'Party poppers going off'
Happy one year anniversary everyone. It's not exactly one year due to releasing these chapters every two weeks, but might as well celebrate now. 28 chapters and we're in the end game for the story. At this rate the story of Dunstan and Floes should be done before this story reaches 2 years in age so there is that for a ETA. Can't really believe that one year ago I beat Bloodborne and in my delirious daze of sleep deprivation decided it would be fun start this story. One of the better decisions in my life actually since I still enjoy writing this. Thanks to everyone who is still around and reading this story. I hope to continue writing this story until it reaches completion.
The giant beast lumbered forward towards Blake and Dunstan as each step cracked the concrete beneath. As the giant raised its arm Dunstan got ready to move and waited. Then the fist snapped forward like a snake at speeds much too fast for something of its size. Blake dived out of the way as Dunstan barely got two steps out before it smashed into the ground between them throwing up a shower of pebbles that pelted their attire. The next move shocked them as the fist opened up and swept sideways trying to grab Blake in the confusion. A whip struck the arm wrapping around it in an attempt to slow it down with no effect with Dunstan being dragged along as it reached for Blake catching her by the leg.
As soon as she felt her leg being grabbed she brought up both her blades and began cutting into the fingers. Dunstan had reeled himself in with his cane and hooked his short sword into the beast's wrist. In a fit of rage over the multitude of strike it let out a roar from its five mouths shattering the glass in the surrounding buildings. It snapped its arm throwing Blake and Dunstan loose with Dunstan hitting the ground with a crack and Blake hooking her ribbon to a streetlight to slow herself down. The whip was still wrapped around its arm cutting into the flesh with every movement.
Dunstan's arm was bent backwards with the black sword still clutched in his other hand. Placing the blade by his side Dunstan grabbed his arm and straightened it out with a quick yank. Holding the vial over his arm he was interrupted as a talon covered claw swiped into him smashing the vial and his ribs in the process. Standing up he had to sprint of the way as another claw tried to smash him into the pavement. Taking some of the heat off of the Hunter, Blake leaped onto its back and began cutting into it. The beast took immediate notice and brought its arm back swiveling in the shoulder joint as it completely turned around with no effort.
The claws cut through Blake's afterimage and into its own back. As it was withdrawing the claws that had shredded its back it caught the image of the black haired Huntress standing on its shoulder. The same image vanished just as quickly as it appeared as a blade filled its sight. With a feral screech the skin began to shift beneath Blake's feet throwing her from it as the black sludge began to spill from every pore. A bulge could be seen forming in its back when the skin containing it ruptured covering the streets in the black substance. From its back a long segmented tail began to rise over its head revealing a crimson stinger that sat atop the new appendage. Every part of it had shifted or changed after the sludge fell from its skin showing a completely feathered arm and that many of the faces that adorned its head had taken on a more bestial appearance.
With its remaining eyes focused on Blake it failed to realize the Hunter who had vanished mid fight. Blake danced around its strikes using her copies to take the hits she couldn't avoid otherwise while carving into each fist the moment they got within reach. She never expected to do any life threatening damage by cutting into the extremities of the giant, but it could definitely feel each hit she landed. The stinger came crashing down in front of Blake and forced her right into its next attack as the hand smashed into her throwing her across the street and against a car. Looking up at the sky she thought a shooting star was passing overhead until it came landed atop a nearby building. What happened next shocked her even more as the beast back exploded into flames that began to crawl across it.
Looking for the source she could see a bottle with a burning cloth sticking out of its top. As the glass shattered across its back the contents held within ignited in a flurry of flames that seemed intent on swallowing the beast. The giant turned around to find the source stood atop a nearby building with another bottle just leaving Dunstan's hand. Raising up its hand it shattered the glass before it could touch its body preventing most of the damage as the fire stopped before it reached its shoulder. With a new target in sight it left Blake and walked towards the building Dunstan was on as he continued to throw Molotovs its way only for it to swat them out of the air.
Dunstan knew it was a stupid plan to try for an all or nothing assault, especially with his life on the line now. Some beasts just refused to die unless certain thresholds were crossed and this should help tip the scale and topple the giant. Using his right arm he gripped the giant slab of molded steel that was strapped to his left and lifted it up. He never thought he'd ever get the chance to use the weapon as he couldn't even wield it properly and had to use both his arms to even carry it. Taking aim he waited for it to get as near as possible with what the second step would entail. Taking in a deep breath Dunstan braced himself for what was to come. With the pull of the trigger the cannon fired as the recoil shattered his freshly healed arm nearly pulling it out of place. His scream of pain overshadowed by the explosion of the payload impacting the beast. Dropping the cannon he grabbed a vial and stabbed it into his arm in an attempt to regain its use. Diving over the edge towards the falling beast he gripped his sword and plunged it into the falling beast.
Bringing the blade back up he repeatedly stabbed the monster in its chest. Each time the sword withdrew it would splatter a fresh coat of blood on Dunstan's jacket. Problems began to arise when the beast started to get back up turning the flat surface Dunstan was stood on into a nearly vertical wall. Withdrawing his sword he rolled off the body as Blake leaped at the head. With the bothersome tail pinned behind it she could attack without fear of its instinctual retaliations. Each of her strikes were focused on the faces it held which seemed to have continued to grow even further in terms of beast hood.
As she was about to attack again she saw a surge of movement beneath the skin she was standing on. A black sludge the faces when a claw shot out from the head hitting Blake across the chest. The claw pressed itself against the surface and pulled as the bear like body was drawn out from the darkness. It stood on all fours with its two front paws having twisted claws protruding from it. If a white mask had been placed upon it and had a less morphed face it could have been mistaken for a large Ursa. Most of the mass that made up the head seemed to have gone into birthing the creature since it had shrunken considerably.
As Blake got ready to fight the bear she saw Dunstan out of the corner of his eye fighting something. Turning her head she could see a crow like beast with wings for arms and talons for feet hovering in the air. It would attack with its talons as Dunstan used his sword to try and block the rush of blows. A wolf like beast leaped from behind the crow only for Dunstan to nail it with his pistol, but before he could take advantage of the opening the crow appeared in front of the wolf to guard it.
Hearing something moving behind her Blake jumped out of the way of a snake that had sprung forward in an attempt to catch her in its jaw. Looking over the head she noticed it already had wounds covering it from a blade like weapon. The eyes were glazed over in a white haze and remained unmoving while the head tracked her. Leaving behind a copy she leaped forward realizing that it wasn't facing the copy, but herself instead. Raising her blades they sunk into the top and bottom of the snake's jaw as it thrashed through the street. The weapons held true keeping the jaw from slamming shut on her as she felt her arms beginning to feel the strain from holding back the beast. Knowing she wouldn't have much time Blake stilled herself. With a ribbon around the guard she dived out of the mouth as it snapped shut. Flipping over onto its head she drew the Chikage and began rapidly stabbing it through its eyes to get around the thickened skull it had developed. Falling to the ground with a crash the snake ceased moving as Blake finally withdrew the blade, giving it a flick to get the blood off before sheathing it.
"2 on 3 seems much more manageable." Dunstan joked as he threw out a fan of knives that pierced the crows wings forcing it to flap even harder to maintain its life. "What happened to your weapons?"
"It's currently in the mouth of a dead snake. You don't have to worry about me slowing you down." The katana left its sheath cutting into the bear and returning in the blink of an eye.
"Didn't think I'd find anyone who still used battōjutsu."
"It's something my teacher was very skilled in. If I didn't bother picking it up on how to properly draw a blade in battle it would have been a waste. Despite the evils he has done, knowledge will always be something worth having." Blake performed the strike again to keep the beast back as she stood next to Dunstan.
"Are you going to be okay in the rain?" Dunstan pointed upwards as the dark clouds continued to roll overhead to feed the start of a storm.
"Is that a joke?" Blake had to try and not look over at him and keep her attention on the beasts.
"Would be rather tactless if it was, rain will draw out the blood that's fallen today and might make our footing a little unsure." Small puddles had begun to form on the flat roads. Each taking a red tint from the blood it caught.
"I can manage." Blake leaped for the crow catching her blade in its wing and dragging it down to the ground.
As the wolf tried to free its trapped partner Dunstan released the blade from his entertained sword. The white flash that sparked when the blades crossed carved a 'x' pattern into the wolf. With a flash of Blake's blade the crow had its wing clipped as it kicked her off. With no means to take flight it was very limited in terms of attacks and all of its movements would leave it open. It couldn't have sustained flight, but with a single flap it lifted itself into the air and began franticly trying to catch Blake in its flurry of talons. Blake casually walked forward avoiding the attacks knowing an attack made out of desperation would never hit until her. She came to a stop when her blade was just out of reach her opponent. Placing both hands on the sword she channeled some of her aura into the sword and with a vertical slash the crescent wave of energy reached its mark searing into the flesh like hot steel before it began dissipating. Once the purple flash of energy had vanished Blake could see the damage as smoke rose from the wound. It looked like the flesh had melted away exposing some of the inner workings of the beast. Bones were visible along with some partially intact organs. Seeing it couldn't fight back it took three quick swings from her blade before falling over dead.
Dunstan was weaving around the two monsters, finding small opportunities to chip away at them with his blade. Each small gash slowly adding up as neither one could completely pin him down. With a roar from the bear Dunstan was thrown backwards. The force threw the wolf at Dunstan who caught the sword in its claws. Strength may not have been his forte, but even the swiftest of blades needed force behind it if it was to be effective. His speed could match the wolf if he stayed focused on dodging or attacking. However taking one meant abandoning the other or at least lessening its effectiveness.
The bear uninterested in the dance between two fighters taking place before it decided to charge him with a shoulder tackle. Seeing an opportunity the wolf lunged at the downed prey to finish it off. Rolling out of the claw the sound of pavement being shredded filled his ears before jumping to his feet. Like a matador he would risk taking each strike to bait an opening then try to land his own in the tiny window it left. Trial and error were the tools of Huntsman, but the lack of being able to come back did make Dunstan play it safer. As a result he was less aggressive and lost a good deal of opportunities due to not pushing any advantage that could have been a trap. In the end he failed to kill the wolf fast enough leading to the bear rejoining the fight.
As the bear was about to claw into Dunstan a katana stopped it then struck at the arm batting it back. Blake made sure to strike first and fast whenever the bear was about to attack. It would brush off her first attack indefinitely, but one or two consecutive attacks could break its poise causing it to stumble. She had the advantage in both reach and speed keeping herself out of its range while peppering it with powerful strikes.
Seeing Blake be so confident in battle spurred Dunstan on not wanting to be overshadowed by someone less experienced. With a blade in each hand he rushed towards the wolf knowing he should have fought it with the intent of completely destroying it. As it brought its claw down Dunstan rolled beneath the strike and behind the beast. Stabbing one of the blades into its back caused it to try and back hand Dunstan as it turned only for the other blade to catch the hand. Seeing the fury it had developed he back stepped as it began to violently throw its claws at him as Dunstan continued to step backwards. The attacks began to slow he slammed his blades together reforming his sword and drew his pistol. With a well-placed shot the wolf fell to one knee in an attempt to stay standing. A red glow surrounded Dunstan's hand as he speared it through the chest shattering its ribs. The light faded from the beast's eyes before Dunstan even ripped his hand out of it. Withdrawing his arm the beast slumped to the ground a lifeless husk.
Turning around to help Blake he saw the body of the bear on the ground with its flesh completely shredded. Not a single part of it seemed to be uninjured. Blake was stood over it sheathing her sword as she marveled at what they had managed to take down. The giant's body was still mostly intact even if parts of it had been warped to facilitate the creation of those beasts.
"Next time this happens, Yang gets the cannon." Dunstan looked to a nearby building making note to retrieve the weapon at some point. Though the sheer weight made anyone taking it very unlikely.
"Where did that even come from?" Blake asked as she turned to the roof he fired from noticing something grey sticking out above the roof.
"Managed to get a locker from Beacon to launch."
"How did you even get a locker out here? The exit ports in the ceiling they go out of should still be sealed." Blake asked as the dull grey stood out atop the red roof.
"I asked for some help from Port, despite his appearance he is incredibly dependable. Still can't believe he managed to get my cannon and locker outside."
"He certainly got everything together rather quick."
"He probably delegated most of it from his office. Junior will be happy to have his scroll back after this." Dunstan held it up with a smile before pocketing it.
"Didn't know you could pickpocket."
"You don't get this quick without picking up a few tricks. I'm sure you have a few surprises with that katana." That earned a grin from Blake as she brushed her hand over the sheath.
"Think there's anything else out there waiting for us?"
"There's always something out there waiting to gobble us up, Blake. For now just relax and enjoy the calm. Larger beasts like that tend to scare off the others so we should be good for a while." Dunstan walked over to the giant corpse and retook his cane, placing it at his side. "Your team will be fine. If anything it will be a nice learning experience for Ruby and the others."
"Let's just get my weapons back and head inside. I'm sure everyone will be happy to know that a giant isn't going to pull the roof off of their house." Taking the katana she stabbed the snake once more in the head confirming its death before ripping her blades out of it.
As they finished the rain increased and began to limit their vision with how much was coming down. The constant fall of rain started to get to Blake as it splattered against her suit, filling it with noise. The sound was uncomfortable for her heightened senses. Walking into the hall she began walking back to the club when she noticed Dunstan wasn't next to her. Looking back she saw him staring up at the cloud filled sky. The moon was hidden behind the darkness of the weather with even the glow it gave off failing to breach the storm. Not wanting to go back out in the rain she continued on with the intent of delivering news of their current success.
"Maybe if we're very quiet it will go just go away." Yang whispered as loud as possible to make sure the others heard her over the sound of the antlered beast scraping its horns against the wall she was hanging on.
"How about we give a human sacrifice to appease it." Weiss sarcastically suggested while staring at the beast beneath them.
"They always sacrifice the blonde beauty." Yang jokingly lamented.
"If only we had someone who qualified."
"If the both of you are finished I think I have a plan." Ruby yelled over to her team seeing the grin that both of them had trying to outplay the other.
"Should we really be talking about this when it's right below us?" Yang looked down again seeing it trying to jump up the wall in an attempt to catch her in its antlers.
"It's not like it can actually understand us." Ruby waved the notion off seeing it ram into the wall again trying to shake Yang loose. "As long as no one falls into the horns we should be okay. Basic tactics with us attacking on all sides and not grouping up to make it split its focus. Penny might make this easier if she could use her awesome laser cannon thing." Ruby's eyes nearly lit up at the thought of seeing the weapon in action.
"I can't fire that while underground. The likelihood of a cave in or collapse of the building is far too high to risk operating it." Ruby's enthusiasm immediately died at the mention of not getting to see the marvelous weapon fire off. "I can still be of assistance though."
"You up to play the distraction Weiss?" Ruby asked knowing that out of all of them Weiss' glyphs offered the best means of evasion out of all of them.
"As long as you all do something about it before it skewers me. I have no problem playing the part." With a smile she leaped behind the beast landing six well placed strikes on its hind leg before leaping back as it tried to kick her.
Turning around it found its target in the white haired huntress who was in quick retreat. Seeing that one of its prey was within reach it gave chase. The sound of each leg thundered across the ground behind Weiss who refused to look back in fear of slowing down. It got closer with each second as her fear about to win out making her jump to safety when Ruby shouted out to them.
"Penny, now!" Penny was swinging up above using her blades as grappling hooks to stay close to the ceiling and right behind the beast.
What was more surprising was what was holding onto another blade she had hanging beneath her. Reaching the arc of the swing her blonde haired passenger let go of the sword and came crashing down on the back of the beast like a meteor. The trail of flames ending in an explosion as both her weapons fired off creating the blast. The impact alone was enough to cause the beast to stumble momentarily. Yang was just as quick to leave when the antlered monster whipped its head back to catch the pest in its horns.
Weiss seeing the opportunity on its exposed throat launched herself at the beast. The rapier piercing the hide as the revolver component began to spin coming to a stop on the red cylinder. Flames shot through the blade and into the wound causing the beast to panic even more. Whipping its head left to right it dislodged the heiress who came to a slowed stop as Ruby caught her mid air. The fire seemed to only agitate the beast as it didn't bother to even try extinguishing the flames. As it charged at Ruby, Weiss jumped onto the wall using a glyph to hold her position.
Like a jousting match Ruby ran at the beast with her weapon ready to strike. As they were about to connect she vanished in a flash of petals before bouncing from the wall and between each of its legs. As they both skidded to a halt and faced each other Ruby could see the gashes across its legs. A deafening roar reached her ears as the bones jutting out of its legs turned a vibrant red. As they charged each other again Ruby launched herself around the horns and was ready to tear into them when the beast came to a sudden stop and began trying to turn. The once safe strike zone had turned into a forest of jagged blades closing in on her as she tried to evade them. Raising her scythe she blocked one of the blades and was thrown three feet back as if the blade sticking out of the leg had been swung by a huntsman. Firing her weapon Ruby righted herself and managed to fly out of the death trap.
Before the beast could bring its antlers down atop the leader a fan of swords appeared in front of Ruby trying to block the blow. Turning around Ruby saw Penny standing behind her with both her arms raised in with a blade in each hand in case the wall of swords failed. The Beast was slowly pressing forward onto the blades and pushing Penny back in the process. The sight of one of steel swords beginning to crack and warning she was receiving gave Penny everything she needed to know what was about to happen. Dropping one of the swords she gabbed Ruby, throwing her up to Weiss for safety as the sound of steel shattering was heard behind her. The attack came so quick she couldn't even turn around before one of the horns had pierced her left forearm. Remembering the bodies that decorated the horns Penny brought the sword in her right hand down to free herself as it flailed its head trying to impale her on the many spikes jutting off from its horns.
With her arm no longer attached the momentum from being swung around took full effect on the now free android. A hail of bullets began to hit the beast drawing its attention back down the hall to Ruby and Weiss who had gained some distance from the monster.
"You know this is crazy right?" Weiss asked her partner who now anger and determination burning in her eyes.
"Do you trust me?" Ruby responded as she pulled back the bolt to load in another round.
"I trust you." A multitude of intricate gear like glyphs began to form around Ruby. Each one connected to the other at the corner and spinning at high speeds.
Ruby vanished from her spot as the concrete floor shattered from the force of her stepping off. The beast couldn't even see the red blur of the speedster. Only able to see the destruction each step left behind as she leaped towards it. Each impact was getting further apart as she continued to build up speed. As the beast continued to rush forward it failed to notice that something had rushed past its head. The walls surrounding the beast began to shatter from the impacts they were sustained from each rebound. The sight would have left anyone stunned as to most it would appear the walls were simply shattering from the force of the beast passing by, but the sheer amount of injuries it had sustained in that instant said otherwise. Like a house of cards it collapsed to the ground as its horns scraped across the floor slowing it to a stop.
Looking around Weiss couldn't spot her partner in the mess before her and began to panic in fear of what could have occurred. "Ruby, where are you?"
She was quickly answered by a sharp yell of pain. "I could use some help now."
Walking around the large corpse Weiss spotted Ruby lying down on the ground with Yang sitting next to her. Yang had a single red vial in her hand and was placing it over Ruby's thigh in preparation of injecting it. "Where did you even get that?"
"Dunstan gave it to me as an early graduation present." Ruby responded thankful that she had a way of fixing every muscle she just tore.
"This is why I limit the amount of glyphs used. Your aura can only do so much when you're pushing your body to the extreme like that."
"Can you check on Penny?" Ruby asked as the blood began to run its course through her.
"Sure." Weiss said still unsure on how the girl could have fared. The sight of her cutting off her own arm was startling and made her question if she would have the conviction to give up an arm for self-preservation.
Weiss walked over to the body that was lying against the wall and found a lack of blood. Looking closer at the wound Weiss found at why as wires and metal are what made its insides. Penny's eyes shot open scaring Weiss and causing her to leap back at the sudden sight. Gasping for air Weiss tried to calm down as her hands were held over her heart while it pounded away.
"Hello Weiss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Penny. Just a little startled is all. You gave us quite the scare when you were grabbed by that thing."
Penny looked down at her missing arm realizing that Weiss could see the wires and lack of blood. "Please don't hate me."
"Penny, I'm not going to judge you because you need a prosthetic." Weiss reassured her knowing what it was like to be ostracized due to an imperfection.
Before Penny could respond Ruby appeared in a flash of petals and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're alright."
"Well most of me is." Penny waved the stump that remained of her left arm.
"Sorry about the arm. Can we get you another?" Ruby asked hoping to find a way to make her whole again.
"Any full arm prosthetic with a connecting shoulder joint will suffice."
Walking away from the corpse they eventually came to a single cell that remained sealed. A nameplate was underneath the cells number, 'Citrine Phlox', likely belonging to what resided within. The light continued to function letting them see that a girl sitting in the corner with short white tipped blonde hair. The sight of visitors brought her up from the corner and towards the door when her eyes locked onto Penny.
"Well, if it isn't Atlas' perfect little doll. Didn't think they'd let you down here to see all us rejects. Is this another one of their damned experiments? Come on you pricks. Come down here yourself instead of using this hunk of scrap." The blonde haired girl said from behind her cell window.
"Penny is not a hunk of scrap." Ruby defended as the Penny stepped away from the cell.
"Shut your mouth you damn cleaner. Why would you even be in here with the rejects?" She paused for a moment thinking over the reaper's sudden appearance. "So I guess it's finally my turn then. You lot certainly think highly of me if four of you are here to make sure everything goes smoothly."
"Look, we don't want to harm you. We're just students from Beacons on an assigned mission."
"Not going to fall for that one like the others did. Staging a fake breakout to see who tried to escape was rather cruel of you though. Dangling that hope in front of so many before taking it back would discourage anyone from ever trying to leave. Now come on."
"She does realize we could just shoot her through the window right?" Weiss questioned before Ruby elbowed her in the side.
"You're not helping Weiss." Ruby said to her partner in a harsh whisper.
"Fine, then why don't we just knock her out?" Ruby gave her a blank stare while Yang smashed her fists together with a smile.
"Yang, we are not knocking out the mean girl." Ruby told her sister who simply shrugged at the dismissal of the idea. Pulling back the handle the door swung open as Citrine leaped back as far as possible. "We're going to get you to safety."
Citrine refused to flinch from the younger girl's hand. In the end she decided that it would be best to at least face fate head on instead of cowering. The smile Ruby gave beginning to melt away at the image Citrine had built up of the group. Reaching up she grabbed Ruby's hand and felt her body temperature drop along with what felt like frostbite beginning to eat away at her palm. Out of shock she yanked her arm back while using her left hand to grip her right in an attempt to keep it still.
The others flinched at the sight of Ruby's aid being rejected only for their minds to turn to concern as they watched the girl grip her hand in pain. They could see her biting at her own lip to suppress a scream. Ruby tried to reach out to help just to have her hand smacked away in fear. As she stopped clenching her hand and the fingers relaxed Ruby could see what was causing the girl so much pain. A single symbol was frozen into her flesh, a single stick with a pair of pincers coming off of it in an attempt to grab an orb.
"No, no, no ,no ,no ,no, no, no, no, no." Citrine said to herself over and over again as she began using her left hand to try and claw the mark away. After leaving a few cuts on her palm she gave up upon realizing how deep the mark ran into her skin. "I can't die." She began to weep to herself.
"We can find a way to fix this." Ruby began to plead seeing the curse she had just accidentally given to her.
"They spent months with all of us trying to get out bodies to give a proper response. We all wanted to leave here together and now I've become the damn thing they wanted. A goddamn miracle to cure all and kill all." Her right hand was pressed to her head letting the now lessened cold to reach into her head. "I will never stop."
Her body began to fade into a pale mist cooling the room enough for the group's breath to be seen. As the last of the mist vanished with her the others stood in disbelief over what had happened. Weiss and Yang were shocked at the sight of a very familiar vanishing act. Penny couldn't comprehend what she had just seen with her sensors failing to fill in the blanks of what just occurred and Ruby was just stood still as her mind went over everything.
"Arrrgh! Damnit!" Ruby yelled as she kicked the door with all he might cause it to slam into the wall. "Why does everything I do turn out wrong?"
"Ruby, are you okay?" Penny asked seeing her friend in distress and harming herself.
Whipping her head around to see Penny, Ruby's anger began to dissolve realizing she couldn't lash out at her friends and family. "Let's just get to the storage room and get out of here."
Walking through the halls they began seeing less blood and bodies. The side corridors would have made the building almost impossible to navigate without a guide. Even with Penny's arm occasionally letting off a spark Yang and Weiss kept to themselves about the matter. Whether this was out of respect or more personal reasons was unclear, but it put the android in a more cheery mood.
They came to a stop at a set of stairs that seemed to go down half a level into a larger room. As they stepped into the darkness the lights turned on illuminating the carnage that took place earlier that night. The bloodshed seemed to be focused on the interior of the room with no one getting out or possibly being ambushed. A single flashing button on a nearby console drew Ruby's attention. As it continued to blink she walked over pressing it curious to what it controlled.
"Ruby, you can't just go around pressing flashing buttons. What if it triggers security or the base to blow up?" Weiss said as the leader pressed another button causing the rooms many monitors to spring to life.
"This is a prerecorded message. Please follow the instructions provided before leaving." The lifeless robotic voice explained over the intercom.
"If you are receiving this message it means that you're one of the cleaners who managed to clear out this building after its collapse. All outgoing messages in and around the facility would have been captured by the base's receiver. Retrieve the data with a scroll then upon return to base deliver it to command. A vessel is available in the hanger. Use it to return to Atlas." The screens faded to black as the message finished.
A beeping noise signified a complete download as they turned to see Weiss pulling out her scroll from the console. "What? This could be of use at some point. If we don't grab it now someone else who might use it for wrong might."
"Now that we're taking part in kingdom espionage, does anyone know how to fly one of Atlas' ships?" Yang asked as Weiss began to raise her hand. "Let me correct that. Does anyone know how to fly and land an Atlas ship?" Weiss hesitantly put her hand back down.
"Are we actually going to Atlas?" Penny asked plainly as she continued to filter through the information.
"No, it will make for a nice ride back though." Yang said happily with something finally going their way.
"Can we go to Ironwood's ship?"
"You mean the flying fortress of death that shoots down anything approaching it?"
"That's just the automated defenses keeping threats away while it's in lockdown. If we could get onboard I could find the general."
"What happened to Ironwood anyways? He wasn't at Beacon or any of the other bases of operation." Ruby looked to Penny expecting for the android to know.
"After the CCT went down his location was lost. If the remaining soldiers are to perform optimally when the retaking of Vale begins the general will need to be present." Penny argued with a hint of sadness filling her voice.
"I would rather not risk us being blown out of the sky just too maybe find him." Yang remembered seeing what happened to the beasts that flew a little too close to the vessel and then suddenly turning into a red mist.
"What if I could fly the ship?" Penny enthusiastically told them knowing that certain advantages might steer them to specific actions.
"Wait, do you mean you can pilot a warship by yourself." Weiss said stunned at the knowledge of their friend's possible skills.
"If I reach the command bridge I can restart the ship and bring it under my temporary command."
"A warship would prove invaluable in keeping the Grimm out of Vale or suppressing a specific area."
"I'm also the only person here who has the skill to fly an Atlas gunship."
"Are you threatening to not pilot the ship?" Weiss asked having trouble discerning Penny's wording.
"I'm merely stating the fact that I'm the only person here who can pilot one of Atlas' more advance scouting ships." The chipper tone she used would have been viewed as condescending to most, but Yang and Weiss began questioning if there was an underlying message.
"Let's just say we do go along with you to the warship and make it to the command room, then what?"
"Then Beacon gains access to one of Atlas' most prized vessels to help in retaking and stabilizing the city. I'm sure Headmaster Ozpin would be more than happy to hear about gaining such a resource."
"Well, what do we have here?" A voice asked from the darkness of the hall they had originally come from. "I come all this way to clean up this problem only to find that all the beasts are dead along with the prize held within gone."
They could see sparks emanating from the dark hall from a weapon being drawn behind him. As the sparks got closer to the entrance a steel door fell from the ceiling locking them outside. The sound of sprinting could be heard as the weapon tried to cut through the metal to no avail. Looking around the room Weiss, Ruby, and Yang saw penny with her hand firmly on a button.
"I'm sorry about that, but I would very much like to go to the hanger and begin. The storage room that contains the listed item isn't too far off from it."
"You can't just do that!" The voice yelled from behind the door. "I was having a moment there and you just go and slam the door in my face. Do you know how impolite that is?"
"Let's go." Ruby whispered to the others as they nodded in silent response. Ruby motioned for Penny to guide them through the labyrinth of halls to the hanger.
"I spent hours walking through this city killing everything I found just to reach this holy grail of a building. A place where I'd thrive and get something of value at the end. Then I find that my greatest moment had been stolen by some group of kids. I can't even describe what that feels like. You all just stay still. I'll find another way in and then we can get this started." With those last words the voice went away with the other group incapable of hearing him due to how far they had already progressed in.
So there we have it. Someone from the order is now roaming the facility in search of Ruby and now there is a stray hunter in the fold who isn't to pleased with becoming what she is. Besides all that it felt right to have a bit of comedy towards the end since there hasn't been much lately. Sure it would work better as a visual gag, but slamming the door in the face of a killer and it actually working is nice to imagine. I also learned to never place two boss fights in a chapter since it burns me out like nobodies business. Lessons for the future so I don't have them happen back to back in later chapters.
We just have Penny's quest to finish up, one other thing, and finally the Patch arc. Patch shouldn't take more than 13 chapters and Penny's should only take 2-3. There you all have it for my best guesstimation now that we're closer to the end.