Rage.
That was the only word to describe what Novus Sureya felt. Pure, unleashed rage which he now let out on the Grimm being drawn to what was left of Beacon Academy, only to find Novus waiting for them and then proceeding to rip and tear in to the packs arriving there. Even, now, a poor Ursa was attempting to crawl away to save itself, its hind leg ripped off. Novus slowly approached, pinned the creature down by planting his foot on its neck, and then blasting the head away with his super shotgun.
The Ursa had it easy; Other Grimm found themselves torn limb from limb, unable to even touch the seemingly unstoppable force and anger that attacked them. Even the occasional Geist soon discovered that it didn't matter what the Grimm possessed; they too were torn apart by Novus in his anger. The demon enemies Novus was more accustomed to didn't show up at all; the only smart thing they ever did.
As Novus blasted away another pack of Beowulves with his rocket launcher, he continued forward in his rampage, unaware of a small, Atlesian drone silently hovering nearby.
Dr. Hayden watched the live feed from the drone on a screen in his secret lab down at Mantle; he had been keeping tabs on Novus ever since the Fall of Beacon, making sure he wasn't going too far. Joining Hayden at this particular time was General Ironwood as well as the figure in the red coat who had come out of the portal; this was the former Huntsman turned legendary Sentinel ally and demon hunter known as Dante.
"Geez" Dante commented, "And I thought I was brutal."
"It's still nothing compared to his father." Hayden replied.
Dante shrugged: "Eh, true."
"If he keeps this up" Ironwood concluded, "There will be no telling who or what he hurts once he runs out of Grimm."
"You do have a point, General" Hayden replied, "We need to calm him down as soon as possible."
"Oh, you want to try calming THAT rage machine down?" Dante sarcastically offered, "Please, by all means, go ahead."
"How you EVER made it through Beacon Academy back in your Huntsman days is beyond me." Ironwood said to Dante, "Glynda must have been annoyed with you a LOT."
Dante chuckled as he remembered his student days: "Yeah, me and my brother were pretty rowdy back then. No surprise we became good friends with STRQ."
"Returning to the matter at hand" Hayden interrupted, "Dante does have a point, getting his full attention won't be easy. However, as risky as it is, I feel that direct confrontation is our best chance."
"I'm out of the question." Dante immediately said, "Calming talk isn't exactly my expertise. Plus, I've already decided that I'm going to Haven, since that's where we think these new dingbats may make their next move.
"And you will still do such, Dante." Hayden said, "What we need is someone he'll listen to."
"What caused this anger in the first place?" Ironwood said, though the answer was already forming in his head.
Hayden switched the camera screen to an earlier time, when Novus first found Penny's body. As the three watched, they saw the Imps taunting him, only to be ripped apart seconds later.
"Like father, like son." Dante mused as he watched.
"This is when his berserker rage first started" Hayden explained, "I think it's safe to conclude that Penny's "death" is the main driving factor behind it.
"I assumed as much" Ironwood said, "Now that that has been confirmed, I think I might know who to send to talk to him."
"Pietro." Hayden concluded.
Ironwood nodded: "He knew full well of the relationship Penny and Novus had. Being in some state of grief himself, Pietro might be able to relate to Novus just enough for him to listen."
"That's a pretty risky move" Dante commented, "But I honestly don't have any better ideas at the moment."
"I agree with the General as well." Hayden replied, "While it may indeed be a risky move, it's the best one we have. We're still collecting what resources we can spare for the portal, so until we are able to bring The Slayer himself back to Remnant, we will need Novus for the fight I fear is coming."
"I'll go and talk to Pietro about it." Ironwood said. Then, turning to Dante, "You should probably begin making your way to Haven. I don't want to take any chances considering the threat we're facing."
"That makes two of us." Dante agreed, "Welp, catch you later."
With that, Dante walked out of the room, leaving Ironwood and Hayden alone in the lab.
"I don't know if him being here is a good thing or a bad thing" Ironwood said.
"We can only pray it is the former." Hayden replied.
The camera shows the outside of Mantle's city walls. The gate to the city opens as Dante, driving his motorcycle, Cavaliere, zooms out of the city. He was going to get to Haven, but first, he needed to see an old friend.
…
In the forest just outside of Vale, Roman, Neo, and Julius sat around a campfire as they rested. As they took stock of their current inventory, Julius realized that he had lost one of his pistols in the fall and his scroll as well as his mechanical eye were damaged. He had also learned his sword had somehow broken in the fall as well, leaving him with the hilt and the two feet of the blade that remained. Roman had just finished filling Julius in on the events that had happened following the Fall of Beacon.
"Where are my sisters?" Julius asked.
"Well Little Red and the blonde are probably back at their old home. As for your murderous, evil sister on that OTHER side of the family, Cinder, I have no idea. I do know she was caught in some kind of blast on top of Beacon Tower, but no one's seen her since."
"Well, at least Ruby and Yang are okay."
Neo nodded in agreement.
"So, you have a plan now?" Roman asked.
Solemnly, Julius shook his head: "The plan I had went down the drain the second Cinder threw me off the tower. I got nothing now. To be honest, I'm amazed that I'm still alive."
"I thought you had that weird thing where you could heal fast?"
"Yeah, but I've never been stabbed or thrown off a tower before. Even the healing has its limits, or so I thought."
Roman shrugged: "Fair enough, I suppose. So you mean to tell me you don't actually have a plan?"
"Well, I HAD one" Julius replied, hanging his head in disappointment "Look where it got us."
Neo comfortingly patted the huntsman's shoulder.
"So, that's it?" Roman demanded, "You're giving up?"
"Well, what do you expect me to do?!" Julius snapped, "I just lost, and a lot of people got hurt because of it, you and Neo included!"
"You think I don't know what failure feels like?" Roman asked, "I got my ass kicked THREE times by your little girlfriends back at Beacon AND I've gotten arrested multiple times before you and I even met. You think I would have gotten where I am now if I just sat down and gave up at the first failure of my career."
Neo motioned to get Julius's attention and then signed: He has a point. I was ready to give up too after our first failure, but we eventually learn to pick ourselves up again and keep trying.
Roman understood what Neo was trying to say: "She's right, Julius. Now no one person is perfect, I should know, but when we do fail, we learn what we did wrong, and then make it right. You do that, and you will eventually succeed."
Julius looked at Roman: "You think so?"
"I speak from experience, kiddo. I never started out as a master criminal, but when I started learning from my failures and perfecting my methods, I've now managed to deprive an entire kingdom of its dust. The Julius I first met and teamed up with was the same; surely you remember that day."
Julius nodded as the memory resurfaced. Back when he lived with the Brawnwen tribe, Raven had made the decision to cooperate with Roman for a heist that would benefit them both; stealing a storage shipment of dust from the SDC. The two groups had put together as best a plan as they could, but no one knew of the security robots hidden aboard the freighter, sending that plan careening out the window. However, Julius quickly figured out how to improvise, and, with Neo's help, quickly disabled the robots long enough for the others to get what they needed and get out, saving both Roman and Raven's lives that day.
"But this is different" Julius argued, "Now I'm trying to save the entire world, not just rob a freighter."
"Is it though?" Roman asked, "Maybe it is like the freighter, just on a bigger scale. The bigger the job, the bigger the plan."
And it's not just you Neo signed We're all in this together.
Julius sniffled a bit, then smiled: "Thanks guys."
Neo brought Julius in for a hug, while Roman merely chuckled: "So, you ready to get back in the fight?"
Julius paused while he waited for Neo to finish her embrace, then pulled away and looked at Roman with the determined spark in his eyes reignited: "You bet I am."
"Ha! That's more like it!"
Neo started bouncing with joy.
"So, what do we know right now?" Julius asked.
"Well" Roman answered, "I'm not sure of a lot right now, but Neo and I did hear rumors that Haven might be the next target after Beacon."
"Then that's where we're going. I saw a few Bullheads lying dormant on our way out of Vale; you and Neo could probably take one. Get to Haven and start working your way into the system however you can."
What about you? Neo asked.
"I need to see a few people first; maybe boost some morale by showing them I'm ok. I'm also going to see if the Brawnwen tribe will still be willing to help out."
"Considering you're Raven's nephew, that shouldn't be too hard." Roman said.
Julius nodded: "I hope so. Once I do that, I'll join you in Haven. We'll discuss our next move there."
"Well, it's not much of a plan, but it's better than nothing."
I'm in Neo signed.
"Alright, let's move!"
The three made their way back into Vale, being careful to stay out of sight from Grimm. Julius teleported Roman and Neo to the shipyard he had seen, and the group parted ways there, bidding each other good luck. Julius stayed and watched to Bullhead take off and them teleported to his room back at Beacon; sure enough, it was untouched.
Julius immediately got to packing, grabbing his utility belt as well as his Atlesian shotgun (still loaded and ready). Finally, he grabbed his older scroll from his Brawnwen tribe days, just in case. Positive he had everything he needed, Julius walked outside and teleported to a little area of the courtyard that was surprisingly untouched, and pushed aside a few bushes to reveal his motorcycle that he had hidden. Thankfully, it was barely scratched.
"Well, some good news at least." Julius said to himself as he got on the bike and turned on the ignition. As the bike hummed to life, he tore out of the city, still able to maneuver the vehicle despite having only one hand. Right now, he was going to get out of Vale before the Grimm spotted him, but once he was out, he knew exactly where he was going to go.
Patch Island.
…
Pyrrha "Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder "Yes".
Pyrrha "Jaune?"
Ruby's voice is heard shouting Pyrrha's name, just as she had when her latent power activated at Pyrrha's death.
With a gasp Ruby open her eyes. She's lying in a red sleeping bag on a clearing in some woods. Nora and Ren are also in sleeping bags around a long burned-out campfire. Magnhild rests beside Nora. Ruby sits up and looks around. Birds can be heard tweeting and all seems peaceful. Ruby, however, puts her hand to the side of her head and sighs as though she's in pain.
Ruby nods and she gets up to get ready. Later All 4 members of Team RNJR walk down a sunny road. Ruby is in front, looking at a map "So the next town is… uh-huh… uh-huh… We're lost".
"We're not lost. The next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time" Jaune said.
"Oh yeah. Don't you have, like, four sisters?" Ruby asked.
"Uh, seven" Jaune answered making Ruby giggle.
"You know, that actually explains a lot" Nora said.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Jaune asked confused.
"So, what did you guys do there?" Ruby asked
"Oh, all sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special. Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair" Jaune said.
Ruby smirked at that before asking "Didn't like the look?".
"Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolftail" kind of guy" Jaune said in pride.
"That's just a ponytail" Ruby pointed out with an amused look on her face.
Jaune was silent for a moment "I stand by what I said".
The two walked on for a bit farther when Ruby suddenly stopped, her eyes wide with horror at what was in front of her.
"Ruby? What's wrong?" Jaune asked before he and the rest looked up ahead to see what got her so tense.
Their eyes widen and jaws drop. In front of them is a desolated village. They sky is gray and two columns of smoke rise in the air. A gazebo has a broken tower and lampposts are askew from the ground. At least one dead body can be seen on the side of the road approaching the town.
The map is dropped and all five rush forward. They briskly move into the town, looking around. Ren tosses his backpack on the ground and moves ahead while the other four gather in the middle of a road.
"There could be survivors!" Ruby said.
"Over here!" Ren shouts
The other four rush to where Ren is leading them. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall, is a young man in armor. He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren drops by his side and puts his hand on his shoulder.
"A Huntsman!" Ruby realised.
The man looked up "Who's there?".
"What happened here? Where is everyone?" Ruby asked.
"Bandits. The whole tribe… Then, with all the panic…" the man can't finish and coughs repeatedly.
"Grimm" Ren finished for him as he stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora step away to confer.
Ren had a sorrowful look in his eyes "Guys".
The other three turn and discover that the Huntsman has already died.
"Should we bury him?" Nora asked.
Ren walks right past them without a backward glance "We should go. It's not safe here".
"Ren…" Nora turns and follows him.
Ruby puts her hand on Jaune's arm. He is looking stressed and sad "It'll be okay".
"I'm just tired of losing everything" Jaune said in a bitter tone.
Ren stops and looks at something on the ground, his eyes widening. A cloven hoofprint is impressed into the ground. Nora comes up to his side. She sees the same mark and her eyes also widen in recognition. The two of them silently make eye contact, hoping that they would not have to face THAT particular creature ever again.
…
Seagulls call as a ship moves over peaceful blue waters. Passengers are strolling across both the upper and mid decks. Blake rests her hands on the rail and stares out at the ocean. She blinks and looks over her right shoulder, somewhat startled. Two kids laugh over a joke. Blake almost smiles and turns to look back at the ocean.
"Travelling alone?" Blake jumps and grips the hilt of Gambol Shroud. She halts her action when she sees the captain of the boat holding up his hands in a reassuring manner "Now, now, no threat here. Just here to chat"
Blake hesitates before relaxing her posture with a roll of her eyes "And why is that?".
The Captain lowers his arms and then twists to lean idly onto the rail "Well, not many people travel by boat on their own. It can be quite a lonely voyage. But I found those that do tend to have the more… interesting stories".
Blake turns away from the Captain "Maybe it's just… better for some people to be alone".
The two kids run behind Blake laughing and she gasps again, not expecting the noise behind her. She turns and blinks at them trying to reset her calm.
The Captain laughs "Maybe, but with your paranoia, I think a few friendly faces wouldn't hurt".
"Who says I'm paranoid?!" Blake snapped.
The Captain laughs again "No one, dear, no one. I'll leave you be" The Captain turns and walks away, then stops "But uh, fair warning: these trips can be awfully boring".
The Captain continues on his way and Blake stares after him. Once he's gone, she turns and looks at the ground for a few seconds before reaching up and undoing her bow. She holds the ribbon out over the railing
"Won't be needing this" Blake lets go and watches the ribbon swirl in the air once before landing on the water. She turns and walks away.
As she walks, a hooded figure is shown to be watching her from a distance.
On another part of the ship, Hector leaned back over the railing near the back of the ship, talking into his scroll; it was Coco on the other end.
"I'm heading back to Menagerie" he told her, "I'm not exactly sure what I intend to do there; I just need somewhere to clear my head a bit."
"Yeah, we all could use some of that" Coco said over the other end.
"What's your plan?" Hector asked.
"Me and my team are heading for Shade Academy in Vaccuo."
"That's gonna be a rough journey, I'm sure."
"Ugh, and long too. Not excited for the desert, but we don't have much of a choice right now."
"Well, keep at it. Tell the others I said hi by the way."
"Will do." Then, Hector heard another voice over the Scroll before Coco said, "We're moving again. I'll have to call you back."
"Sounds good" Hector replied, "You take care."
"You too, tough guy."
"Bye, Coco."
"Bye, babe."
Hector smirked, "Did you just call me babe?"
There was a pause before Coco replied, "Maybe." And then the line went dead.
Hector chuckled as he put his scroll back in his pocket; that Coco sure was something.
He looked back out into the waves as the boat continued on. It would be nice to return to his home in Menagerie; he hadn't been there in almost two years.
Suddenly, something in the water caught his eye, and as he looked, he saw it was a black ribbon floating on the water, the kind one would use for a bow.
"No way." He whispered to himself. He then moved over to the side of the ship and looked to see Blake as she walked down the ship. Not wanting to lose this opportunity to catch up, Hector quickly walked after her.
"Blake!" he called, "Is that you?"
Blake whipped around and got a wide look in her eyes as she saw Hector approach.
"Hector!?" she exclaimed.
"Never thought I'd see you here." Hector said.
"Were you following me or something?" Blake demanded, her cate ears folding back in anger.
Hector put his hands up defensively: "I swear, I thought I was the only one on this ship. I wasn't expecting you would be here."
Blake calmed down after a few moments; Hector wasn't one to lie about such things.
"I take it you're going home too?" she asked.
Hector nodded as he put his hands down: "I don't really know what else to do."
"That makes two of us."
The two shared a moment of silence before Hector finally said: "Well, we definitely have some catching up to do."