Here we are at Chapter 82. Time to continue the battle for Haven for Velvet and her friends. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 82. Enjoy.
Chapter 82: A New Fall
"WEISS!" Jaune yells before he gets up and runs over to help her.
Everyone else remains motionless after seeing Weiss fall onto the floor, severely injured. However, Velvet then turns to Cinder as her blood boils.
"Cinder!" Velvet yells before firing off some ice shards at her from her claw.
Cinder is spooked for a second before she waves her right hand around, creating a wall of flames to block the shards. Velvet runs after her, but then the dark figure appears before her and swings his sword, sending Velvet flying and then landing with her old comrades.
"Sorry, but I can't let you go just yet," the figure says.
"Get out of my way!" Velvet growls.
Meanwhile, Oscar yells and smacks Lionheart in the face with his cane, sending the old man rocking down the stairs and colliding into Hazel, who remains motionless. Oscar then runs down to check on Ruby.
"Ruby, you need to get up!" Oscar pleads with Nora joins him.
Hazel picks Lionheart up by his shirt collar, "You're letting that boy make a fool of you," he notes.
"That's not just a boy. It's Ozpin. He's already reincarnated!" Lionheart tells him, surprising Hazel as he drops him on the floor.
Hazel looks over to Oscar and sees his cane, "Ozpin..." he mutters before he starts growling... his rage boiling over suddenly.
Ruby groans as Oscar kneels next to her, "Ruby, you're-," he says.
"OZPIN!" Hazel yells.
"Oh no," Ozpin mentally says.
"You thought you could hide from ME?!" Hazel shouts before he starts ripping off his jacket, stunning the others, and then pulls out a few lightning Dust shards from pouches on his thighs. "You'll pay for what you did. You'll die, OVER AND OVER AGAIN!" Hazel yells, roaring as he stabs the Dust shards into his arms.
Electrical energy pours into his body as his eyes glow yellow, and he lets out a monstrous roar, his voice sounding less human now.
"Do... do we fight?" Oscar fearfully asks.
"No, run!" Ozpin tells him.
Hazel jumps at him, but Qrow grabs Oscar and moves him out of the way in time, taking out his sword. Meanwhile, Velvet and her friends continue their battle with the dark-hooded figure. Velvet twirls in the air with her foot blades out, swinging them at the figure who flies back to avoid them. Velvet then fires off a few shots from her gauntlet, but the figure swings his sword around to deflect them. Eizen and Eleanor come at his flanks, one thrusting her spear, the other throwing a punch. However, the dark figure releases a shockwave of dark energy that blow them back. Magilou fires off a ball of lightning at the figure, but he swings his sword and knocks the arte away. Off to the side, Cinder looks on at the chaos before her.
"Ozpin is here?!" Cinder says.
"Is that a problem?" Rvaen asks.
"I'm not sure, but right now we have the upper hand. Whoever that person is, he's keeping Velvet and her friends at bay. That gives us the advantage. Let's not waste it," Cinder says and turns to Lionheart. "Leo, open up the way to the vault," she commands him. Lionheart pulls out his pocket watch and places it on the statue under the terrace. The clock winds back and then the statue begins going down like an elevator. "Make sure they leave Ruby and Velvet alive. I want payback against Ruby and Velvet has something that belongs to me. This won't take long," Cinder says as she, Vernal, and Raven get onto the platform and head down into the vault under the school.
Yang sees them going and then turns to Nora, who is tending to Ruby.
"Stop them! We've got your team covered!" Nora says.
Yang tries to go after them, only to get a boot to the face and sent to the ground by Mercury, who is then joined by Emerald.
"You want to get to them, then you'll have to get through all of us," Emerald says, using her semblance to create several illusions of Mercury, surrounding Yang.
Meanwhile, Jaune and Ren tend to Weiss, with Jaune holding his hands over Weiss' wound.
"Ren, talk to me," Jaune says.
Ren shakes his head, "This is bad," he sorrowfully notes.
Jaune starts to get worried, "No, no, no, no, not again!" Come on, Weiss, please!" Jaune begs.
Meanwhile, Velvet swings her arm blade at the figure, who meets her attack in kind with his sword; their blades clashing.
"Who the Hell are you?! Why are you helping that bitch, Cinder?!" Velvet yells.
"My reasons are my own. But, let's just say... I have some unfinished business with you, Velvet Crowe," the dark figure replies, smirking.
The two separate, and Velvet looks past him to the pathway where Cinder went.
"I need to go after Cinder. Can you guys hold him off until I get back?" Velvet asks.
"We'll figure something out. This guy is strong, but he can't keep this up forever," Eizen says, cracking his knuckles.
"You go, we'll look after your teammates," Eleanor adds.
Zaveid appears next to her, "We'll take care of things here," he says.
Velvet nods to them and makes a run for it for the vault. The dark figure swings his sword at her, but Zaveid fires off his gun, knocking the blade back. Eleanor then appears and swings her spear at him, forcing him to jump back, only to have to block a strike from Eizen's fist. With this, Velvet is able to get past him, glancing at her friends as they continue to fight.
"I'll be back as quick as I can guys. Just hold on until then," Velvet mentally notes.
She makes it to the entrance and jumps down to go after Cinder and Raven. Meanwhile, Oscar continues his fight against Hazel. Hazel charges up his arms and attempts to smash Oscar into the ground. Oscar jumps back to avoid it.
"Oscar," Ozpin pleads.
"No!" Oscar retorts before jumping back again.
"Oscar," Ozpin asks again.
"I told you, no!" Oscar says, but gets punched by Hazel, sending him flying into a nearby pillar.
"Oscar, please, let me fight. I can handle it," Ozpin pleads.
"You told me that I need to fight for myself. So I will," Oscar retorts as he stands back up with his cane.
"I know, but this is not your battle to fight, Oscar," Ozpin replies.
"What does that mean? Why is he so angry at us?" Oscar asks.
"He didn't tell you my tale, did he boy. I thought you looked familiar. To think that evil was lurking inside of you when our paths crossed. Your blood won't be on my hands. It'll be on his," Hazel says as he approaches Oscar, raising his hands above his head to smash him.
However, Qrow gets in the way and blocks the attack with his sword. The two get sent flying to the ground, but Qrow gets back in the fight against Hazel, swinging his sword at him, only for Hazel to block with his left arm.
"What was he talking about?" Oscar asks.
"Tell him, Ozpin. Tell him how you KILLED HER!" Hazel yells as he fights Qrow.
"Her?" Oscar asks.
"Gretchen Rainart was Hazel's little sister. Despite her brother's wishes, she enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a huntress. Tragically, she lost her life during a training mission. Hazel holds me responsible for her death. Please, let me fight Hazel. I know him. He's wounded in a way that cannot be healed," Ozpin explains.
"You know now," Hazel says as he throws Qrow to the ground and walks towards Oscar. "You can forgive me for what I'm about to do," he says.
"Did she know?" Oscar asks, stopping Hazel. "Did she know the risks of being a huntress?" he asks.
"...She was only a CHILD! She wasn't ready!" Hazel shouts.
"She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself. A choice that I make," Oscar says as he readies to fight.
"... Then you've chosen death," Hazel replies.
Oscar gets ready to fight, but... "I'm sorry," Ozpin says before he takes control.
Oscar falls onto his knees as his eyes glow. When he lifts his head, Hazel can see that it is Ozpin he's fighting now, not Oscar.
"...OOZZPPPPPIIINNNN!" Hazel roars with rage.
Meanwhile, Ren and Jaune continue to try and help Weiss, but they are having little luck.
"She's hardly breathing. I... don't know what else we can do," Ren laments, looking down as Weiss' breathing gets weaker and weaker.
"No, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Please! We can't lose anyone else!" Jaune cries as he closes his eyes.
Suddenly, a bright white glow appears from Jaune's hands, and begins spreading over Weiss' body. A few seconds later, Weiss suddenly takes a big gasp of air. Back with Velvet's group, Eizen smashes his fist into the ground, using an earth arte to create several stone pillars aimed at the dark figure. The dark figure raises his left hand and fires off a blast of energy that destroys the pillars and almost hits Eizen before he jumps out of the way. Zaveid comes in and swings his pendulums around at the figure, who jumps into the air to evade them. Magilou then appears behind him, using onf of her big cards to swings at him. The figure cuts through the card, only for Eleanor to appear behind it, thrusting her spear many times at the figure. The figure creates an arte to form a barrier in front of him to block the onslaught and then hovers back to the ground. However, he looks back just in time for Eizen to punch him in the face with a left hook. The figure floats back a few feet before looking back at them.
"You'll pay for that one," he notes.
In the pathway to the vault, Cinder converses with Raven and Vernal.
"Are you nervous, girl?" Cinder asks, making Vernal glare at her. "The first Maiden to open a vault in... well, who know how many years. I would say it feels like an exciting time. Don't you feel honored?" Cinder asks in a mocking tone.
"...No. I'm not concerned with any of this. All I care about is my tribe, my family. This is a burden, not an honor," Vernal retorts.
"You've conditioned her quite well Raven," Cinder notes.
"Enough, let's just get on with it," Raven says.
The elevator eventually reaches its destination, coming to a gateway, leading to a pathway that ends with a large set of fan-like doors under an enormous tree with orange flowers on its branches. The vault of the Spring Maiden. The gateway opens for them when they land.
"Hm, it's certainly grander than Beacon's. I wonder what the extra effort was for," Cinder wonders.
Unknown to them, Velvet falls down the path above them, and then uses a wind Dust crystal, absorbs it, and creates a small cyclone to stop her descent and then stab her claws and foot blades into the stone walls above the gateway, careful not to make any noise so as to alert them. Velvet takes a quick look around at the vault before focusing on the three women.
"Can we please not linger?" Raven asks, losing her patience.
Cinder looks to Vernal, "After you," she says.
Vernal walks ahead first, followed by Cinder, and then Raven who puts her mask back on. Once they are a fair distance away, Velvet slowly climbs down, and then jumps off the edge of the pathway, using the wind Dust in her arm to propel her underneath it, and then latches on with her claw and her foot blades. Slowly, she starts crawling underneath the path like a spider.
"I can't just rush in blindly. I need to wait for my chance to strike. And Cinder will be the first one to go. I'll make sure of it," Velvet mentally notes.
Back up top, Ozpin weaves around Hazel's punches and then jumps back when Hazel tries to flatten him to the ground. Off to the side, Lionheart tries fire off a shot at Ozpin, but another shot rings out and hits his weapon, knocking his aim off. He looks over to see Qrow coming at him with his sword. Lionheart blocks a kick from Qrow, but then gets knocked back by an upward swing of his sword. Lionheart gets back up and fires off more fire rocks at Qrow, who blocks the shots with his sword. Meanwhile, the dark figure swings his sword down on Magilou, but Eleanor comes in and blocks the attack with her spear. Zaveid swings his pendulum around the blade, pulling it and the figure away. Magilou throws a few of her cards at the figure, who burns them away with a dark blast of energy. Eizen appears behind him, left fist raised high, and then throws it down on the figure. The figure manages to pull his blade up to block the attack with his sword. However, the figure then gasps when Zaveid appears right behind Eizen, his gun under Eizen's arm, and pulls the trigger. The shot hits point-blank, and the figure moves back from the shot, growling in pain from the round and holding his chest. Magilou then activates an arte and blows the figure away into a pillar. The figure gets back up and glares at them.
"You won't leave here alive," the figure growls before firing off a huge blast of dark energy.
The group scatter to evade the shot.
"That hit really seemed to affect him a bit. You thinking..." Zaveid notes.
"He's a Malak," Eizen realizes.
Back with Ozpin runs around Hazel as he tries to crush him with his fists, getting a few hits in on Hazel's skull. He then pushes off of Hazel with his feet and runs towards a set of stairs with Hazel giving chase. Ozpin jumps off the wall under the steps to move around Hazel, getting another hit on his face. Hazel makes a swing at him, but Ozpin rolls away and then repeatedly thrusts his cane at Hazel, getting several hits before making a final powerful thrust that staggers him. Hazel fires off a bolt of electricity, but Ozpin runs and rolls under Hazel, swinging his cane at the back of his knees, making Hazel fall onto his hands and knees. Ozpin twirls his cane around, preparing to attack again, but Hazel roars as he raises his fists into the air and then smashes them onto the ground, sending him flying.
Back with Jaune and Ren, Weiss' breathing continues to stabilize as the white glow engulfs her, while Jaune and Ren watch on in astonishment.
"W-What... What's happening Ren?" Jaune asks.
"I don't-," Ren begins.
"Weiss!" they hear and see Ruby and Nora running towards them, both kneeling next to Weiss. "What happened?! What's going on?!" Ruby asks, worried about her friend.
"I think she's going to be okay. She seems to be stabilizing," Ren says, smiling.
Ruby then looks back to see Yang fighting Mercury, but getting pushed back because of Emerald's interference with her semblance, making her see illusions and leaving her open to surprise attacks. Emerald makes Yang see an illusion of Raven, but then Mercury comes in, dealing a few blows to Yang's body with his feet before knocking her to the ground. Ruby then looks over to see Ozpin fighting Hazel. Ozpin evades Hazel's crazed swings, but gets hit by a shot from Lionheart. Hazel comes in to punch him into the air, but Qrow pushes him out of the way and takes the hit instead. She then looks over to see Velvet's friends fighting the dark figure, seeing Eleanor parrying a few strikes of the figure's sword with her spear, followed by Eizen jumping over her to punch the figure, only to miss when he flies away. Magilou creates a wall of fire to block his movement, and Zaveid swings his pendulums at him, but the figure swings his sword to knock them back. Ruby looks back to Weiss, seeing that her wound is healing thanks to whatever Jaune is doing.
"Whatever you're doing, don't stop," Ruby says.
"I won't," Jaune replies before focusing more on Weiss.
"Oscar needs help," Ruby says to Ren.
Ren stands up, "I'm on it," he says.
"Velvet's friends seem to be doing alright, but Jaune and Weiss still need cover," Ruby says.
Nora walks over with her hammer ready, "No one's gonna touch them while I'm around," she says.
"Okay," Ruby says and grabs her scythe and stands up. "Make it happen, RNJR," she says and goes to help her sister.
She fires her weapon behind her, propelling her towards them and swinging her scythe around to stop Emerald from attacking Yang, forcing her back to regroup with Mercury, while Ruby stands in front of Yang.
"Thanks, sis," Yang says and gets back up to stand with her. "You okay?" she asks.
"No... I'm angry," Ruby replies.
Back down in the vault, Cinder's group approach the doors of the vault, while Velvet continues to climb under the pathway to sneak up on them. Sections of the pathway start glowing a bright blue, while the flowers on the tree bloom and the petals fall, acknowledging the presence of the Spring Maiden.
"Having fun?" Cinder jokes.
"Vernal, stay focused," Raven reminds her.
"Oh, come now Raven. Let her have a little fun. It's a once in a lifetime experience," Cinder says as they get closer to the vault.
"How does this work?" Vernal asks, seeing the door is made up of four fans over one another.
"Once the Spring Maiden places her hand on the door, the door will open. For you... and only you. Then I will enter the vault and claim the Relic. No one else. Is that clear?" Cinder explains.
"Yes. It doesn't matter to us. Let's just get this over with," Raven says, hands on her hips.
"Very well. Vernal, whenever you're ready," Cinder says. Vernal slowly walks towards the door. Meanwhile, Raven slowly reaches for her sword handle. However, Cinder begins to speak again, stopping her motion. "You know, I've heard so many stories about you Raven. They say that you're a cunning leader. That you're strong. That you're clever..." Cinder says while Vernal reaches for the door. "...It's a shame that they're wrong..." Cinder says before using her power to send out some ice at Raven's feet.
"VERNAL!" Raven yells before she is suddenly frozen solid.
Vernal turns around while taking out her pistols, only for something to suddenly stab into her stomach, herself gasping in shock and pain. Cinder smirks as she looks back to Vernal. Vernal gasps as she looks down, seeing an elongated Grimm arm coming out from Cinder as her left arm, with its claws stabbed into Vernal's stomach.
"It's nothing personal, dear. You're simply not worthy of such power..." Cinder begins as she walks to Vernal, standing in front of her. "...But I am," she says, her powers flaring a bit, and then pushes Vernal to the ground while she screams in pain. "So I will TAKE what is MINE," Cinder says. Vernal tries desperately to free herself, while cracks start to appear around Raven's frozen prison. Eventually, Vernal's struggle ends as her arms fall to her side, and she takes her last breath. Cinder smirks, only to suddenly take a look of shock. "I don't understand. Where's the power?!" she yells, only to hear ice breaking behind her.
"You won't find it..." Raven says as she is now free from the ice. "... Because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden... I AM!" Raven shouts as she shows her face, her powers showing... as the TRUE Spring Maiden.
Cinder retracts her Grimm arm, "This whole time... You were the Spring Maiden?! But, you said-," Cinder says.
"Guess those stories about me weren't so wrong after all. You're gonna pay for killing Vernal," Raven threatens her.
"Fine then, as long as I get what's mine, I don't care about who I have to kill to get it," Cinder says, ready to fight.
Raven prepares as well, only for her focus to shift to something behind Cinder, and she smirks.
"What are you smirking about?" Cinder growls.
"If you were stronger or more clever, then maybe... you'd remember to watch your back," Raven notes.
Cinder is confused by her words, but then her eyes widen as she looks back, just in time to see Velvet as she clamps her demon claw down on her face and forces her onto the ground, absorbing her power.
"That power doesn't belong to you!" Velvet notes. Cinder tries to stop her with her Grimm arm, but Velvet makes a quick motion with her arm blade, slicing it off, and making Cinder scream in pain. "Guess Grimm and aura don't mix. Too bad for you," she notes.
Cinder then tries to fire off some fire at Velvet, only for Raven to use her own power to freeze Cinder's arm to the floor, stopping her in her tracks. Cinder screams as Velvet continues to absorb her Maiden power. Soon enough, the process ends and Velvet lets go, and the ice on Cinder dissipates. Cinder looks up and raises her right hand to launch a fire ball at her... but nothing happens.
"What?!" Cinder mutters in shock. She looks up to see Velvet, who activates the Fall Maiden's power, now showing fully in both of her eyes. "No... No, no, no, no! That is my power!" Cinder yells.
"This was never your power. You stole it. It's not my power either, but better to be in my hands than in yours," Velvet notes, deactivating her demon claw.
"No, I am the only one worthy of that power! No one can have it but me. You give it back-," Cinder yells as she lunges at Velvet, only for Velvet's arm blade to go through her chest.
Cinder gasps in shock as Velvet leans in to her ear, "Yeah, I also absorbed your aura. Guess you forgot about that. And by the way... that was for Pyrrha," Velvet says as she moves Cinder around, making her walk back towards the edge of the pathway. "This... is for Yang," Velvet says, stabbing her arm blade through Cinder again. "For Ruby," and another strike. "For all those lives you've destroyed," and one more strike. "And finally... for myself," Velvet finishes as she plunges her blade through Cinder's heart.
Cinder makes one last gasp of air before Velvet makes a quick slash at her throat, making Cinder spin around and then she falls into the darkness below. With Cinder now gone, Velvet turns her attention to Raven, the two wielders of the Maiden powers about to face off.
And that's the chapter. The battle for Haven continues as Ruby and Velvet's friends continue to battle Cinder's forces. Meanwhile, Velvet has claimed the rest of the Fall Maiden's power from Cinder, and taken Cinder's life in the process, but now she has Raven to deal with. Will Ruby and Velvet's friends win the battle for Haven? Will Velvet be able to defeat Raven? Until then, please Read and Review.