AN: I'm happy that the last chapter was so well received! After this battle-centric chapter, the next chapter will center around the different battles between good and evil. The character who shows up in the last segment of this chapter will be fighting with the person who hurt someone closest to them. After that, we'll slow down for a chapter or two and see the aftermath of the battle and then the dance before entering the stretch leading up to our first real meeting between Salem and our heroes.
To Keyslinger Roxas: I do have plans to change Sora into a different outfit just as the second half of the story begins. It will be a lot simpler than the multicolored one he has right now, and probably with a couple pieces of armor. Probably with elements of KH2 Sora and KH2 Roxas. That's the plan right now, at least.
To toalorikan626: I agree with your assessment that Xehanort should leave something behind. Thanks for pointing that idea out. It won't be one of his reports, however. I'd already planned on Sora finding something later on, but it'll be much better as a taunting gift from Xehanort than from Sora just discovering it.
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 13: The Calm
Aride Stole was a middle aged human woman with shoulder length, sand colored hair done up in a pony tail and serious, hazel eyes the color of a desert. Unlike her peers, Ozpin and Ironwood, she never wore anything that she would not have worn in her heyday as the greatest Huntress from her home country of Mistral. She wore a form fitting, cream colored tank top underneath a brown, leather harness that split on top of her shoulders until coming down to the strap around her biceps; it crossed over her midsection in an 'X' to attach to her belt and hold up a single holster on her right hip in which a bundle of mechanical, brown rods were placed. She wore long, fingerless gloves that reached all the way up her arms, a much deeper brown than the harness she wore; the gloves allowed her to showcase a simple golden band on her left ring finger. Her pants were green, like an ancient cactus covered in dust, and she wore practical brown boots beneath them.
On any ordinary day, she would be greeting her old friend with a cup of tea that would help flush out the alcohol filling his blood stream, or sit and trade old war stories with the dusty Huntsman. Today was not an ordinary day, however. Today, Aride had to deal with an attack on the place that she had sworn to protect as a place of learning for those who would one day do the protecting. The world could not handle another Beacon, not when it was already so close to the edge. Qrow knew all of this. And he definitely knew her well enough that he wouldn't peg her as the kind to stare out of a window wistfully. "Is something wrong? 'Sides... everything?" he asked the woman.
Aride sighed and turned around to look at him. "Don't play coy, Qrow. You know damn well as I do that this is a very dangerous world we live in, and what we do today could very well decide its fate."
"So just the normal everything then," Qrow muttered, shifting in his seat and leaning back. He cleared his throat and looked back up into the worried woman's eyes. "Ari, we both know everything is going to be fine. We know exactly what's coming, we figured out their plans, and we've got the exact right people to stop them. Once we find out whoever it is that's been kidnapped, we'll be able to stop whatever person it is they're blackmailing. So chill out, make some of that tea. We both know it always calms you down."
"This is not the time!" Aride snapped, slamming her fist on her desk. Qrow didn't flinch, instead just raising an eyebrow. "Not all of us are capable of just drinking our stresses away."
"I take it back. You're a lot more on edge than just the usual stuff makes you," Qrow noted. He shook his head at the woman. "I'll take booze instead of an apology, since I'm so good at drinking my cares away."
Stole sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm – I'm sorry for yelling at you, Qrow. I..." she stopped and groaned frustratedly. "The Council has just been breathing down my neck. If this doesn't go right, the rumors are that Atlas is going to ignite the Dust beneath Vale and Mistral. I'm used to high pressure situations, you know that."
"The battle of a Thousand Grimm," Qrow said, rolling his eyes. "You bring that up every time we see each other. Team STRQ was right there too, remember?"
"Yes. I remember," Aride said, stifling a laugh. "My point is that we're both very used to moments when the shit hits the fan. But this..?"
"The end of the world. Yeah," Qrow agreed, standing up and patting his friend's back. "I get it, Ari." He sighed and walked away, filling up her kettle and setting atop a Dust heater. He continued to talk as he did so. "Even for Huntsmen, this is big, hot, sticky, nasty smelling shit. A big mess of it just laying around. But the good thing about a pile of shit this nasty is that you can see it and smell it exactly where it is."
"You have a... way with words, Qrow," Aride laughed, shaking her head at the Huntsman's special brand of tact. After a moment, however, she glanced back out the window, face plastered with worry yet again. Qrow just watched her for a moment until the kettle began to whistle violently. He picked it up and began to pour the water into two cups, adding in the leaves and mixing them with two small spoons. He turned off the heater and brought the two cups over to Aride's desk. She glanced over at him as he placed one in front of her. "Thank you."
"You need to be calm, Ari," Qrow explained as he sat down across from her. He leaned forward and grabbed his cup and plate, staring at Aride through the light steam billowing upward. "You and I both know that in any sort of battle, the commander needs a level head for anything to work out right. You start freaking out, everything is going to go downhill."
"Qrow, we both know that Ozpin is the commander," Aride scoffed.
"No, he's the general. And he trusts you to do as he would," Qrow assured her as he took a slow drink from the tea. He shook his head. "Damn, this stuff is nasty." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a flask, pouring some of the contents into the tea. He took another sip. "Well, it's still shit, but at least it tastes better."
"He doesn't trust me," Aride muttered. She shook her head. "He doesn't trust any of us. He told us lies and half truths about everything. Us! The people he's says that he wants to save the world. The people he's looked after for decades. His trust is like a death sentence, Qrow. You know that."
"And each and every one of us are counting the days. In the meantime we got work to do." Qrow looked at Aride, studying her worried face. "What else is it? Is something wrong?"
Aride sighed. "You've got me," she said, laughing softly. She shrugged and picked up a picture, turning it around to reveal a young, annoyed man she was clutching tightly. "Chrysos took a mission in the island regions between Vale and Mistral. I'm just worried about my little boy."
"He's twenty three, Ari," Qrow laughed, placing his tea on the table. "Fights just as good as you can, so I wouldn't worry about him. If I hear things right, your kiddo is on the fast track to be you, fifteen years from now."
"I know. I just can't help but worry. Mother's love, you know?" the woman asked. She gestured at Qrow. "Like you with your niece. Ah, don't try to hide it. I see how you get every time I bring her up. Your right eye twitches and your shoulders drag up to look all big and tough. You're scared for her right now."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Qrow replied, waving her off. He checked his Scroll. "Speaking of. Hey, I've got to go watch Ruby's fight. This may be all about saving the world, but I trained her. Professional pride and all."
"I'm sure," Aride responded with a chuckle. "Go. I'll let you know if I hear anything about the White Fang or if the young Huntsman they've taken is found."
"Thanks, Ari," Qrow muttered, absently waving as he stood up and jogged from the room.
R W B Y
Sora stood shoulder to shoulder with Jaune and Ruby, grinning excitedly. Sure, he'd probably have to fight Xehanort by the end of the day and, sure, he'd probably be fighting against some sort of evil terrorist group that wanted to kill humanity. But, hey, he couldn't help but get excited about finally reaching the end of his quest. He laughed aloud, causing the other two in the entryway to glance at him. "Sora, are you listening?"
The Keyblade wielder looked over at Ruby and grinned sheepishly. "Um... no? I'm just kind of excited here. This could be it! The end of Xehanort and all the bad things he's done all his life!" he exclaimed, jumping up and throwing his hands in the air. When he landed, he wrapped his arms around the two Huntsmen's shoulders. "Guys... we're going to save the world!"
"Yeah," Jaune assented. Then he laughed at Sora and shook his head. "But you should probably pay attention to the recap of the plan."
"Oh, come on! I know the plan," Sora said, grinning and shutting his eyes.
"Then repeat it back for us," Ruby challenged. Sora's grin disappeared. "Come on. You know the plan, right?"
"Um..."
"Ah. That's what I thought," Ruby remarked, crossing her arms and snickering at Sora's embarrassed grimace. She sighed. "Do you want me to repeat everything we were talking about?"
Sora's blush deepened. "Yes please," he muttered.
Ruby laughed while Jaune just slapped his forehead and groaned. "Is this what Weiss thought I was like?" Ruby asked the sky. When no answer came, she looked back down at Sora. "So, Uncle Qrow said that the Headmaster here will probably be able to find whoever it is that's being held hostage, but we need to be prepared just in case they don't. Uncle Qrow said that, because none of the Grimm were released during fights yesterday or the day before, it's going to be all of them today. Apparently, he thinks that whoever it is Cinder is blackmailing is someone who is involved in the decision making for the games, which probably means they have access to the Dust shields."
"They're going to deactivate them with all of the Grimm released," Sora extrapolated. "Causing massive panic and maybe waking up another of those weird giant Grimm you told me about. Okay... but where is it the White Fang fit in to this?"
"They'll be attacking the people in the crowds. If that starts happening, we'll deal with the Grimm while the Huntsmen placed throughout the crowd and the people who lost already will deal with the Fang. After we've taken out the Grimm, we'll go help them," Jaune finished for Ruby. He wormed out of Sora's arm and pulled his blade and shield out for battle. "But before all that, we get to fight Mercury, Emerald, and Ci.." He took a deep breath. "Cinder."
"Yep," Sora said, summoning the Keyblade to his right hand.
"Let's do this," Ruby stated, twirling Crescent Rose into activation.
Sora nodded and walked out with the others into the sun. He was greeted by the thundering rumble of the crowds' cheers, the roar of expectation and excitement for battle. The sun was brightly shining far above, illuminating the huge, multi biome arena that had sunk slightly into the ground. The biomes were two rings, an inner group and an outer. Trees and city rose from the ground, with lava and ice fields stretching across other regions of the octagon. The region that they had used for the two on two battles had already been massive, but this was insane. "How are we going to find everyone?"
"Grimm will probably herd us all together eventually," Ruby explained as they began walking down the stairs leading to their starting region. Seven other teams began working their way in, small black lines moving down the stairs.
"Which one do you think is Sun and Neptune?" Jaune wondered aloud.
"NO!"
The entire group looked over at the source of the noise. One of the groups was headed down to a watery region. "So... that one?" Jaune suggested.
"Know which way we're heading first!" Sora shouted excitedly. He began running down the stairs, followed closely by Ruby and Jaune. "Last one down asks Coco to the dance!"
Ruby frowned at that but took off anyways. She still hadn't had a chance to talk to Sora about the dance. Little did she know, Sora was thinking the exact same thing about her. Jaune was just running, not wanting to be the one to pay for what would invariably be an expensive day trip and scary dance. Unfortunately he ended up last. Sora slid to a stop on the peak of a sand dune, the grains flinging out in front of him. He was followed quickly by Ruby, then a panting Jaune. "Dang it!" the blonde Huntsman shouted.
"Okay, everyone! Here it is!" the announcer shouted excitedly. "The Battle Royale. The rules today are simple. Each team will wander across the arena however they feel is best. Groups of one, two, more. They'll find the other teams, eventually deciding on what they do. Teams are allowed to ally, or they can go all out to fight one another. At the end, however, only one team can win, so keep that in mind. And don't be surprised if a few Grimm pop up – we didn't want to spoil any of the fun by letting them loose early, so we'll get to see how all of you react to a swarm today! Should you all band together to fight the monsters when they're released? Or should you try to defeat your enemies and deal with what may come with only your truest allies at your side? We can't wait to find out!"
"So, which way do you think Neptune and Sun will head?" Ruby asked the others, glancing out over the sand using one hand as a visor. She pursed her lips and bit her cheek as she thought it through. She dropped her hand and ejected the mag of Crescent Rose, checking its ammo reserves. She reinserted it and looked over at the others.
"They'll sprint directly towards the center. Quickest path away from the water," Sora pointed out with a grin. He laughed. "Afraid of water. I don't think I've ever met someone afraid of the water before, you know? It's hilarious!"
"Coming from someone who lived on a tropical island, that doesn't mean much," Jaune muttered dryly. He began readying himself as the announcer droned on, checking if his armor straps were tight, if his shoes were tied, and that his Scroll was focused on his Aura.
"Point," Sora admitted with a shrug, heaving the Keyblade up and onto his shoulder. He grinned at the sky, where, in the Dust wall, was a giant countdown clock. Five.
"After we find them," Ruby said, laughing at the two – Four – "we'll just follow the sound of destruction to find Cinder and her lackeys." He flourished Crescent Rose up and around until it laid across her shoulders, her arms hanging by her wrists from the handle. Three.
"I'm game," Sora said, his trademark excited grin erupting as he bounced from foot to foot like an incredibly excited child. Two.
"Me too," Jaune said with a determined smile. He raised Crocea Mors' shield to his chest, sword out to his side. One.
"Fighters... BEGIN!"
Sora whooped excitedly and sprinted across the sand the way that only a person who grew up on a beach knew how. Ruby and Jaune laughed despite themselves, sprinting off after him with grins just as huge as his on their way to find their friends. "WOO HOO!" Sora screamed as he jumped from the peak of the dune, fist raised above his head excitedly. "Let's win us a tournament!"
R W B Y
Sora back flipped across the cobblestone streets of the decrepit town built into the arena, narrowly dodging the incoming explosion of Dust that burned through the ground where he had stood. "Are you a magnet for trouble?" Ruby yelled at Sora as she parried the attacks of two huntsman – one wielding a pair of gold and brown short swords and the other a great ax of forest green. She twirled around the two and landed a glancing blow across their backs.
"To be fair, you aren't really one to talk!" Sora retorted as he landed, raising his Keyblade to block the incoming war hammer. There was a huge clang as the weapons met, generating a shockwave that caused the buildings on the small street to sway dangerously. There was a buzzer as someone, somewhere, met an Aura out – the noise accompanied by the announcer's voice. In the past half hour of wandering and battle, it was a pair of noises to which their group and all the others had become accustomed.
Sora jumped up to his feet and shoved the Huntsman in training away, the fur and green leather clad warrior sliding across the ground and grinning at the challenge that was present in front of her. Sora grinned back and ran towards her, slashing at her with a series of lightning fast attacks. He had to take it easy on her, after all, or there would be no fun in fighting the trainee. She was quick despite the size of her weapon, moving around Sora's slightly slowed attacks like a snake. He brought the Keyblade around in a horizontal attack, and she brought the shaft of the hammer up to block the attack.
"Could you maybe stop playing around?" Jaune asked as he bashed his shield into his another Huntsman's face, his blow causing his opponent to stumble backwards and flail his mace about From there, Jaune charged forward behind his shield, the metal plate slamming into the unguarded midsection of his opponent. The mace fell to the ground as Jaune began shoving him backwards. Jaune stopped just before he would have rushed into one of the broken buildings, sending the other tourney entrant into a load bearing pillar of the building. It came tumbling down on top of Jaune's opponent, eliciting a loud Aura out buzzer.
"Do I have to?" Sora asked, blocking another attack of the hammer into the air, the momentum sending the Huntress flipping through the air. "I'm having fun!"
"Me too!" the Huntress flying away replied as she shifted the head of her hammer into a bazooka and fired off a series of rockets at the Keyblade wielder. She landed as he knocked the last one back at where she had been floating moments earlier and slammed a piece of debris at Sora as she charged at him. He sliced cleanly through the incoming projectile and began trading blows with the woman again, Keyblade slamming against the hammer's head every few moments.
Ruby, meanwhile, was fighting off both of her opponents with ease. She shot past both of them, blade crashing into one of them and sending him flying into one of the buildings and causing an Aura out and letting Ruby deal with only one of the Huntsmen. "You know, you're pretty good!" he said, dodging around her moves. He laughed as he nearly fell for a feint, the blade of Crescent Rose passing just centimeters above his nose as he rolled backwards and raised his pair of swords in front of him. "You know, I think I've heard about you! Ruby Rose, the hero of Beacon! Wow, it's an honor!"
Ruby blushed and laughed. "Oh, shut up," she said, slashing out with her scythe, the blade landing on his crossed sword block. "Flattery won't help you win."
"Oh, I know," he admitted, struggling against her. "Will it help you save a dance for -" He was soon cut off, however, when a hammer wielding warrior slammed into his side and sent him crashing into a brick wall, the bricks flying up and crashing around the two. Soon, a fire ball flew after them and exploded upon contact. Ruby looked over at the annoyed, growling Sora with an intrigued eyebrow. There was a pair of loud buzzers as the fires disappeared.
He flinched under her glare and chuckled nervously. "I... uh, I... We really need to find Neptune and Sun, right? Just like Jaune said, 'Stop messing around!'"
Jaune looked over at Sora, who was motioning vigorously for the Huntsman to play along. Jaune held in a snicker and shook his head before nodding. "I did say that," he admitted with a shrug. Sora breathed a sigh of relief and shot him a thumbs up. "Which reminds me... which way were we heading?"
"I forgot you had no sense of direction," Ruby muttered, laughing at the two boys before turning to her right and looking around. "Actually, if we were right about where they were and where they were heading... right here."
"Then where are they?" Jaune asked, sitting down to catch his breath for a moment. He sighed contentedly as he leaned back into some debris. "I mean -" He stopped and looked behind him. "D-did you guys hear that?"
Sora frowned and began to concentrate on the quiet. "Um... hear what?"
"I don't... wait! Ha!" Ruby shouted she shot into the air and bounced from rooftop to rooftop. She jumped up, twirling into a torpedo of red and dashing to land beside Sora and Jaune. "There they are!"
"I'll go guard this area! Lockdown!"
"Really, Dude? People all over Remnant are watching us on TV!"
"I don't care, Sun! We're free of that stupid island hopping, ocean filled hell!" Neptune screamed. "I – agh!" He screamed, rolling and tumbling through a fence and coming to a stop between Sora, Ruby, and Jaune. He didn't move, face down on the ground."Ow..."
"Ha! How do you only act like this when it is the most embarrassing for you? On TV, meeting new people? I love this!" Sun shouted as he sailed through the air and landed beside his groaning team mate. The Faunus looked around and grinned. "Hey guys! So, you picked us out of the crowd?"
"It isn't that hard when Neptune over here screams like a banshee every time he sees water," Jaune said, gesturing at Neptune with his head. "I get having phobias, but, Dude? Put on a brave face."
"I'm trying," Neptune whined, his voice muffled by the ground. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and shook his head in pained disappointment with the universe. "Why did it have to be the area where we started this game? Why me?"
"I have no doubt that it's because you and water is hilarious," Sun retorted, laughing at his friend's ireful glare. He walked up to his friend and held his hand out, helping Neptune up to his feet. "Oh, come on, man! You know it even makes Scarlet and Sage laugh, and those guys are stone faced!"
"Doesn't make it better," Neptune muttered indignantly. He brushed himself off and growled at Sun.
"Wait, why'd you say 'lockdown?'" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side in sudden confusion.
Sun smacked his forehead. "Right, forgot! There's, like, six guys after us," Sun explained as twelve feet landed around the five allied warriors. Sun glanced around at the serious, battle ready faces that suddenly surrounded them, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, these guys."
Sora looked around and grinned. "I think they're going to need some more Huntsman," he said confidently, laughing as he did. He looked around again at all of those surrounding them. One was a guy with a greatsword, another had a pair of chakrams like Axel or Lea used to use, two used different kinds of gauntlet weapons – one had chain saw like extensions and the other looked like they discharged electricity every so often, and the last two had staffs tipped with blades – halberds. "Last chance to walk away. We kind of don't have time to go easy on you guys."
"I don't really think that's going to be a problem," the guy with the greatsword retorted, lifting his weapon to his shoulder and shaking his head at the Keyblade wielder. Jaune jumped to his feet and drew his weapon again. "You may have fought pretty well in the earlier rounds, but so did we. You aren't making it out of this fight with the gold."
Sora looked over at Ruby and grinned. She nodded. Sora shrugged. "Leave this one to Ruby and me," he said, readying the Keyblade again. It glowed in his hand as he poured magic energy into the blade. He and Ruby disappeared in blurs of black and red respectively, causing the six opposing Huntsmen to jump in surprise.
"Where the hell did your friends run off to?" the chakram user asked, raising her weapons nervously. She grunted as a pair of blurs ran past her, an impact accompanying them that took out a decent chunk of her Aura. "What the -" She was cut off as the black and red blurs began dashing between her and her allies, blow after blow colliding with each of them faster than the eye could see, steadily taking out their Auras. A moment later, Ruby appeared between all of them, crouching and readying to spin.
"Get her!" the other Huntsmen shouted, running at her after recovering. As they grew close, however, she launched herself up faster than she ever had before, the tremendous wind trails pulling the Huntsmen into the air with her. They flailed wildly, screaming in surprise as they tumbled about without control in the grip of the red tornado.
Sora suddenly appeared in the air directly in the path of Ruby, Keyblade raised above him. He was looking down, body parallel with the ground and knees bent. He was holding his Keyblade in front of him, parallel to the ground as well. He grinned and began spinning the weapon before him, generating a vortex of wind just as strong as the one rushing up to meet him.
"How long have they been practicing this?" Neptune asked Jaune as the winds crashed into each other, the resultant explosion of wind sending the six Huntsmen flying across the sky with just enough Aura to survive the tremendous fall unscathed. A second later, a pair of black and red streaks appeared in front of Jaune, Sun, and Neptune, their speed causing the hair of all three to whip about wildly. Neptune looked down at his shadow and shouted angrily – his perfectly coiffed hair had been turned into a wild mane of blue. "NO!"
"Ha!" Sun yelled, pointing at his friend's hair.
"Yours isn't any better!" Neptune raged, his hands vainly trying to fix his messy mop.
"But I don't care," Sun pointed out, shrugging and clapping his buddy on the back. "Once we win this, you can go fix your hair like the vain guy you are."
"Awesome!" Sora shouted, running over to Ruby and lifting her up in a hug. "We took them out even quicker than I thought we would!" He put her down after a brief spin and grinned excitedly. "Great job!"
Ruby blushed and punched Sora's shoulder. "Oh, you weren't so bad yourself," she muttered, waving her hand and laughing.
"I guess you're right," Sora agreed, grinning sheepishly.
"Ohhhhhh," Neptune muttered, gesturing between them. He leaned over towards Jaune, covering his mouth with his hand. "Yeah, it's a lot more obvious when they act like this."
"Yeah, I think even they're catching on by this point," Jaune responded with a chuckle. He coughed to attract the duo's attention. "We should probably try to find the people we're hunting for. Clock is ticking."
Sora laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Right. Sorry about... that," he said, his grin mirrored by Ruby's. "Where, uh, where do you guys think they are? We've been making more noise than anybody else, so there goes our plan for hunting down Cinder and her squad."
"Maybe we should just follow the stench of evil, arrogant airheads who destroy things built by people better than them," Jaune suggested with a frown. The rest of the group looked past him with a cross between sarcastic acceptance and worry. "I'm sure we'll see them picking on people smaller than them for fun because they can't handle anyone else! And then -" he stopped and looked around at the faces of the others. "Great... They're, uh, they're right behind me."
"Wow, and I thought you were stupid," Mercury mocked, smirking with his arms crossed over his chest as he stood behind the young Knight. Out of nowhere appeared a young, purple clad and haired woman wielding twin emerald colored kurasigama, and floating down from the sky was a blonde woman in blue with a condescending smirk that gave everyone it was aimed at chills. Mercury's disguised face grinned cruelly as Cinder landed beside him. "Looks like I was right!"
"Don't be mean, Merc," Emerald said, her violet eyes glinting as she narrowed them condescendingly on Sora and the others. "They'll be crying on the ground pretty soon, after all."
"Wow, you sure got cocky," Sora said, grinning as he swept the Keyblade to his side and pointed directly at his enemies. Despite their pride – or bravado as Sora assumed – Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald flinched as his finger crossed them. "Especially considering the beat down we gave you three last time."
"And you hurt Ren," Ruby noted, twirling Crescent Rose to a ready position, muzzle pointed over her shoulders in preparation to launch towards Cinder as soon as the fight began.
"So we won't hold back this time," Jaune said, the steel in his voice reminding both Sora and Mercury of his sudden change during their last battle. Crocea Mors whistled through the air as the shield moved up to guard the swordsman and the blade angled over his head at the enemy.
Sun and Neptune raised their weapons as well, with the blue haired warrior aiming his assault rifle mode at the trio and Sun holding his weapon in nunchuk form. "And... we, uh, we're here too! So check yourself!" Sun said, drawing the confused and uninterested glares of the criminals. Sun swept his weapons around himself, flourishing them threateningly.
"Cute," Cinder muttered before turning away from them and back to Ruby and Sora. She crossed her arms and sneered. "But, students, I think you'll find this fight will end quite differently than the last. We are not the same weaklings you met in the forests of Vale."
"I'll put it in simple terms so you five idiots can understand." Mercury said, his smirk deepening cruelly. "What I did to Pinky was me holding back. I can't wait to see what you all look like burnt to a crisp."
"Shut up!" Sora snapped, dashing toward Mercury with angry determination filling his eyes. The Keyblade sang as its Light crashed against the Darkness coated blade of Cinder Fall. Over the weapon, Sora thought he saw Mercury sigh in relief, but he ignored that criminal and looked over at Cinder. "Five on three, Cinder. No matter what you say, this won't end well for you."
"Even if that is true..." Cinder said. She just let it trail off and smirked again with a shrug. She drew her other blade from her left hip and angled it at Sora's throat. "Take the other four, I will deal with the Keyblade wielder."
"I've been waiting for this," Mercury said, jumping over Sora and firing off a kick, silver dust and black fire trailing behind his foot then shooting off away from it. "I'll take Red and Blue."
"Let's crack some skulls, Merc," Emerald said, tacitly agreeing to take the monkey Faunus and Jaune. She smiled mockingly at her partner for a moment. "Just admit the blonde scares you, Merc." Then she began disappearing from Sora's sight, leaving the Keyblade wielder alone with Cinder.
"Let's do this," Sora growled, taking a step back and letting Cinder ready herself. He was still the good guy, after all. She also knew how to demonstrate decorum and nodded in respect. Cinder raised her blades into a ready stance and Sora dropped into his, eyes narrowing then launched at her with a two handed, overhead slash. "For Ren!"
"For Ren!" everyone else shouted as they began their own battles. Ruby slashed over her head ad the incoming Mercury, blade catching on his foot. He lashed out behind him with his other leg, the explosion of black flames propelling him over the point of contact so he could deliver a heavy ax kick to Ruby. She dashed forward as fast as she could, narrowly dodging the blow and the accompanying black flames that spread out from the impact crater.
Mercury rolled to the side, dodging the swipe of Neptune's trident that came around at his skull, the electrified prongs passing just above his hair. He smirked and grabbed the handle of the trident, pulling on it and delivering a sharp blow to Neptune's jaw. He stumbled backwards, dazed, until a pair of boots encased in black flames slammed into his chest. He flew backwards and bounced across the ground, once then twice, then cried out again when a blur of orange appeared in his path and kicked him back towards where he'd been moments earlier. Mercury grinned and disappeared again. "Like we said, it's gonna be different -" he grunted as he was cut off, a scythe moving even faster than him colliding with his chest. There was a loud bang and he suddenly found himself pinned against a wall. He looked over at Ruby, who was holding him against the wall and began to move his legs to attack her. He was cut off by a rapid stream of bullets crashing into his chest and pushing him further into the wall.
Meanwhile, Sun and Jaune were struggling to hold their own against their invisible enemy. Emerald would appear just for a few seconds, weapons slashing across the backs of both warriors before disappearing again. Sun grunted as he was kicked away and Emerald disappeared again, appearing in front of Jaune, chains wrapped around his throat. She brought her hands forward at full speed, causing the knight to fly over her shoulders and collide with the Faunus.
"Cover me. I've got an idea," Sun whispered as they pushed themselves to their feet. Jaune nodded and looked around carefully for any indication as to where the criminal could be. He caught sight of some dust kicking up on the street. He knew it was no worse than any other place, and lashed out with his blade at the place where he had seen it. His blade crashed into Emerald's weapons, the attack easily blocked by the criminal.
"How'd you know?" she asked. Jaune didn't respond, instead trying his best to press his advantage. His blade flashed in the air, weapon barely missing the illusionist's form every time he tried to defeat her. "Dust on the ground, right? Damn it, every time. Won't screw that up again." She flicked her wrists and jumped backwards, firing off her guns at the Huntsman. He raised his shield just in time to save himself, but that obscured his vision and she disappeared. Jaune looked around, carefully trying to find any sort of mess up she might have managed to miss.
He was distracted, however, by a pair of glowing clones of Sun that flipped around through the air. They both ran towards the same spot, their energy flashing brighter for a moment before exploding. There was a woman's cry and Emerald was sent flying, visible once more. She hit the ground and rolled to her feet, eyes wide with anger. "Enough!" she shouted, form beginning to glow ominously with the energy of Darkness.
"Sun, out of the way!" Jaune shouted, trying to put himself between the Faunus and the criminal. However, he was blasted out of the way by a large stream of Darkness. He had managed to raise his shield, causing the beam to bounce off and change direction. Instead of a blow that might have killed him, Sun was instead just sent flying across the street to crash into the ground. Jaune looked over at Emerald; her disguise was gone, replaced with her true face and an aura of Darkness floating from her shoulders in wispy tendrils. It slowly solidified
Where Ruby and Neptune were fighting Mercury, something similar occurred. Ruby found herself tossed aside by a sudden, massive blast of black flames. She righted herself mid air and landed lightly, weapon raised as she stared intently at the smoking hole where Mercury had been a moment before. "Where'd he –?" Neptune was cut off by a powerful kick to his head that sent him into the ground. Mercury stood where Neptune had moments before, eyes a dull yellow and mouth a sneer as he gazed down at the Huntsman. There rang out a pair of loud Aura out buzzers.
"They... They just changed what they look like!" the announcer shouted in surprise. "Who – What!?"
"Sun! Neptune!" Sora shouted, pushing off of a blade lock with Cinder to fire off a pair of Reflegas around their weakened bodies. The incoming attacks of Emerald and Mercury clattered uselessly against the walls of light, though they still exploded against the spheres spectacularly. The enraged warriors began to wail on the walls uselessly.
The crowd began to murmur worriedly. "What's going on!?" the announcer shouted worriedly.
Cinder growled. "Mercury! Emerald! Retreat!" she commanded before looking up into the camera. She raised thumb to her throat and dragged it across, then ran off and disappeared under the protection of Emerald's abilities.
"Okay, that was weir – " the announcer was cut off when a loud rumbling began to shake the entire arena. "What's -"
Sora ignored both the rumbling and the shouting of the announcer, instead running over to Neptune and Sun with Keyblade above him. "Heal!" he shouted, bringing them back to consciousness.
"I... the headmaster has decided to release all of the Grimm!"
Sora and the others flinched as they heard that. "They couldn't find the hostage!" Sun shouted as he forced himself to a sitting position. He was rubbing his shoulder where he'd been hit; his eyes were wide with fear.
The source of the rumbling came from the center of the arena, the noise echoing through the Colosseum and the city below. After a short while, it disappeared and everything went silent. The entire crowd stopped breathing in worried anticipation. The Dust barrier flashed and fizzled out slowly; almost no one noticed, their eyes fixed on the screens to track their favorite Huntsman across the stadium. "Oh no," Sora muttered. He looked over at Sun and Neptune. "Get to the announcer and tell her to get everyone out of here. We'll deal with the Grimm."
The Mistralian students glanced at one another, then nodded and ran towards the edge of the arena. Sora looked over at Jaune and Ruby. "Now we just have to find a way to get all the Grimm to come to us," he said.
"I don't think we need to," Jaune muttered. He gulped in worry. "Um... Sora. Look." He pointed past the Keyblade wielder's shoulder with his sword, the weapon shaking in his hand.
Sora turned around and his eyes widened. All of the Grimm were headed right for them, a river of pure black flying and crawling towards them with cries of rage and hatred for the Light echoing from their mass of death. "How about that?" he asked, readying his Keyblade by his side. "Spread out." Ruby and Jaune nodded, running apart. "I'll get the four hundred in the middle!"
As they spread out, however, Sora, Ruby, and Jaune noticed one very important distinction from what they'd thought just seconds earlier. The Grimm were not heading straight for them. No, they were attracted to something even more tantalizing to their pure Darkness. They were all fighting for a chance at Sora. Everyone in the crowd probably thought Sora was insane at that moment. He was grinning at the massive wall of monsters aimed right at him, Keyblade leveled towards their center. "Well, this should get everyone excited!" Then he sprinted right at the Grimm, his massive grin never disappearing. The crowd didn't know it, but as long as he was the target of the monsters, they were all safe. And he wouldn't have any problems taking all of the Grimm out with his friends by his side; their victory against some silly monsters was all but assured. "GO!"
R W B Y
Nora moaned as a noise stirred her from her sleep. She sat up straight and stretched her hands to the sky, yawning as she did. "Sorry, fell asleep, Ren," she told the unconscious warrior as she yawned, the words stretching out because of the yawn. She let her hands fall to the empty bed, and her eyes widened in terror. "Ren! Ren, where are you!"
She flinched as a hand landed lightly on her shoulder. "AH!" she screamed, turning around and lashing out wildly with her eyes shut. All of her blows missed and she immediately calmed down. Only Ren could sneak up on her and avoid all of her blows. She opened her eyes, grinning widely at the calmly smiling Huntsman in training before her.
He looked much better as he was buttoning up his green shirt. There was a small, fiery red patch on his chest that disappeared as he finished clasping the last button, but that was all that was left over from his burns. He ran both his hands through his hair and shook his head so it settled behind his collar and shoulders. He smiled at Nora again and held his arms out to accept the hug she was barely holding in as it was. He grunted as she tackled him to the ground; she was screaming excitedly, crying into his shoulder. "You're awake! You're awaaaaaake! I'm so happy, Ren! Don't scare me like that again, jerk!"
"I'll try, Nora," he said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Ren smiled contentedly as they hugged for the first time in days. Eventually, however, reality set in. Ren sighed and pushed her off of him.
"What's wrong?" Nora asked, studying her old partner's face. Even given his usual stoic nature, he looked deathly serious, a distinction really only Nora could make when it came to him.
"Something's happening in the arena," Ren said, pushing himself to his feet. He was getting that look on his face and in his stance all Huntsmen get when their duty is at hand: the 'hero' look. "Where are our weapons?"
"Our –? Ren, you're injured!" Nora protested, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "You can't go off and fight in your -"
"I have to," he interjected, brow furrowed. He shook his head and sighed. "We both do. You can fill me in on everything on our way to help everyone, okay?"
Nora just stared at him. Eventually she scoffed and shook her head. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" she asked, hands on her hips. It felt weird to be the serious, cautious one.
Ren just smiled. "Nope." He held out one finger and placed it on Nora's nose. His face broke out into a much wider grin than he'd ever had on his face in his life, and Ren said, "Boop."
R W B Y
Qrow sat in the crowds as Ruby, Sora and the others dueled with Cinder and her goons. It appeared that Ruby and her friends definitely had the upper hand with Cinder's lackeys. Sora, meanwhile, was dictating his fight with Cinder. His every slash was a calculated movement to keep her from signaling anyone, keeping her busy while also wearing her down with his many glancing blows. Qrow watched the fight with great interest, but also concentrating on waiting for Aride to contact him with good news.
The Huntsman looked around the crowd as a feeling over came him and something felt wrong. He frowned and tried to pick it out, looking over every face and frowning. There... There weren't any Huntsmen in the crowd? Why the hell wouldn't Aride have any Huntsman placed in the crowd? Sure, they'd be guys and girls who were good at hiding, but Qrow could pick out any one. He was good at it; better now that he was... mostly sober. So, again... where were all the Huntsman? Was he losing his touch, then? His smile fell from his face.
Aride had said that the guy who'd been kidnapped was a Huntsman. She'd said that, something he didn't know. She'd acted like he'd told her everything, like he was the primary source of information when it came to Cinder's attack. But if that were the case, how would she have known that... Maybe it was just a slip, he thought. No, you idiot. You're not missing the Huntsmen because they aren't there! Qrow surged to his feet and sprinted out of the arena as fast as he could, quickly activating his Semblance when he was sure no one could see him, and flew through an alcove lining the wall and soared out of the Colosseum. He folded his wings and dove straight down, trying to reason with himself in his own mind but always failing to come up with an excuse for his friend.
As he approached Aride Stole's window, he shifted back into his human form and drew his scythe. He fired off its shotgun behind him, causing him to crash through her window and land with a loud thud. He just crouched there for a moment in the glistening glass fragments of the window, shoulders shuddering with rage. He was panting, trying to come up with words. Finally: "Why..?"
Aride just continued to sit in her chair, staring at the wall away from him. "God dammit, Aride, answer me!" he screamed, walking over to her chair and spinning it around. She was crying, tears streaming down her otherwise stoic face. Qrow didn't care, though. He was pissed. "What the hell? Why the hell would you do this? Your son..? He won't be able to look at you! What the hell is he going to say to you – his mother, his mentor – when you're thrown in jail?!"
"I had to," Aride responded sullenly. She looked up into her old friend's eyes, the sadness gone. It was replaced by indignant self righteousness.
"And all the people who die today? That's because you had to!?" Qrow snapped, grabbing Aride by the collar of her shirt and lifting her. "Dust, Aride, I want you to answer me straight! Tell me, because... because the woman I know wouldn't go off half cocked like an idiot to help terrorists destroy everything she loves... the most..."
Qrow sighed and dropped the woman. She landed limply in her seat with half lidded eyes. "So... Cinder caught Chrysos," he said, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. He turned around and roared angrily, slamming his blade into the wall. There was a huge thud, and Aride flinched, though not at the noise. It was at the noise of her child's name. "Goddammit you should have said something, you idiot. I could have helped you... you aren't even looking for him, are you?"
"They said they'd kill him..." Aride muttered, her gaze falling to the floor. Her self righteous rage was gone. "If I looked, they said they'd know, and they'd kill him. I only get him back if –"
"You don't get him back," Qrow snapped. He whirled on the woman, eyes wide. "You damn well know that. Cinder and this Xehanort guy? They don't give people back."
"I know. But – but they said they'll leave him wherever he is. And now I know he's close enough that they can go find him on campus at any time," Aride responded. She smiled sadly. "Thanks to you, I at least know that much."
Qrow just stared at her, trying to understand. "Y-you... the White Fang?"
"They're already in the Colosseum," Aride said, voice hollow. "Interspersed throughout the crowd for maximum... Maxi – Oh, God..."
Qrow shook his head, running through the checklist in his mind and cursing the entire time. He wished he had a drink right about then, but there wasn't any time. "The shields? The Grimm?"
"I released them just before you arrived. We should receive word of the first deaths soon," Aride said, her voice catching every few words. Qrow could tell this wasn't easy for her. He didn't really care.
Qrow just stared at her for a while. He'd probably have done the same stupid things if Ruby or Firecracker were in danger like that. They were his Heart and soul,; he couldn't let them down. He might even betray everything for one of them... then again, maybe not. They wouldn't forgive him for something like that. "Is there..." Qrow sighed and pulled his sword from the shattered wall. His gaze locked on the Colosseum far above and he shook his head in disgust. He had to get back up there... but he also couldn't leave Aride alone. "You had me be quiet. I knew you thought that was the right play; it's your academy, after all. I trusted you. And now you've made me a part of this. Those deaths are going to be on me."
"I know. I'm sorry."
Qrow turned on her and shook his head in disgust. "I don't want you to be sorry," he growled, clipping his weapon to his belt. His jaw shook as he stared angrily down at the woman. "I want you to tell me the truth. Right now. Is there anything else I should know?"
"One thing..." Aride said, voice hoarse. She raised her hand to point at the Colosseum. "But... you're too late to stop it." Her hand fell, as did her gaze. She placed her hands over her face and began sobbing.
"What do you –?"
Qrow's eyes widened as a huge explosion echoed through the air. Qrow turned around to look up at the Colosseum; a pillar of black smoke was rising from the eastern section. "Oh God no..." the Huntsman muttered. He ran out of the window and jumped. "God, God no. Ruby... please be safe..." He activated his Semblance and flew upwards, hoping he wasn't too late.
R W B Y
Outside of a small cabin on the island of Patch, there stood a solitary woman. Her hair was black, thick, and reached the top of her hips with a dull red highlighting the pitch every so often. Her eyes were a bright red that felt oddly cold despite the heat of the color. She had a long, black scabbard at her hip within which was one of the sharpest swords on all of Remnant. Few warriors could stand against her, and fewer still could survive. She was a cold, angry killer who sought out every kind of fight she could so she could become stronger. So she could become the strongest. That was all she had wanted for more than twenty years, all else be damned. Friends, husband... even her child.
But now, there she was, standing outside of the place where her husband and daughter lived. The invincible, unflappable warrior was... terrified. And not like she was terrified of Salem or Xehanort. No, this was an entirely different kind of terror. Purer, one could say. It filled her entire Heart and caused her hand to waver in a fist just inches from the door. She couldn't, she found, knock on the door. She couldn't do anything to make herself move or think or speak. She let her hand fall to her side after another five minutes and thought about leaving.
"Running away for another twenty years?" Ugh, Qrow's idiotic jokes kept echoing through her mind. But, still, he had a point. She couldn't run away. She could, however, stand there and try to talk herself up. She crept over to the open window and glanced in. Her blonde daughter, who had grown into a beautiful young firework, was watching Summer's daughter competing in the tournament. What an odd thing to think about; she'd never have thought that Taiyang and Summer would have had a child together. Qrow must have never really made his move, then.
Raven growled quietly and forced herself to return to the door. This was her daughter! Her husband! She should talk to them! Try to... she wasn't sure. Fix things? Well, whatever it was that she was trying to do it would start through that door. She stood before it and raised her fist again. She rapped her hand against it three times, each time coinciding with her ever louder heart beat in her ears. Finally... she muttered, hoping everything would at least turn out... well, not terrible.
"I'll get it," Yang told her father. There was shuffling inside the cabin. "Wonder who it could be?"
Raven took a few deep breaths and looked over at the window again. She could just see the TV from where she stood. That was the moment she knew that asking for things to not turn out terribly was a fool's hope when it came to her life. There was a pillar of smoke rising from the arena onscreen, the speakers having automatically gone silent because of the explosion's intensity. Raven glanced between the door, behind which she could hear a lock turning, then the TV. "God dammit Qrow," she hissed before drawing her blade.
When Yang Xiao Long opened the door, she was not greeted by the sight of a visitor who would have both excited and enraged her. She did not see her mother, prepared to reconcile with the daughter she had abandoned for thrills and battle because she was afraid of settling down and building a life. Instead she saw only the spring air; a rabbit bounding across the grass. "Firecracker! God – Yang, something happened!"
"Nobody's at the door!" Yang announced, slowly closing the door and turning around, one eyebrow raised in confusion. "What's wrong, Dad?"