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Chapter 85: Onslaught
With the carnage unfolding in and around the stadium hosting the Vytal Tournament much of the rest of the rest of Eisenstadt Zweite had been placed into lock down; though the effectiveness of this was debatable as police and military resources and personnel were pulled from elsewhere within the city to reinforce those defending against the White Fang. One clear result of the lock down however was that major roads and thoroughfares throughout the sprawling subterranean metropolis were silent, with many people having abandoned their vehicles when the news that a curfew had been placed into immediate effect had reached them; as a consequence of this Carcharodon Gore and Beta were free to face off against each and fight unrestrained without any trespassers.
The battle was a terrifying display of superhuman strength and abilities, coupled with skill and ferocity both participants had spent years honing to perfect lethality. Carcharodon was an undisputed master of the lightning strike, attacking and pressing his advantage before slipping away at the perfect moment to leave his adversary overextended by their failed counter-attack, ripe for another attack. Beta was simply an artist and a savant, showcasing a mastery of more styles of combat than most fighters would ever encounter in their lifetime and blended them together seamlessly; both Faunus would have freely admitted that the other was a worthy opponent were the circumstances different; as it was each of them found the existence of the other an affront to the natural order of things that they sought to correct.
Beta saw Carcharodon rushing in for another attack, the rippling black silhouette of the Shark Faunus's Semblance slithering across the ground at great speed before rising and reforming; blades of the Red Waves poised for a backhanded slash at the Snow Leopards' neck. Without hesitation Beta activated his own Semblance; sending a translucent copy of himself rushing forwards to meet the blow, the moment their blades clashed another clone emerged, then another and another, each of them pushing Carcharodon back several feet as he was forced to defend against several blades; each copy of Beta wielding a pair of Katana and each copy remaining present for a few brief moments after the creation of the next. The few seconds where Carcharodon was preoccupied were enough for Beta to combine his twin Katanas into their rail-gun mode before aiming and firing the Indominus; the Shark Faunus had not been as distracted as he had seemed however, kicking one of the translucent copies of his enemy into the path of the attack before sinking into the ground once again. Beta let out an uncharacteristic snarl, his vigilantly maintained calm and aloof demeanour slipping for a moment as he succeeded only in gunning down a portion of his own Aura; shifting the Indominus into its' broadsword form he performed an overhead and two handed downward swing as he turned one hundred and eighty degrees, hoping to cleave the raider in half when he rose from the ground behind him. Carcharodon suddenly appeared lunging from the right and pinning Beta's arm to his side before driving an elbow into his masked face, the curved and serrated blade running along his forearm scoring a diagonal gouge into the pristine surface of the mask and leaving a thin trickle of blood leaking from the dark skinned mans' upper cheek. Beta separated the Indominus into its' two halves and slashed wildly at Carcharodon's chest, only to leave his own torso exposed and unprotected against a flurry of short and precise slashing attacks from the Red Waves; shredding his clothing and leaving his Aura rippling as it protected him, Beta was briefly aware of a hand dipping into one of his pockets before he saw Carcharodon holding a Fire Dust crystal that he had stolen
"You don't have a gun" Beta noted with mocking contempt only for the Shark Faunus to flash him a predatory smile before crushing the crystal in his hand and simply leaping at him; Carcharodon activated his Semblance once more and as the effects of the Dust Crystal took hold the liquid state that his body became began to rapidly heat up, when Carcharodon's body washed over and around Beta's it was boiling and the feline was left howling in pain and clutching at eyes that had been seared by the attack. Carcharodon solidified behind him and quickly resumed his onslaught by driving the blades of the Red Waves into his kidneys' and dragging them across his back before turning Beta to face him and driving his knee into his opponents' face. Beta blindly flailed and struggled before finally snapping
"ENOUGH!" with a surge of blinding light and pure manifested Aura Carcharodon was thrown back, dozens of copies of Beta bursting into existence at once in a series of protective circles around the feline, each of them moving and seemingly thinking independently for a few moments before flickering out of existence leaving the two fighters several dozen feet apart, both struggling to catch their breath and compose themselves. Carcharodon rose to his feet from the crouch he had landed in, his face typically expressionless as he studied Beta whom he noted had seemingly recovered from his blindness judging by the way his icy blue eyes narrowed and tracked the raiders' movements. Without warning Beta charged, seeming to realise that Carcharodon would always have the initiative if the fight were allowed to continue as it had been; the Shark Faunus easily blocked the first blow, Beta swung the Katana in his right hand upwards from his left hip in a wide arc which was stopped short by Carcharodon's right arm, Beta's next attack was a reverse gripped downward stab with the blade in his left hand which Carcharodon halted by catching his wrist. The pair grappled for a moment in this awkward position before a wave of cruel and vicious instinct took over the raider; swinging his right arm counter-clockwise he broke free of the tangle of blade while at the same time pulling his left arm back and dragging Beta off balance, his right arm collided with the Snow Leopards' shoulders and the blade of the Red Waves sunk into his back whilst Carcharodon gripped his opponents' now extended arm by the wrist and shoulder before bearing his rows of impossibly sharp teeth and biting into the older mans' forearm. Beta screamed in pain and Carcharodon relished the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth as he ripped into his enemies' flesh, tearing through muscle and cracking bone with the force before finally pulling back, plucking the katana from Beta's now trembling hand and dismissively throwing it over the side of the bridge leaving him with only half of the Indominus and no way to form either his broadsword or rail-gun. Beta readied his remaining blade whilst casting furtive glances at his clearly severely injured left arm which twitched and shook as blood spilled freely from the countless wounds Carcharodon's teeth had inflicted; with a primal roar the Snow Leopard charged forwards, blade held horizontal and perpendicular to his eye as he made end this battle in a single decisive blow. Carcharodon used his rapidly depleting Aura to tap into his Semblance once more, his body rippling like water as Beta's furious attack simply passed through him and sent him crashing into the barrier wall of the bridge on which they fought with enough force to break through it. Beta flailed instinctively reaching out with his empty hand to try and grab onto something, only for his left hand to utterly fail to respond to his wishes; he felt his balance failing as his momentum carried him too far forward; he began to fall only to grabbed unceremoniously by his bushy and spotted tail before another rough hand gripped him by the back of the neck and a moment later Beta was hurled forcefully back onto the bridge and frantically scrabbling to his feet after rolling to a stop.
"What are you doing?" he demanded, cultured tones slipping and revealing the Lower Atlesian accent Beta had long tried to bury "You'd won!" Carcharodon stalked towards him, fists clenched, blades of the Red Waves glinting in the dim lighting and his black eyes filled with contempt
"You slipped. To defeat you in such a manner would be lacking in honour….I prefer to beat my opponents the old fashioned way" he gave a terrifying smile "Brutally!"
"EAGLE TAKE THIS!" Felix bellowed as he hurled one of his swords to his partner; his fellow blonde catching it whilst shedding her shield; Sentinel weighed more than the average shield and with the stabilising system built into her armour damaged and her arm injured the droid would be more of a hindrance. With their leader joining the battle, despite his grievous injury the rest of Team FADE found themselves filled with fresh hope and confidence and without needing an order to be given the four students charged in tandem and crashed into the waiting Celeste Lupus with righteous fury. The Ram Faunus saw that Eagle would reach her first and readied Wilt, preparing to duel with the admittedly talented human; Eagle stopped short and Celeste found her first attack halted by the glowing form of the hereditary Schnee Semblance courtesy of Arctus. The soft buzzing of countless small impacts against the forcefield enveloping them reached Celeste's sensitive ears and without thinking she turned just in time to parry the blow from Diamond that would have torn into her right shoulder. The silver haired woman had been using her own Semblance to run along the surface of the forcefield itself before leaping into action and attacking from behind, then Celeste's sword collided with her glaive Diamond simply swung the other end of her blade upwards into the Faunus's right hip, finding a weak point in the armour around the joint; as sparks sprayed and fluids poured from the damaged armour Diamond carried her momentum through into a spinning heel kick which caught the unprotected chin of her opponent; when Celeste prepared to counter-attack it was with blood trickling from her mouth
"When I take this Kingdom I will hang your corpse at our borders for all to see!" she spat before lunging once more only to again be halted by a Glyph, this time one of the spinning buzz-saw like varieties which served as a herald for Arctus Slate, face still burned from where she'd pressed it against the forcefield, rushing into the fray. The Bear Faunus swung wildly at her neck forcing Celeste to weave beneath his glossy black blade and take the opportunity to deliver a light slash to his flank. He span and slashed low which Celeste easily parried only for Diamond to somersault over her partner and land an axe kick to her skull before perching on Arctus's blade, using it as a springboard from which to launch herself forwards and bring her glaive to bear once more. With a roar of fury Celeste sunk Wilt into the floor and responded to Diamond's next attack by turning her own momentum against her, turning at the hip and throwing the sniper to ground before stomping on her chest with enough force to reduce the surface of the stadium around her to a spiderweb of fractures whilst Diamond herself gasped and wheezed for air due to the sudden tightness of her chest and lances of agony from her now cracked ribs. Arctus was predictable in his response and Celeste batted him aside with an almost casual combination of backhand and haymaker to the side of the skull that sent him crashing to the ground
"Slate I want you to watch her-" the taunting threat was interrupted as Celeste ripped Wilt free of the ground, fully intending to make the son of her enemy and a traitor watch as she pierced the heart of the woman he loved; only for Eagle who had been hanging back to rush in simply shoulder barge her away before swinging her partners' sword at the Ram Faunus's chest. Metal screeched against metal as Celeste blocked and forced the blades of their swords downwards, the chainsaw component of Eagle's borrowed weapon unable to move began sparking and smoking before finally failing entirely
"EAGLE NOW!" the pained voice of Felix Xiao Long ordered as Celeste felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pin her arms to her sides and leaving her seemingly helpless as the armoured Huntress readied her sword, hesitating for a moment as if considering whether simply taking the Faunus's head here would be right; Celeste was pinned after all. As she watched the blonde prepare to strike her across the temple with the rear of the weapon the demagogue was filled with white hot fury and through raw force of will alone she forced her damaged armour to comply and broke free of Felix's grip before knocking Eagle's feeble blow aside and promptly kicking her in the chest, sending her sailing back through the air before colliding with the central pillar of the arena with her armour partially collapsed, then she turned her attention to Felix. The Lion Faunus fought well, opening with a punch to the face that entirely shattered the left half of Celeste's mask before readying his remaining sword and going on the offensive despite the clear toll his injuries had taken on him; blades clashed at frightening speed before Celeste decided enough was enough and blocked a telegraphed slash at her shoulder, intended to cripple a joint, before reaching out with her free hand and grabbing the steel spike still jutting from the Lion Faunus's abdomen; the sound that escaped Felix was indescribable as she twisted Delta's harpoon and forced it deeper into him until she saw blood darken the back of his shirt where it had emerged when he slumped over, letting out gagging retching sounds as he desperately tried to suck in air as his entire body convulsed. Celeste took great pleasure and slamming her fist between his shoulder blades and forcing him down to his hands and knees with a crushing blow
"Don't you dare run coward!" she all but screamed as Felix attempted to crawl away, she clutched his tail and dragged him back and as she did so a cruel notion struck her "You're a disgrace to Faunus and the child of a traitor to our people….you don't deserve this" Wilt flashed out invisibly fast and even in his agonised state Felix's deep blue eyes widened in shock as a fresh wave of pain washed over him.
"SENTINEL GET HIM OUT OF THERE!" Eagle screamed through tears; the droid was mercifully quick to obey, unfurling itself from its' shield form and firing its' claws forwards on cables that were quickly retracted. Felix saw the streak of blood along the stadium floor that lead back to where Celeste had stood over him; with her mask removed the insane glint in her magenta eyes was plain to see and only highlighted by the blood spilling from her mouth and the sweat pouring from her brow, a product of both the exertion and the steadily climbing temperature of her armour now that it's cooling systems were damaged. In one hand she held Wilt whilst in the other, blood soaking its' golden fur was a little over half of Felix's tail.
"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" Celeste screamed "I AM THE SPIRIT OF ADAM TAURUS REBORN, I AM THE RAGE AND VINDICATION OF MY PEOPLE! I AM THE WHITE FANG AND WE ARE THE FAUNUS! THE TRAITORS AND OPPRESSORS MUST BE SLAIN AND YOU WILL BE FIRST AMONG THEM!" Team FADE looked on, each of them struggling to rise as they took in the scope of the unhinged fanatics' power whilst her Aura crackled around her. With cold sinking dread each of them seemed to realise that there was little chance of them escaping this fight alive, all that remained was to buy as much time for everyone else to diminish the rest of the White Fang.
"WHERE IN TARNATION IS COREY?" Rusty demanded as he, Iris and Lux fought against Gamma. They were all that was left, the monstrous juggernaut of the Cult of Taurus had rampaged through those who had rallied against him with contemptuous ease and sadistic pleasure. The ground and walls were slick with blood and Team CLIR saw many of the students they had come to know during their time in Atlas lying unmoving on the ground around them, many of them sporting horrific injuries.
"She's on the way!" Lux called back as he combined his twin rapiers together into their bow form and produced one of his many collapsible arrows from a hidden pocket inside his jacket, tipped with lightning Dust; he nocked and loosed the arrow with incredible speed and precision though it drew nothing more than an annoyed grunt from Gamma as it sunk into the elbow joint of his right arm, just below where discoloured and rippling crimson flesh met the cybernetic forearm and sending arcs of crackling electricity crackling over his body, primarily the sharpened keratin spines coated in Atlesian steel that adorned the Pangolin Faunus's back, shoulders and remaining forelimb.
"Well hello there runt" Gamma growled, spittle flying from the gaps in his cage like mask as he turned his attention to Lux, voice a distorted rumble that sparked some primal fear in the stomachs' of those who heard it. Lux separated his bow and prepared himself with his twin blades as Gamma lumbered towards him at a disturbingly leisurely pace; in his Semblance powered form the Pangolin Faunus towered over the students, keratin plates extended and fanning out behind him to give him a more vast profile and his cybernetic limb unfurled to reveal the four pronged claw tipped with modified fracking drills it contained
"DARLING GET OUT OF THERE!" Rusty called as he watched the eight foot tall muscle-bound behemoth draw close and pull his arm back. Lux however remained still, flicking his shimmering purple hair out of his golden coloured eyes and shooting his boyfriend a confident wink
"Iris, now would be good!" he called to the third member of their team present; Iris's own cybernetic arm was still absent, a replacement for the one damaged in Team CLIR's last encounter with the Cult of Taurus still incomplete though that had not stopped the white haired and dark skinned young woman from doing everything in her power to help. Iris had spent the majority of the battle using her telekinesis to subtly redirect blows that would have been lethal, drag White Fang attackers into the path of attackers or move civilians and the defenders to safety, using her power sparingly in small bursts to conserve it; now she readied Venus Rising, the oversized mace was unwieldy with only one hand but she detached the spiked and dense head of the weapon and used her Semblance to levitate it into position. Gamma turned and regarded Iris for a moment before it was too late, Lux unleashed his own Semblance and the Faunus was left blind and deaf for long enough for Iris to fire the head of her mace directly at his unprotected stomach in a collision that would have ended a fight with a lesser opponent. As it was Gamma merely slid back several feet on the blood-soaked ground before letting out a bestial roar and swinging his clawed appendage around wildly in the hopes of at least preventing his opponents from presenting the advantage
"Aww hell" Rusty grumbled as he watched the scene unfold, having been prepared enough to cover his eyes and ears before Lux used his Semblance "Nothing for it" with that he sprinted forwards and narrowly avoiding a grisly end courtesy of the rapidly spinning drills already coated with the blood of Hunters he managed to wrap his arms and legs around Gamma's right arm and press his hands firmly onto to the metallic surface of his prosthetic
"Corey would say something about me disarming ya" Rusty noted as the greenish brown mist of his Semblance began to swirl around his palms "I'm not one fer jokes when I'm kicking ass" as he spoke the surface of the limb began to visibly corrode and cause the monstrous Faunus extreme discomfort which only worsened when Rusty ripped away the rusted and ruined panelling of the limb and began using his Semblance and brute force in tandem to rip away at the inner workings
"Aint that sweet" Gamma snarled as he reached out with his left arm and simply plucked Rusty off of him, gripping the Vaccuan gunslinger by the head and squeezing "Maybe you'll rot my teeth if I eat you….let's find out"
"PAN-GO FUCK YOURSELF!" the distinctive Patch accent announced the arrival of Corvid Xiao Long, Team NEON close behind her; Gamma saw the shoulder mounted rail-guns being levelled at him and wisely decided to throw Rusty to the ground in favour of blocking the opening salvo, buying time for Ether Arashi to use his Semblance to materialise behind him, swinging Ghost Reverie in its' axe form at the monstrous Faunus's leg before getting Rusty out of harms' way. As Gamma searched for an opponent Helios Nikos gladly presented himself; the golden armoured fighter had seen the body of Trench Abyssal and been consumed by sudden fury, his former opponent had been impaled with his own weapon and stuck to the wall like some obscene hunting trophy at some point in Gamma's onslaught. Helios leapt into the air and hurled his shield downwards whilst activating his gravity warping Semblance
"Puny little-" Gamma was cut off and left stunned as his attempt to pluck the shield out the air with his damaged prosthetic failed, instead the shield with its' boosted momentum ripped through the already compromised Cybernetic, reducing it to a barely recognisable mass of twisted metal and smoking components. Helios wasted no time in continuing his attack, slipping beneath Gamma's now one-armed guard and proceeding to slash and stab before ripping his shield free and using it to block as Gamma used the steel covered blades of his remaining arm, raking them across Helios's shield before kicking the redhead back; as robust as Helios's opening had been his Aura had had little chance to recover since his tournament bout and the fighting thus far had sapped its' fair share. Gamma would be able to overpower him in moments and everyone watching them battle knew it
"Cover me!" Nyanza snapped to his team-mates, pale mint green eyes glowing as he summoned all the good fortune his Semblance could muster and sprinting forwards with the shield generator of the Omega Wing tucked under one arm whilst he cocked one of his pistols in his free hand. The bushy tailed Faunus didn't always fully understand why he did the things he did when he used his Semblance, a notion simply occurred to him and it yielded good results; learning to trust that instinct had been in Nyanza's opinion one of the defining moments of his life, he hadn't known why his Semblance had whispered in his mind that he should take the discarded piece of Corvid's battle-suit at the time but now, seeing Helios engage in an unwinnable battle it made perfect sense to him
"HEY ASS-HOLE!" Nyanza called out, getting Gamma to pause for long enough for the much smaller Faunus to slide along the ground and pass between his feet, dropping the shield generator as he went
"What are you-" Nyanza cut Helios off, instead simply pulling him clear as he trusted in his Semblance and fired; the bullet struck the shield generator and it sprung into life. Gamma looked down and there was a fraction of a second where he seemed to realise what would happen before it did; then a dome of intangible energy rippled into existence and expanded outwards, shearing away Gamma's flesh with disturbing neatness until nothing below the middle of his ribcage remained and the smell of burning flesh, fresh blood and molten molten metal permeated the air.
"Holy fucking Oum" Olivine breathed out as the eight students regrouped, none of them wanting to stand too close to Gamma's remains
"Thank you" Helios clamped a hand down on Nyanza's shoulder before pulling him into a hug
"Come on, we've got work to do" Corvid barked sternly, refusing to let herself feel anything other than cold determination until she knew that her brother was safe.
"Agreed" Helios nodded "I know my mother will be leading the Nikosi and attempting to create a safe line of retreat, I suggest we regroup with my people"
"Good idea" Lux nodded before turning to his partner "Corey if you can fly then I'm pretty sure everyone could do with some air support"
"I can jump and hover for a few seconds, that's all" Corvid admitted "I can still give you all a heads up though" she quickly readjusted the various sensors of the Omega Wing and waited for information to filter into the various displays of her battle-suits' helmet
"Okay, I can see people regrouping that way; Fang's got 'em almost boxed in let's go help out" she'd made it no more than half a dozen paces when something caught her eye, a lone figure moving from one secluded vantage point to another
"I'll catch up" she informed her allies, her tone brooking no argument "I spotted something that I need to check out"
Outside the V.I.P seating, unbeknownst to either of them painfully close to where Team FADE battled with Celeste, Gangrel Slate and Alpha were engaged in their own battle; one that was fought with the skill and ruthlessness that only killers of the highest calibre could imagine.
"I will make you suffer in ways you can't imagine!" Alpha promised as she slashed through the space Gangrel had occupied only a moment before, striking nothing but wisps of acrid smoke as he teleported away. With a savage snarl the Specialist announced his presence behind her before swing his monstrous sword at her back only for Alpha to back-flip over the blade an impressive display of athleticism; the multitude of whirring blades and other implements of torture adorning her gauntleted hands sending a cascade of sparks into the air as she gripped onto the sword, exactly as planned. Behind her mask Alpha gave a smile of cruel satisfaction when her opponent recoiled in pain, sparks from the screeching metal striking his fierce amber eyes; the Lionfish Faunus threw his sword aside as he relinquished it and simply lunged at him. Gangrel avoided a wild backhanded strike from her right hand, saw blades and drill-bits passing a hairs' breadth away from his snout like nose as he leaned back; inadvertently allowing Alpha to follow through by driving her left hand into his gut with a sickening tearing sound as blood sprayed from the wound she ripped into him. Hissing in pain the towering Bear Faunus responded with equal ferocity, reaching out with his cybernetic left hand and grabbing Alpha by the scruff of the neck whilst knocking her arm away with his right before simply rocking forwards and hoisting her off of the ground to deliver a headbutt that left the visor of her mask cracked almost to the point of blinding her and her legs wobbling with the dizziness, he then capitalised with a menacing chuckle
"I can do that too" Alpha attempted to free herself as Gangrel extended the impossibly sharp retractable claws built into the fingers of his Cybernetic limb; she succeeded in saving herself from having her throat slashed open though the claws still ripped into her collarbone and shoulder, leaving a crimson stain steadily expanding across the pristine white of her sleeveless tailcoat. Alpha lashed out on instinct alone and fanned the toxic spines interwoven with her hair out as far and wide as they would reach as she thrashed, forcing Gangrel to teleport back to safety. The Bear Faunus promptly drew the ludicrously oversized hand-cannon that had belonged to his late partner and opened fire with Breaker in its' rapid fire configuration; ripping through their surroundings as Alpha lowered her head and charged towards him, she weaved around gunfire with ease and leapt into the air as Gangrel shifted the weapon to its' high impact setting, kicking the barrel away and sending an explosive round tearing through a nearby merchandise stand before driving her knee squarely into Gangrel's face. The Bear Faunus was forced to collapse his weapon as the fight returned to close quarters once again and instead relied on decades of combat experience to weave around blows and return them with force and precision; short combinations of punches punctuated with the booming crack of teleportation as he evaded counter-attacks and sought better angles from which to strike.
"Listen!" Alpha's voice echoed in his mind and ears unnaturally, leaving the Bear Faunus dazed and wary as his field of vision was forcibly narrowed to the featureless mask his opponent wore
"This is what your death sounds like" Alpha cooed, melodic voice still reverberating with the power of her Semblance; the moment the words ceased echoing Gangrel felt his chest erupt into pain and let out an agonised howl as he felt 'Judgement' the weapon the professional sadist he was facing used tearing into him. Looking down revealed that she'd slipped beneath his guard. and simply grabbed at his ribs and let the countless devices mounted around her hands do their work. He kicked her away and attempted to follow up with a frantic slash of his clawed left hand only for Alpha to prove her agility once again by weaving around the attack and sinking Judgement into the workings of the mechanical arm, starting with the relatively unprotected inner elbow joint. Struggling to think clearly despite the situation and the intense pain he was suffering with due to his cybernetic arm seeming to set fire to his nerves as it was torn apart Gangrel swiftly redrew Breaker, setting it to its' high impact configuration once again and desperately trying to shoot Alpha without blasting a hole through himself in the process. Alpha wrenched his prosthetic around and managed to manipulate his body enough to narrowly avoid a quartet of explosive rounds before deciding to end this fight in a truly spectacular fashion. Ripping one her hands free of Gangrel's now mangled arm and collapsing her gauntlet she reached into folds of her jacket and withdrew a small dagger, one she had plucked from the corpse of one of the Frost River Tribe whose skull she had splintered with her bare hands; she waited for Gangrel to fire again and flung the blade into the path of the round, relishing the way his eyes widened in terror as he realised that the blade of the primitively made weapon was fashioned from a sharpened Fire Dust crystal. The explosion flung them apart and obliterated a section of the stadiums' outer wall close to them; When Gangrel managed to drag himself to his feet with his ears ringing and entire body screaming in protest he realised first, with a sigh of relief that Breaker was still functional if a little scuffed then secondly that his Cybernetic Arm was simply gone, ripped away above the elbow revealing its' twisted and smouldering inner workings. The sound of coughing brought Alpha to his attention, the Lionfish Faunus had taken as much of the blast as he had and her burned and blackened clothing bore testament to the fact whilst her left gauntlet sparked uncontrollably.
"Perhaps it's not the will of Taurus for you to die today" she choked out as she struggled to stand upright; Gangrel briefly considered exchanging witty banter with her until her next words purged the thought from his mind
"After all" Alpha cackled, usual composure utterly forgotten "If you die now then you won't be able to see what I have the Cult do to your wife and children" Gangrel forgot everything else outside of that moment, for a brief flash of time all that existed was himself, a threat to his family and the undeniable urge to hurt. With a guttural snarl Gangrel surged into motion, teleporting within inches of Alpha and choosing his target before teleporting again; reappearing several feet in the air directly above a fragment of wall that been torn loose in the explosion, more importantly they were directly above the steel beam that had been exposed and was now jutting directly upwards. The seemed to leave Alpha in a single stunned gasp as the steel beam burst through her body, though through sheer hatred alone she clung to life and spat a final challenge to Gangrel Slate; blood flecking the inside of her mask as she spoke
"I AM ALPHA OF THE CULT OF TAURUS, RIGHT HAND OF THE HIGH COMMANDER-"
"No you're not" Gangrel wheezed out, clearly suffering from his own injuries as he loomed over here; expression cold as he did so
"I have access to a lot of information and while you've been showing up all over Atlas trying to terrorise Faunus into compliance I've been doing some research" her informed her, reaching down and cupping her chin with his remaining hand and forcing her to look at him before ripping her mask away. Her face was anticlimactically normal with no scars or disfiguring to speak of, nothing to serve as an explanation or justification for the horrors she had inflicted; just eyes of a pale orange colour like some summer fruit and rosy, freckled cheeks and a button nose.
"You're not a martyr, you're not a hero of the Faunus people and you're not special. You're gonna die here and be forgotten about" he continued icily "No titles or mystique you're gonna be executed like any other mass murderer and die with your real name….Crimson"
"No!" the Lionfish Faunus screamed before Gangrel gripped her skull like a vice and snarled
"This is Neon Katt you sick fuck!" blood erupted outwards as Gangrel teleported almost a dozen feet away and carried the head of Alpha, the Faunus who had once been known as Crimson with him.
Only her head.
The fight between Carcharodon and Beta continued, the force of their Aura fuelled blows shaking the bridge they fought on, threatening to send them tumbling into the vast expanse of darkness below. Beta was wounded and had clearly lost control of the pace and flow of the battle though the Snow Leopard was by no means defeated; his remaining katana clashing against the blades of the Red Waves whenever his adversary launched another of his calculated and merciless attacks. The next attack came from below, Carcharodon's liquid state making its' way across the ground before he reformed his right arm and nothing else as he drew close, allowing the blade running from his wrist to his elbow to protrude from the viscous liquid his body had become like a serrated fin.
"Don't demean us both with such infantile tricks" Beta sneered as he parried the attack with a flourish before somersaulting away and perching in a crouch on the damaged barrier wall of the bridge as Carcharodon emerged from the ground, chest and shoulders heaving with laboured breathing and clearly exhausted but compelling himself to fight on through sheer force of will and spite
"There is artistry and then there is pandering" Beta noted conversationally, cultured tones and aloof composure firmly reasserted "You are clearly delving into the latter" Carcharodon gave no reply other than a low and sibilant hiss as he braced himself, knowing better than to allow his enemies' renewed talkativeness rile him and instead simply made a 'come' gesture with his hand. Beta launched himself into the air, pouncing from the barrier wall and slashing downwards with his katana; Carcharodon naturally used his Semblance to melt into the structure of the bridge and reappear behind the feline though he felt his Aura flickering with the strain of the overuse of his abilities and the protracted fight as he did so, Beta wasted no time in flipping his sword into a reverse grip and slashing at Carcharodon's face and while the Shark Faunus avoided the blade he found himself unable to evade the follow up spinning kick to the chest. Beta pressed the advantage in a sudden surge of renewed fervour, swinging his injured left arm into the bicep of Carcharodon's right with as much force as he could muster to pre-emptively halt any attempt to block; there was a moment where time seemed to slow and the raiders' bottomless obsidian eyes widened in a rare display of emotion before Beta lunged downwards and buried the remaining half of the Indominus in his left thigh, the blade of the Katana bursting from the back of his leg. Beta debated ripping the blade free and gloating but decided that now was not quite the time for that, instead he engaged his Semblance and unleashed scores of rapidly vanishing, barely tangible copies of himself at the wounded Faunus. Carcharodon blocked what he could but the end result was that he was left sprawled dazed and unmoving on the ground close to the point where the bridge ended, his pale lilac Aura flickering before finally failing altogether as he bled from countless injuries.
"This has been entertaining" Beta admitted as he stalked forwards, twirling his blade and sending the blood that coated spattering across the floor and barrier walls of the bridge "But we both have our beliefs and mine calls for me to kill you now, slowly, horribly and in a way that will make you beg for death a long time before it finally comes" Carcharodon ripped the blade out of his own leg and tried to stand, desperate to at least die on his feet and meet his ancestors as a warrior, safe in the knowledge that he had fought his tribes' enemies until his last breath and that no more could have been asked of him. Then confusion battled with his grim determination as he saw a miniscule figure, barely five feet in height creeping silently along the opposite end of the bridge
"This is far from over" Carcharodon stated with a calmness that he didn't feel, the cruel smile he treated Beta to soon being replaced by a much more genuine one as relief welled up in his chest. Beta merely raised an eyebrow before sensing that the Shark Faunus wasn't looking at him, rather at what was behind him. He turned to the source of Carcharodon's misplaced confidence at the exact moment Raffia Dirge gave up stealth in favour of rushing in with a berserk scream of fury. The Axolotl Faunus's initial onslaught was mind-numbing in its' ferocity and the now unarmed Beta was in little position to counteract it when Raffia drew 'Blazing Avenger' in its' paired sword form, slashing wide with the larger blade before using his own small size to slide in close and plunge the smaller blade into the felines' gut. Beta's eyes widened in shock before he disciplined himself and reached out to grab Raffia's skull with both hands and twist until his neck made a sickening crack
"A momentary distraction" he wheezed out as he made to cast the now limp and lifeless body away from him, only for his previous shock to be magnified a hundredfold as the supposedly dead Faunus's hand clenched around his wrist, Raffia's pale pink and viscous swirling Aura rippling and bubbling over his body as his Semblance restored him. Beta felt a deep and primal part of his mind screaming in fearful protest as Raffia's broken neck snapped back into place and the diminutive raider treated him to a truly murderous smile before releasing his wrist, only to grab the short sword still buried in Beta's gut and twist before taking his larger sword and connecting the two halves of Blazing Avenger together and forming their experimental laser weapon form, muzzle pointing downwards.
Carcharodon watched on, dread slowly seeping into every fibre of his being as he realised what Raffia intended to do; his comrade, shipmate and brother in everything but blood confirmed his fears as he turned and bowed his head in respectful acknowledgement before speaking; voice uncharacteristically solemn as his words carried
"I have returned from exile….White Fang filth" Raffia gripped his weapon a little tighter as Beta struggled to clamber off of the blade "In the name of Carcharodon Gore, unchallenged and rightful leader of the Frost Rive Tribe; I sentence us both to death"
"RAFFIA NO!" Carcharodon's anguished scream was drowned out as Blazing Avenger discharged, a flash of blinding light forcing the Shark Faunus to protect his eyes and do nothing but listen in disbelief as the portion of the bridge around where Raffia and Beta had been was blasted apart sending the two of them, along with vast amounts of debris falling into the abyss below.
Delta watched events unfolding below with cruel satisfaction; ever since they had been the one to commence the attack by shooting the Xiao Long whelp, an honour they were indescribably grateful to the High Commander for, the sadistic Spider Faunus had been taking up sniping positions and gunning down escapees and any Hunters that attempted to rally people to them with impunity; the handful of armed robots present having been dealt with in short order, giving them time to take perverse pleasure in snatching away whatever meagre morsels of hope the enemies of the White Fang tried to cling onto. Eight waxy brown eyes narrowed with displeasure as they continued to watch the proceedings, true hundreds of civilians were dead and the injured must have numbered in the thousands by their reckoning, to say nothing of the Atlesian police, military and Hunter Corps whose number was bolstered by the students Hunters representing each of the academies that had been cut down. Now however it seemed that despite a concentrated effort to keep them acting irrationally through fear the defenders were managing to co-ordinate themselves more effectively. Delta aimed and fired Prae Dolore, relishing the way the weapon that could only truly be described as a sniper harpoon gun kicked in their hands; a spray of gore erupted from a soldier whose skin was hidden behind a layer of greasepaint though their expression of surprise, quickly morphing into agony and delightful terror was still plain to see. Delta was denied the opportunity to properly enjoy the soldiers' dying moments as return fire ripped through their vantage point; a scarred and grizzled veteran whose bearing and personalised uniform identified him as a Specialist had fired an experimental death-ray at where he assumed the attacker to be, prompting Delta to scuttle away along walls and ceilings in search of fresh targets. The Spider Faunus ghosted through the now all but abandoned stadium, clambering through several access panels to the roof and outer wall of the gargantuan structure as they scanned the battle still taking place throughout much of what had been the Vytal Festival at large before finally settling on a position close to where they new Gamma to be brutalising any Hunters that attempted to congregate and pool their efforts into landing a decisive strike. It seemed that the monstrous Pangolin Faunus had been remiss in his duties; the men and women in Golden Armour were joined by one of the sons of traitors that the Cult of Taurus had massacred and unless Delta was very much mistaken Qrow Branwen, in the task of creating a clear line of retreat that the police and military, under the command of the retired Huntsman Bartholomew Oobleck could use to evacuate civilians. A contingent of several teams of Hunters mostly comprised of students were holding off the bulk of the remaining White Fang forces at considerable cost to themselves, Delta felt a rush of exhilaration as he watched a young woman with spiked bubblegum hair fall to the ground with her Aura failing around her as she screamed and clutched at her face, blood trickling between her fingers.
Delta fingered the trigger of their weapon as they chose their target carefully, the Puma Faunus whose mere existence was an insult to the Cult of Taurus was the natural choice but Qrow Branwen would be a remarkable kill to add to their tally, there was also the knowledge that the High Commanders' cybernetically augmented spine had been partially based on Oobleck's own prosthetics; something that the High Commander would no doubt wish to be kept silent. The choice was soon made for him however as a target whose presence banished all other possibilities from the sadistic arachnids' mind appeared. Weiss Slate, formerly Schnee burst into the battlefield and tore the White Fang forces asunder; the towering knight construct surrounding both her own body and those of the two young girls she had with her was seemingly impervious to all damage whilst at the same time capable of simply overrunning the Faunus militants with ease.
"Perfect" Delta noted in their usual stilted manner of speaking as Weiss lowered her construct and created a wall of Glyphs to protect the students and civilians whilst at the same time pushing her own daughter and, Delta realised with some shock, Omega onto a vehicle that would get them to safety; unaware that she was presenting her unguarded back to a sniper the entire time. The sound of echoing and lumbering mechanical footsteps in the distance drawing closer signalled the end of the White Fangs' superiority however; the High Commander would doubtless give the order to fall back and have her army vanish into the darkness of Lower Atlas's deepest recesses and proclaim a victory as she knew that terror tactics would be of little use against unfeeling machines. Delta saw the first wave of heavily armed Atlesian Knights of the latest model striding towards the battlefield in perfect synchronisation; a dozen of the transforming walker and stealth fighter hybrids dubbed 'Baba-Jaegers' behind them, already unleashing their powerful long range weapons on the White Fang
"One shot, one kill" Delta noted coldly, realising that this would be their last action of this engagement and taking aim at the back of Weiss Slate's head; hoping to pierce her skull in time for her child to witness her death.
"Hey itsy-bitsy" Delta's frantic attempt to whirl around and dispose of whoever had managed to sneak up on them was cut short as a trio of blades ripped into their flank; breaking free they unleashed their Semblance in full force, enough to not only mask them from view but completely purge all memory of the incident from their attackers' mind. It didn't work.
"How?" they demanded as they felt another trio of blades rip through their chest before being hoisted from the ground and slammed against a wall back first; the featureless black visor that greeted them, a yellow scarf just beneath it revealing their attacker to be Corvid Xiao Long who tapped at her helmet with one hand whilst keeping her grip on Delta with the other
"Your Semblance doesn't work on machines" she surmised, voice seething with cold hatred "I can't see you….but my targeting system can" she punctuated her statement by deploying her twin shoulder mounted rail-guns. Delta made no attempt to beg, they knew that to do so would be futile after he had gunned down the humans' adopted brother; instead they simply relished the feeling of being in the helpless position that they had placed so many lives in. Delta felt alive with the rush of terror, they felt refreshed, they felt electric and then a pair of rail-guns were discharged into their body at point blank range and they no longer felt anything at all.
Celeste was simply unstoppable; a rampaging force of nature and hatred made manifest as she battered through the best defences Team FADE could muster; each of the teens had been pushed far beyond their limits and were now running on blind panic and desperation as the extreme likelihood that they would most likely all die within the confines of ruined and bloodstained arena and the fact that their time was running out became more painfully apparent with every passing moment. Felix was down, the Lion Faunus lay unmoving and face down with a pool of blood from his various wounds leaking from beneath him; Eagle and Arctus had been succinctly crumpled and cast aside by the Ram Faunus's last furious attack and while both of them were still alive and conscious they were unable to stand, which left the unenviable task of attempting to fight Celeste Lupus alone to Diamond.
"Stop struggling and embrace your fate" she sneered as she blocked Diamond's latest attempt to leap overhead and slash downwards, as she landed in a crouch Diamond frantically looked for anything that could turn the tide; the only real scenery to speak of was the anti gravity ring still hovering safely above them, though Diamond knew that to take up a sniping position on the ring would be to abandon her friends to their fate and blowing a stray strand of her silvery hair out of her eyes she braced herself and charged once more. Their blows were exchanged with speed that left them all but invisible to the naked eye, Diamond weaving around her opponent and searching for better angles of attack whilst Celeste remained rooted to the ground and deflected her opponents' glaive with the minimal amount of movement, each strike perfectly timed and incredibly powerful; eventually Wilt and Lex Talionis clashed together and Diamond found herself staggering off balance, prevented from falling by the Ram Faunus's hand closing around her windpipe
"Struggling feebly against destiny….you're a perfect metaphor for your species right now" Celeste chuckled darkly as Diamond kicked out flailed in vain, the Faunus's magenta eyes wild as she paraphrased something once said to an opponent by Adam Taurus in the heat of battle whilst readying Wilt for the killing blow. Almost predictably at this point she was interrupted, this time however the attack that halted her was far more substantial; a burst of heat and pain which drew a gasp of pain from Celeste and forced her to drop Diamond as her power armour was engulfed in turquoise flames and white hot agony
"YOU!" She spat as she caught sight of Arctus, the traitors' son had returned to his feat and was wielding Gefroren-Erbe in its' plasma gun mode; using such a weapon against a living enemy was considered a war crime though before she could taunt the Bear Faunus the moral bankruptcy which clearly ran in his bloodline Arctus attacked with everything he had. Celeste was set upon by a pack of over a dozen summoned Beowolves, snapping and tearing at her whilst an equally translucent Ursa carried Diamond away to safety; the moment she managed to tear through the last of the conjured Grimm Celeste was forced back several paces as Arctus himself collided with her, using a Glyph positioned over his left forearm as a shield and shifting his weapon back into its' sword mode whilst Celeste held her ground with gritted teeth, sweat dripping from her brow due to both the exertion and the fact that her suits' crippled cooling system was utterly inadequate for dealing with a plasma weapon. She made to slash only to find her arm locked in place by another Glyph, Arctus however was exhausted almost to the point of collapse, blood trickling from his snout-like nose and ruptured blood vessels in his eyes showing just how much he had over-exerted his Semblance; refusing to be beaten by such a weak opponent, lacking the fortitude to stay the course Celeste focused her Aura about herself and, body glowing with bloody crimson light unleashed it in a wave of raw power that could not quite be called a Semblance
"ENOUGH!" she roared as the wave washed over Arctus, hurling him back to where Diamond still struggled to rise; the Bear Faunus's Aura broke as he collided with the ground and as Celeste stalked towards them both he and Diamond reached out to each other, silently agreeing that if these were to be their final moments then they would spend them holding onto one another. Then Eagle rejoined the battle, Celeste had only a moments' warning before the movement in the corner of her eye hit her like a juggernaut; Eagle had lost her sword and instead merely swung the edge of Sentinel in shield form, her downwards swing ripping into Celeste's flesh and carving a vertical slash over her left eye which would have horrified her if she had been able to see it for no reason other than its' resemblance to the iconic scar of Weiss Schnee; between this injury and the blood trickling from her mouth since Diamond's earlier kick to the chin the Ram Faunus now fought with a mask of wet crimson coating her face.
"I AM AN ARC!" Eagle bellowed as she battered the terrorist leader, tears falling freely from her eyes as she did so "AN ARC PROTECTS WHAT IS IMPORTANT! YOU WILL NEVER HURT ANYONE ELSE AGAIN, YOU WILL NEVER HURT MY FRIENDS AGAIN!" each word was punctuated with an earth shattering blow that left Celeste's crimson Aura flickering even as she deflected the brunt of the impacts away, eventually Eagle simply lunged at her and grabbed her wrists, forcing Celeste back one step at a time until her back collided with the surface of her power armour, the current passing through the Ram Faunus and into Eagle's own armour and causing her brilliant white Aura to ripple until something unexpected happened.
Celeste screamed in agony
Eagle held the Ram Faunus in place, fighting against her wild thrashing until something seemed to fall into place in her mind; this was the same Faunus that her mother had introduced her to in the museum that the White Fang had bombed, the wheelchair bound Faunus in the process of having a prototype augmentation grafted into their spine. Before Eagle could use the information Celeste wrenched her right arm in a way that put tremendous strain on Eagle's already wounded left and forced the blonde to relinquish her, the Faunus wasted no time in delivering a furious over-handed punch that left Eagle sprawled on the ground, seeing stars and utterly at the Ram Faunus's mercy
"I'm not going to skewer you" Celeste informed her in a cruel tone that her panting for breath as she composed herself did nothing to lessen, before placing a foot on Eagle's throat "If you're so determined to struggle until your last breath then so be it"
"You're not gonna skewer her" a pained but furious voice agreed "You're not gonna touch her, you want someone to fight; I'm right here!" Celeste looked at Felix Xiao Long in disbelief as the Lion Faunus challenged despite his bloodied and battered form
"Felix" Eagle choked out from beneath Celeste's boot "Her spine is a Cybernetic, hit her back-" she was cut off as Celeste stamped down before charging, intent to deny Felix any chance to use the information he had been armed with; her slash was wild and uncoordinated in her frenzy which allowed Felix to weave under it and wrap his arms around her
"This again?" she snarled "Must I remove your hands as well?"
"You don't catch on do ya?" Felix's tone was cold, seemingly fitting as the temperature seemed to drop inexplicably; the heat leaving her body in a unified direction as if being siphoned off. A golden light emanating from behind filled Celeste with sudden dread
"My Semblance works by absorbing heat and converting it into raw power" Felix informed her with almost sadistic pleasure "And your amour's been heating up for at least ten minutes" Celeste's eyes widened though Felix couldn't see them, Felix himself unleashed all of the Aura he'd regenerated in a single blow; his body darkening whilst his hair and the fur of what was left of his tail blazed with golden light as he entered his Balrog state for just long enough to rear back and punch the Ram Faunus squarely between the shoulder blades. Celeste's scream was a silent one as her body crumpled, unable to support itself as the interface between her armour and her own body, a series of connections installed into her cybernetic spine, was destroyed and the bone beneath it splintered. The neural backlash left her convulsing and shaking on the ground as her body ceased responding to her commands. Felix used the last of his power to finally rip the steel spike free of his gut and cast molten projectile aside before his Aura failed, revealing that his Semblance had gone some way to at least cauterise the wound if not heal it.
"ARCTUS NO!" Diamond's frantic yell as she tried to hold her partner in place drew the attention of all present to them, the Bear Faunus had his plasma weapon at the ready and his intent to kill Celeste was written plainly on his face and the look of someone who had been pushed too far in his sapphire eyes
"Arctus don't do it" Eagle pleaded "You'll be no better than she-"
"YES I WILL!" he spat furiously "WE'VE ALL SEEN THE THINGS SHE'S DONE, THAT SHE'S MADE PEOPLE DO! I'M ENDING THIS RIGHT NOW!"
"Arctus please" Diamond slipped her hand into the one that he was not holding a weapon in "We don't need to kill her, we've won. Let the authorities handle it"
"She's still got followers….I don't wanna risk her getting out of prison" Arctus's voice was hesitant now, his doubts catching up with his determination. Felix staggered into the path his cousin would have to take
"This isn't happening" he said bluntly, each word coming with a pained and laboured breath "If you kill her she becomes the next Adam Taurus….you give her exactly what she wants"
"DO IT BOY!" Celeste howled out with deranged glee "KILL THE HIGH COMMANDER OF THE WHITE FANG, MARTYR ME FOR MY CAUSE AND SHOW THE COURAGE THAT YOUR PARENTS LACKED! THE WHITE FANG WILL-" whatever else she wished to say went unheard as Felix turned and kicked her directly in the temple, knocking her out cold. Their was a tense silence between Team FADE as they slowly realised what they had just done and everything that it had cost them, the moment ending when Felix sunk down onto the stadium floor in a way that lacked any sort of grace
"Guys….I think I need a doctor" he mumbled out groggily before exhaustion and blood loss finally took their toll and he passed out. The last thing he heard before the darkness washed over him being the sound of Corvid yelling that they should stand back.
Authors Notes:
And here we are, the climactic battle is over; only Chapter 86 left and then we'll be onto third year and officially over the half way point of this story.
After Chapter 86 there is going to be a hiatus of a few weeks while I'm in London with my girlfriend; writing will continue when I get home.
Antagonists were planned out for all four years of the story in an overarching plot from day one, Phobos was a precursor for something yet to happen; Team GORE lead to the cult and by extension Oz. Oz will naturally be important to the story as we progress beyond this point.
Also, spoiler warning I'm going to end the next chapter on a cliffhanger; remember at the very end of Vol.3/First year how I name-dropped the Cult of Taurus….something like that.
Anyway, let's summarise:
Just Car & Beta on an empty bridge with no interference, exactly the way they'd want it.
Also you know damn well Atlas would lock their cities down in the event of an attack.
Trying to figure out how their different fighting styles would work against each other was interesting.
Beta's first use of his Semblance was basically that after-image thing Adam did in Vol.6, except his clone go ahead of him.
Rummaging through their opponents' pockets mid fight seems like something the Frost River Tribe would do….and that boiling liquid body trick was great.
Nice response from Beta though.
I realised that Carcharodon, the Shark Faunus with shark teeth has actually never bitten down on someone in a fight.
Beta tried to do the samurai charge for the Aesthetic, didn't work.
Okay so the "You slipped. To defeat you in such a manner would be lacking in honour….I prefer to beat my opponents the old fashioned way….Brutally!" is a direct quote from the 90s Transformers series 'Beast Wars' specifically the character of Dinobot; I have been waiting to have Car use that line since I decided against having him use it in Vol.3.
Good thing about dual wielding swords; you've got a spare if your partner loses hers.
Team FADE's coordination is great.
Arc's and their noble streak; sometimes you've gotta shoot the enemy point blank in the face.
Yeah, the spike wasn't sticking out of his back before….it is now.
Also in the spirit of Adam Taurus she's taking a Xiao Long's body parts; with her own twist of having Faunus traits removed from her victims thrown in.
There's a key part of Celeste's ideology the White Fang don't just represent Faunus, in her mind they ARE the Faunus and anyone who doesn't side with them is a traitor by default.
Yeah Gamma will turn his surroundings into an abattoir in a fight.
Lux and Rusty still need a ship name.
Even missing a limb Iris can cause havoc; she's probably one of the best support role Hunters at Halo Academy.
Not Corey's best opening pun but she's under a lot of stress.
Helios with the cinematic entrances.
Trench, the likeable Angler Fish Faunus…..Gamma stuck him to the wall with his own weapon.
Nyanza doesn't know why he does things, Nyanza just hopes for the best and manages to survive, Nyanza is a millenial.
Gamma has the worst luck with forcefields.
Gangrel Vs Alpha could only ever be bloody, dirty and visceral.
Ah even after twenty years, Gang will still headbutt a motherfucker.
Alpha's Semblance is basically just a free hit in those circumstances.
It's a bad day for people with Cybernetics.
Alpha is definitely the sort of person to take trophies from her kills and she would have kept something of the Shadow Cadre's; one of them had knives similar to Hellion's.
She should have shut the fuck up and not mentioned his wife and kids….Gang would still have killed her but he might have been less brutal about it.
I've said plenty of times that the Cult of Taurus are based on the Decepticon Justice Division; consider Gangrel taking Alpha/Crimson's mask and naming her an homage the the way the DJD died.
"Only her head"…..I have waited a long time to deliver that line.
Beta; a hipster of sadism.
Nobody expects Carcharodon's Aura to be lilac.
You didn't think I'd forgotten about the little maniac did you?
"A momentary distraction"….NAH BITCH!
Boom. That's three down.
Delta is a very sick bug.
That was Chiffon who shot back at them.
Yes that was Razzmatazz of Team GRAY, Diamond's old friend and Nyanza's girlfriend who went down holding her face.
Seriously, Weiss is OP.
I don't think Delta ever spoke in full sentences the entire time they were present in this story; they have a distinctly stilted and detached way of speaking, really highlighting the utter lack of feelings they have.
The White Fang's attack was always destined to be a hit & run on a grand scale; the second the mechanised elements turn up and they don't have Oz helping them it's game over.
Corey just saved her Aunt Weiss's life and neither of them will ever know.
And that's why Delta destoryed the robots first; they can see them the same way Corvid's sensors can.
I imagine that Celeste is relatively stationary when she fights just out of habit after being in a wheelchair for so long.
Celeste paraphrased Adam is a callback to The Downward Spiral where Adam said something similar to Tai.
Yeah, Arctus just commited a war crime to save Diamond….again.
I said that the cooling system was gonna be important.
I'm sure Arctus and Diamond trying to hold hands because they thought they were both going to die is gonna have people feeling things.
Eagle just picked up her shield with an injured arm and split Celeste's face open with the edge; damn.
Also, Celeste and Weiss now have matching scars….irony.
You all forget that that's where Felix and Eagle first met Celeste didn't you?
"This again" well….pride before the fall.
Felix Xiao Long: undisputed king of comebacks.
I think that while we can all agree that Felix is right, we can all sympathise with Arctus's position.
Corvid has two rail-guns….Corvid is going to get that forcefield down if it takes her all night.
Thankyou to SumoSnipe, iSassenach, DizzyDwarf, The Man With A Thousand Names, FleetOfWarships, CanadianCavalier and GarthRaxxus for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh yeah, when Onyx gets going he wrecks everyone's shit.
I would describe that as "Saving" Alpha all things considered.
You were on the right path with the armour overheating, but not quite.
It was an accidental theme, but the snipe being second in command kinda makes sense to me; they need a level of detached calmness for that job.
Was she mauled to your satisfaction?
The thing is Eagle doesn't just know Grandpa Arc's style, she knows ALL of her aunts' and uncles' styles as well.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.