Team LNTC
Chapter Twenty Five: Volume Two
Stopping The Breach: Part Two
Hidden just out of sight of her target of observation, as well as by the Huntsmen, Huntresses, White Fang and various unsavory individuals, the lithe female figure kept to the shadows of the subway tunnel as she ventured into the depths of Mountain Glenn.
She almost felt the urge to shake her head in a disappointed manner when she saw the subsequent fight ensue, in which Team RWBY, LNTC, SCPO plus Qrow and Raven engaged in battle with the White Fang grunts and other opponents. So much for the element of surprise, since their actions pretty much amounted to waving a brightly colored flag and shouting, "Come get us!" in virtually every known language on Remnant.
While it was the complete opposite of what she would do, the masked feminine character nonetheless made use of their explosive distraction to change locations while keeping Corrina in her sights, although still from a reasonably safe distance to avoid anyone accidentally discovering her presence.
Keeping her mind solely on the task at hand, the slender yet armored woman crept through the flickering shadows and scattered pieces of flaming debris, her fleeting footsteps easily hidden by the spectacular bouts of violence taking place within the train tunnels. She avoided various White Fang grunts who were sent flying about and crashing into the dirt without difficulty by ducking behind crates and stacked supplies, while keeping clear of their chattering bursts of bullets fired from various stolen guns and rifles.
The only thing that mattered to her was the mission given to her and her assigned target. And she would not fail her lady superior by allowing Corrina to come into contact with any form of danger.
Thanks to the combatants' attention being focused elsewhere due to the fighting, the sleekly-armored woman avoided much of the fights and finally saw the one she was looking for. Unfortunately, judging from what she was seeing she instantly knew that Corrina's safety wasn't going to hold up in a matter of minutes.
The masked woman's target stood with her drawn-out claws extended before what looked like a smartly-dressed man in a black suit with a fedora hat and a green tie, armed with a pair of butterfly knives in both hands. Despite being no stranger to violence and death, she couldn't help but feel a little unsettled by his maniacal grin and the way a strange impression of deadly malevolence seemed to wrap itself around him. As she watched, he then slipped into a peculiar fighting stance not alike that of a dancer, ready to strike out at his opponent.
It was obvious to her that these two combatants were about to fight. The only question is; will she have to intervene if things got out of hand? She knew nothing about Corrina's opponent and it would not do her any good if she couldn't identify his fighting style or any weaknesses. In addition, she was also ordered not to reveal herself unless Corrina was in danger, and in such a large battleground with so many fighters involved, there's a good chance someone else might see her.
While nobody was aware of her continued observation at the moment, but that situation may change at any time. And so, all she could do was watch and wait for any opportunity to intervene without compromising her presence…for now.
Corrina didn't hesitate one bit as she lunged towards the black fedora-wearing man, aiming to sink her claws into his torso. Just when she was within slashing distance of him, one of Honoka's eyes flashed open and he agilely backflipped away, dodging her attack completely. Landing back upon the balls of his brown steel-toe shoes, he put one hand atop his fedora and smirked while bowing in mock salutation. Corrina snarled and tried to press her next attack, only to quickly move aside when he chucked a knife flying straight for her face. The dragon-faunus barely managed to snap her head to the side, feeling the air whistle as the deadly-looking knife flew past her head and hit the wall behind her with a sharp clacking sound.
With Corrina momentarily disorientated Honoka seized his opening and sped forward in a green-black blur, delivering a trio of quick punches to Corrina's midsection which her aura luckily held. But the impact of his punches caused her to double over which allowed Honoka to follow up with a quick knee to the chin. She stumbled backwards, instinctively bringing up her clawed hands just as he pulled out two of his butterfly knives and slashed at her which sent hot sparks flying into the air. They exchanged several powerful blows with each other until Honoka managed to trip Corrina which he sent sliding back after casually pointing a finger in her direction which sent a wave of green and black shadows flying right at her.
Swiftly fishing out his chain-blade, named Ouroboros, Honoka threw his weapon forward blade first. He aimed to latch the clamp of his aforementioned weapon around his opponent's neck, only for the chain to be swatted away be Corrina's arm-turned-blade. Reeling back his chain-blade, Honoka gazed carefully at the peculiar-looking Huntress who was returning to her feet with her arms still morphed into claws. While he had encountered Huntsmen and Huntresses with unusual weapons before…but someone who can literally shapeshift her limbs into weapons? Now that's something you don't see every day.
While he didn't know much about Manaketes, what abilities Corrina had exhibited thus far were similar to what he had heard about them through other secretive means. However, her fighting skills still leave much to be desired despite being slightly better than average since he was able to put Corrina on her back foot with just a few attacks.
He chuckled and tipped his fedora a little, "Well…what do we have here? The little dragonling finally decided to show her teeth?"
"I figured you're not just all talk," Corrina replied as she prepared to fight again, "So I'm gonna get serious!"
She then charged towards him, while Honoka simply stood still with a smirk on his face and his knives unsheathed. With a shout Corrina leaped into the air, clearly aiming to swing her claws downwards and slam them into his skull, only for the fedora-wearing man to nimbly jump back to evade the attack. As her claws cut through empty air, Corrina felt her head rock back painfully as Honoka speedily delivered a swing of his steel-toe shoe-clad foot right into her chin that nearly dislocated her jaw. While she was briefly staggered, he then dropkicked her which sent Corrina skidding back a few more meters before throwing another jumping axe kick with the aim to bury the hidden knife on the heel of his boot into her head.
However, he was suddenly surprised when Corrina, having quickly recovered from the earlier attacks, brought her claws up and caught the descending leg tightly between them. With a draconic growl she pulled Honoka roughly towards her and then sent him cannoning across the width of the entire tunnel. The dragon-Faunus swiftly followed and threw out another horizontal swing with her now morphed arm-blade aiming to decapitate the snake-Faunus, but Honoka with the grace of a ballet dancer managed to evade once more by sliding aside at the last possible moment.
With Corrina's blade narrowly missing its target, he then retaliated with a vicious slash from his butterfly knife which the dragon-faunus was barely able to dodge. She reacted by jumping to deliver an uppercut kick to the suit-wearing man's chin, stunning him for a brief second then following up with a snap of her claw-tipped whip which he only just ducked away from. As Honoka rapidly put some space between himself and Corrina, he realized that her claws actually managed to graze the forward rim of his fedora and nearly shredded the entire front part off.
'She's definitely going to pay for that', he thought.
Despite anticipating another attack, Corrina didn't have enough time to dodge a large dark green shadow constrict sent flying towards her with an almost lazy flick of Honoka's fingers which pushed her for another considerable amount of distance until she dug her claws into the ground which arrested her momentum to a stop. Seeing Honoka closing in through a sprint, Corrina instantly unleashed her arm-morphed whip upon her green-haired adversary, the snake-faunus casually deflecting the bladed whip with another slash of his butterfly knife. They traded several furious blows in a rapid fashion until Corrina blocked his latest kick with one arm and exploited the opening by delivering a lightning-quick diagonal swing of her blade that impacted on Honoka's aura, chipping it slightly. She then followed up with a brutal hammer-fist to his face, and the kinetic force alone was enough to knock Honoka back further down the darkened tunnel and out of Corrina's sight.
Reverting her arms back to normal, Corrina took a quick glance around her to check on her other teammates' progress. Seeing that they were more or less engaged in their own battles, she realized that she couldn't wait for any backup and would most likely have to take down her adversary alone before he escaped. Hoping that they would join up with her as soon as possible, Corrina jogged quickly down the tunnel in search of her recently-vanished opponent. It wasn't long before the jog turned into a cautious walk, the dragon-faunus carefully scanning her darkened and debris-strewn surroundings with her bright red eyes only to see no sign of the constantly smiling yet sharp-dressed snake-faunus among the scattered chunks of rock and detritus.
"What in the blue hell?" she growled, "Where did that Mikey Jackson ripoff run off to?!"
Her answer came in the form of the Ouroboros chain-blade suddenly shooting out of the darkness and clamping around her neck, with her enemy shouting, "GET OVER HERE!". Due to the abruptness of the recent attack, Corrina was unable to free herself in time before she was reeled in like a fish on a hook, and was instantly met with a painful boot kick to the face which sent her flying upwards.
The female Huntress of Team SCPO, with the chain-blade's clamp still wrapped around her neck, grunted in pain and annoyance as she was tugged excruciatingly once again by Honoka's weapon as its owner now gradually made himself visible shouted, "Come to papa, little lost Manakete!"
Corrina was promptly slammed, chin first, onto the cracked concrete floor as Honoka reeled her in. The snake-Faunus stood over the fallen form of his opponent, mockingly staring her down and stating in a sneer, "Oh ho! Looks like I've brought the big bad dragon-faunus Huntress down all by myself…hook, line and sinker! Didn't the Huntsman Academy ever teach you not to run off on your own, hmm?"
Growling like a certain ancient beast of legend, Corrina got to her clawed feet and ripped Ouroboros free from around her neck with hideous strength before tossing it aside and retorted, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, smooth criminal. And besides, I'm fairly sure I can take you on myself."
With her arms morphing into claws once more, Corrina drove them into the broken concrete beneath her much to Honoka's confusion since he was expecting another straightforward attack. That was until he felt a strange rumbling sound coming to his ears…and the ground somehow seemed to be shaking beneath his feet? Sensing the incoming danger he quickly leaped back before a large assortment of black spikes unexpectedly tore up from below the concrete ground, courtesy of Corrina's abilities.
'So she can extend her reach with her Semblance', he thought to himself. 'Then again, she's been doing that throughout this fight, so I really shouldn't be surprised. And her abilities differed in certain areas from what I've heard about Manaketes from…her as well. Still, nothing wrong with a fair bit of caution, but I better finish the fight quickly or else I might be in trouble.'
While he was avoiding the many spikes which were ripping through the ground around him, Corrina retracted one of her claws and sped forward, throwing out an open palm strike towards the snake-faunus. Her opponent, being knocked back by a number of black sharp edges flying around his upper body, quickly brought up his arms to defend against the sudden flow. His latest defensive move, however, opened him up for a swift hammer fist to the head and then a sweeping kick that knocked his balance askew. At the sight of her foe falling in a comical fashion, Corrina couldn't help but let slip a chuckle before regaining her composure a moment later as she jumped into the air, her arms morphing once more into wickedly-looking blades. She had the perfect attack in mind; coming down directly on her adversary and whacking him in the head with both blades to knock him out cold before he could get up.
"Get wrecked, you weird ripoff criminal!" She shouted.
Instead Honoka's lips curled upward as he rolled out of the way agilely, declaring, "Not quite!" as Corrina's arm blades tore up the ground where he was just been a moment before. Savoring the shocked look on the dragon-faunus's face, Honoka shot forward with utmost fluidity and grace by leaping onto the edge of Corrina's foremost blade and performed a front-flip kick with his boot straight at her face. Twisting her head abruptly to the left, Corrina felt the bladed end of the knife hidden within Honoka's boot slicing through the flesh of her cheek and cried out in response.
The newly inflicted wound did little to inconvenience the dragon-faunus, however, as she managed to ignore the flaring pain of getting slashed across the face and dashed forward to slam Honoka in the face with her hammerfist again after withdrawing it, launching him further down the tunnel. Even as he was sent soaring by Corrina's blow, Honoka was swift enough to hurl Ouroboros at his opponent's head, the chain-blade wrapping itself around her neck and dragging the Huntress of Team SCPO along with him as he went which caused her to tumble onto the ground.
Gritting her teeth, Corrina got up once more and tore the clamp from around her neck while flashing her claws threateningly. She could feel her aura getting weaker as she felt it flickering around her since she had thrown out quite a lot of energy-consuming attacks in such a short time, but a single though ran through her mind, 'By the four gods of Remnant, what the hell is happening here? Am I even hurting this guy?!'
Honoka landed in a crouch a short distance away without even looking slightly winded, then launched himself forwards and instantly barraged the female Team SCPO member with a flurry of graceful kicks and rapid knife slashes, before ending his attack combo by knocking the dragon-faunus into the tunnel ceiling with a high chain-blade slash. As she fell back down with a deafening crash and tried to push herself up she was met with a vicious boot kick to the chin that made her spit out a few droplets of blood.
He then finished up by raising his leg and struck out with a devastating high kick right into Corrina's head, sending her flying backwards and smashing into a series of boulders that reduced them into smaller shards. By the time Corrina tumbled to a halt among the dirt and debris with her aura shattered, she had already slipped into unconsciousness.
'Heh, what an amateur. I expected more from a Manakete, if she ever was one…' Straightening his tie and adjusting his fedora, Honoka whistled nonchalantly as he approached and looked down at his defeated opponent with a cruel smirk on his face, "Aww, is that all the big bad dragonling can muster? Please don't tell me she needed a nap right now!"
Knowing that he wasn't any immediate danger and bringing a hand up to his chin, Honoka thought aloud, "Y'know, if I were to bring her in alive, then perhaps I could score some good graces with the Dark Queen." It was a valid point in his favor, but then he frowned as something else came up within his mind, "Then again, this dragon bitch could prove waaay too unpredictable even in captivity, not to mention really dangerous with those shapeshifting claws of hers." Shrugging his shoulders even as he reached a decision, Honoka pulled out another gleaming butterfly knife from his hidden pockets, "Oh well; one more dead body wouldn't hurt. 'Sides, better to be safe than sorry."
'A quick slash across the throat would be enough and besides, I'm quite sure the Dark Queen also wouldn't mind a corpse.' He thought while spinning the butterfly knife lazily around his fingers.
As Honoka raised his weapon, aiming to end the dragon-faunus's life forever, he suddenly sensed something sprinting towards him at great speeds…or rather someone. He quickly spun around, barely having enough time to duck the decapitating sword swing that came uncomfortably close to separating his head from his shoulders. The snake-faunus jumped back immediately, putting some careful distance between him and whoever had managed to sneak up on him without his knowledge. As far as Honoka knew, those kinds of individuals who could get within striking distance of him without his knowledge can only be counted on the fingers of a single hand.
Looking up while keeping his grip on his butterfly knife and chain-blade, he took a good look at his attacker; the clearly female individual standing before him was tall and had a thin yet lithely muscular figure which was completely sheathed within a suit comprising of sleek black and brown plates, and the grey cloak hanging on her shoulders seemed to shimmer a little, making her look as though she was emerging from the concentrated darkness around them. She had long and voluminous black hair that reached her thighs, and sharp brown eyes which glared at him from the eyeholes of a white mask inlaid with a dragon motif. Finally, she held a long ornate sword with the hilt of a dragon in one gauntleted hand and a throwing knife in the other.
Honoka narrowed his own eyes at this new intruder for a moment, then he felt something on his head tearing in half and dropping to the ground in front of his boots. His eyes trailed down towards his ruined fedora which was cut cleanly in two for a couple of silence-filled seconds, before turning his attention back to the masked newcomer, his eyes still closed and brows furrowing severely in response to her brazen desecration.
"That. Was. My. Favorite. Hat!" It was one of the very few times he felt actual anger rise rapidly within him, and it was all he could do not to charge forward in a slashing frenzy.
The masked female figure tilted her head in a somewhat disdainful fashion, only spinning the long blade into a guard grip and readying a fighting stance. Honoka could imagine her raising an eyebrow behind her mask before fishing out another set of three butterfly knives while snarling out, "So what're you supposed to be? Her fancy bodyguard or something? Wait, don't tell me…I WILL GET MY ANSWERS FROM YOUR TWITCHING CORPSE!"
Rather than wait for a reply, the snake-faunus threw his knives at her head, hoping to simply get the latest battle over and done with, only for the masked female warrior to effortlessly block all three knives with her sword and sending them clattering harmlessly on the ground in front of her. Growling in anger, Honoka threw one of his chain-blades outwards at her, but the lithely-muscled figure knocked the projectile away with a slanting slash, only for a second chain-blade to clamp around the blade of her sword. Shifting her stance a little to adjust adequately for her balance, his opponent strained against Honoka's efforts to pull on his chain-blade and draw her in.
"You know what they say, little quiet lady," He sneered with a smirk, swinging his other chain-blade for another strike, "Never bring a sword to a chain-blade fight!"
In reply the dragon-masked female fighter cocked her head slightly to the side before twisting her sword's hilt with a flick of her wrist. Inch by inch, the entire length of her sword began to split to several separate segments and effectively turning into a whip which lashed free of the chain-blade jaws within seconds, much to Honoka's surprise. Knowing that he was facing a rather dangerous opponent, the snake-faunus withdrew his chain-blades quickly just as the armored feminine warrior snapped the now-transformed whip-sword, the outermost bladed edge hitting him across the face with a distinctive CRACK. Feeling pain bloom outwards across his face, Honoka was stunned for a few seconds and saw a blur of grey shadows sprinting towards him. He threw out more knives in an effort to keep her away, but instead felt a roundhouse kick connecting with his chest that sent him flying backwards several feet and nearly falling onto his back.
With his eyes squeezed shut, Honoka brought a fingerless-glove clad hand up to his face where the masked female warrior had struck. It came away covered in red blood, and a few more droplets spattered onto the tip of his right boot. He then looked at the thin yet powerfully-muscled woman while speaking in a hesitant voice, "You…you cut me!"
Still silent, the armored feminine figure with long brown hair simply readied her whip-blade with uncanny grace and precision while curling her fingers in a 'bring it on' gesture.
"Alright, you bitch," Honoka sighed before his yellow eyes flashed open, both of which were filled with rage, "YOU FUCKING ASKED FOR IT!"
Adam and Sebastian sped forward at Blake and Nathanial, all four with weapons at the ready, as Sebastian swung his katana swords, Righteous Judgment, at Blake, who brought her weapons up, blocking the attack, before Sebastian flipped away with grace, before connecting the ends of his katana's together, forming a bow, and fired an arrow, which Blake managed to dodge, the arrow, however, exploding on impact, sending the cat-Faunus flying back before she landed on her feet.
"You're as agile as ever, Blake." Sebastian remarked before notching another arrow, bigger than his other arrows. "But it won't save you forever!"
Blake readied herself as Sebastian fired another arrow, before ducking under said arrow, then shooting a smirk at her former comrade.
"Nice try, Sebastian." She taunted. "But you always miss me!"
Rather than frown or snarl, Sebastian simply grinned, "Did I really?"
Confused, Blake turned back in time to see the arrow suddenly split into five smaller arrows, all seemed to home in on her like homing missiles, much to Blake's shock.
'You've gotta be kidding me!' Blake internally screamed, as Sebastian was using his Semblance, Lock-On.
She then made a break for it, with Sebastian in hot pursuit, and the arrows hot on her tail, the cat-Faunus trying to avoid the speeding arrows coming at her, before jumping and spinning around, with Gambol Shroud converted to it submachine gun form, and fired several shots, taking out all of the arrows…or so she thought.
"You and your damn tricks, Sebastian!" She shouted, managing a smirk. "Sadly, it was fruitless!"
The smirk on Sebastian's face didn't fade, before he raised a finger, "Actually, you missed one."
Confused, and concerned, Blake turned in time for the arrow she missed hit her square in the face, exploding on impact and sending her tumbling into the dirt.
"Bullseye!" Sebastian cheered, before notching another arrow and taking aim. "It truly is a shame, Blake. You were one of our most devoted fighters, ever since Nathan and Adam brought you to us. But now look at you; just another coward, running from her past."
Blake closed her eyes, letting the words sink in, before opening her eyes, glaring at the wolf-Faunus.
"Maybe you're right." She said as she stood up. "Maybe I have been running away from my problems. From my dad, the White Fang, all of it. But after seeing what's at stake, I've made my decision." She readied her katana and cleaver. "From now on. I'm not running away anymore."
"How hollow." Sebastian scoffed, taking aim. "Words mean nothing without action."
"We'll see." Blake shot back before charging forward.
Sebastian fired away, Blake rolling to avoid the explosion afterwards, switching her katana into its gun form and opened fire, Sebastian managing to evade the gunfire before firing another arrow, this one with a scatter-shot arrowhead, and upon impact, sending several arrows to ricochet off various surfaces, Blake being able to block and deflect some of the arrows. Notching another arrow, Sebastian fired, the arrow zooming right at Blake, only for the cat-Faunus to cut the arrow down the middle with her katana, the halves of the arrow hitting the wall.
Sebastian's surprise turn to anger, as he pulled his katana's apart, charging with a battle cry, the two Faunus' blades clashing against one another, Sebastian throwing grace out the window in favor of savage sword swings, while Blake held on to grace and dodged some swings of her opponent, before kicking him away, the wolf-Faunus regaining his footing before Blake leapt, aiming to drive her katana right through him, but Sebastian brought his swords up in time to block, both Faunus' glaring right in each other's eyes.
"You've improved, Kitty Cat." Sebastian admitted with a smirk. "But you still won't last long. And knowing Adam, neither will Nathan."
"Nathan's stronger than you think!" Blake retorted. "Don't underestimate him!"
With the other former friends, Nathaniel rolled over a crate before it was destroyed by gunfire from Adam's Blush, before the coyote-Faunus returned fire with Fury in its assault rifle form, only for the shot to be easily blocked by Adam's sword. For as long as he Nathaniel could remember, Adam always utilized his fast speeds in combat, in addition to using his aura to amplify his pace and attacks, as well as defense. Out of everyone in the Fang, Adam was considered the fastest when it came to speed, such as drawing and sheathing his sword so fast that it's like he never drew out his sword.
Readying his sword, Fire, Nathaniel charged forward, with Adam doing the same with Wilt, the two began exchanging sword strikes, before their blades met once again, pressed against one another by their owners, the two glaring each other.
"After everything we went through, Nathan," Adam snarled. "After everything the humans had put us through, you betrayed us for them!"
"It's your fault, Adam!" Nathaniel growled. "Because of your radical actions, the White Fang is nothing but a terroristic group to the rest of the world!"
"The humans forced our hand!" Adam shouted. "Unless we fight back, we'll never wrestle out from under their heel!"
The two pushing away from one another, Nathaniel fired with Fury, Adam blocking and deflecting the shots with his sword, before closing the distance, swinging his sword, and Nathaniel was able to block the attack, but wasn't ready when a shadowy red afterimage of Adam sped forward, delivering a swing to Nathaniel before a second afterimage delivered a roundhouse kick to the coyote-faunus' head, causing him to stumble a bit.
'Damn those afterimages of his!' Nathaniel cursed in his head.
"Should've taken the aura arts training, Nathan." Adam taunted before his afterimages disappeared.
Growling, Nathaniel readied himself as Adam went on the attack again, using his afterimages to attack, while Nathaniel was barely able to keep up, some of the attacks from the afterimages connecting and witling down his aura, the Huntsman unable to put up any offense.
'Damnit, this will be the death of me,' Nathaniel thought to himself in frustration. 'I need to think of something quick!"
Focusing and keeping his guard up, Nathaniel kept an eye on his opponent as he ran circles around him with his afterimages, then sped forward and swung his saber, his attack connecting against Adam's torso, the bull-faunus letting out a pained yelp before Nathaniel then unloaded a half of his magazine on the White Fang commander before Adam brought his sword up to defend.
"Never underestimate your opponents, Adam." Nathaniel mocked.
"Don't celebrate just yet, old friend." Adam declared, readying his sword. "This fight is far from over."
Magatsu fired a shot with his revolver at the veteran Huntsman, only for the shot to miss its mark, the two Huntsmen charged in, Sting swinging his baseball bat downward, but Magatsu jumped to the side, avoiding the attack, before swinging the butt end of his revolver at the Stinger, hitting him square in the head.
Recovering from the hit, Sting swung his baseball bat, but the masked man ducked under the attack, leaned away out of the way of the second attack, then jumped back as Sting brought his bat down in a downward arch.
Stepping in, Oliver thrust the pointed end of his umbrella, but Magatsu swung his dinky revolver downward, swatting the attack away before swatting away another swing of Oliver's umbrella. Jumping back, Oliver opened up his umbrella and fired a bullet, but Magastu smirked as his body turned into mist, the bullet flying right through him and exploding against the wreckage of the train behind him.
"C'mon, is that all you losers got?!" The fog killer laughed mockingly. "I expected better from Beacon's elite!"
Nodding to one another, Sting and Oliver charged forward, the two veterans engaging the masked man in close quarters, their attacks not landing with Magatsu turning his body into mist every time an attack would land.
Oliver missed again, but once his body reverted to normal, Magatsu was met with a baseball bat to the gut, doubling over in pain, before Sting reared his weapon back and swung once more, hitting him square in the face and sending him crashing into several crates filled with Dust.
Taking aim with his weapon, Sting fired a missile at him, the missile exploding upon impact and sending debris everywhere, "And THAT is how it's done!"
Before the two would turn to check on their teammates and trainees, however, they saw what looked like a tall, dark figure emerged from the flames. Getting a good look, the two Huntsmen saw that the figure was tall and armored, holding what looked like an eerie looking naginata, its bright yellow eyes staring at them from under the armored mask.
"What the fuck is that?!" Sting questioned with widened eyes under his sunglasses.
"Most people in the world have a Semblance," Magatsu said, his voice a bit distorted. "Some have no Semblance at all. But for people like me?" He spread his arms out. "On super super rare occasions, there are people that can have two Semblances! What you saw earlier was my Mist Form Semblance, and this is my Persona Semblance!"
Charging forward, Magatsu raised his naginata over his head, aiming to cleave the Silver-Eyed veteran in half, but Sting raised his bat to block, but the Persona's color palette changed from red to green, and once the weapon made contact with Sting's bat, it unleashed a powerful gust of wind, sending the two Hunters back.
Regaining their focus, Sting fired another missile, while Oliver fired another bullet, only for Magatsu to deflect both projectiles with his naginata, before his color palette swapped once more from green to yellow, then fired a bolt of lightning at them, sending them flying.
"Shit, this is not like the other bastards we've fought before!" Sting growled as he got back up.
"We need to think up a new strategy!" Oliver said as he got up and dusted himself off.
Scoffing, Sting stood up and removed his sunglasses. Revealing his silver eyes, "Then it's about time we get serious."
Turoc kept a safe distance, firing his crossbow at the White Fang lieutenant, while Cenric was engaged with Edward in close quarters, raising his shield to block a swing from the chainsaw-sword, the impact making him buckle his knees a bit. Pushing his opponent back, Cenric swung his hammer, hitting him in the head, swung a second time into his chest and reared back and swung a third time, pushing the lieutenant back.
Zwei, on the other hand, was just jumping up and down and barking in support of the young Huntsmen in training.
"Seriously, how can that mutt be so happy?!" Cenric questioned. "We're in the middle of a battleground!"
"Probably just cheering us on." Turoc suggested. "Trying to wish us good luck in his own way?"
Grunting, Cenric pushed against the chainsaw-sword pressing against his shield before swinging his hammer-gun, hitting Edward in the side of his head, before bashing him with his shield, pushing the White Fang lieutenant back, then jumped u and swung his hammer downward, hitting him in the head.
Pulling out what looked like a smoke pellet, Turoc threw it at the lieutenant's feet, the pellet exploding into a cloud of smoke upon impact, impairing Edward's sight and allowing the duo to hide inside the smoke. Looking around, desperately trying to find his foes, Edward was shot in the torso with a crossbow bolt, then shot in the back with a shotgun shell. This continued for several seconds, before the lieutenant roared out in frustration, swinging his chainsaw-sword around, trying to hit his target, only to cut through air.
As he brought his weapon down in a downward slash, Cenric caught the blade with his cybernetic hand, squeezing the blade and rendering the chainsaw useless.
Before Edward could react, he was met with a fist to the jaw, knocking him back some, before a hammer swing hit him in the chin, sending him flying and was slammed back down to the ground with an explosive bolt, rendering him unconscious.
"Well, that was boring." Turoc said. "I was expecting Adam's lieutenant to put up a better fight than that."
"What a waste of time." Cenric huffed.
Zwei barked happily, as if congratulating the two for a well-fought victory.
"Thanks, little buddy!" Turoc smiled, petting the small dog. "Dogs are definitely the best companion for a Huntsman!"
Rolling his eyes, Cenric approached the fallen White Fang lieutenant and hand cuffed him, before taking notice of more White Fang grunts coming their way, "You'd think that these guys would turn tail after seeing one of their high ranking officers fall."
"Eh, some are stubborn." Turoc shrugged. "Especially those that don't know what they're getting themselves into."
After cuffing Almond, Cenric stood up and readied his weapons, "Then let's show them the error of their choice."
"Right behind ya, Solder Boy." Turoc smirked, reloading his crossbow.
Zwei simply barked happily, as the two Huntsmen in training readied themselves to continue the fight.
Before Raven could make a move, Yang had already launched herself towards Asterion, firing her shot-gauntlets behind her for an extra boost, aiming to land a hard right hook to the large bull-faunus' head, but rather than blocking it, Asterion simply stood there, arms crossed, as he took the hit, his head not even moving from the impact of the punch.
Shaking off her shock, Yang started throwing a series of rapid fire punches to his chest, all of which were connecting, but the bull-faunus still didn't budge, before she finished with a sucker punch to the torso, stepping back in shock as she didn't seem to do any damage, Asterion simply dusting off his shoulder and giving an unamused look.
Shaking off the shock, Yang sped forward yet again, launching another barrage of much stronger punches, and while he flinched here and there, he still seemed undamaged, even as Yang hit him in the torso with a twin punch that pushed him back, he just straightened back up.
Yang simply looked at the older man in shock, before her expression turned to anger, "What the hell?! What are you?!"
"A man second to none." Asterion declared proudly.
Growling, Yang charged forward, firing another barrage of punches, but rather than take the hits, he opened his hands and blocked the attacks with his palm, fast enough to keep up with the rapid fire punches, before suddenly grabbing hold of her fists, much to the blonde brawler's surprise, before he then kicked her hard in the gut, sending her flying, as well as tearing her gauntlets off, and she would've hit the concrete had Raven not caught her midflight, skidding back a bit.
"You okay?" Raven asked in concern. "It's not a good idea to rush in like that."
Scoffing, Yang made to stand, only to buckle a bit from the pain in her midsection, "Damn, that guy packs a punch!"
Frowning, Raven looked towards their opponent, who then tossed Ember Celica aside, his arms slumping to his sides.
"Stay put and rest up." The tribe leader said. "It's obvious he's after me."
Begrudgingly, Yang watched as her estranged mother stepped forward, hand on the hilt of her sword as she stood before Asterion, the large man tensing at the sight of the bandit leader, looking down at her down his nose, the red-eyed woman staring up at him with narrowed eyes.
"I've been looking forward to this, Little Raven." Asterion declared.
"Be careful what you wish for, big guy." Raven said with a smirk. "You might regret it."
Pulling out her sword, Raven charged forward and swung her sword in a wide arc, Asterion blocking with an armored forearm, then threw a fist, aiming for the head, but Raven ducked under the punch, then swung her sword at his abdomen, cutting into his aura. She then swung her sword in an upward arc, only for Asterion to jump back to evade the attack, then charged, talking Raven with his horns, Raven barely avoiding getting impaled before being thrown into a pile of crates, Asterion jumping up and aiming to land a double hammer fist, but Raven turned into her corvid form, flying out of the way of the attack, before flying back down to transform back into human form, delivering a sword swing to his face.
Shaking off the pain, Asterion charged forward, only to be met with a fist to his face by Yang, who had recovered her shot-gauntlets earlier, halting his advance.
"Don't hog all the fun, mom!" Yang boasted with a smirk. "I want in on the action too!"
Looking at her daughter for a moment, Raven couldn't help but chuckle and smirk, "You truly are your father's daughter."
Mother and daughter readied themselves as Asterion towered over them, ready for more.
Weiss and Nirnasha dashed forward to meet their opponents head on, Roman stepping back a bit as Neo charged in, sword and parasol in hand, the mute girl charging at Weiss, the Schnee heiress raising Myrtenaster in defense to block Neo's sword swing, while Nirnasha turned his attention to the mob boss, summoning several undead warriors brandishing shortswords, all charging at the mob boss.
Smirking, Roman pointed his cane, Melodic Cudgel, firing a flare of Dust, the flare exploding upon coming into contact with the horde, destroying several, before one of the undead warriors came close, swinging its sword, only for Roman to block the attack with his cane, before twisting his cane to spin the undead warrior around then smacking it in the head with his cane, knocking it off balance, then backed away to fire another flare, destroying it and several other undead warriors.
Narrowing his eyes, Nirnasha readied the glaive form of Nemesis before charging forward, swinging one end of his weapon downward, Roman raising his cane in defense, before hooking the middle of the glaive, then spinning around, hooking the weapon over the necromancers head, hoisting him on his back and choking him. Throwing his legs overhead, Nirnasha threw himself up and over Roman, landing in front of the ginger man then headbutting him, then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him with an aura powered palm strike, sending him skidding back a bit.
Meanwhile, Weiss thrusted Myrtenaster at Neo, the mute girl raising her sword to easily block and parry the sword strikes, getting in hits of her own. Weiss then swung her blade horizontally, but Neo ducked under the swing before backflipping away before sitting atop a nearby crate, grinning mockingly at the Schnee heiress.
Growling, Weiss summoned a glyph to summon a pack of three Beowolves, the constructs charging towards the mute foe, said foe smirking before leaping off the crate, thrusting her blade forward as she came down into one of the Beowolves head, then jumped and did the same maneuver with the second one, before bringing both bladed weapons down upon the last one, effectively killing all three, the constructs fading.
Weiss felt her back press against Nirnasha, who was having similar troubles.
"Too much for you, I assume?" Weiss asked.
"There's obviously more to this criminal than meets the eye." Nirnasha nodded.
"Well, we'd best think up a new strategy," Weiss said. "And hope our allies are having better luck."
Before Qrow, Loki, or even Ruby could make a move, Judas swung his large sword forward, releasing a powerful gust of wind, which sent the two students back, but Qrow managed to brace himself before charging forward, Harbinger in hand, swinging his weapon downward, Judas raising his blade in defense, their clashing blades letting out a loud clang that echoed across the tunnel, the two former friends staring into each other's eyes with hate before pushing one another away and clashing blades in fierce swordplay.
Ruby and Loki managed to maintain their balance and avoid being knocked down, but were suddenly intercepted by White Fang grunts; some aiming their guns, while others were charging in with their melee weapons. Ruby jumped back and swung her scythe, sending one of the grunts skyward, swung horizontally to knock another to the side, used her Semblance to speed past bullets fired upon her by a gunman, and she got close enough, she delivered a backflip kick that sent the grunt flying before crashing into the ground.
Loki rolled over the first grunt before doing a flip-kick to his head, then launched himself over a pair of grunts, back-flipping over them, before slashing them both as he landed, then black-flipped yet again, firing several shots as he spun, taking out several grunts before landing again.
Back with Qrow and Judas, the two traded sword slashes, either blocking or parrying, before backing away from one another, Qrow switching Harbinger into its scythe form, and Judas switching Shattered Sanity into its spear form, both men circling each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
"You can't win, Judas." Qrow spat. "Those two will break right through your minions!"
Silent, Judas turned his head towards the two Huntsmen-in-training fighting before looking back at his former friend, "Is that so?"
Before Qrow could ask anything, he saw the eyes of the mask split apart, revealing the top part of his burnt and scarred face, his darkened silver eyes staring at him, before suddenly they widened, his pupils dilating and veins popping out around his eyes and glowing, Qrow's eyes widening in shock as he knew Judas was using his Semblance; Pure Madness.
Down below, Loki and Ruby looked in confusion as the White Fang grunts suddenly start shaking before screaming before charging at the duo in blind fury, surprising the two and forcing them to go on the defensive.
"Your kids will have to try harder if they want to take part," Judas said darkly. "Or rather, YOU should try better than relying on others."
"And what's wrong with that?" Qrow growled.
The Branwen charged forward, swinging his scythe downward, but Judas jumped back, dodging the attack, before thrusting his spear forward, releasing a tornado crackling with electricity. Qrow switched to his corvid form, flying over the electrified tornado, before diving down at Judas, switching back to his human form, Harbinger in its sword form, bringing it down in an overhead slash, but Judas was able to bring his weapon in its sword form fast enough to block the attack, pushing Qrow back a bit, practically towering over him.
"You have no chance of winning, Branwen." The Silver-Eyed Traitor said. "You can't protect the girl forever."
"I won't let you lay a finger on her!" Qrow yelled, trying to push back, but Judas simply held his ground, proving to be much stronger.
Ruby and Loki were caught off guard by the sudden push from the mad-driven White Fang grunts, the enemies suddenly charging forward and swinging wildly, as well as firing nonstop, forcing the two to go on the defensive.
"Man, what's with these guys?!" Loki questioned aloud. "They just went berserk all of a sudden!"
"We won't be able to help uncle Qrow at this rate!" Ruby yelled out.
Suddenly, a large number of mad-driven grunts were knocked aside by Cenric, charging into the crowd with his shield held out in front of him, while Turoc sped behind him, firing away with his crossbow.
"Leave these grunts to us!" Cenric yelled, readying a stance. "Go help Mr. Branwen!"
"Don't worry, we'll take these guys off your hands!" Turoc added.
Nodding, the red and green duo charged toward the fight between Qrow and Judas, leaving the tail-spinner and Spartan to deal with the insanity-driven grunts.
Qrow jumped back and defended with Harbinger as best he could, the rogue Huntsman swinging savagely with Shattered Sanity, before the two came to another clash, Judas once again towering over him as he pushed down on his weapon.
"You can't escape." Judas said darkly.
"Hey, asshole!"
He turned his head to see Loki charge in, Polydeuces and Castor brought over head to swing down, only for Judas to catch both blades with a single hand, shocking Loki greatly, but Ruby rushed in, launching herself with a shot from Crescent Rose for an extra boost, scythe drawn back to swipe down at Judas…
"Get lost, brats."
Only for the traitor to brutally kick Ruby square in the chest, sending her crashing into the dirt, coughing furiously from the blow.
"RUBY!" Qrow and Loki yelled out in concern simultaneously.
Just as they did that, Judas spun around, dragging the two along and tossed them away, the two landing in front of Ruby defensively.
"Ruby, you okay, kiddo?!" Qrow asked, checking on his niece.
"I-I'm okay!" Ruby said, standing on shaky knees, rubbing her chest. "Ow, that hurt!"
"This guy's stronger and more skilled than I heard." Loki remarked. "And here I was thinking we were ready for him!"
"He was trained by Ozpin himself, so be on your toes!" Qrow warned.
The three Hunters readied themselves for more, the Silver-Eyed Traitor readying his own weapon, not intending to show any mercy.
Above ground, several Atlesian airships were already floating above the ruins of Mountain Glenn, as several Atlesian soldiers, Knights, as well as Paladins touched ground with gravity Dust infused generators that slowed their fall, allowing them to safely descend onto ground.
Atlesian General James Ironwood, along with Specialist Winter Schnee, were also among the number, the lot closing in on the entrance to the subway tunnels.
"Fan out and secure the area!" He commanded. "Remember; capture them alive if possible! Only shoot to kill if left with no other option!"
"Yes sir!" The soldiers replied.
"General, are you certain Qrow's message was accurate?" Winter asked.
"For once, it is, Specialist Schnee." Ironwood nodded. "And no doubt a lot of White Fang terrorists hiding out here."
"We'll bring them to justice, sir!" Winter declared. "Hopefully, Nathan hasn't gotten himself or his team into serious trouble."
"You and me both, Specialist." Ironwood agreed. "Now, let's get into those tunnels! Hopefully, we're not too late."
"Hold still, you fucking bitch!"
Honoka rarely lost his calm and nonchalant demeanor, but the mysterious female adversary he was currently fighting against sent his blood into a boiling frenzy by actually being able to wound him and cutting his favorite fedora in half. The snake-faunus had almost never suffered any injuries in his life before, since the majority of those who made attempts on his life were already dead, so that was already a substantial blow to his pride.
Cutting his beloved fedora in half, however, was literally a death-sentence for anyone who knew Honoka…or at least those who was on talking terms with him. So, to say that Honoka was furious would be a terrible understatement of the century.
The snake-faunus swung his knives in blind fury at his masked adversary, yet the said opponent was simply dodging every single attack thrown at her in what looked like a series of complex dance-like bodily gestures. Not only was she capable of weaving left and right agilely, the masked woman easily sneaked in attacks of her own, ranging from complicated figure-of-eight sword slashes to whirling whip cracks that Honoka had to dodge himself or suffer further bleeding cuts or serious wounds.
No matter what kind of attack combination he threw at the female warrior, she countered it easily and the subsequent riposte was returned with such unerring accuracy that Honoka couldn't help but feel a tiny twinge of what felt like admiration towards her. As their blades clashed again and again, throwing out hot sparks every time their weapons screeched against each other, he nonetheless felt himself getting angrier and angrier due to him unable to defeat his present enemy quickly.
Honoka suddenly leapt backwards, putting some distance between him and his opponent as he got ready to unleash his chain-blades. "You got a fucking death wish?!" He demanded furiously, then launched one of his chain-blades towards her only for the masked woman to swiftly swerve around the latest attack and spin her sword in a rapid move to counter his thrown knives, "Are you seriously tryin' to piss me off?!"
She gave no answer, perhaps not even considering him worthy of any.
Before the snake-faunus could launch his other chain-blade in her direction, the armored female fighter charged in with such incredible speed that almost none of the recently thrown knives Honoka launched her way managed to even connect with her speedy form, save for one which she caught in mid-air between two fingers and then spun it tip down in her hand.
Crossing the last few meters between herself and Honoka, the female warrior swung her ornate sword which had transformed into its whip-sword form at his head. The snake-faunus quickly ducked, but realized too late that it was merely a feint for her next attack. With stunning swiftness she struck him square in the chin with a roundhouse kick, knocking Honoka's head back and throwing him off balance while spitting a mouthful of bloodied spit. He tried to grab hold of her extended foot, trying to pull her closer in order to throw her, but instead suffered another hit on his right leg in the form of a slash from her sword's biting edge which opened a long bleeding wound that nearly reached his right calf.
Hissing in pain and unable to fight back properly due to the combination of impressive agility from his opponent and ever-increasing number of wounds, Honoka unexpectedly felt the finishing strike of his enemy's combo in the form of a jumping uppercut kick to his chin. The amount of strength delivered was so powerful that it sent the black-suited man halfway into the air and then slamming down heavily into the ground, his aura shattering instantly and knocking him unconscious.
With the fight over, the masked woman simply shook her head at her fallen enemy and twirled the knife she caught from Honoka briefly within her fingers as though contemplating whether to toss it back to him. Giving a small shrug, she then slid the wicked-looking knife into an empty slot on the belt of her armored suit and sheathed her sword before turning her attention to Corrina and moving quickly to her fallen form. The white-haired Huntress laid among the debris of the shattered boulders; clearly knocked senseless that she wasn't even aware of the life-threatening battle that took place mere meters away from her.
The dragon-masked female fighter gazed down at the dragon-faunus through her heavily-detailed dragon mask with melancholic eyes for a moment, before Corrina began to slowly stir and look up at her savior through hazy eyes. She moved sluggishly while moaning in evident pain, struggling into a kneeling position slowly due to the many wounds she had already sustained. The Huntress could vaguely sense someone standing a short distance away, but due to her head still having a concussion she only saw the outline of a lithe feminine figure dressed in a grey cloak slowly taking a few steps backward, her attention speedily turning towards the tunnel's entrance.
"Hold it right there!"
Spinning around, the cloaked masked woman was greeted by the sight of a sizable Atlesian strike team all pointing their guns at her from several meters away. At the forefront of the rather large group of Atlesian soldiers stood the figures of both General Ironwood and Specialist Winter, the former having already drawn Due Process while the latter had unsheathed her dueling sword.
"Don't move!" Winter barked, "I don't know who you are, but you're under arrest!"
"Step away from the Huntress." Ironwood added as he aimed his pistol, "And no sudden moves."
Shaking her head a little as though she was chuckling, the masked woman slowly removed her gauntleted hands from her weapons and lifted them up. Before anyone within the strike team could tighten their fingers on the triggers of their guns, she dropped four spherical devices which rolled towards them which popped hissing dark smoke that rapidly dropped visibility.
"Smoke!" Winter shouted as she ran forward to engage, but the mysterious armored woman had already disappeared into the darkness of the nearest secondary tunnel. Ironwood immediately ordered a number of soldiers to give chase, but it wasn't long before they reported back saying that they found no trace of the cloaked feminine warrior.
"How did she…?" Winter muttered to herself, confusion writ on her features.
"There's no use worrying about that. For now, we need to apprehend anyone we found in this major transit tunnel before they escape as well." Ironwood said as he gestured for a couple of Atlesian soldiers to take the unconscious Honoka into custody.
He then turned to the fallen Corrina, "Miss Corrina, are you alright? Do you require any medical attention?"
Groaning a little, Corrina sat up with some struggling effort. Her concussion clearly wasn't going away anytime soon, as she clutched her head in obvious pain.
"Fuck, I've got a splitting headache." She groaned
"Don't worry, you're in safe hands now." Ironwood assured her with a small nod, "Also, we have secured Honoka Midori."
"But the other assailant managed to escape!" Winter protested, pointing a gloved finger at the tunnel which the masked female figure had vanished into.
"I…I have a feeling she meant me no harm." Corrina said groggily, "I also think…think she saved my life."
Ironwood and Winter looked at each other, both of their faces sharing unspoken questions just as a medic detached from the nearest squad to give Corrina some emergency medical attention. Eventually, Winter asked, "But why would she save you? And who was she? Another Huntress operating in the same area?" There was some visible confusion in her voice, "And why wouldn't she flash her Huntress license when we demanded her to drop her weapons?"
"Most importantly, we don't know why she aided Corrina nor what she hopes to gain from such actions." Ironwood mentioned as additional squads of Atlesian soldiers poured into the tunnel, "I suppose it's a mystery for another time. For now, it seems that we are just in time to make some arrests."
Blake ducked under another katana swing from Sebastian, then back flipped away when he swung upwards, before firing upon her adversary, the wolf-faunus flipping to the side, dodging the gun fire before fireing an arrow, but Blake rolled to the side, leaving a shadow copy to take the hit before firing again, Sebastian jumping behind cover, readying another arrow, but his eyes widened at the sight of several Atlesian soldiers round the corner, weapons at the ready.
'Crap!" Sebastian said to himself. 'I didn't think we'd see the Atlesian Military show up! We need to fall back!'
He turned and ran, spotting Adam and Nathaniel, the two looking as though they were about to go at each other.
"Adam!" He yelled, gaining the leader's attention before running up to him. "The Atlesian Military is here! We must fall back!"
Adam seemed to contemplate this, but turned to Nathaniel with a scowl, "This isn't over, Nathan. We will meet again."
And with that, the high ranking members of the White Fang turned and ran, Nathaniel standing there and watched as Blake ran to his side.
"Nate, are you alright?" She asked with concern. "That no doubt was a tough fight."
"I'm fine, Blake." Nathaniel assured. "Sure, he was a challenge, but nothing I can't handle."
Before they could continue, Winter soon joined them, wrapping her arms around Nathaniel's neck in a hug.
"Nathan, thank the Gods you're alright!" She declared, before backing up a bit with her hands on his shoulders. "I was concerned for a bit there."
"Nothing I couldn't handle, love." Nathaniel smirked. "Besides, I had a feeling you weren't too far behind."
"Well, mind helping us round these criminals up?" Winter asked with a smile.
Sting raised his hands to catch the blade of Magatsu's Persona form, buckling a bit before batting the blade away before delivering a punch to the face, pushing the towering foe back. The Dust-Persona then swapped colors again, this time a mix between red and yellow, before unleashing a wave of fire and electricity, Sting just raising his arms to block, while Oliver opened his umbrella to block.
"Sting, you really must stop trying to tank attacks like that." Oliver chided. "Otherwise, you won't be able to take another blow."
"Relax, will ya?" Sting chuckled. "Besides, I've got him where I want him!"
As Magatsu brought his blade down, aiming to cleave the elder Huntsman in two, Sting batted the blade away with both hands, before using his Silver-Eyed boost to increase his speed and strength, then threw a powerful punch to the face, the mask of the Persona cracking a bit, the Huntsman yelling 'ora' as he launched a barrage of fast, brutal punches, as several cracks started appearing across the body of the Persona, before then delivering one final punch to the face, sending the being back quite some distance away, the being falling to one knee before crumbling away, Magatsu panting heavily, clutching his chest.
"Now you've done it…" He said through ragged breath.
"Now, you'd best come quietly," Sting said, his Silver-Eyed power shutting off. "Otherwise, you're gonna get more beaten down."
There was only silence, before the masked man started chuckling, much to the confusion of the elder Huntsmen, before pulling out a medium-sized Dust crystal.
"Maybe next time, bitch."
Suddenly, Magatsu threw the crystal at their feet before firing a shot at said crystal, causing it to explode, the two bringing their arms up to shield their eyes from the blast, then the masked man ran off opposite of the Huntsmen.
Yang charged forward, throwing a flurry of punches, all of which Asterion easily blocked, before sending his own punch, which Yang blocked against, the punch pushing her back some. Kicking dust behind him, Asterion charged forward, his horns pointed forward, aiming to impale the blonde brawler, only for Raven to jump in front and wrap her arms around the large man's neck, applying a hold and digging her heels into the dirt, stopping the bull-faunus' momentum and holding him in place, much to Asterion's surprise.
"Yang, pay close attention!" Raven shouted. "You wanna be a badass, WATCH AND LEARN!"
With that statement, grabbing the hems of her opponent's trousers, she then proceeded to suplex the bull-faunus, holding him above her head for several minutes, before slamming him down onto the hard concrete.
Yang watched this in awe, amazed by her mother's strength, as the bandit leader got to her feet, breathing heavily, "And THAT…is how it's done!"
Yang was silent for a moment, before suddenly shouting with glee, "THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!"
Before they could celebrate further, Asterion was slowly sitting up, getting to his hands and knees, breathing heavily, his aura nearly drained, and his stamina was running short.
'How can this be…?' He thought to himself in disbelief. 'Was I…not prepared for this?'
"You were in over your head, big guy," Raven taunted with a smirk. "A good old ass-kicking is what you get when you bite off more than you can chew!"
Only growling in response, Asterion made to stand, only for several Atlesian guards to approach, rifles drawn and aimed at the White Fang Hand.
"It's pointless to keep fighting." Raven said with a smirk. "You're better off surrendering."
Asterion only glared at the tribe leader in response, a moment of defiance on his face, only to close his eyes and kneel, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Good boy." Raven said mockingly as the soldiers cuffed the bull-faunus, before she turned to Ironwood as he approached. "Took you long enough to show up."
"Had to find the entrance." Ironwood shrugged. "Not to mention we had to go through several waves of Grimm to get here."
"Well, you're here now." Raven said. "Now, I'd best go help my brother."
Weiss rushed forward, Myrtenaster pointed forward, aiming to stab Neo, but the mute girl batted the weapon away with her own sword several times, before ducking under a swing before back flipping away, before rushing in with a thrust of her own rapier, Weiss raising her weapon to defend herself, blades pressing against each other, Neo staring into her eyes with a grin, before the two pushed away from each other, Weiss applying her Glyphs to increase her speed, dashing forward, Neo blocking the attack, before Weiss summoned several Glyphs around them, using them as platforms to leap off of, attacking Neo with swift strikes, Neo doing her best to block.
Nirnasha threw off his cloak before dashing forward, swinging his scythes, Roman raised his cane in defense, then spun it, grappling the necromancer then tripping him up.
"Man, is this all you can manage?" The crime boss laughed. "I was expecting more from the 'future generations of Huntsmen'!"
Ignoring the taunt, Nirnasha got up and holstered Life and Death, then brought out Nemesis and fired a few lightning bolts, Roman dodging the first two and batted away the third, then Nirnasha charged forward, Nemesis in its glaive form, and swung downward, Roman raising his cane in defense, then Nirnasha jumped back and swung his arm in an upward arc, sending a wave of necro-arms, Roman gasping in surprise as he jumped to the side, avoiding the arms, before Nirnasha rushed in and hit him with several swings from Life and Death, before ending his combo with a spin attack with his weapons before delivering a backwards kick, sending Roman falling to the broken concrete.
The mob boss made to get up, only to be grabbed and held into place by several spirit arms, looking to see Nirnasha with two necro-glyphs before him.
"You won't be going anywhere today." Nirnasha said with a smirk.
Scowling, Roman turned his head to see Ironwood and several Atlesian soldiers at his side approach.
"You've done well, son." Ironwood declared. "We'll take it from here."
Nodding, Nirnasha retracted the necro-arms to allow the soldiers to secure Torchwick in handcuffs, before turning to the girls fight, Neo's eyes widened at the sight of her partner and father figure being apprehended.
"You've got nowhere to go." Weiss pointed out as Nirnasha joined her side. "I suggest that you give up."
With narrowed eyes, Neo looked towards Roman, who only nodded, before she looked back at the duo, readying a stance, as if to say 'I'm not about to give up.'. Readying their own stances, Weiss and Nirnasha waited for the mute criminal to make a move, then the unexpected happened; Neo turned and ran of opposite of them.
"Hey!" Weiss cried out, about to chase her down, but Nirnasha held her back.
"Don't bother." He said. "It doesn't look like she'll be a problem for now."
"Are you certain of that?" Weiss asked with a raised brow.
"If she tries anything, we'll be ready." Nirnasha assured. "For now, we should help our friends."
Ruby was first to rush forward, swinging her scythe at Judas, only for the Silver-Eyed traitor to skip back to avoid the attack before thrusting his sword forward, Ruby barely able to duck and roll under the blade before swinging her scythe, Judas swinging his sword around to block, then catching the blade of Qrow's scythe as he swung to attack him before pulling him in for a headbutt, staggering him a bit, then kicked him in the chest to push him back before spinning and hitting Ruby with an elbow to the face, knocking her off balance, then swiping his blade upwards, sending the red-hooded girl flying.
Charging in from behind, Loki jumped and swung his swords downward, only for Judas to turn around and raise his weapon, blocking the attack before pushing the trickster away, said trickster switching his weapons to their gun forms before firing away, but Judas turned his sword to its spear form, spinning said spear to block the bullets before thrusting his spear outwards, sending a storm of wind and fire. The trickster barely having time to roll out of the way to avoid the attack before firing a pair of lightning-infused Dust rounds, Judas sticking his spear in the ground in response, erecting an earth wall to block the bullets.
After freeing his spear from the ground, Judas made to press his attack, only for Qrow to swoop in with a downward slash of Harbinger in its sword form, earning a pained grunt from the traitor, then for good measure, delivered a strong, aura powered uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying, but the Silver-Eyed traitor went with the momentum, flipping backwards in the air before landing on his feet, cloak flapping behind him.
Standing up straight, Judas glared back at the Branwen twin with his eyes screaming bloody murder behind his mask, while Qrow only stared back, Harbinger in hand, his eyes riddled with a mixture of sadness and anger. The former friends standing just a few feet from one another, weapons tightened in their grip, ready to strike.
Eventually, Loki and Ruby joined the elder Huntsman's side, weapons in hand.
"Man, this guy is strong!" Loki said. "He's no doubt old, but he's still got it!"
"There has to be some way we can win!" Ruby growled through gritted teeth.
While Qrow was worried for his niece's mental health, he was analyzing the traitor, his eyes scanning over the man, before he came up with a strategy.
"Guys, I have an idea." He said in a hushed tone. "It's kinda a long shot, but if we can get his aura in the red, he'll be too exhausted to fight!"
"And considering that aura is the essence of the soul," Loki said before finishing in realization. "He'll be too tired to keep fighting!"
"Bingo!" Qrow smirked. "Now, get ready, and watch out for his attacks."
Readying themselves, the trio went back on the attack, charging forward, Judas simply stood with his sword pointed forward before unleashing a tornado of fire, the trio splitting up to avoid the flames, Ruby charging from the left and Loki from the right, both aiming for a pincer attack, but Judas swung his sword, blowing the two back with Dust-powered wind, but Qrow flew over the fire in his corvid form before switching back to his human form in the air, screaming as he brought his sword down, cutting into Judas' aura, said aura appearing to be cracking.
"We've almost got him!" Qrow called. "Just a bit more!"
The trio kept up their attack, Judas doing his best to defend from their attack, but his aura was getting lower and lower and cracking even more.
"He's on his last leg!" Qrow declared. "Loki, lock him in place!"
Nodding, Loki switched the dials on his pistols, then fired ice Dust-infused bullets, freezing the traitor into place, preventing him from moving.
"Ruby, will you do the honors?" Qrow asked.
"Gladly!" Ruby replied.
The red-hooded girl jumped back some distance away, taking a running start, then using her Semblance to speed herself up, she charged forward at the speed of a fired bullet, objects and debris being blown away as she ran past with Petal Burst, and as she closed in, she stuck her foot out and with a yell, kicked Judas hard in the face, shattering the ice that encased him and cracking his mask, the attack sending him off his feet, sending him crashing into the dirt, his sword clattering next to him.
Breathing heavily, the three eased up their stances and gaze at the prone form of Judas, before Ruby started chuckling, then her chuckling turned to laughter, gaining the worried attention from Loki and Qrow.
"Did you see that?!" Ruby said with glee in her voice. "We did it! We beat him! We showed him!"
Qrow and Loki seemed unsure, before Loki laughed along, "Yeah, it sure looks like it!"
While they were celebrating, however, something stirred in Judas' shoulders, like something was emerging from his shoulders, before sinking back in with a loud hissing sound that earned the trio's attention, as Judas gripped the handle of Shattered Sanity, then sat up sharply, his cowl draped over his mask, breathing heavily through what sounded like a respirator.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Loki gulped.
Using his sword as support, Judas got to his feet, a hand pressing against the face of his mask, eyes glaring at them from under the mask, the sclera of his eyes turning pitch black and the veins popping around his eyes pulsed with something black, and his aura glowing a fiery black, as he gave off a feral growl like a feral beast.
Right off the bat, Qrow felt the murderous intent coming off the traitors very being.
"Kids," He started to say, but suddenly…
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Judas screamed a demonic roar of hate and rage, his aura blazing in a fiery explosion, the trio raising their arms to shield their eyes from the inferno, before the traitor charged forwards, sword overhead to swing down.
"MOOOVE!"
Once Qrow said that, the trio jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the wave of fire that crashed against a pile of crates filled with Dust, causing a massive explosion, which caused a chain reaction with several nearby Dust crates, causing a large number of explosions. He then swung his sword to the right, unleashing a thunderstorm of electricity and wind, causing electronics to explode and sending various debris flying. He then swung his sword to the left, releasing a wave of lava and burning earth, melting everything in its path and killing any unfortunate White Fang grunt that happened to get caught in his path.
Qrow barely had time to raise his sword before the enraged traitor charged him, his Shattered Sanity pressing down on Harbinger, Qrow struggling to stand his ground, but Judas suddenly spun his blade around, knocking Qrow off balance before swinging hard and knocking Qrow's weapon out of his hand, then swung downward, slashing Qrow across the torso, leaving a large gash wound, shattering his aura.
Gasping in pain, Qrow didn't have time to dodge a punch to the chest from Judas, the attack sending him flying into a pillar before falling to the floor, a hand over his wound and coughing up blood. Breathing heavily, Qrow looked up to see Judas towering over him, eyes filled with hate, before he raised his sword above his head, aiming to bring it down on his neck…
"GET AWAY FROM MY UNCLE!"
Ruby screamed as she darted forward, Crescent Rose over her head to swing down, only for Judas to bat the weapon away with his sword before back handing the girl, sending her into the dirt. Looking at Qrow, as if to tell him to watch, he trained his eyes on Ruby, sword dragging along the concrete as Ruby struggled to get up, her aura dangerously in the red, as she looked up to see Judas standing before her, Shattered Sanity in its spear form and being held up in his right hand, about to thrust it into her head…
"I DON'T THINK SO!"
Loki yelled as he jumped in, flying from the gravity Dust, and swung with one of his swords once he got closer, severing Judas' right arm, both limb and weapon clattering to the floor with a heavy thud.
Screaming loudly, Judas collapsed to his knees, gripping his wound, but Loki noticed that no blood was spewing out, and upon looking at the severed limb, he saw the limb was in fact a cybernetic limb.
'Oh, right, Qrow said that my dad cut his arm off.' Loki thought to himself, remembering the last time Qrow talked about the traitor. 'Man, talk about irony…I think?'
Helping his friend up, the two went to check on Qrow, who managed to sit himself against the pillar he was sent flying into earlier.
"Uncle Qrow, are you okay?!" Ruby asked in great concern.
"Tsk, don't worry too much, kiddo." Qrow said half-heartedly. "I've gone through worse than this."
Before they could continue their banter, they felt a powerful wind brush past, and looking over their shoulders, they saw Magatsu in his Persona form, unaware that it was actually the masked man, picking up the prone Judas before launching through the ceiling, leaving a large hole for Adam, Sebastian and Neo, along with several White Fang grunts, to escape through.
"Damn, looks like most of them got away!" Cenric sneered, as he and Turoc joined up with them.
"But hey, at least we've got half of them." Turoc declared with a grin. "So that's gotta put a dent in their pride and morale."
Raven shoved past the young Hunters and soldiers before kneeling at her brother, inspecting his wound.
"Sorry I was late, little brother." She apologized. "That larger bull-Faunus kept me and Yang busy."
"Holy crap, that's gonna leave a mark!" Yang said at the sight of Qrow's wound.
"Eh, don't sweat it." Qrow waved it off. "Besides, I'm used to it."
"Hang in there, Qrow; we've got a medical team here." Ironwood said, as several medics came in with stretchers. "We'll get you and Corrina back for medical attention."
"I can walk y'know." Qrow scoffed before frowning. "Wait, what happened with Corrin?"
"She took quite a beating from Honoka." The Atlesian General said. "We can have a proper debrief once we get back to the academy."
"I guess so." Qrow sighed before picking up the severed cybernetic arm of Judas and the sword. "Ozpin will want to see this."
With their mission complete, the Hunters, young and old, helped with apprehending the other White Fang grunts, as well as making sure the Hands of the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, before making their way out of the tunnels. It was rough, and the fight was close, but they were able to complete their mission.
As they were leaving to board the bullhead back to the academy, however, they were unaware of a cloaked figure watching from the rooftops, wearing a kitsune mask, watching as the Huntsmen and Atlesian Military hauled away several grunts, the hands, and Roman, before shaking their head, as if in disappointment, before turning and leaving the scene.
And FINALLY, the new chapter is complete! Oh man, I had some fun writing this chapter out, although I do apologize if the ending seems a bit rushed, I really hope it's alright. But I really had fun writing this chapter, and I'm sorry for taking so long, I've just been busy with real-life crap, plus I've been working overtime at work, you know how it is.
Anyways, massive shoutout to my homie, Relentless Crusader, for his contributions to two of the scenes in this chapter, specifically the fight between Honoka and Corrina, as well as Krymenos' appearance, and like I said before, if you want, feel free to give his page a look, the link is in my bio.
Some of the fights I had a lot of fun with, especially with Judas, showing how dangerous he can be when he really gets angry. And I've had fun with Honoka's fight as well, and thanks to RC, incorporating Hazama's mannerisms and fighting style so that was fun. I really enjoyed writing out the other fights, don't get me wrong, but I think the Judas fight was my favorite one to do. Still, I think I can do better with my writing out fight scenes, so if there's anywhere I can improve on, let me know!
And before I forget, I should explain Judas' Semblance, Pure Madness: this Semblance allows him to manipulate the mental state of those around him. The first ability of his Semblance, as you saw in this chapter allows him to cause people to go absolutely berserk, attacking anyone in sight. The second allows him to cause people around him to make people confess their crimes and misdeeds. The third ability, however, allows him to cause someone to mentally shut down, rendering them a mindless husk. He can use his Semblance to cause many accidents and scandals, similar to the mental shutdowns in Persona 5.
Anyways, now that our heroes have successfully stopped the Breach, now we move on to the end of Volume 2! And with that, thank you guys for reading and stay tuned for more! Reviews are greatly appreciated!