliath she sent.
"Well, you know what time it is." She said with her wicked grin still in place as she brandished Magnhild. RAPE! And then she started running towards Team IRNN and started swinging her hammer and sending them flying. Then she sent her grenades towards Roxanne and Nero, causing a heart shaped explosion.
"Whooo hooo! The best gun fights happen on the frontier!" Nomad cheered as he pulled her back. "Your ally's back and they took out the whole team! Ha ha!" He laughed.
"Yep, that's our Nora." Jaune said with a smile as his Law killed another bandit. As soon as he deposited the mote, a giant Paracausal portal appeared before a primeval Enthralled Minotaur appeared.
"You just summoned a primeval, you kill it, you win." Nomad told them.
"Alright, let's break that thing's legs!" Nora exclaimed eagerly.
"Charge!" Jaune yelled as he activated his super. Pyrrha did as well, and hers was known as a Dawn Blade. Nora's allowed her to charge herself with Arc Light Magic and keep it going with her semblance feeding off of it. She called it: Stormbreaker, Code of the Devastator. Then Ren charged his hook blades in Stasis power, creating ice hooks.
Without a second thought, the group of four wailed on the Primeval Enthralled. It tried to fight back, but the smaller teens were too quick for it to catch. Granted, it got a few lucky hits in, but it remained on the defensive.
Ren threw his ice hooks onto its legs, causing it to freeze. Pyrrha sliced off its weapon arm. And then both Jaune and Nora bashed the Minotaur's legs, causing it to shatter and drop, allowing Jaune to kill it by slicing its head in half with Dire Wolf's Fang.
"Primeval's down! Nice work!" Nomad exclaimed. "You gave me motes, I give you pay, gotta say brother. I think we're gonna get along real swell." He smirked as lien went into their accounts and they also got some materials to make weapon upgrades.
(Later)
Jaune looked at the Ahamkara heart in his hands, which he now turned into a necklace on a silver chain. He then walked into Weiss's hospital room and sat down next to her.
"Hey, Weiss." He greeted her. "Are you feeling better?" He asked.
"About as much as I can get, given my position." The girl replied with a sigh.
"I guess so." Jaune nodded with a sigh of his own. He then presented the necklace to her. "Here. I thought this would lift your spirits a little." He told her.
"What…?" She asked as she took the necklace. It looked like any heart a creature would have, but it was petrified and seemed to have an ingrown crack in the middle. Almost as if it were broken. "It's… Well it's certainly interesting." She said, putting it on.
"It's supposed to be a fossilized mother Ahamkara heart, but it seems safe." The boy supplied. Weiss looked at the heart in surprise, she had heard about the wish dragons before, and what they were capable of.
She then threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Jaune." She whispered.
"No problem, Weiss." The blond knight sighed as he hugged his friend. After he left her alone, Weiss looked at the pendant in her hand and stroked it. And a few seconds later, she thought she heard faint whispers.
The girl looked around, trying to see where they were coming from, before they stopped. "Hello? Who's there?" She asked. No answer. An hour passed by and then, the whisper came back stronger, before speaking.
"You hurt, you grieve, yet you have not despaired." A faint voice whispered. "I see hope in you. Tell me, O holder mine. Would you like to have that hope give you what you desire?" It asked. "Do you wish, for your love, to come back to you?" It finished, verbally pulling at her heart's desire hard.
"... Y-yes… So much…" The whitette breathed.
A bargain has been made. Question is, was it worth it?
Dragon Emperor0: This can't be a good sign.
ThermalsniperN7: It's an Ahamkara. It's never a good sign. On another note… Did anyone feel a tug at their heartstrings when Willow acted like an actual mother?
Dragon Emperor0: I know I did. God bless Klein for telling her, though I bet Weiss would really like to see him again. Hmmm, better put a pin in that. Also: One Captain down and seven more to go. Next on the list is the Mad Detonator.
ThermalsniperN7: That's gonna be maddening, considering how he acts. Also, three things: 1. I think I have an idea regarding Klein. More on that later. 2. Sky took the blueprints for the hoverbikes used by the Rider's gang. That's gonna make a fine addition to his arsenal. 3. Nora pulled an Alexander Anderson Abridged… Should I be amused or scared?
Dragon Emperor0: I have no idea. And as for Jaune, I'm getting worried about him, it's clear he wants the Captains dead, but when he saw the Rider die, he just seemed… I dunno, what's the word I'm looking for?
ThermalsniperN7: Conflicted. His soul recognizes that he doesn't do something like this normally, and he's feeling it.
Dragon Emperor0: This is leading him down a dark path, hope the others can pull him out before he goes too far. Anyway, see you guys next time.