Here we are at Chapter 138. Just two chapters left before we finished Volume 8, and I'll be all caught up again. Let's see if the teams' plan goes as well as they hope. I do not own RWBY. They belong to roosterteeth. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 138. Enjoy.
Chapter 138: Worthy
"So, what do we do now?" Oscar asks.
"I think all we can do is stick to the plan and tell everyone about the portals that lead to Atlas," Lloyd says.
"But how? With the CCT down, again, we can't tell all of the people in Atlas and Mantle to move through some freaky magical portals without any issues," Nora complains.
"But, we can. We'll just have to use the portals ourselves and get to the people. Spread the word and get them moving as quickly as we can," Ren says, while Emerald walks up to their portal.
"Are we... sure that these things work?" Emerald gestures to the portal.
Everyone then turns and stare at Lloyd, who notices and hunches over, "You guys owe me big time,"
Being the group's guinea pig, Lloyd travels through the portal. He flies through the space between the portals, and ends up in the central location where all the portals converge. The rest of the group follow in after him, and they take a moment to look at their surroundings.
"Okay, we need to stick to the plan. Nora, Edom, and I will gather the civilians, everyone else, keep to your roles here. Remember, the mission here is keeping everyone safe and getting them to Vacuo in one piece. Nothing else matters right now," Jaune says.
"You sure you'll be alright with just the three of you?" Nora asks.
"Remember, Shade is the one kingdom that Salem hasn't attacked yet, which means that it'll still have loads of huntsmen and huntresses there. However, we're about to send another kingdom's worth of people, all scared and worried, at their front door. That level of negativity will no doubt bring in scores of Grimm in a matter of minutes. If anyone's gonna need help, it's gonna be all of them," Edom says.
"He's right. This is what we're here for," Nora says, making Ren smile.
With that said, they separate and move on to their respective roles, with the others running ahead while Jaune, Nora, and Edom use various means to fly through the location into different portals to spread the word. Edom flies in through one portal with one of his skull phantoms. However, the second he does, he gets hit in the face with a rock thrown by a civilian.
"Ow, what the Hell, man!" Edom curses as he holds his face from the rock, causing all the civilians to hide like mice. A moment later, they slowly come back out. "Alright, everyone, I need you to listen to me closely and carefully," Edom pulls out his huntsman license.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Khazhak's group move in through their portal, seeing the temporary world they created with the Staff of Creation.
"Remarkable," Bahamut mutters.
"We mustn't waste time gazing around. We have people to evacuate to Vacuo. Speaking of which," Tiamat says, prompting Voshkie'ahk to look over to the side, followed by the others.
They see Fiona entering the space, followed by people from the crater coming in after them. They look around, seeing Edom, Jaune, and Nora moving through the portals to spread the word to the others. Meanwhile, Lloyd, Ren, Oscar, Emerald, and the rest of the happy huntresses escort the people through the central location to the portal to Vacuo, keeping them safe from falling off the pathways.
"Shouldn't there be more people by now?" Blake notes.
"Look, our primary goal right now is getting Penny and the Staff of Creation to Vacuo. We can leave the evacuation to the others. They're doing well so far. Besides, once the staff and Penny are safe, we can come back and help with things here," Khazhak says as they all make their way to the Vacuo portal.
Near the portal to Vacuo, Lloyd, Oscar, Ren, and Emerald move on their part of the mission.
"Lloyd, you stay at this side of the portal just in case. We set the portal to open up just outside of Vacuo. Plenty of space for a large number of refugees, but still within communications range," Oscar explains.
"Alright, I'll see you guys on the other side, then," Lloyd salutes them and waits by the gate.
"I can mask the people's emotions for as long as I can. Call for help as soon as we cross through the portal," Ren says as he, Emerald, and Oscar cross through the portal to outside Vacuo.
However, what greets them on the other side is not the Kingdom of Vacuo, but a dense sandstorm.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Really? We happened to walk right into a sandstorm?!" Emerald groans as they shield the faces.
"Which way is the city? I can barely see anything ahead of me!" Ren notes.
"It has to be here somewhere!" Oscar replies.
Emerald pulls out her scroll, "Guys, this sandstorm isn't just giving us problems with our sights," she shows that she has no signal on her scroll. "We've got signal in this mess. We can't contact the kingdom,"
Just then, people start coming in through the portal, "Where are we?!" one woman asks.
"Welcome... to Vacuo," Ren answers.
Back in the central location, "Head that way straight to the exit," Nora points ahead before flying off to another area.
However, what she doesn't notice is Cinder, in a cloak, walking by. She smirks and then suddenly a huge explosion erupts, sending dozens of civilians falling into the dark abyss below.
"What the Hell?!" Lloyd yells.
Everyone sees this, and the civilians panic as they start frantically racing to the exit portal. Ruby and Khazhak's group are just about to exit when they see this.
"No!" Ruby yells and runs ahead.
"Penny, get that staff and yourself through that portal, NOW! We'll handle this," Khazhak says as he and the others draw their weapons and race back to deal with the situation, leaving a hesitant Penny behind.
Flying in mid-air, Cinder spots Khazhak and Ruby's group running through the crowd, and then flies ahead to meet them. Ruby uses her semblance on all of them, flying them through the civilians, but they get blocked on one of the platforms by Cinder's flames and they stop to face their opponent.
"Your friend, Oscar, was right. But this is where the easy part ends," Cinder draws her blades. Her words confuse the others, and that makes her smirk. "How did you know about that? Is that what you were thinking?"
They are about to attack, only for another explosion to occur on the platform next to them. They look over, seeing Kamir'ahk at the center of the platform, smirking at them.
"Kamir'ahk..." Khazhak narrows his eyes and looks back at the others. "Deal with Cinder. Voshkie'ahk and I will handle this," and the siblings jump off the platform, using Voshkie'ahk's wind Dust cards to propel them onto the other platform where Kamir'ahk waist for them. Meanwhile, the others charge forth to face Cinder. "Why am I not surprised that you would be here if Cinder was here as well," Khazhak faces Kamir'ahk.
"Oh, don't be like that. I've been looking all over for you, little brother," Kamir'ahk draws his sword.
"Nidhogg, listen to me, you know this isn't right. If you continue down this path, only destruction will await you," Bahamut says.
"Yes, brother, destruction will await me... when I destroy you and all of my enemies," Nidhogg growls back.
"Nidhogg, what has your fury turned you into?" Tiamat moans woefully.
Voshkie'ahk steps up, "Kamir'ahk, please hear me out. I know that what our family did when we banished you was wrong. We should've done something else to help you when that darkness was consuming you. But, it's not too late to fix this. We can still make amends for our past mistakes, all of us. You made terrible mistakes, but so did we. Please, it's not too late. Let us help you. Let us help each other. We can still be a family again. Please... let's give each other another chance," Voshkie'ahk holds her hand out to him.
Kamir'ahk stares between her hand and them, "...Who gave you the right to get involved in our family business?!" Kamir'ahk suddenly swings his blade downward, sending an arc of dark energy at them.
Khazhak quickly swings his sword and slashes through the attack to protect his sister, "Fine then, we'll settle this with steel rather than with words," and he charges at Kamir'ahk.
Kamir'ahk smirks and charges forth, the two brothers clashing while their sister watches on, unsure of what to do.
...Flashback begins...
Earlier, Kamir'ahk and Neo confront Cinder and Watts, "Kamir'ahk, and... Neopolitan, was it? I don't believe now is the most appropriate time to hold grudges," Watts rises from a broken Atlas robot.
"Oh, me? I don't hold a grudge. Her, on the other hand, well, it was precisely that grudge that led her here after all. So determined, isn't she. Wouldn't you agree, Cinder?" Kamir'ahk smirks at the Fall Maiden.
Cinder stares at them, but then sighs, "No, you're right. Neo has every right to be angry. I... know I haven't upheld my end of the bargain. I'm sorry," she apologizes, but Neo just crosses her arms, looking unconvinced.
"Oh, I believe you'll have to do better than that, Cinder," Kamir'ahk notes.
"We don't have time for useless sentiment," Nidhogg adds.
"I'm getting there. I will give you Ruby Rose, today. But, in order to do that, I need to ask the lamp a question," Cinder extends her hand to them, while Watts sighs.
Neo narrows her eyes, but then pulls off her hat, flipping it around to pull out the Lamp of Knowledge, holding it out for her. Cinder smiles and goes to take the lamp, but Neo hold onto it, glaring at Cinder. A silent message to keep her end of the bargain, or else, and then she releases the lamp.
"Okay then, shall we?" Kamir'ahk waves his hand.
Cinder nods, "Jinn,"
With her named called, the spirit within the lamp comes out, "So, do you have a question for me?"
"I do... What does Ruby and her friends have planned?" Cinder asks Jinn's third and final question.
Jinn actually looks shocked at this question, and even melancholy, but does her duty and shows Cinder's group Ruby and Khazhak's group past actions and their plans. Of course, the one thing that surprised Cinder is seeing Emerald working with them. After learning the answer to their question, Cinder looks to Watts.
"You once tore this kingdom apart with nothing but your intellect. How about we finish what you started?" Cinder asks, making Watts smirk.
A while later, the group are inside the Atlas military command center. They walk right into the main control room, and get everyone's attention there. Cinder sparks her flames, while Kamir'ahk readies his sword, making everyone freak out. A moment later, the room is scorched in flames and everyone is mostly dead, with only a few unconscious, one of those few having been knocked out by Neo as she walks by. Watts sits down in front of the main computer and gets to work.
"You have everything you need?" Cinder asks.
"Oh, believe me, this is everything that I could've wanted," Watts types away.
Kamir'ahk steps on a dead body, "Well, with that being said, I think it's about time we prepare for the festivities,"
Cinder, Neo, and Kamir'ahk exit the room, but Cinder stops at the doorway, "Arthur, you deserve this. We'll be back," she says and then leaves Watts to do his work as they proceed with their plan.
...Flashback ends...
In the central location, Khazhak and Kamir'ahk clash with their blades. Kamir'ahk throws a right hook at Khazhak, but Khazhak ducks under it and then kicks his sword away, followed by a spinning heel kick to his body, making him slide back. Voshkie'ahk jumps into the air, throwing a few fire Dust cards at Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk charges dark energy into his blade and swings it around, sending out a dome of black energy that rot away the cards and the Dust within them before they hit him.
Voshkie'ahk lands next to Khazhak, "Brother, please, there is a better way than this!"
"Don't call me brother!" Kamir'ahk stabs his blade into the floor, sending out plumes of dark energy at them.
Khazhak and Voshkie'ahk roll out of the way, and Voshkie'ahk looks up to see Kamir'ahk jumping at her. However, Khazhak slams into him, the brothers rolling on the ground with Khazhak on top. Their blades clash, but Kamir'ahk head-butts Khazhak in the face and then kicks him off before getting back up. Voshkie'ahk creates her card swords and attacks Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk swings his sword at her side, but she flips over it while swinging her right sword at him, though he blocks with his dragon arm. Voshkie'ahk lands and then makes a few swings with her blades together. Kamir'ahk blocks with his sword and then catches Voshkie'ahk's left blade. The lightning Dust in the blade electrocutes him, but he uses his semblance to rot the cards away. He then grabs her head and knees her in the chest, followed by an upward swing across her body, staggering her. Before he can do more, Khazhak comes in with a punch to his face, knocking him away from his sister.
Meanwhile, Team RWBY, Lloyd, and Porphyrius fight against Cinder. Ruby and Yang make a combo attack on Cinder, but she blocks with her sword. Blake swings her chain-scythe at her while Weiss attacks from above by jumping from one of her glyphs. However, Cinder evades their attacks with ease. Lloyd comes in with his claws, swinging away at her while she deflects them with her blades. Porphyrius uses his semblance on her, pinning her to the ground, while Lloyd raises his arms to crush her. Cinder use her power to create a burst of flames around her, pushing Lloyd back, and then sends a flame arc at Porphyrius, hitting him and freeing her from his semblance. Team RWBY make a four-way attack on her, but she flips around their combined assault. Cinder then stabs her blades into the ground and creates a tornado of fire, flying in mid-air right above it.
"I knew your plan would be bold, but I never could've predicted all of this," Cinder gestures to their location. "At least, not without a little help from Jinn. I suppose I have all of you to thank for one last lesson. Sometimes, if you want to win, then you can't do it alone,"
While everyone's eyes are on her, Neo walks through the fleeing civilians, in disguise from her semblance. She approaches Ruby from behind and pulls out the blade from her umbrella. She then attacks Ruby from behind.
However, Yang sees this, "Ruby!" she yells, activating her semblance, and pushes Ruby out of the way to take the hit herself.
Yang tumbles and falls off the edge of the platform. Some are shocked, but others quickly move in to help. Lloyd is the closest, and he jumps off the edge, using his semblance to make himself heavier and reach for Yang. Off to the side, Khazhak sees his brother fall after Yang. Yang opens her eyes in mid-fall just in time to see Lloyd grab her by the arm, and then he flings her to the side, causing her to land on another platform. Lloyd continues to fall as he looks up at the others.
"Protect Team RWBY no matter the cost, right Brother... I'm sorry... Azula," Lloyd mutters before he falls into the dark abyss below and disappears.
Everyone is shocked by what they see.
Khazhak looks on and then, "...LLOYD!" he screams out his brother's name; his screams gaining Penny's attention as her powers begin to come out.
Yang crawls to the edge of her platform to see Lloyd gone, horrified by what just occurred.
Porphyrius falls onto his knees on the edge, "Lloyd... no," his shocked expression says it all.
However, they have no time to mourn as Neo attacks Ruby from behind. Ruby manages to block the sneak attack, but gets pushed back as Neo kicks her in the stomach. Tears fall down Porphyrius' cheeks before he refocuses on Neo, his anger boiling. Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss turn their attention to Cinder. Ruby makes a swing with her scythe at Neo, but she twirls over it and then thrusts her umbrella at her, which she narrowly dodges. Porphyrius jumps up above her, his weapon in its brawler form. She looks up just in time to see him smash his fists down on her, only for her to shatter like glass from her semblance. He growls and looks around to find Neo attacking Ruby again, and goes straight for them.
Meanwhile, Khazhak remains where he's sitting, still unable to believe that his sworn brother is gone. Unfortunately, this leaves him wide open from behind by an attack from Kamir'ahk. However, Voshkie'ahk blocks his blade with her own.
"Don't get in my way!" Kamir'ahk shouts and head-butts Voshkie'ahk in the face.
He then kicks her away before going after Khazhak. He swings his blade down, only for Khazhak to block the strike with his sword, tears falling from his eyes. Lightning surges around his body and he throws a hard left punch into Kamir'ahk's chest, sending him rolling back across the platform. Khazhak charges his semblance and twirls his sword before swinging it downward, sending out his Lightning Tornado Crusher technique at Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk charges dark energy into his fist and smashes it into the ground, sending out a surge of decaying energy that blocks the technique.
Voshkie'ahk looks to Khazhak, "Brother-,"
"Stay out of this!" Khazhak yells and charges at Kamir'ahk, scaring her.
Meanwhile, Weiss and Blake move and bounce around off the former's glyphs as they attack Cinder, who flies in the air and blocks or evades their attacks.
"Why did you come back?!" Cinder looks back to see Penny flying at her with her Maiden powers. "Why couldn't you just learn your lesson?!" she throws a punch at Cinder that sends her flying back.
But, Cinder just smirks, "Oh, Penny. I did,"
Penny tries to bring out her swords, but realizes that she no longer has them, and gets blasted back to the main platform by Cinder's flames. Penny growls and creates new blades with her powers and flies back at Cinder. The pair meet in mid-air and clash with their blades, but Cinder pushes Penny back with an arc of fire at her. She goes after her, only to get pulled back by Weiss's black glyph. However, she burns through the glyph with her flames and then looks to see Weiss and Blake on another platform. She creates a swarm of black knives and launches them at the pair. Weiss and Blake notice the civilians coming in from behind and Weiss creates the sword of her armor summon to block them, though some get through. The ones embedded in the ground then explode, sending Weiss and Blake into the air. Weiss saves herself with a black glyph while Blake throws her chain-scythe at the platform and swings around to land back on top.
Back with the others, Ruby and Porphyrius continue to fight against Neo. Ruby fires off her scythe behind her, propelling her forth as she spins her blade at Neo, who flips over the attack, and then opens up her umbrella to block the shots from Porphyrius' rifles. Porphyrius jumps forth, slashing his blades at her legs, but she twirls over his attack, and then deflects a few thrusts of his blades. Ruby comes in from behind and attacks with her scythe, but she jumps over Ruby and lands behind them. Ruby attacks her, swinging her scythe around, but Porphyrius hesitates when he sees Penny fighting Cinder, Weiss and Blake on another platform, and Khazhak fighting Kamir'ahk and is unsure of what to do.
"Porphyrius!" He looks down to see Yang below him on another platform. She flies up to him with her gauntlets and lands beside him. "What do we do?"
"Help your sister! I'll figure out the rest!" Porphyrius says, giving her a kiss on the cheek before running off in one direction while Yang goes to help Ruby.
Back with Khazhak, he clashes his blade with Kamir'ahk's again, but then does a backflip kick under his chin. When the two separate, both charge up their semblances.
"EXPLOSIVE THUNDER DRAGON WAVE!" Khazhak send out his technique.
"DECAYED DEATH DRAGON SLASH!" Khazhak sends out his own.
The two techniques explode on collision, nearly sending everyone flying off the platform.
On the other side in Vacuo, Ren tries to keep the large number of refugees hidden with his semblance, but due to the sheer volume of them, his aura quickly depletes and he falls onto his hands and knees.
"I'm sorry. I'm spent," Ren takes a few breaths.
"Where's Penny? Wouldn't she be able to deal with this sandstorm?" Emerald asks.
Oscar realizes something, "Wait, Penny should've been here by now. Something must've happened," he goes to enter the portal, only to get knocked back onto his backside. "What the-why can't I-,"
"Oh no... Ambrosius. When the others told him to make a one-way exit to Vacuo, he gave them exactly what they asked for. A one-way exit... with it only being an exit, and not an entry. With no way to get back inside," Ozpin realizes.
Oscar runs back to the others, "We can't go back. The portal won't last," he says, only to be interrupted by a loud roar from beyond the sandstorm.
They look ahead to see a swarm of Ravagers, large bat-like Grimm, flying in and begin attacking the refugees, prompting the trio to draw their weapons.
Back inside the central location, Khazhak and Kamir'ahk continue their duel. Kamir'ahk swings his sword around at Khazhak, but he blocks it. Kamir'ahk then throws a kick to his body, making Khazhak slide back across the floor. Just then, Voshkie'ahk throws a few gravity and earth Dust cards at Kamir'ahk, halting his advance.
"Khazhak, please, you need to calm down!" Voshkie'ahk pleads with him.
"Get out of my way, Voshkie'ahk!" Khazhak roars.
"LISTEN!" Voshkie'ahk yells, stopping him, and he sees her tears. "You're not the only one who just lost Lloyd... He was family to me, too. Khazhak, I don't want to lose you too! Please..."
Her voice somehow manages to calm Khazhak down, and he feels instant regret about how he has acted. However, the moment is shatter when they both get hit by a blast of dark energy from Kamir'ahk, which sends Khazhak over the edge, though he manages to latch on with his left hand. Meanwhile, Voshkie'ahk gets up as Kamir'ahk approaches her.
"You know, I'm getting really tired of your constant interference," Kamir'ahk growls.
"Kamir'ahk, please, I know we can be a family again. I'm giving you a chance so give us a chance as well!" Voshkie'ahk holds her cards out in defense only. Kamir'ahk swings his sword, knocking the cards out of his way and then grabs Voshkie'ahk's face with his dragon hand, draining her strength with his semblance. He slams her into the floor and then throws her to the side, her aura depleted. Kamir'ahk walks over and stands before her. Voshkie'ahk gets onto her hands and knees. "I know... I know how you must hate us so much. But, you must try to let go of that hate, and if you can't do it alone, then we'll do it together. You are my brother, Kamir'ahk, just as Khazhak is for both of us. Please, give us a chance to make up for our mistakes," she holds out her hand to him.
The gesture actually seems to make Kamir'ahk hesitate, "Why would you try to that for me?"
"Because you're my brother. Because we're family. Please... Kami," Voshkie'ahk does not drop her hand.
After a moment, which felt like an eternity, Kamir'ahk reaches out and takes Voshkie'ahk's hand, pulling her onto her feet. Voshkie'ahk smiles, thinking she finally got through to him... only for her expression to turn into one of shock and horror when Kamir'ahk stabs his blade through her chest.
"You may call me brother... but I have no sister," Kamir'ahk shows a look of disgust as he pulls his blade out of her chest.
Khazhak gets back onto the platform, just in time to see this. If he wasn't horrified before, he is now when he sees Voshkie'ahk fall onto the ground, her blood on Kamir'ahk's blade.
Khazhak's eyes widen, "VOSHKIE!"
And that's the chapter. The next one will be the volume 8 finale. Cinder, Neo, and Kamir'ahk launch a surprise attack on Ruby and Khazhak's group, resulting in Lloyd falling into the dark abyss, and Voshkie'ahk mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Oscar, Ren, and Emerald are trapped on the other side with no way to get back to the others. How will Khazhak, Ruby, and their friends survive this dark turn of events? Until then, please Read and Review.