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Chapter 39: Skirmish
Ever since the alarms had begun blaring out, interrupting the firework display marking the beginning of the centenary festival the Aurora hotel had been in a state of lock down, nothing entered or left the aerial platform the luxurious hotel occupied and the guests had been secured inside several spacious panic vaults, protected with a detachment of decommissioned Atlas Knights and a forcefield generator, as if such a thing would save the bourgeois within if the anti-gravity engines were damaged and the platform fell. With the guests and proprietors safely sequestered away the task of defending the premises themselves and the lives of the staff, prioritised by the management in that order, fell to the security detail; of which Team NEON were members.
"What you're talking about is a direct contradiction of your orders son" the man that they'd been assigned to told Helios, his tone understanding. Team NEON had not been assigned to a Hunter for this mission, rather the head of the private security firm that had been subcontracted for the duration of the festival; a man who'd spent years doing more than guarding millionaires if the eye patch, cybernetic left arm and tattoos displaying military emblems and kill markings were any indication. The understanding tone did little to assuage Helios's temper
"Then hang me for deserting" the redhead spat venomously "But you will do it when we return because I will be taking my team down there"
"Yeah he doesn't take bullshit orders well" Nyanza noted, drawing his tonfa "And for once I'm inclined to agree with him. This isn't what we signed up for" out of the corner of his eye Helios spotted Ether and Olivine preparing their weapons and was filled with immense gratitude and pride.
"I know, I knot it seems harsh-"
"It seems like disgusting cowardice" Helios interrupted the older man "There is a battle happening beneath us right now. These people will not share their safety with the rest of New Vale but still expect Hunters to watch over them. The answer is no" the two men stared at each other in grim silence for a few moments before the chief of security offered out a hand for Helios to shake
"Son if I was twenty….hell who am I kidding, thirty years younger I'd be going down there with you. If the artillery I had the firm bring on site can't keep Grimm off us then there's not much melee weapons can do. Get down there and fight the good fight" Helios's vibrant green eyes seemed to light up as he smiled, glad to finally be freed from bureaucracy and allowed to do his duty. Olympus Enforcer found its' way to his hands in sword and shield form as he turned on his heel and marched toward the grandiose double doors of the Aurora hotel
"Team NEON, with me!" as the trio of teens he'd come to consider his family away from the Nikos tribe fell into step beside him he was surprised when Olivine gently punched his shoulder
"Well said Heely….also, look" her eyes betrayed the worry she was trying to hide and she quickly glanced away "Mine and Ether's family live down there-"
"We'll find them" Helios calmly assured her
"Hey, not that I care too much about grades" Nyanza called over his shoulder to the man who was hypothetically their superior officer "But what're you telling Goodwitch if we survive this?" The older man chuckled
"That you four are gonna be famous one day"
"You're damn right we are" Ether smirked as he shifted Ghost Reverie from its' guitar from to the monstrous bladed weapon which Helios was still unsure whether to call a sword or an axe. Then the four of them stepped out of the hotel, the night air smelled of smoke and as they approached the edge of the aerial platform flames could be seen both in the distance where New Vale's air force battled to contain the bulk of the Grimm incursion, and below where a plethora of fires spewed from the gargantuan hive towers, concentrated mostly around the lower levels where the rampaging hordes had burst into the Kingdom.
"Okay" Nyanza sighed as the four of them stood at the precipice "I'm not too proud to admit it….I'm scared guys, we might all die out here tonight"
"We might and if it's any comfort I'm scared of the jump" Helios admitted before gently squeezing his partners' shoulder "But I know for a fact we have luck on our side"
"So, landing strategies then?" Olivine smirked "This is gonna be just like initiation"
"Landing strategies" Helios confirmed before turning to Helios and delivering a line taking directly from one of the movies the feline had insisted they watch "Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!"
"Did you just-" Nyanza never had chance to finish as Helios had already leapt from the platform, obsidian Aura only visible in the night as it obscured his golden armour while he focused his gravity warping Semblance. Helios felt himself gaining momentum as he fell and became aware of several pairs of glowing eyes beneath him, bone carapace catching the light of nearby flames as the ground rushed up to meet him. Helios landed in a crouch, one knee breaking the tarmac as he sent his Semblance out in a single pulse; feeling suddenly dizzy as he inverted his Semblance and caused the pack of over two dozen Beowolves he'd landed in the midst of to float into the air unrestricted by gravity, a condition which ended quickly when Helios amplified gravity in the vicinity by orders of magnitude and sent the Grimm crashing into the ground with a boom that shook the street and set off several nearby car alarms resulting in several small craters. At that moment Ether made his landing, body reforming from the mist like state that his Semblance allowed it to take, Ghost Reverie shifting into guitar form as he brought a pick made of solid Ice Dust down against its' strings; a single screeching note rang out and the Beowolves were frozen solid by the area of effect attack only to be despatched by a flurry of attacks from Helios; except for the last which found itself shattered by Olivine simply landing on it, not slowing her fall with Buster Bravo's retro-thrusters as much as she would have liked.
"Where's Nyanza?" Helios demanded, Olivine simply pointed upwards and the redhead was forced to admit that the year of intense training had yielded results; the feline Faunus was using the small television satellite dishes mounted on outside of the towers as makeshift footholds, allowing him to make his way to the ground in an impressive display of acrobatics.
"Okay, that's the scary part done" he panted as he landed beside his team, pistols at the ready "Now we've just gotta kill a fuck-ton of Grimm" as if summoned by his faux cheery tone a lone Ursa lumbered around the corner, the length of the spines growing from its' bony armour marking it as an old Grimm. The Ursa reared itself onto its' hind legs and roared a challenge
"Ether get behind it, Nyanza-" Helios fell silent when a beam of eerie green light burst through the beasts' stomach and back, followed by twin laser beams and a hailstorm of bullets before finally fading away into nothingness.
"She's awesome isn't she" Ether smirked as Olivine made a show of blowing smoke from the barrels of the several weapons that made up Buster Bravo, goggles lowered over her eyes and a confident smile on her face. Helios quickly composed himself
"Well done. We move from street to street and cut down any Grimm we find. Let's go and be the heroes these people need"
Arctus and Diamond had made their way from the bridge they had been watching the fireworks on inside the nearest tower complex upon realising that the Kingdom was under attack, instinctively making their way downwards into the poorer areas where Grimm were emerging from a hole that seemingly been burrowed by a truly monstrous King-Taijitu. The two of them had positioned themselves between the Grimm and panicked masses of civilians, allowing them to escape to the nearest shelter. The fighting had been had been gruelling, a series of intense skirmishes at close quarters in the confined space of the narrow streets within the hive tower. Eventually a small group of ragtag fighters, comprised mostly of locals who refused to abandon their home and led by Hickory Pardus, Arctus and Diamond's manager at the Mercy Foundation stormed the hole the Grimm were emerging from, using whatever Dust they'd manage to scrape together as a makeshift explosive to collapse the tunnel; leaving Arctus and Diamond free to make their way to the next complex that needed to be cleared out
"Oh my Oum the whole place is a war zone" Diamond gasped as the two of them made their way onto another bridge between towers, the sounds of battles raging nearby filling their ears. From their position they could actually see New Vale's warships deploying fighters to combat the Grimm rampaging through the streets while the warships themselves decimated airborne monsters by the hundred. Arctus came to a halt, mouth hanging open at the sight of a familiar silhouette against the explosions; a ship that appeared far more streamlined and frankly ominous than the sturdy ships from New Vale
"My Dad's here, that's the Gespenst!"
"We might need to change plans big guy" Diamond directed his attention to a monorail relatively close by, the carriages hanging suspended and unmoving between two of the Kingdoms' monolithic towers; the emergency lighting of the monorail showing that there were still passengers stranded aboard
"You're right, let's go" with that he hurled himself over the bridge and formed a Glyph beneath himself, riding it in the direction of the monorail while Diamond leapt onto the outer wall of the tower and sprinted along its' surface, leaping from building to building as they drew closer. Before they could reach their target a piercing shriek filled the air, drawing their gaze upwards towards a trio of monstrous Nevermore descending on them, each with a wingspan almost as wide as the street below
"Dude how the hell did those just slip past" Diamond demanded while shifting Lex Talionis from its' glaive form, the blade collapsing into the butt of the sniper rifle as the shaft formed the barrel bringing the scope to her eye she lined up her first shot, a high velocity Gravity Dust round punching through the skull of the first Nevermore sending it careening to the ground, closely followed by a second courtesy of Arctus hurling a Glyph which cleaved through the Grimm's torso. The final Nevermore prepared to swoop down, talons extended until Diamond fired a shot which shattered a joint in the beasts' wing resulting a deafening screech of defiance. The Grimm's innate need for death too hold and rather than try and escape it folded its wings flat against its' body and dove downwards.
Directly through the monorail track.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Diamond screamed as Arctus leapt from his Glyph on to the rear carriage as the remains of the rail groaned in protest, screams emanating from within the carriages
"Dee it's not gonna hold, I need your Semblance" Arctus answered her while ripping away the engine cover, each monorail had two drivers cabins with their own engine, one at each end. Eventually he managed to find the emergency power supply for the monorail which had been brought to a stop, the lights flickered out as Arctus removed the faintly glowing green Eco-Dust crystals and crushed them in his palms
"What're you-" before Diamond could complete her question the monorail gave way, sending the carriages falling
"HOLD ON TO ME!" Arctus called out, Diamond did so though it had little effect; her Semblance warped dimensions around her meaning that the falling monorail felt as though it were pulling them backwards rather than down. Her hands were wrapped around her partners' waist while he held onto the monorail with one hand and held the other out ahead of him. A glowing green Glyph, imbued with the Eco-Dust expanded outwards from his hand. Diamond's jaw dropped as the Minotaur Grimm that Team FADE had faced during their second mission was summoned, snorting and thrashing as it stepped forth before finally clutching Arctus's empty hand.
The Monorail stopped falling.
"Dude" Diamond breathed out, stunned as comprehension dawned on her "We're gonna tow it?"
"Basically" Arctus grunted out through clenched teeth, sweating from both the physical exertion and the effort involved in maintaining the summoned Grimm. Slowly the Minotaur began to drag the monorail upwards and forwards towards the hole in the wall intended for it.
"Come on big guy you can do this, you've got this" Diamond whispered encouragement in Arctus's ear, holding onto him a little tighter as she saw the summoned construct beginning to flicker and grow indistinct around the edges, the toll it was taking on the Bear Faunus to continue was clear and Diamond herself was beginning to tire having never pushed her Semblance to such an extreme before; yet they persevered and eventually managed to drag the monorail inside the tower where Arctus finally collapsed onto his hands and knees gasping for breath as the Minotaur vanished. The sound of screeching metal alerted him to Diamond forcibly tearing the door of the front carriage away allowing the dozens of frightened passengers to come swarming out
"You okay?" Diamond helped Arctus to his feet and studied his face for any lingering signs that he was unable to continue. Arctus saw the people they had just rescued staring at them in something akin to awe and steadied himself, placing a hand on Diamond's waist and pulling her close
"Yeah….yeah I'm good. Let's get these people to the nearest shelter" the two shared a brief smile before drawing their weapons once more and leading the way. Hunters were more than just fighters against the Grimm, they were a symbol meant to inspire hope and determination and while Arctus and Diamond fought together each of them felt as though they could face every Grimm on Remnant.
Felix brought the Killer-Bee screeching around a corner, wincing to himself as he struck a Boarbatusk, sending the Grimm rolling across the ground and into a wall where it proceeded to fade into nothingness. Eagle leaned out of the passenger side window to skewer a Creep as it leapt at the car, her blade emerging from the back of its' neck. Sentinel was mounted on the roof of the muscle car, secured by its' cable arms and firing into the Grimm blocking the road to clear a path. Behind them were almost a dozen trucks filled with civilians who hadn't managed to make it to one of the designated shelters, many of which were now full and in the process of being locked down; the fact that these trucks were the very same trucks that Rhodium Torchwick's underlings were using to smuggle drugs was of no consequence right now, the Hunters with a sense of duty and the criminals by virtue of living in the affected parts of the city shared a common goal
"Not far now" Felix growled out through grit teeth "Eagle you see any more Grimm?"
"Nothing, but they could be inside buildings" she answered as she scanned the side streets for anything Felix missed while he focused on the road ahead. As the convoy moved beyond the maze like metropolis of the city itself the smell of burning was mixed with that of seawater and the sounds of battle faded away, evidently the Grimm hadn't made it this far
"There it is!" Eagle gasped "Looks like they weren't lying"
"Thank Oum for that" Felix sighed as he brought his car to a stop at the entrance of New Vale's commercial docks where the ships that one of the truck drivers had promised would be waiting for them could be seen. The sound of roaring engines prompted a group of heavily armed soldiers to converge on their position, led by a familiar man in armour
"Professor Bronzewing" Felix nodded as he lowered the drivers' side window "We've got refugees, we heard these boats are taking them to safety?"
"More just getting 'em out of the way while we deal with this but we've got room" Dove nodded before gesturing to the lead truck prompting the convoy to begin making their way into the docks where they could be loaded onto a ship and taken out to sea away from the Grimm attacking the Kingdom
"Professor are any of the other Professors down here fighting?" Eagle asked with a worried expression
"Most of them" Dove nodded, clearly understanding who she was enquiring about "Goodwitch is helping hold the main breach, Ren and Nora just checked in at her position. They're fine….Some of your Aunts are out there clearing out Grimm in the city as well"
"Oh thank Oum" Eagle sagged back in her seat before knocking on the roof of the car prompting Sentinel to collapse back into shield form with a series of mechanical clanks and whirring, allowing her to pull the automaton back into the car
"You're going back into the city aren't you?" Bronzewing asked solemnly "You're first years, hold the line here and I'll head back into the city" Felix didn't respond immediately, instead opening a specific app on his Scroll that allowed a team leader to track both the Aura levels and location of their team-mates and any other Hunters that had given them a code to do so
"Can't do that Professor" he sighed "Your family are one of those ships right?"
"They are" Bronzewing wouldn't admit that the first thing he'd done upon landing in New Vale was find his wife and children despite having no regrets
"Well the rest of my team are out there, so's my sister"
"I understand" Dove nodded "Good luck" with no more to be said Felix rolled the window up and reversed the Killer-Bee away from the docks, handing his Scroll to Eagle before gunning the engine and speeding back towards the battlefield that the city had turned into
"Who're we going for first?" Eagle asked, understanding that she would be giving directions
"Team CLIR are all congregated in one place and they're on the other side of the city. We'll pick Arctus and Diamond up first"
"Got it, straight ahead then" Felix's hand hovered above the button on the gear-stick that would engage the high output Dust booster and push the muscle car to insane speeds, finally deciding against it as he rationalised that he might need it later. They tore through the now empty streets for several minutes before Eagle spoke again
"Take the next left" Felix did so and was instantly forced to bring the car to a screeching halt as no more than twenty feet ahead of them a lone fighter tore through Grimm with a pair of arm mounted blades. Leaping out of the car Felix drew Hack and Slash and their machine pistol forms and opened fire, peppering the Beowolves with bullets while the hooded fighter decapitated the monsters and sheared limbs away; the fight had ended by the time Eagle had managed to clamber out of the car and draw her sword, though Felix was glad that she had as he got his first proper glimpse of the man they'd just saved and shock and rage were left struggling for dominance
"You!" Eagle spat. Carcharodon Gore lowered his hood as he strode towards them, dark eyes glinting
"You look very much like a scientist that just tried to kill my people" the Shark Faunus hissed, regarding Eagle with malicious intent
"Where's my Mum?" Eagle demanded brandishing her sword while Felix shifted his weapons to their own sword mode beside her, chainsaw blades beginning to rotate
"Safe" Carcharodon answered simply
"Look around man" Felix gestured to their surroundings "We don't need to do this right now, work with us and we can work something out"
"I know where Hellion is, she's safe" that seemed to give him a cause to stop for a moment, finally hissing out a reply
"Hunters have her as well?" unsure of what was meant by 'as well' Eagle nodded
"Yes and I promise you she hasn't been harmed"
"We know about your tribe" Felix added
"Then you know how many of my people were murdered by Hunters" Carcharodon rasped out, squaring his shoulders "And now you have the last of the Shadow Cadre as well….You've taken everything from me!" with a frenzied roar he charged towards them, blades at the ready and it was all Felix and Eagle could do to brace themselves.
"Running a little low on ammo over here!" Olivine called out over the sound of gun fire, the air around her tasting of ozone as the photon blaster and twin laser components of Buster Bravo discharged, reducing several more of the nest of Deathstalkers Team NEON were locked in combat with to ash even as the HUD installed in her goggles warned her that she was running low on power and would soon be forced to rely on the compact mini-gun alone
"Reload, I'll cover you!" Nyanza answered as he back flipped out of the reach of one of the monsters' claws and onto the roof of a parked sedan, a combination of his Semblance and marksmanship allowing him to pierce the Deathstalkers' skull with two shots directly through the eyes; Olivine herself ducked behind the car and hurriedly began feeding fresh ammunition into her weapon, wincing at just how little she had left.
"Heely this isn't working, it might be time to pull back!" Nyanza suggested as he crippled the stinger of one of the multitude of Grimm threatening to overrun their position. Helios fought back to back with Ether, Olympus Enforcer having been returned from Tommy Gun mode to sword and shield to tear through Grim matter at close quarters
"No retreat, no surrender!" came the reply as he batted a pincer aside with his shield before burying his sword between a set of mandibles
"We're not backing down" Ether growled, his blade rending armoured carapaces apart with every swing "This is way too close to my place, I know the people that live here!"
"I'm ready!" Olivine shouted up to him, knocking on the metal of the sedan to inform him that she'd reloaded her weapon
"Well" Nyanza shrugged "You heard 'em" with that he leapt back into the fray, bringing Ether and Helios inside of his good fortune Semblance's area of effect
"Ether pull back, Olivine prepare to fire!" Helios ordered calmly; he and the guitarist had not been reckless in their insistence on standing their ground, it had been a ruse to concentrate the Grimm in a single spot so that their teams' heavy weapon specialist could deliver the maximum amount of destruction. Ether's Semblance allowed him to slip away from the combat with ease his body materialising across the street, Ghost Reverie shifting into guitar mode, a Fire Dust pick in his hand in preparation
"Nyanza get him out of there!" Olivine bellowed
"Working on it!" he shot back, the Pharaoh Mafdet returned to tonfa mode and being used to deflect attacks as he reached his partner; a pincer narrowly missing his bushy tail as he grabbed the redhead by the shoulder and began pulling him through the mass of Grimm
"They're going to disperse too soon!" Helios spat and Nyanza immediately knew what would follow, his eyes glowing as if lit from behind as he pushed his Semblance to its' limits in preparation "OLIVINE FIRE NOW!" a split second later Helios had pulled Nyanza into a crouch beside him, holding his shield over their heads, the feline could see the surface of the metal beginning to glow due to the proximity to Olivine's onslaught, bullets ripped through the asphalt around them though Nyanza's Semblance prevented any from ricocheting towards them. When the barrage ended Helios gripped his partner and wordlessly sprinted away; obnoxiously loud clicking behind them assuring him that at least one Deathstalker remained alive. That ended when Ether used his Fire Dust pick, Ghost Reverie spewing a wave of flames which washed over the street leaving nothing but fading mist and molten tarmac in its' wake.
"Another victory" Helios panted out, his team-mates giving incredulous stares at just how pleased with the situation he seemed
"We can't keep this up man" Ether gasped out, allowing his guitar to hand freely from its' strap as he doubled over panting for breath "Your out of ammo, Ollie's running low, I haven't got enough Dust to keep doing that"
"He's right" Olivine sighed, pushing her goggles up into her afro and wiping her brow "We need to fall back to wherever the military are co-ordinating from and resupply"
"Nyanza?" Helios looked at his partner expectantly, the feline merely shook his head in response
"My Semblance can't work miracles. I can keep it running and you might find a couple of spare magazines lying around if we're lucky" the golden armoured warrior frowned before finally relenting; as much as his upbringing dictated that he be in the thick of the fighting he would not risk his friends' lives to satisfy his own pride
"Then we fall back. Lead the way"
"Erm-" Ether began before trailing off and there were several moments of tense silence as the four teens realised that in their eagerness to join the battle they hadn't taken the time to find any of the Kingdoms' rallying points, they were acting independently of the rest of the Hunters and unless they happened to stumble across someone who could guide them they were effectively cut off
"Okay let's look at this logically" Olivine sighed, replacing her goggles "Where would the smartest places for them to set up-"
"Wait, do you hear that?" Nyanza interrupted holding his hand up to silence her. Team NEON collectively strained their ears and heard it; dull thudding, the sound of thunderous footsteps growing nearer until the final warning came in the form a deafening roar from inside the nearest tower complex. A moment later the wall of the enormous building exploded outwards sending dust, rubble and parked cars into the air
"What the fuck is that!" Nyanza demanded as he caught sight of the Grimm, the thing was huge with a body easily twice the height and three times the length of a bus with three horns sprouting from its' skull and what appeared to be a throne growing from its' back
"Oh my Oum" Ether pointed to the hole the beast had emerged from, his face ashen; the Steed had seemingly smashed through one side of the tower complex and rampaged through the equivalent of several city blocks before bursting through the other side
"We have to stop that thing" Nyanza looked at Ether as though he'd lost his mind
"We can't fight that!"
"If it takes out a corner stone it could bring down a whole tower complex!" Ether shot back, the Faunus's face drained of colour upon hearing that. The conversation was brought to an end by Neon clanging the flat of his sword against his shield to get their attention, eyes never leaving the rampaging Grimm
"You're all free to fall back but I'm going to halt that beast or die in the attempt" there was a moments' hesitation where the four teens looked to each other before seemingly making their decision in unison and charging after the Steed with their weapons at the ready.
Carcharodon fought with the horrifying fury of a man possessed and the skill of someone who had been taught to throw a punch from the moment they were old enough to form a fist. Felix and Eagle fought with every ounce of determination they had and still found themselves being forced back under the assault.
"Just stop!" Eagle pleaded as she raised her shield, the only response from the Shark Faunus was a flying kick which forced her off balance which he followed up crouching against its' surface and launching himself at Felix; sparks flying as their blades clashed. Eagle didn't need her impressive amount of training from various Hunters to realise that her partner was no match for Carcharodon; something that was proven as he managed to parry both Hack and Slash aside with the blade mounted on his left arm forcing him aside and allowing the Shark Faunus to drag his right blade across his back causing Felix's golden Aura to become visible for a moment, as he staggered forwards Carcharodon swept his legs out from beneath him and activated his Semblance, melting into the floor as the Lion Faunus landed face down only to re-emerge directly beneath him; hoisting Felix into the air with both hands around his throat, tightening until the swords fell from his grasp their blades screaming in protest as they tore into the ground
"NO!" Eagle threw her shield from her arm, causing Sentinel to unfold and spring into action. Carcharodon's Aura became visible under the maelstrom of bullets from the droids' mini-gun, a rippling pale lilac light enveloping him for a moment before her through Felix aside and attempted to avoid the attack; only to step into the path of Eagle's downward slash
"An interesting weapon" he hissed as he crossed his arms overhead, blocking the attack "It will serve the Cadre well" with that he forced her sword aside and slashed at her abdomen while weaving under her guard, scoring a groove in her armour. The triumphant smile full of fangs slipped from his face as he felt Sentinel's clawed armatures, fired on their retractable cables, close around his upper arms a moment before the droid began firing again, directly between his shoulder blades.
"It's over!" Eagle shouted "Now tell me where my Mum is!"
"IT IS NOT OVER!" in a display of abnormal strength and determination the Shark Faunus turned, forcing the cables that connected Sentinel's arms and body to become intertwined; taking several rounds to the chest in the process, he then grabbed the cables and pulled the droid forward with enough force to send it toppling over and cease firing before bringing his blade down on the cables that held him; removing Sentinel's arms. Eagle's crimson eyes widened as she saw the machine she'd designed, built and considered something of a pet be dismembered; rage filling ever fibre of her being as Carcharodon turned to face her and make a 'come' motion with his hand, lilac Aura flickering around him from exertion. With a bellow of fury she charged forwards, sword held high and only vaguely aware of Felix struggling to his feet
"EAGLE NO!" it was too late, as eagle drew close and as she swung a wild swing at Carcharodon's neck the raider rushed forwards and a wave of icy cold washed over Eagle as he used his Semblance to pass directly through her; as his body solidified behind her Carcharodon wrapped an arm around Eagle's throat and began to squeeze. As her struggled, vision slowly growing dark around the edges a noise reached her ears, above the sound of her own heart pounding; the sound of birds screeching overhead.
"WHAT?" Carcharodon demanded as he released Eagle and kicked her aside; in the air above him his sensitive eyes could pick out the shape of Marauder, seemingly being worried by a smaller bird with vibrant red eyes. Before he could react the smaller bird vanished in a flash of Crimson Aura, being replaced by the Huntsman he had duelled against earlier. The grey-haired man snatched Marauder out of the sky in one hand and drew his scythe with the other while falling and delivering a punishing kick to Carcharodon's chest. As the Faunus rose to his feet he felt the last of his Aura break, its' light rippling outwards from the point of impact before vanishing. Qrow Branwen strode forward, wrapping something around Marauder's wings and chest before depositing the bird on the ground and readying Harbinger
"Get the hell away from my daughter" those words caused Carcharodon to pause for a moment, if he didn't have the scientist herself then the father of her child would make an acceptable bargaining chip and while he knew intellectually that without his Aura this fight was all but over the Shark Faunus had been pushed passed the point of desperation. As he prepared to lunge forward he became aware of movement out of the corner of his eye; Felix had rejoined the fight and there was no way to prevent the right hook aimed directly at Carcharodon's face.
"And stay the fuck down!" he cheered as the raider fell to the ground unconscious with a thud. Before turning to his partner and Great-uncle, the feeling of victory leaving him when he saw the utterly shell-shocked expression Eagle's face as she whispered out a single word
"Daughter?"
"Eagle" the living legend that was Qrow Branwen suddenly looked uncertain, almost fragile as he took in how much Eagle was trembling "I promise this isn't how I wanted you to find out; your mother wanted to be the one to explain. She's safe right now she's at-"
"Uncle Qrow, we need to deal with this guy before he wakes up" Felix motioned to the unmoving form of Carcharodon Gore, prompting Qrow to move towards the and withdraw an Aura dampening collar. An unwanted downside was that it drew Eagle's attention to Felix
"You're not surprised, you knew didn't you?" Felix's head sunk, unable to look her in the eye "Didn't you?"
"Eagle I'm sorry" he murmured
"Oh my Oum" Eagle's voice took on a frantic edge
"Eagle, I'm taking this guy to where the rest of his crew are being held. We've got 'em all now….Toni's there, come with me?" Eagle looked at Qrow and then to Felix, eyes filled with tears and barely restrained fury before she turned away and began recovering the severed pieces of Sentinel, finding that the droid was still functional despite the damage before stalking off in the direction of the city where fighting was still taking place
"I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm an Arc and Arc's defend what's important" Felix watched her set off in stunned silence as he struggled to comprehend how things had spiralled so far out of control so fast, flinching when a hand clamped down on his shoulder
"Go after her" Qrow almost begged "You're her partner, she needs you out there with her" Felix nodded and rushed towards the Killer-Bee bringing the engine roaring into life repeating a mantra to himself under his breath
"I'm gonna fix this"
Author's Notes:
And we're back with the main characters, we'll be wrapping up the battle of New Vale next chapter and tying up lose ends the chapter after that, then there might be a little break while I plan out the first arc of second year (I have the first chapter or two in my head but I need to write things down).
Might write a one-shot unrelated to this story in between as well, depending on whatever inspiration hits me.
Anyway let's summarise:
Of course the people that own the hotel don't let the staff use the customer panic rooms, they'll probably dock their wages for not working through the battle.
For some reason I imagine the head of the security firm looking like Cable from X-Men.
"Then hang me for deserting. But you will do it when we return because I will be taking my team down there" You've gotta love Helios, that boy is honour bound to doing the right thing.
Nyanza actually giving a fuck about grades, think back to what he was like in Vol.1, character development.
Helios is still a little scared of heights.
I love the idea of Helios finally getting pop culture references, and let's be honest the Pacific Rim speech is one hell of a speech.
Superhero landing combined with a Gravity Semblance is how you make an entrance.
I feel like the OP-ness of Olivine's weapon is balances out by the fact it's only thing she's really got in her arsenal (I actually haven't given her a Semblance yet but I want it to be something that isn't combat oriented).
I thought bringing back the manager from the Mercy Foundation was a nice touch.
The scene with the monorail was something I've actually had in my head for a while, I literally only added the monorails to the description of New Vale to have Arctus and Diamond use their Semblances together like that.
You know that Boarbatusk left a dent.
Torchwick's crew don't know that he's escaped prison yet and realistically in this sort of emergency everyone is willing to work together against the Grimm so Hunters and criminals pooling resources isn't that far fetched.
The Kingdom had a contingency plan in case the shelters weren't enough, put everyone on ships and get them out of the way and Bronzewing might not be in the thick of the fighting but I can't call him a coward for getting his family out of there first.
Felix and Eagle didn't realise who Carcharodon was when they helped him, then they recognised him from the Vol.1 and Vol.2 finales.
"Safe" well he wasn't lying, he was just leaving out the part where he doesn't have his prisoner any more.
I feel like Carcharodon just snapped, between Hunters and people from Atlas everyone he cared about has either been killed or captured, the ship that was his home has been sunk and his plans to bring the people responsible to justice are crumbling around him; he just lost it and lashed out.
Helios's plan was reckless but it worked. Use himself as bait to lure all the Grimm into a killing field.
If you really think Team NEON have a chance of slowing down the Steed or taking out Phobos I have some bad news for you.
Interestingly enough, the trick where Carcharodon jumped onto Eagle's shield and used it as a springboard to launch himself at Felix; Flax did the same thing when he jumped off of Onyx's axe to hit Carcharodon, Shark boy learns from people he fights.
If anyone thinks Carcharodon is OP here, think of it this way; he's been trained to fight from birth and has a lot more experience than Eagle of Felix. Helios has been noted as having not lost a sparring match in combat class all year, the entire Shadow Cadre are roughly on Helios's level but Carcharodon's Semblance makes tricky to deal with. He was actually losing to Flax when they fought and that fight was two on one.
Sentinel is damaged but fixable.
Qrow made the big entrance and gave the big reveal; now he gets to deal with consequences.
That fight was gonna be over in one hit regardless of who it came from, I feel like Felix just suckering him out of nowhere was more fun than having Qrow do it.
You didn't really think that this was gonna be sunshine and rainbows did you? I mean if Qrow and Eagle are on great terms straight away what am I gonna do for second year?
Thank you to: SumoSnipe, Araniladin, FleetOfWarships, Arkanes Shippou, Ferrous, TigerRose, FluffyFirefly, ShadowAlex2000 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Nora landed in the exclusion zone not New Vale itself, far enough away from the wall between the two that she doesn't destroy any buildings in the city by EMP or just the blast of the Yashima Protocol.
Yeah RIP Bordeaux, he'd outlived his usefulness though.
I think it's pretty clear who's gonna end up fighting Phobos at this point.
We've only spent one scene inside Ruby and Penny's house and that didn't give much away; from the outside it looks pretty normal with a back yard they can put their own Bull-head landing pad in, on the inside it's modern and comfy mixed with futuristic tech like the AI (It's like Tony Stark's house but cosier) and you just know Ruby has a workshop in the basement.
Raffia won't be snapping anything with his arms vaporised up to the elbows and his Aura suppressed so he can't grow them back.
Nora wasn't used as a battery, Nora was used as a missile. She used the whole city as a battery.
Kafsi isn't dead yet.
Ruby is coming, that's all I'm gonna say.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.