Vol: 7 Chapter 24: Pit of Heresy
Jingo Jungle (Saga of Tanya the Evil)
English Lyrics: AmaLee (LeeandLie)
I will lock on love
I will lock on love
(The title Rise of the Iron Wolves: Terramind appears before switching to an image where Cabal soldiers are seen storming across a battlefield as the image slowly transforms to Penny floating in the air as the camera zooms in on her left eye)
Don't go away
There's nowhere else to run
I know that's what we want
I know it's a war we want
(Penny gives the camera a stern look as the camera focuses on her while she sings the next two lines)
So raise your guns
Come on, let's have some fun
I know that's what we want
I know it's a war we want
(Penny stands in front of Wolfgang's grave with Team RWBY, all five of them saluting as Penny sings the last two lines again)
Coming up … Coming up
The eyes that only see prey
An instinct to act on
The bloodlust and it's just
Not enough … Not enough
But that's the chain of command
And now we know we must not hide
(A darkened shot of the Hellas Basin Schnee tech lab appears with a very faint and almost transparent figure of Penny, Weiss and Winter appear in the base standing there and walking towards the screen while their designs change from Vol. 1 to current. Then show's the image of of Penny's old robot body, one of Winters old dolls and a portrait of the Schnee family before the three destroy them)
We honor the JINGOS (oh oh oh)
And the beast we unleash
To indulge in our desires
We are in the JUNGLE (oh oh oh)
With our claws – a killing spree
With our fangs – Can you keep up with me? (Ohh)
(The next images are of Deus, Ironwood and Sky, before changing to Penny and team RWBY standing in front of Rasputin, and then to a shadow shot of what looks like a Knight in robes, a girl in a dress and a giant worm. It then transitions to Penny, Winter, and Weiss's eyes switching rapidly and looking at the screen.)
I will lock on love
I will lock on love
(Bullets fly before the final shot is of Penny, Weiss and Winter standing with their backs to the camera as they stood in the melting snow of the Hellas Basin, before the image burned away.)
-Immortal Rage-
Autumn and Emerald were sitting in the twins' room with Sky, Yang, Sun and Blake as they tried to get the two infants to settle down for their daily nap. Unfortunately though, the two babies seemed rather stubborn to go to sleep.
"Is this really what I'll be experiencing eight and a half months from now?" Yang asked, now a month and a half into her pregnancy.
"Trust us, it's worth it. Even if these little bundles of joy can be a little irritating sometimes." Emerald said as she nuzzled her nose to Blaze's little one, clearly trying not to seem angry with her baby. Autumn meanwhile was trying to rock Mint back and forth in her arms.
"Does anyone here know a really beautiful lullaby? That might be what we need." Sun commented, causing Sky and Autumn to pause as a memory flashed in the maiden's mind.
"Well, my mom used to sing one to us when we were little, but I can't remember the words." The Grimm Knight said as he scratched his head.
"I think I do." The Obsidian princess piped up. She then tried to remember the tune and started humming it, which got the attention of the twins who stopped squirming and started listening.
"The sun has set, the day is done. The blue gives way to grey. The beasts of field find warren warm, to keep the chill at bay." She sang softly to her children as the two mothers set them in their crib. "But you are not a beast, and you are not the sky. You are your mothers' love-made-flesh, fragile as a sigh." She sang softly, stroking Mint's hair as Blaze rubbed his cheek into Emerald's hand.
Sky felt tears well up in his eyes as memories of days long since past surfaced in his mind. Autumn then continued with Emerald joining. "And so you need no warren, only mothers' warm embrace. A soft cocoon of nursle, our hearts alike in pace." The two sang as the twins slowly started to nod off. "So I hold you, hold you mother-strong, love a beacon burning bright, second only to our Moon's eternal light."
Blake and Yang started tearing up at the sheer love behind the lullaby as the two felt similar memories resurface in their minds. Ones of Kali and Ghira for Blake, and Tai and Summer for Yang.
"And so I hold you, young one, in our Moon's eternal light. Guard you as you slumber, dear, in our Moon's eternal light." The girls continued, both babies yawning as they were slowly tucked in, not quite asleep yet. "Wake soon, my young so rested, in our Moon's eternal light. Feel our mother-warmth, sweet one, in our Moon's eternal light." They continued to sing as they set the two's stuffed animals next to them.
"Your mothers must retire now. Let you pass the night onward. But love will keep a hearth alight. If this, your heart we stirred. For you are not alone, my nymphs. 'Neath your chests our love does beat. So mothers' never stray too far. Though distant we may be. And we'll embrace in night's retreat, when skies are blue once more, when twilight grounds fear and deceit against the evening's foreign shore." The girls sang as the babies started to really give into sleep, but were trying to fight it, not wanting their mothers to leave as their little hands grabbed their fingers, both letting out tired whimpers.
"So shed no tears now, our young, you are within our ever-sight, for always love it carries by, our Moon's eternal light." The two finished the song as they softly kissed their babies' foreheads as they finally drifted off to sleep.
"Th… That was beautiful." Yang choked as she wiped away her tears along with Sky, Blake and Sun. Autumn smiled as she hugged Emerald close to her and rested her head on hers.
"Now matter what I have to do, I will protect our children. And you." The fall maiden said to her wife, looking down at her. "Nothing matters more." She added.
"We are family. We protect each other with our lives." Sky nodded as he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.
"Thank you, Sky." The girl sighed. She then looked at Emerald again, her current attire being the same outfit she'd worn since Beacon. "Come on, let's get you some new clothes." She told her.
(Later)
-Mantle, Mainstreet-
"So, you girls want to join us, huh?" Robyn Hill said as she looked at Autumn and Emerald.
The mintette was now donned a new set of clothes. She now wore a mint green long sleeve shirt that actually covered her midriff and cleavage, with off the shoulder pulled back sleeves beneath a cropped white quilted leather, double breasted biker jacket contrasted with black notch lapels with matching cuffs alongside her emblem on the back in black as well as a belt loop at the bottom of the jacket's hem. Completing her ensemble are matching white, skinny jeans and brown chaps that end at her thighs, they appear flared with a small open section with straps on the lower calves. The tops and bottoms of the chaps have a mint green trimming to them as well. She also wears an overlong belt, twice-wrapped, to which her chap straps connect to. She keeps her weapon holsters attached to the back of the belts. She completes her outfit with a pair of brown ankle boots with metal toe plating. Her hair is also noticeably fuller and longer and her irises are wider. Emerald also wears a red gradient gem pendant around her neck and a beaded bracelet on her right wrist.
"That's correct." Autumn nodded. "I'm not a fool; I know everyone's suspicious of me for what happened at Beacon. But give me the benefit of the doubt, and you'll see how much I've changed." She continued.
Robyn then took a moment to discuss the matter with the rest of her team. "Well girls? What do you think?" She asked as they stepped away from the two. Joanna, the team's main muscle, was the first to speak up. Her response sounded reasonably skeptical.
"How exactly do you plan on proving that you're trustworthy?" She questioned.
"By showing you through action." The Fall maiden responded.
"Alright then. Let's see it." Joanna nodded, deciding to let the Obsidian girl use action to prove herself. Autumn held out her Aura Grimm arm, which was currently wrapped in red bandages to hide its appearance.
"I'm aware that you have a lie detecting semblance, Hill, use it on me." She told the leader.
"Alright." The woman nodded as she took the wrapped hand and activated her semblance. The aura that was in the maiden's arm and Robyn's mingled before she spoke again. "Is this a trick? Is all of this a ruse you're setting up?" She questioned.
"No. This, all of it, is genuine. I wish to make it clear I can be trusted." Autumn replied firmly. Seconds later, the aura flashed green, indicating that she was telling the truth.
"She's… Being honest." Fiona said in surprise.
"I guess your brother's rubbed off on you." Robyn joked to try and ease the tension a little.
"You have no idea." Emerald smiled as she hugged her mistress and nuzzled herself into her chest. May Marigold chuckled at this display of affection.
"Looks like we got a pair of gal pals here." She chuckled.
"Hmmm, so, Minty. What say you and Glasswork here try playing your part in the Happy Huntresses by doing a little bit of a job for us?" Robyn asked Emerald, quickly coming up with nicknames for them rather easily.
"What kind of job are we talking about here?" Emerald asked.
"Nothing too crazy. We just need you to do some spy work on our "friend" the Nomad." The blonde told them. Just then, the derelict flew overhead, shadowing them as they spoke. Meaning that the rogue Huntsman was currently moving to a location for a Gambit match. "Speak of the Devil." She said snarkily.
"Let me guess: it's because of his shenanigans regarding the Rogue Enthralled?" Autumn asked as she looked at the ship.
"And dark power in general. Hell he's even let people who are really good at his game take up the title "Dredgen"." The woman stated. This caused Autumn to take pause, but Emerald seemed confused.
"... Did you just say "Dredgen"?" The Fall Maiden asked.
"Yeah. Same one as Dredgen Yor and the Shadows of Yor. Hell, I've even heard he's trying to create weapons that use Enthralled energy and create weapons like Yor's cannon, Thorn." Robyn told her.
"Yeah, I can see how keeping tabs on him is important." Autumn nodded.
"Um, I may be out of the loop here. Who's Dredgen Yor?" Emerald asked, getting odd looks from everyone else except her mistress
"A rogue huntsman who grafted Grimm essence and bone onto his gun. It corrupted him and he killed a lot of people. Until he was stopped by a legendary gunslinger, Shin Malfur, during the dark age." May told her.
"And the Nomad is doing a similar thing with Enthralled energy. Lovely." The red eyed thief sighed.
"We'll be sure to keep an eye on him." The maiden told her.
"Thanks girls." Robyn said.
(Elsewhere)
Weiss sighed as she looked at Wolfang in the cryo pod before kissing it. "I will bring you back. I promise." She told him before leaving. Later on, she and the girls arrived at a cave in the Hellas Basin.
"If we can find out where this God Worm feeds, we can use the Moon shard to draw out Xol." Deus said as the girls ran into the cave.
"Where do we start?" Ruby asked.
"I ran some scans and found a cavern that intersects with Xol's tunnels." Little Rose said.
"Deus, I've read the files. Rasputin was barely able to stop Xol last time." Winter said in concern.
"Our mission stands. We will defeat Xol, and we won't need the help of a Terramind to do it. Not when we don't know what else it might do." The iron lord said.
"That is not a good way to go about this." Blake said as they kept moving.
"Guys, I'm picking up some kind of interference. I can't make sense of it." Binx told them.
"I hear it too. Give me a minute to analyze it. It could be an encrypted message." Penny responded. Suddenly, several Hive came out of some tunnels that had been carved out in the ice.
"Alright ladies, let's kick these bastards to the curb—Whoa!" Yang said before she was blasted back by something as a blast of ice blue energy burst into the air before it took the shape of Ozma and Salem's eldest daughter, Winter in her witch attire. Her rapidly growing womb expanded belly jostled around after she used her magic power. Her babies were mere minutes from bursting from her themselves.
"Is she… Ugh!" Ruby gagged in disgust. The Hive all circled her as she screamed in pain before she was indeed ripped open by the young inside her, who were given worms to ingest, which caused them to turn into Thralls. Winter meanwhile laid there dead on the ground, eviscerated.
"This is disgusting!" Weiss grimaced as she tried to keep her food in her stomach. Yang pried herself from the cave wall and her eyes turned red as she charged at the Hive and started attacking them. The others followed after her.
They made quick work of the Hive and made sure to obliterate the ones that burst from Winter. Blake even used Arc dust to disintegrate the Knight who led them. However as they finished, they soon saw the previously dead girl suddenly be put back together by magic and healed as if nothing happened, life returning to her form.
The magic using girl soon fell and her breeding needs hit her again. "Must… Keep… Breeding." She breathed before disappearing.
"She's… Her mind's completely erased." Weiss gasped.
"If Salem ever found out about this, she'd be on a warpath. Not that I'd blame her." Yang stated. It was true. She wouldn't blame the Black Queen for wanting Xol and his Knight dead if she ever found out what happened to her daughters. Hell, she might even help her out with that endeavor.
"That's assuming she even cares. After all, they died in the first place because Salem blew up that castle." Winter said as the girls kept moving until they saw more Hive, this time surrounding a glowing crystal.
"I'm picking up some high energy readings coming from that crystal." Penny reported.
"We should probably destroy it, it could be how they're feeding Xol." Blake nodded.
"That Knight looks like it's connected to it, let me see if killing it will do anything." Yang said as she blasted herself towards the Knight and collided her robotic arm with the creature's forehead. That had the desired effect of killing it, but it also dropped a spherical green crystal.
"Hm… I wonder…" Ruby hummed as she picked it up and threw it at the larger crystal, destroying it. "Well, it looks like we know what to do now." She noted.
"Let's keep going." Weiss said as they started running again.
"Scans indicate that there's a cavern where the tunnels intersect. That is the most likely place for Xol's feeding ground." Deus told them. As they kept going, the girls all took notice of how big the tunnels were.
"Look at the size of these tunnels. Xol must be massive." Burn noted.
"For a runt, that is." Binx added.
"Which means he's stronger than we thought." Penny noted.
"All the more reason to deal with him now." Deus said before the girls were suddenly ambushed by some Revenant Knights.
"Gah, I hate getting jumped!" Weiss exclaimed as she sent some fire dust at them. Yang then used her delayed detonators to blow up their shields so Blake and Weiss could slash them apart.
The girls then continued down until they saw Hive surrounding a ritual circle, which summoned an Ascendant Knight, who most likely had a throne world of its own.
"Think that's Brutus?" Blake asked as she loaded Gambol Shroud with fresh rounds.
"No, he's human. That's definitely Hive." Ruby said, shaking her head as she used her semblance to zip around and shoot herself around to hack the weaker hive apart, and let Weiss take down the Knight by using her summoning to shoot her several of her Arma Gigas's swords at it and skewering it.
The Ascendant Knight let out a choked nose before it died. "Hmph." The whitette scoffed. "They were chanting in an archaic style. Something about Brutus being labeled a heretic." She noted.
"What could possibly be heretical for the Hive?" Deus wondered.
"Something about… resurrection?" Winter replied in confusion.
"It's referring to his Necromancy." Yang clarified.
"Makes sense. The Hive follow the Sword logic like the Grimm and Grimm Knights. So Necromancy is basically the worst heresy you can commit in it." Blake nodded.
"Exactly." The blond brawler nodded in affirmative as they reached a new chamber.
"This looks like a holy space. They must be readying an offering for Xol." Little Rose noted as she looked around. In the space was a giant Ogre that was being drained of its power by two of the power stealing crystals.
"Let's deny him, then." Weiss smirked as she sent a blast of fire at some Acolytes to kick things off. The girls started going for the Knights like before. Weiss locked one down with her glyphs, while Blake did the same with a gravity/earth dust clone. This allowed Ruby and Yang to strike the final blows themselves respectively.
"Yang, you know what to do!" The sniper exclaimed as she picked up her green orb and threw it at a crystal. Yang did the same and when the Ogre was open, Ruby grabbed her sister and used her semblance while Yang used hers. This turned the two into a burning rose petal missile and when they collided with the Ogre, it was destroyed instantly.
"Excellent teamwork!" Penny chirped happily.
"The feeding ground should be right below us." Ruby said as she kept running.
"Penny and I just got finished decoding the message. Akka, Eir, Yul, Ur. These are names, ancient powerful ones. The names of the worm gods!" Winter told them.
"This is much bigger than we-" Penny started to add before the comms went offline.
"Winter?! Penny!" Weiss and Ruby yelled in panic.
"We're probably in the thick of all this now. It must be messing up the comms." Blake said. As they continued to move they soon found the feeding ground, but as soon as they did, they were met not by Xol, but by Brutus. He was also with Winter, and they were about to do another breeding ritual. They were completely unaware that the girls were there.
"Wanna crash this? I do." Ruby whispered to Yang. The blonde nodded as she loaded her weapons.
"Hey dirtbag!" Yang yelled as she sent several explosion blasts at the robed Knight. "Hands off the girl!" She yelled.
"GAH! Wretched bitch!" Brutus yelled, pissing off Blake.
"Don't call my girlfriend a bitch!" She yelled fiercely as she rushed at him and slashed all over his body.
The other girls were busy clearing the Hive that appeared and Ruby was trying to get Winter away from the battle, hoping to knock the link she had to Brutus out of her.
"Let go of me!" Winter yelled as she struggled in Ruby's surprisingly strong grip.
"Winter, please just stop struggling. You're being controlled." Ruby told her. "We can help you, please just let us." She added as she held her tightly.
"I wanted this from the beginning! Why is that hard to believe?!" The reanimated daughter of Salem and Ozpin exclaimed, but there was a look in her eye that said otherwise.
"That's not what I'm seeing." The cloaked girl said as she stared into the girl's eyes and concentrated. "I'm sorry about this." She said before opening her eyes and using her silver eyes to blind her and knock her out.
Meanwhile, Brutus… Was having a bad time, to say the least. Yang was constantly in his face punching him, and Blake was harassing him with Dust infused clones. And let's not forget the occasional summon Weiss would send at him.
"Alright everyone, I'm going to use time dilation on you. Use your supers on him as fast as you can." The heiress said as she activated said glyph and affected Blake, Yang and Ruby as she joined the fight.
"Let's go!" Yang hollered as she activated her super and charged, her sister and shared girlfriend following suit. They then lunged at the Grimm Knight and attacked him from all directions and without mercy.
Brutus skid backwards as his aura flickered and started firing balls of fire at them, while also raising all the ads they had just killed. However as he did this to distract the other girls, he failed to notice that one of them was missing. It was then that Myrtenaster was suddenly thrust into his chest from behind and a pillar of ice shot out of his chest before it blew up due to some explosive fire Dust.
This left him with a gaping hole in his chest, which he looked down at for a few seconds before Weiss leaned into his ear to tell him something.
"I'll be taking your necromancy now. Now do me a favor and die." She whispered to him before pushing him over the cliff face, sending him falling even deeper into the caverns.
"At the center of the cavern. We can place the fragment there." Snowflake spoke up. Ruby quickly set it down in the center of the cavern and then almost immediately, the entire cave started to shake as if there had been an earthquake.
"What the fuck is happening?!" Ruby shouted as she fell to her knees. The girls then looked up and saw a gigantic worm slithering right towards them, open maw and all. "Holy shit!" She gasped as it moved up.
"There is no light here." Xol rumbled as he crawled around them. "You are alone. You shall drift. You shall drown in the Deep." He snarled as the shaking got worse before the entire cavern started to cave in. Ruby quickly darted over to Winter to protect her from the rocks before all of them were buried.
"Huntresses? Huntresses, where are you?!" Burn called. He and the other AEDs looked for them until the girls popped out of the snow like daisies. "Thank the brothers!" He sighed as the drones started healing them.
"Xol is heading straight for the Schnee Science and Research facility and Rasputin. If he dies, the Valkyrie goes with him. Xol wins." Winter told them.
"Very well. My reservations about the Terramind aren't as important as defeating Xol. We do this together. Team RWBY, what do you say?" Deus asked.
"We say it's about time." Ruby replied as she hoisted Winter over her shoulders in a fireman carry.
It was go time now.
(Later)
"This is a tablet that Brutus dropped." Weiss said as she handed it to Sky. "Do you think it has his secrets of necromancy on it?" She asked.
"Let me have a look." The king replied as he read the tablet for a moment before nodding. "Oh yeah. This is it, alright. Excellent work." He praised the whitette, who smiled.
"Will you be able to use it?" She asked him pleadingly.
"Yep, but let's wait until Xol is killed first. You should have no problems doing that, I'm sure." Sky told her.
"No. Absolutely not." The girl nodded resolutely.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile at the Schnee Science facility, Penny was trying to get Rasputin to talk to her, trying to help him understand that they were trying to help, but he was refusing to budge. The newly human girl felt her emotions get out of her hands.
"Rasputin… Please, say something." She said shakily as she fell and her shoulders slump… before her aura started to flow over her and start to interact with Rasputin's controls… And then she heard something.
"Sister…" A deep, digital and menacing voice uttered. Penny gasped in shock as she looked at the pulsating red core of the Terramind.
"Sensational…" The ginger haired girl said as Winter entered the room as well.
Name: Penny Polendina, Semblance: Unlocked. Semblance Name: Technopathy.
Dragon Emperor0: Penny just unlocked her semblance, this is crazy.
ThermalsniperN7: Not as crazy as how Winter (not the Schnee) gave birth. Seriously, that's some horror movie shit right there!
Dragon Emperor0: Like it came straight from the Alien movies.
ThermalsniperN7: EXACTLY! That's wrong on numerous levels! On a completely unrelated note… Did anyone else tear up when Autumn and Emerald put their kids down for their naps with that lullaby? I did… It was so beautiful…!
Dragon Emperor0: If none of you tear up at that… I'm convinced you don't have a heart. Well anyway guys, see you next time.