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Chapter 111: Icarus

"Aunt Penny?" the words seemed to echo in the empty, burning and ruined street and Felix realised in the instant they left his lips that he had made a terrible mistake by speaking. Nickel's eyes closed as the android took in a slow breath; fists clenching until her damaged left arm sparked and smoked more intensely from within as she visibly trembled with rage, the grip of the crude and brutal looking sword that had cleaved the Killer-Bee in half creaked under the strain. Felix saw Myrtle Marrs, the biological mother he had never known standing in open mouthed horror at the scene; the Hive Towers internal fire suppression system had been activated, extractors cleaning the smoke filled air as water jets and sprinklers did what the could to combat the spreading flames, yet her eyes were flickering from the body of the Atlesian Huntress laying discarded with her neck broken in the street to where Felix and Nickel stood, terrified that the Lion Faunus would soon share an equally violent fate; Felix silently urged her with his eyes to run for cover, to be anywhere but in reach and found himself speaking again despite a primal fear screaming against it from the back of his mind, deciding that it was the best way to keep this newcomer wearing his aunts' faces' attention on him.

"Who are you? And why do you look like Penny Pol-" Felix had no warning, in one instant Nickel was stood some distance away and the next she was in front of him, propulsion systems in her wings shrieking as her sword became nothing but a crescent shaped blur with the speed and force of her attack; instinct brought Hack and Slash in front of his face and chest to block and rather than be carved apart Felix was flung back by the impact, the clang of metal against metal ringing in his ears as he landed in a crouch; his armoured knee-pad sparking as it dragged across the floor whilst his swords tore gouges into the ground as he stabbed them downwards to stop himself

"Me?" Nickel's voice was laughter so hysterical it was almost a howl of pain "I'm the black sheep of the family! The mistake they kept in the basement! And I am certainly not PENNY POLENDINA!" she screamed out the last words as she buried her sword in the ground and extended her right arm outwards; Photon Accelerator unfurling and leaving Felix in shock for the fraction of a second it took her to fire the lance of burning light at his chest only for Nickel to be reduced to a moment of equal confusion as the Lion Faunus simply ran full-tilt into the path of the attack, at first she thought he was unaffected as his golden Aura blazed around him, then she realised that it was in fact far worse

"Impressive" Nickel admitted through clenched teeth before collapsing her ranged weapon and tearing her sword free of the ground in a reverse grip that should have been too unwieldy to be useful, just in time to block both of Felix's strikes one-handed. The impact sounded like a hundred thunderstorms condensed into a single moment, punctuated by the screaming of chainsaw blades as Hack and Slash bit into Nickel's sword; the floor buckled and cratered beneath the android and lights in the Hive level below went dark, Felix was an unstoppable force and Nickel's feet slid backwards yet it was by mere inches and her single handed defence continued to hold him at bay. His blue eyes darted around and he saw that Myrtle was escaping around a corner and he promptly continued talking to keep his opponents' focus on himself

"I don't know who you are, or what your problem is" Felix growled through clenched teeth, the effort of baring down on his opponent inch by hard fought inch overwhelming "But there are Grimm attacking the city and you're clearly a trained Huntress-"

"Trained?" Nickel laughed the word bitterly "I was made, and that's the problem really isn't it!" before Felix could question that cryptic assertion Nickel went on the offensive, shifting her grip on her sword and swinging out to send the Faunus off balance, sparks sprayed from the points where their swords met and a chunk of Nickel's weapon tore free as the welded join between two pieces of scavenged metal gave way, with blinding speed she reached out with her left hand and caught the fragment before slashing at Felix's face in a backhanded motion intending to blind him. Felix responded with equal ferocity and weaved back from the underhanded assault, bringing both of his screaming blades down on Nickel's left forearm; the already damaged limb smoked and crackled with more sparks as she dropped the jagged shard, hand convulsing

"Last chance to back down!" Felix offered, filling his voice with confidence that he didn't feel only for the android to laugh in his face

"Sure buddy" her sword flashed out again, its broad edge wielded with all the skill and finesse that Felix admired in Eagle's technique but without any of the careful restraint and the Lion Faunus was forced to react, blocking frantically and wincing as each impact sent tremors along his arms and replying with wild stabs and slashes that were avoided with ease that was almost offensive; little strategy in his mind other than to simply survive the onslaught of attacks

"Getting real tired of this" Nickel noted in a bored tone that failed to hide the fury still boiling below the surface "I've got places to be" with that she knocked his left arm aside with her sword and blocked the counter-attack from his right before simply kicking him full force in the chest. Felix's world exploded into a blur of pain and motion as the air was forced from his lungs and he was rocketed backwards, agony in his back and the cacophony of shattering glass, stone and tearing metal informing him that he had been kicked through a building before he had rolled to a stop on the next the next street, sucking lungfuls of air into lungs that burned and screamed in protest as he struggled to rise to his feet, dust and debris cascading off of him as he readied his weapons in their machine pistols forms upon seeing his still unnamed attacker stalking through the hole he had created. Felix knew instinctively that there was no way he could hope to win in a fair fight against this opponent, she outclassed even Celeste Lupus in terms of raw power

"So you got a name?" Felix coughed out, swords at the ready as he bought himself time to form the basis of a plan "Or shall I just keep calling you not-Aunt Penny?"

"Bravery in the face of death, refreshing" the copper haired murderer chuckled "You can call me Nickel Polendina" Felix's eyes widened in shock yet he quickly forced himself to regain his composure as the name given cemented his course of action; Nickel had said she had places to be and Felix had no intention of allowing her to get to them, her intention to kill Myrtle for simply seeing too much made it clear that this Nickel Polendina wanted to remain hidden and so he shot her a cocky wink

"Nice, I'll tell Aunt Penny you're in town; you two can catch up" with that he fired Ice Dust rounds at the android until the magazines were emptied before proceeding to do something that had been anathema to him for as long as he could remember and that he would no doubt have laughed scornfully at in lesser circumstances.

Felix ran for his life.

To say that Corvid Xiao Long was nervous would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions, yet she nevertheless swallowed her concerns as she tore through the streets of Vale as fast as Qrow's old, rusting and poorly serviced sedan would allow; the vehicle, which her great uncle used for mundane tasks such as shopping for groceries which his avian form was of little use for, was ill suited to traversing what was soon becoming an urban war-zone yet Corvid pushed onwards, such trivialities the least of her concerns.

Corvid had been with her great uncle who had been watching the unfolding chaos as a series of cold, unfeeling maps and markers upon a series of screens and monitors. The larger attack coming from the east had been responded to but was still pushing against the defenders with monstrous might, screamed warnings from dying soldiers and Hunters sending a chill down Corvid's spine as they described something that could only be Pantheon entering the fray; yet Corvid had been ordered to head west towards the smaller attack on the docks which had been left largely unattended, her great uncle giving her Harbinger to use in place of her own weapon; the gesture making Corvid stand a little straighter and assure him that she would return the weapon when she returned safely

"This is your last chance to back out" Corvid murmured to the scarlet haired teen beside her, the arrival of Syneffo Nikos had caught her utterly off guard and had forced her to make a split second decision, Corvid had decided that she would be a hypocrite if she did not allow the clearly willing and able fighter to accompany her and moreover, New Vale needed every fighter it could spare; especially a silver eyed warrior trained by Ruby Rose

"Never" Syneffo breathed out despite her obvious tension; Corvid nodded in understanding as they drew close to their final destination and checked her Scroll, Team CLIR were in the air and moving to rendezvous but the two of them would still be fighting alone for at least some of what was to come. Ignoring all laws regarding driving, a moot point considering she had never obtained a drivers' license, Corvid took her Scroll and called Qrow

"Okay I can see the blast door, give me an opening wide enough to get the car through….I'll only need a second"

"Be careful Corey" was Qrow's only answer before using the Atlesian supercomputer at his disposal to hack into the systems that operated the blast doors between districts for just long enough for Corvid to slip through the gap, wing-mirrors being snapped from the car, before coming skidding to a halt as both young women leapt out with weapons drawn to face the horde of Grimm now surging towards them.

Corvid watched in awed silence as Syneffo rushed to meet the tide of monsters, a roared war-cry in her native language on her lips as she dropped low and slammed her palm into the ground and activated her Semblance, sending a wave of crimson energy arcing out in front of her to push the Grimm back before doubling back over her to form a domed shield of light. Hundreds of Grimm were unmade in a moment as their bodies buffeted against Syneffo's Semblance; Corvid saw the first cracks forming in the shield and rushed into action with Harbinger in sword form, as the shield broke and a mass of Grimm descended upon her she planted her feet and began slashing and tearing through them, utterly immovable as she fought.

"Xiao Long!" Corvid heard Syneffo's warning and turned to face a Creep mid-pounce with claws and fangs bared; the Grimm never reached her, reduced to nothingness as a bolt ripped through its' back and chest

"Behind you!" Corvid barked in return, shifting Harbinger into its' shotgun mode and firing; needing a moment to recover as her arm throbbed under the recoil of the unfamiliar weapon. The two of them fought with unparalleled skill, Aura, years of training and natural talent all being infused with raw urgency as they shot, slashed and in many cases simply beat Grimm until their monstrous forms began to dissipate until a blood curdling scream seemed to make everything stop around them as all attention was pulled towards a single point

"HELP US!" a family was fleeing, parents carrying children and desperately trying to shield their eyes from the carnage; they had obviously been too far from the nearest shelter to reach it safely and sought another option, possibly hoping to find safety upon seeing the blast door open for a moment. The scream had come from a little girl who had dared to peek between her mothers' fingers and had been confronted with the sight of nightmares made flesh snarling and snapping as they attempted to drag down the only two Huntresses in the area.

"NO!" Syneffo's scream was blood curdling as she shot forwards, arm outstretched as she tried to create a shield around the family before the tide of Grimm engulfed them, they were just out of the reach of her Semblance and the first Grimm pounced.

Then everything went white

"Holy fucking Oum!" Corvid exclaimed as she covered her eyes, she had seen footage that had been removed from official records of Ruby Rose using her powers to their full extent but nothing could prepare Corvid for seeing the awakening of a Silver Eyed Warrior in person; where Ruby's power was released in controlled bursts honed and tempered with experience this was a damn bursting, the light washing over the Grimm like a tsunami and obliterating them entirely. The light persisted for several seconds, visible even through Corvid's closed and shielded eyes whilst the only sounds were that of Syneffo's war cry and the rushing of howling winds.

Then it faded and Corvid sprinted forwards in time to catch Syneffo's limp body as she fell forwards' unconscious. A new sound made the civilians Syneffo had saved look up in terror only for Corvid to calm them with a single tired smile, a Bull-Head drew close; one that she recognised and a moment later she felt her Scroll vibrate

"I knew you'd be in the thick of it Little Lady" Rusty's familiar drawl greeted her

"Today, and only today I'm gonna let you call me that" she chuckled

"More fighters are inbound, any Grimm that survived….whatever that was are gonna be getting picked off pretty soon" Iris informed her

"What's the situation on the ground?" Lux asked, her partner clearly nervous "You okay?"

"I'm good….got some civvies that need an evac to the nearest available shelter though" Corvid's expression became fierce "Drop off near the east breach on the way….I've got something to take care of"

They were making serious headway.

That much was undeniable as Arctus, Diamond and Eagle fought alongside Team NEON and Doctor Oobleck; racing from one battle to the next in the Huntsman turned historian's personal transport and bursting into action with force that shattered the oncoming tides of Grimm as all throughout the affected districts reports came in of the tide slowly beginning to turn.

Where the Grimm had first been allowed to advance with impunity as the airborne warships defending New Vale were unable to fire the weapons into the streets below without risking the destruction of the Hive Towers and unthinkable loss of life, the Hunters and military forces, tanks, artillery, mechanised battle-suits and all had managed to redeploy and teams of Hunters were acting as the vanguards of a dozen hammer-blows all across the area being referred to as the eastern breach, whilst the west coast was being cleansed by fire from above and long range naval might to cut through swathes of Grimm away from the sprawling hives.

"Take the Goliath!" Helios roared as he and his bolstered team leapt out the transport once again, this time finding themselves outside of the hives themselves and in the street between them were an avalanche of Grimm surged in the direction of the blast doot which confined them, the mammoth Grimm leading the charge trumpeting its' thundering defiance as it stampeded towards them

"Allow me my boy" Oobleck announced almost cheerfully as he raced ahead of Helios, eyes shining with almost feral energy eagerness as Cambrian Explosion unfurled with its' blunt head wreathed in flames; it was as if the return to battle had reinvigorated the Doctor and allowed him to fight with the grace and vitality of a much younger man. Helios raised his shield and readied his Semblance whilst still charging as he watched, undeniably impressed as the former professor used the skull of a Beowolf as a springboard to propel himself forwards, shattering the bone as he did so, and swung his weapon into the knee of one of the Goliath's forelimbs with an almighty explosion. The Goliath collapsed forwards and Helios acted, lowering gravity around the falling Grimm enough to be able to collide with the Grimm and use the surface of his shield to force it up and over his head single handed, where it was promptly hurled back into the tide of Grimm as a battering ram

"Get clear!" Ether warned, manifesting beside the golden armoured Hunter in a cloud of mist before using his Semblance to allow them to retreat an instant before Olivine used the last of her ammunition to reduce the Goliath and the Grimm trapped both beneath and under it to wisps of fading darkness. The Grimm that survived being incinerated by the initial salvo swarmed forth with murderous fury, met by the immovable walls that were Arctus and Eagle; the tide of Grimm crashed against Glyph and shield and as the pair drew their swords Nyanza and Diamond rushed to their aid, the four of them cutting down the last remnants of the breakaway Grimm.

"One day" Helios panted as he clasped a hand on Oobleck's shoulder "You must come to the Nikosi lands, we have warriors who could learn from you"

"It would be a profound honour my-" Oobleck cut off and Helios would never know what it was that spurred him in into action as he pushed the older man aside; regardless some combination of instinct honed by years of traversing the wilderness of Anima with his people and proximity to Nyanza, who's Semblance of good fortune was still active send Helios crashing into Oobleck, knocking him aside with his shoulder whilst protecting himself with his shield.

The trident of seemingly solid bone struck him with the force of a missile and sent him crashing backwards, striking the ground over a dozen feet away before Flesh-seeker which had been buried within the golden metal coiled and tensed then leapt backwards into the waiting hand of the monstrous Grimm that swooped low to claim it

"DOCTOR!" Helios heard his team-mates call out to Oobleck in warning but he could see that it was too late; digitigrade legs ending in taloned claws clutched him by his shoulders and powerful membranous wing flapped, carrying them both into the air; the scarlet haired warrior watched in rage and horror as a serpentine tail tipped with a trio of jagged and serrated claws whipped around from behind the Grimm and pierced Oobleck's chest three times, each impact tearing a trio of holes into his flesh and the doctors' weapon fell from his slackening grasp, its' flames extinguishing as it struck the ground. Then the Grimm dived, still clutching Oobleck by the shoulders as it raced towards the parked transport the Hunters had arrived in and kicked out, sending Oobleck crashing into the vehicle with enough force for its' rear wheels to leave the ground as he collided with and completely crumpled its' front. The Grimm circled back, the storm of bullets that followed it having little effect.

"He's still alive!" Diamond exclaimed as she skidded to a halt beside the severely wounded doctor, using Ice Dust to numb the pain and slow the bleeding as best she could

"That will change" the voice of the Grimm caused the students to turn and stare at it, a multitude of hateful snarls sounding in unison

"What the fuck?" Nyanza mouthed in utter confusion

"Guys" Eagle stammered as the realisation dawned on her "I-I think this is what Corey fought; I think this is the Grimm that attacked Arcadia"

"We are Pantheon, we ravaged your city as well will ravage this one" the monster declared as they reeled up to their full height, readying Flesh-seeker for another attack

"Olivine….it's time for you upgrades" Helios asserted firmly as he raised Olympus Enforcer; Teams FADE and NEON forming around him. Olivine deployed Buster Bravo in all its' might, countless machine guns, lasers and rocket pods mounted and arrayed around a single gargantuan barrel that was held steady by an exoskeleton worn over her clothing; the diminutive Huntress lowered her goggles once more before plunging her free hand into the barrel of the weapon and Buster Bravo began to transform, barrel splitting as a second exoskeleton began to form across her left arm whilst secondary weapons collapsed and new components took their place. After mere moments of mechanical clanking Olivine wore a pair of gauntlets around her forearms formed from the barrel of her weapon, each almost as wide as her torso and fitted with powerful thrusters at the elbow and a generator hidden within the working that glowed with ominous power whilst each fist was encased with an armoured and reinforced extension fitted with appeared to be oversized knuckle-dusters that sparked with Lightning Dust.

"Oum I love that woman" Ether breathed out as Olivine brought the knuckles of her new gauntlets crashing against each other in a cascade of sparks and arcing electricity as armour plating extended from the bottom of her goggles, forming a faceplate which obscured her nose and mouth.

"You will die regardless" Pantheon challenged; Helios gave no answer, refusing to address such a creature and simply turned to his allies

"Attack!"

When the attack had come Amethyst Wukong had declared that Team RAIN would respond; Nova and Iridescence momentarily forgetting that the Monkey Faunus had been forced to cede her leadership of the team to Redshank Bronzewing, the teams' official leader however had agreed without question that they were Hunters and there was only one course of action, going so far as to relinquish command back to his partner and ex-girlfriend and state that she was always the one intended to lead, he was only ever a poor substitute.

Before any of the professors could intervene, all of whom were either leaping into the fray themselves or coordinating both the older students as they prepared for battle and the defence of Halo Academy's gravity defying campus from airborne Grimm slipping through the net formed by New Vale's air force and the weapons mounted on various aerial platforms, Team RAIN had leapt onto a Bull-Head as its' hatches were closing and telling the Second Years already aboard that, inexperienced First Year students or not they would be defending the city; Shine Jua of Team SNST had nodded in understanding and the eight of them had made their way to where the fighting was thickest

"RED LOOK OUT!" Amethyst screamed, her Semblance bursting from her body in a corona of purple light that coalesced into a facsimile of her own form and struck down the Ursa that had been about to bury its' claws in her partners' back while he cut through the Beowolves in front of him; the Grimm growled and regarded Amethyst with murderous hunger as it rose to its' feet once more and her Aura fuelled construct vanished

"Come on then" Amethyst spat, the Grimm never had a chance to answer her challenge; it to a single lumbering step forwards before the booming rush of decompressing air sounded out and in a near-invisible blur of motion Nova Violette was before her, their twin blades outstretched as the Grimm fell to the ground in two fading halves severed neatly at the belly

"Incoming!" the prim and proper voice, usually laced with sarcasm or condescension of Iridescence warned with a rare note of concern; the shriek of a swooping Nevermore answered her and the petite socialite rushed into combat, using the burning wreckage of a car to launch herself skyward and her weapons in their whip forms to snare the wings of Grimm

"I've got it!" Redshank assured them, the oversized and impractical blade that was Redeemer Scion shifting into its' shotgun mode and shattering the Grimm's skull in an explosion of darkness with a single blast. Iridescence responded in kind, taking her weapons and combining them into a single bladed discuss with decapitated the lone remaining Beowolf before returning to her hand and being split into its' curved khopesh mode.

"Everyone okay?" Amethyst asked as Team RAIN regrouped and took a moment to check themselves and their weapons after receiving assurances that they were the Monkey Faunus nodded in the direction of the Eastern Breach

"We're close to the front line" she noted "Those mech suits the military use are good from a distance but once the Grimm get close they'll get opened like cans….they need as many Hunters there as possible"

"Agreed" Iridescence nodded

"Then let's go" Nova added

"Lead the way Ammi, we're all behind you" Redshank flashed her a gentle smile that seemed out of place in the battlefield; without a word Amethyst began jogging eastwards and the sounds of raging battle grew louder as they neared what remained of the gate which the Grimm had breached, even now thousands of monsters were being held back as Hunters and military forces fought side by side and made the nightmares made flesh to pay a high price for every inch of ground they took and every one of their number that made it into the city; to her sensitive Faunus senses it was a hell-scape that stank of blood and smoke

"GOLIATH!" the panicked screams in the distance reached Amethyst's ears and she immediately skidded to a halt; knowing just enough about the titanic Grimm to understand that there was little point running towards it, it would come to them soon enough

"We've got a big one coming our-" her warning to her team was cut short as the Goliath itself thundered into view; almost six stories tall with the remains of a Paladin Battle-Suit hanging from a tusk that had gored through its' cockpit with countless pockmarks and burns marring its' bony carapace where weapons had failed to slow its' advance

"I'm gonna see if I can slow it down!" Nova exclaimed before using their Semblance faster than Amethyst could warn them not to; they streaked towards the Goliath only for its' muscular trunk to swing out with almost lazy ease and send them crashing into a wall of a sickening crack. A howl of rage tore from Amethyst's lips as she used her Semblance to send a score of Aura fuelled clones to attack the limbs of the Grimm, each of them fading away as Redshank's gunfire reaped equally dismal rewards, as the Goliath bored down on them Amethyst desperately searched for a way to avoid watching her friends be crushed underfoot and found none, simply issuing a warning instead

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" then her vision was reduced to a field of blinding whiteness, the Goliath coming so close that Amethyst felt the tip of its' trunk brush her cheek as it prepared to swat her aside; failing as its' body lost cohesion. It was over in a moment and when the light faded the source it had come from was clear; standing between them amidst the wreckage of the street, scythe in hand and hood pulled low over her masked face as light continued to stream from her eyes was a Huntress of such skill and calibre that her deeds had already begun the transition from legend into fantastical myths

"Holy shit that's Ruby Rose" Redshank breathed out in awe; hearing him speak Ruby turned her attention towards them, lowering her hood and removing the skull mask that hid her face as she walked closer

"Amethyst" she clasped the Faunus's shoulder in friendly recognition "Take your team and get somewhere safe, I'll let your parents know you're okay. Penny is handling things from the air; I'll deal with everything else. Go"

"Y-you got it Missus Rose" Amethyst nodded, gulping audibly before making her way over to Nova and helping them to their feet, the sonic boom of Ruby leaving in search of a new threat echoing behind her; chancing a glance upwards she saw that Penny had indeed asserted her mastery of the sky, her personal Bull-Head The Pearl having the armaments of a capital ship but with far greater agility, allowing her to weave between Hive Towers and larger vessels to persecute her quarry.

"Come on" Amethyst sighed "We're falling back; if Ruby's here there's not much we can add"

"I can't believe you!" Iridescence huffed, her wealthy and haughty team-mates standing with arms folded across her chest "You know Ruby Rose and never thought to mention that fact to us?"

Thunderclaps roared through the streets with each of Olivine's blows as she drove into Pantheon witch a series of earthshaking punches, each of which flashed like lightning as her gauntlets struck the Grimm; a back handed left parried a downward stab from one of the monsters' scythed upper limbs and sent a web of cracks across the bone encasing it, soon followed by a right handed bunch directly to the angular and streamlined fin-like protrusion of bone from their chest; even as the bone splintered Olivine continued her assault, a left hook crumpling Pantheon's jaw as the Grimm doubled over before she delivered her final blow; clenching both fists together and swinging both hands directly into the monsters' face with light spilling from the oversized gauntlets as she charged her weapons to their full capacity, a battle cry on her lips

"ETHER NOW!" Pantheon sailed back through the air, skull partially collapsed and neck broken by the tremendous force of the blow; yet even as her partner and along time boyfriend materialised in mid-air above the wounded Grimm fresh tendrils of viscous darkness burst from Pantheon's ruined form and began to sculpt themselves. Ether brought Ghost Reverie down in its' axe form at the same moment Pantheon's six eyes glowed with fresh hatred and their wings flapped; the trident that had been held in a slack grip hurled forwards to meet the falling blade with an impact that painfully robbed Ether of his momentum and made him an easy target for the clawed tail that lashed out and grasped at his skull

"BRING IT DOWN!" Diamond bellowed, announcing her presence as she leapt from the building her Semblance had allowed her to scale and brought her glaive down on Pantheon's tail like a guillotine. Helios answered her call and the dark Aura of his Semblance washed over him as he began to manipulate gravity to drag Pantheon to the ground, the Grim's wings buckling even as its' tail regrew under the strain. Helios rushed in and drove his sword into the monsters' gut, blocking with his already damaged shield as Flesh-seeker was stabbed at his neck before its' spear-tipped tail-end was swung at Diamond who rolled expertly beneath it; the two of them weaving around the attacks of Pantheon's many limbs until Arctus's voice thundered out

"GET CLEAR!" the two of them leapt aside, scythed claws brushing against their Aura as they did so and Arctus charged the Grimm and unleashed a construct twelve feet tall resembling the Minotaur Grimm that Team FADE had faced in their first year.

Pantheon treated the Hunters to a truly monstrous smile as they impaled the construct through where a heart should have been, only to find the smile returned

"DO IT ARCTUS!" Eagle cried as she raised her shield and fired Sentinel's cable-mounted claws into Pantheon's upper arms; Arctus created another Glyph as he drew close whilst clutching his sword in the other hand. The cables were retracted and Pantheon was dragged forwards, colliding with the Bear Faunus who buried his sword in their chest until it burst from their back and then began forcing the Glyph which rotated like a saw blade into their neck

"HOLD IT!" Arctus roared desperately, Grimm matter spattering his face before evaporating as he tried to force the saw-blade Glyph through Pantheon's throat and spine

"On it!" Nyanza assured him as he rushed in from behind, his good lack allowing him to avoid the monsters' lashing tail as he swung his tonfa into their legs, breaking them before seizing the Grimm's tail. Diamond and Helios each wrestled with a lower limb whilst Ether fought off Flesh-seeker which struggled with a mind of its' own

"KEEP THE BLADE IN IT'S NECK, I'LL FINISH IT!" Olivine announced as she rushed in from behind, intending to punch Pantheon's head forwards and force the Glyph through it's neck entirely. Pantheon however made their own move; biting into the flesh of one of their own upper arms despite the Glyph in their neck and simply tearing the limb free as they flapped their powerful wings. Eagle was dragged off balance and Pantheon shook the other Hunters off of them, using their trident to force Arctus aside before taking to the air; wounded body already beginning to heal.

"We can't keep doing this" Diamond noted to Helios as she saw Arctus's Aura flicker with strain whilst Olivine collapsed her weapons and helped Nyanza to his feet; the gauntlets utterly spent "It just keeps healing, I don't know how to stop it"

"Bury something in it and keep it there" Arctus offered through gasps for breath offering up a morsel of information he had gleaned whilst attempting to behead the monster "Cut a limb off and it regrows straight away, keep something stuck in it and it doesn't seem to work as well"

"Open to suggestions" Ether noted

"Eagle?" Nyanza surprised everyone by offering an idea "If I give you a good luck boost, think you could get up their and leave your sword in the things' head?"

"It's worth a try" Eagle admitted

"Here it comes!" Olivine warned as Pantheon, now fully recovered dived towards them and Eagle rushed forwards, crimson eyes widening a fraction as she realised she wouldn't get chance; scythed limbs shot out and tore into her armour, ripping her from the ground and hurling her into the already damaged transport that the injured Oobleck had been hidden inside, its' roof cratering as she struck it; Aura flickering as she struggled to rise.

"Now, you die!" Pantheon roared lunging towards the remaining Hunters; Flesh-seeker was stabbed at Diamond's face and held at bay only by the last of Arctus's strength being forced into a Glyph to shield her. Olivine ran, unarmed at the monster only to be caught in their clawed tail and smashed into the ground until it cracked; Ether rushed to her aid and was batted aside with contemptuous ease. As Arctus collapsed from exhaustion Diamond, Helios and Nyanza rushed into combat and prepared to fight until their last breath; they were flagging and had been overpowered from the start but refused to give up hope even as they were forced back one punishing step at a time by Pantheon's clawed limbs and weapon.

Then they heard a bellowed challenge from above

As Helios was sent skidding along the ground; the last reserves of his Aura the only thing that kept the blow from gutting him he saw a lone figure carrying a broad bladed sword leaping from a Bull-Head and thought his swimming and fading vision was deceiving him

"IT'S PANTHE-ON NOW YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Pantheon couldn't turn and face the newcomer fast enough; Harbinger stabbed into their back and ripped through their armoured ribcage as the ground shattered and cratered under the force of the blow. The sword was immediately shifted into its' scythe mode, Pantheon making an unsettling gagging sound as the weapon changed shape inside them before being hoisted in to the air and flung, Harbingers' blade ripping out of them in a spray of inky and fading viscera.

Corvid Xiao Long rose to her feet, waves of calm yet utterly dominating presence emanating from her

"Where's Fluffy?"

"His birth-Mum needed saving" Nyanza explained, Corvid nodded once

"Diamond, you and Nyanza get your teams out of here. Team CLIR will pick you up somewhere safe to land"

"Corey" Diamond hissed out through clenched teeth; her whole body in pain "Arctus thinks it doesn't heal if you leave a weapon stuck in it"

"Got it" Corvid answered flatly as she shifted Harbinger into its' shotgun mode, now prepared for its' recoil she levelled the weapon at the recovering Pantheon and proceeded to blast away chunks of bone and rip the Grimm's wings to mangled shreds.

"YOU!" Pantheon screamed, their voice shattering windows

"Me" Corvid agreed; shifting Harbinger back into it's sword mode as the Grimm launched its' trident at her, she blocked with the flat of her blade whilst using her Semblance to absorb the force of the blow. Burying her sword in the concrete she took Flesh-seeker and regarded the weapon that had claimed her eye for a moment before staring directly into Pantheon's six glowing and bloody orbs as she broke the shaft of the trident across her knee.

"DIE HUMAN!" Pantheon shot forwards, taloned claws ripping into the ground with each step as they neared; Corvid side stepped and weaved around slashing claws before clutching the Grimm's tail, her immovable state allowing her to drag Pantheon to the ground with ease

"Payback time" she chuckled darkly, ripping an axle from Oobleck's damaged transport; the doctor himself being carried to safety by the younger students. Returning her attention to Pantheon she planted a foot on the monsters' chest and held the axle over head like a spear

"Eye for eye" with that she stabbed downwards, forcing the axle through one of Pantheon's eye socket and out of the back of their skull with a sickeningly wet crunching sound. The exhilarating rush of avenging herself upon the monster faded when she saw that Pantheon's body was not fading as a deceased Grimm should; even with their skull impaled their limbs twitched and shuddered uncontrollably yet they neither expired or began to heal.

After watching this bizarre display for a moment Corvid contacted Qrow

"Hey, I have Pantheon…..you might wanna get Aunt Ruby to come and handle this; something's not right here" Qrow grunted his approval and the call ended; Corvid decided to take her great uncles' sword and began the process of cutting away the Grimm's limbs to ensure that it wouldn't pose a threat.

"NO!" Ozymandias's anguished scream transcended sound and wrought cataclysmic effects on his surroundings as the powers of the Wizard were unleashed.

Pantheon's presence in the back of Ozymandias's mind had been a release of pressure, like the bursting of a particularly loathsome boil; yet a moment later that pressure had been replaced by a tidal wave of white hot, incandescent and dreadful fury as the feminine voice within the Wizard's psyche screamed in anguished hatred; her fury channelled through Ozymandias almost without his knowledge as the acidic and sinister light of the Wizards' powers burst outwards in a shock-wave of force that crumpled all that it touched. The very walls of the bunker bent and steel workbenches were buckled and crushed; seconds later the room filled with flames as Dust ignited, their light barely visible behind the glowing wall of power that Ozymandias had unleashed as his distorted scream continued to echo.

The burning Dust soon spread, various powered minerals unleashing their power in n endless cascade of lightning, explosions, conflagrations and warping gravity. Ozymandias remained unharmed as his own power simply pushed the apocalyptic blast away from him and outwards in all directions; he watched as the nightclub above collapsed and sank into its' own foundations as the fire continued to spread upwards; climbing now broken support beams and shards of decimated floorboards into the hub of New Vale's criminal underworld. Through it all Ozymandias remained utterly detached, the rage flowing through every fibre of his being rendering him almost on another plain of existence entirely to such inconsequential matters as the building he stood in collapsing around him.

Eventually the light faded and Ozymandias sagged forwards, coughing mouthfuls of dark blood laced with black liquid that seemed to swirl and congeal with a mid of its' own; after several rattling breaths that did little to aid his feeble and slowly dying body he scanned what remained of his domain, the unpainted and unfinished surface of the cybernetics limb intended for Corona glinted in the fires and Ozymandias quickly retrieved the limb; noting that it was undamaged

"Well" he noted in a grandfatherly tone that could not be reconciled with the shrieking madman of moments before "That's the end of that" sitting cross legged in the ruins of the bunker Ozymandias took a few moments to think, hoping that the timeless voice would whisper some ghost of an idea into his mind.

Eventually he and the voice came to an understanding; the plan had not failed.

Pantheon still lived and so despite having seemingly having had victory stolen from them at the last moment they could still continue; it would merely require some adjustments, no more than a temporary setback in reality, if an infuriating one.

With this decided Ozymandias seemingly vanished in a flash of poison green light; the powers of the Wizard bending time around him as he did what was needed.

Felix's lungs burned as he sprinted through the streets of the Hive Tower as fast as his Aura enhanced muscles and stamina would allowing; aware that all the while Nickel Polendina was following him and in all likelihood merely toying with him as she streaked through the air after him and rounded corners in wide arcs, he suspected that she could have caught him at any moment if she had truly wanted to and that the occasional car she threw at his back was for nothing more than her own twisted amusement; keeping him panicked and frantic until she decided to deliver the killing blow.

"Come on, come on" he urged himself, words breathless gasps as forced himself onwards despite pain in his side and his lungs burning with every painful gasp of air. Nickel had implied that she had another objective yet had been easily distracted, Felix, knowing that he couldn't win a head on fight instead planned to use that to his advantage and keep this monstrosity that wore his Aunts' face occupied for as long as possible and a light in the distance let him know that he was getting closer to his objective as he turned the next corner.

Don't you wanna stay and have fun?" Nickel called from behind as Felix began running along the roofs of cars that had been abandoned by their owners; the light he could see was an opening in the structure of the Hive Tower where a bridge spanned between two of the monoliths. Hearing her voice he leapt aside on instinct, wincing in pain as a wind-shield cracked beneath his wait and he bounced off of the hood of the car; a pickup truck ripping though the space he had occupied a moment earlier, crouching low Felix simply ran between the cars as fast as possible nearly yelling out in fear as the first vehicle Nickel unleashed her firepower on exploded in a fireball and explosion shrapnel

"Come on buddy don't ghost me" Nickel cackled hysterically as another car exploded nearby; Felix surreptitiously activated his Semblance and siphoned as much thermal energy as he could from the blasts before finally reaching the bridge and running out into the daylight. He saw with a sense of icy dread that the battle was still raging in the city, with warships and fighters still swarming the skies above the most affected areas; then he saw that Nickel had seen him and he began climbing over the railings; he intended to jump and let his Aura and landing strategy break his fall, he was only a few Hive Levels up after all and Nickel could do less damage chasing him through open streets than then inside of the Hives whose structure she could tear apart with ease.

Felix leapt and the wind howled as the ground rushed up to meet him from several stories below yet the Lion Faunus allowed himself a slow and calm exhale as her fell, this was the easy part after all.

Then something crashed into his back with the force of a speeding train and suddenly Felix wasn't falling any more; suddenly he was been spun by the ankle with pain coursing through his body before being released and sent hurtling upwards towards the Hive Tower he had just escaped with a vague image of a winged figure in his blurry vision before he crashed through a window several stories above the bridge he had leapt from. He came rolling to a stop in a crumpled heap in what appeared to be a supermarket, a trail of destroyed shelves and freezers in his wake that barely registered in Felix's mind as he struggled to drag himself to his feet despite the indescribable pain that drove him to the verge of simply blacking out; head spinning and limbs leaden he dragged himself to his hands and knees, each movement reaffirming that several bones had been cracked if not outright broken.

Then he heard the crash of Nickel breaking her way into the Hive City nearby, followed by the wall to his right being gouged away by her photon weapon

"There you are!" Felix would have been in no condition to fight against an opponent whose abilities could be considered normal, however even within the strata of superhuman skill and physiology that Hunters existed on Nickel Polendina was a freakish anomaly and she flew to the injured blonde in an instant, landing a punishing kick to his side that broke ribs on contact and the next thing Felix knew was that he had collided with the far wall of the supermarket, yet Nickel was still in front of him; now she seized him by the throat and used her flight towards the window to build momentum before she threw him back out of the Hive Tower in an explosion of shattering glass that left Felix stinging from countless minute lacerations. He soared through the air, watching in helpless slow motion as Nickel sped in front of him and stopped the acceleration she had caused with a fist in his gut before taking the Lion Faunus by the scruff of the neck and slamming downwards, back onto the bridge he had leapt from while the copper haired sadist herself hovered above him like some mechanical angel of death

"Here's the tea champ" she called down to him, each syllable dripping with mocking contempt "You had the choice to hop off when you first saw me, you didn't. You dead-ass had me chase you around like a cartoon and I'm big mad at that, that aint it. You can't beat me, you can't run, you can't hide; I slay at this and I'm high key bouta add another dead Hunter to the list, just 'cos you tried to finesse" Nickel's arms spread wide in a gesture that made it clear that in her mind at least, her words were simple the obvious truth; even as her left arm continued to smoke and sputter out sparks from its' internal damage. Felix himself used the brief tirade as a moment to at focus and gather himself enough for the world to stop spinning; the pain was still overwhelming and he could feel blood running down his face and sticking his clothes to his body yet as Nickel surged downwards, intending to stomp on his chest he at least managed to raise his arms over his chest and engage his Semblance. He became an unstoppable force and Nickel had directed that force downwards, the bridge gave way as the Faunus was simply knocked through it entirely; its' superstructure crumpled and cars tumbled downwards as the ground vanished beneath them in a rain of rubble and steel

"Come here!" Nickel swept and caught Felix by the neck before he could fall far and promptly hurled him towards the opposite hive tower, the distance was enough that much of his momentum had been spent by the time he reached it and the resistance offered by the exterior panes of reinforced glass was enough to bring him to a halt just inside the tower as he crashed through them. His attempt to drag himself to his feet proving pointless as the car that Nickel had hurled after him followed him into the Hive Tower in a cacophony of screeching metal and destruction; sending Felix rolling to a stop once more. He was soaked in blood and sweat, each coughing attempt at breath left more of the crimson liquid spattered across his face, his left eye wouldn't open, his ribs were broken, he could barely feel his arms and he was almost sure that one of his legs hand been broken by the car; agony seemed too small of a word and the Felix was almost sure that if he ever made it to a hospital they would find internal bleeding whilst his ears rung and his vision dimmed, but even as the cold numbness of his body failing set in Felix gave a twisted smile that displayed bloodstained teeth.

Nickel could be angered

Nickel could be convinced to abandon her goals and strategy in that anger

Nickel could make mistakes

"I'm going to kill you now, you understand that right?" Nickel jeered as she landed beside him, drawing her chipped, crude and ugly sword from her back like an executioner as she spoke

"I understand" Felix chuckled, forcing cockiness into his tone with all the willpower he could muster; forcing him to sound as though he were in control despite the blood trickling from his lips "I understand that after all that you're still a cheap knock-off of Aunt Penny"

"Excuse the fuck-"

"Nickel Polendina, really though?" Felix gave a more genuine laugh, the insults flowing from his mouth of their own accord "Nickel, as in five Pennies? Come on what's your real name 'cos you clearly gave yourself that one?"

"I'm going to gut you" Nickel answered tonelessly, yet her emerald eyes blazed with seething hatred

"Right, right….with your cheap looking sword that's obviously supposed to look like Aunt Penny's; come on it's even got her emblem on the cross-guard"

"You're right" Nickel gave a bitter laugh at her own expense before extending her right arm out to her side, still holding her sword as she unfurled her remaining Photon Accelerator and in a flash of ethereal light reduced the sword to molten and glowing slag

"But still" Nickel grinned as she dropped the remains of the first weapon she had made "There's plenty of other ways to kill you" with that she grabbed Felix by the neck and dragged him to the edge of the Hive Tower; wrapping both hands around his throat before leaping out into the open air and ascending slowly as she choked him

The plan was working

"You know she's probably out here somewhere, fighting the Grimm and being the good little Huntress that apparently I couldn't quite live up to" Nickel noted as she continued to rise, nearing the tops of even the tallest Hive Towers as Felix struggled in her grasp, face reddening as he choked

"I'm not gonna strangle you to death" Nickel decided, loosening her grip a fraction "I'm gonna stay here with you until she sees me, then I'm gonna break your neck and drop you" with his first lungful of cold, thin air Felix offered a scathing retort

"You dumb bitch" without warning he wrapped his still aching arms around Nickel and activated his Semblance, entering his Balrog State. Nickel's outer layer was not true synthetic flesh like Penny's instead it was an armoured polymer intended to merely resemble the texture; it began to melt under the heat of the Lion Faunus's magma like body and Nickel's mocking voice turned shrill as she screamed, corrupted Aura flashing around her as her coppery hair singed and burned whilst her damaged left arm finally caught flame

"Looks like we're both dying" Felix snarled, words hard to form in his Balrog State as he grabbed at he wings jutting from Nickel's shoulder blades and watched as the metal immediately began to glow

"No!" Nickel "No! No! No No!- ARRRRGHHH!" protests were cut off by a blood curdling scream as Felix broke her wings away from the rest of her body entirely and clutched her close to him as they both fell; Nickel's final aerial thrashing giving them a diagonal trajectory.

They both hit the Hive Tower like a falling star, Felix using all his might to rotate and position Nickel in front of him and ensure that she struck the gargantuan building first.

Whilst Felix was an unstoppable object, capable of ploughing through any resistance Nickel Polendina was not and the Lion Faunus had the pleasure of hearing several distinctly metallic tearing sounds before his world finally slipped into darkness.

Authors Notes:

I love cliffhangers, don't you?
So, my work situation tanked….but on the bright side I wrote Chapter 110 & 111 in like 3 days and honestly I'm not too worried about my employment situation at the moment, basically I've managed to get a little bit ahead of where my readers are.
Next chapter is the wrap up for Vol.8
The funny thing is in first or second year; this battle would have been the finale of the whole three-volume arc, in third year it's the middle child….wait til you see what I've got for Vol.9 (And Fourth Year, sweet fuck that's gonna get nuts; trust me)

Anyway, let's summarise shall we:
It was at that moment Felix knew, he fucked up.
So Felix can absorb Nickel's ranged attacks, I had to give him some kind of a chance or it would have been over in seconds.
Felix is an unstoppable force, so he can move Nickel back just not by much….also this fight has a distinctly more anime vibe to me than some of my other ones.
Felix admires Eagle….'cos we all know that she loves her team dearly; but they love her just as much.
Seriously how ridiculously OP do you have to be to make Felix run?
Come on imagine bird Qrow trying to carry his groceries.
So Corey is now officially one of Qrow's little cabal; she's taking orders directly from him rather than co-ordinating with the official chain of command.
So, Syneffo's been working on her Semblance.
And there it is, she did it…..I suppose it makes disobeying direct orders worth it.
Obviously Syneffo is starting from the same point that Ruby did in terms of her Silver Eyes; that being no control at all, just a single shot that drains everything she's got.
Come on, Pantheon was smarter than the average Grimm but their attacks couldn't hope to be more than a lightning strike; the second the Grimm start trying to hold and occupy ground they're going to lose unless they have hundreds of thousands of bodies to throw at it, the Kingdoms will outgun them as soon as they get organised.
That team attack on the Goliath was cool and you know it.
We all knew that Pantheon was going to make a bad ass entrance as Oobleck was wearing reddest shirt.
Okay Olivine's upgrade isn't a massive plot point but it was about time he got something for close range and it is cool….In my mind its' a faceplate like Optimus Prime and a pair of giant robot gorilla arms.
Helios hearing a Grimm talk and having the immediate reaction of "Nah fam, I'm not even gonna acknowledge that"
And thus the sage of Team RAIN's changing leadership continues.
Lol second years' background characters handing the torch to third years' background characters there.
Team RAIN have gotten better, there's definitely some co-ordination there….but they had no chance against a Goliath, it's just too big and too powerful for a First Year team with no heavy weapons.
Yes the pilot of that battle-suit was inside it when the Goliath impaled it.
Boom, the Ruby effect.
Just remember that Ollie is barely five feet tall and Pantheon is ten feet tall even with their hunched over posture; that beat-down must have been satisfying as hell to watch.
That might just be the biggest team effort from the students we've seen….seven Hunters were trying to hold Pantheon there, and even then it didn't work.
So Arctus's plan obviously worked but with a caveat, you have to be able to stop Pantheon's body from forcing whatever you stuck in their body back out; bullets will just get ejected and they'll tear a blade free so you have to do something to incapacitate them.
We'll get into why Pantheon can regenerate so much next volume.
I know collapsing from exhaustion is a shit way to be taken out of a fight but be fair, Arctus's Semblance takes more out of him than most and over the last few chapters he's been using it near constantly.
Yes Corvid did a superhero landing….with a pun.
Notice that Flesh-seeker didn't vanish.
So was Corey just handing Pantheon their indestructible ass as satisfying to read as it was to write?
So obviously Pantheon is going to be kept somewhere and that's gonna play into Vol.9
So, Oz had a Wizard powered tantrum.
Naturally he isn't done yet but winning here was supposed to be the set up for his final victory.
Felix gave Nickel the run around for a while but there was no way he was ever actually gonna pull it off completely.
Yeah again more anime type shit, or maybe superhero movie….just throwing people through buildings like it's nothing.
Have some Gen Z lingo, just to remember why you hated Nickel so much before what happens next.
I think this might be an even worse kicking that Celeste gave him; Felix was honestly pretty close to death by the end.
Felix is falling back on the same strategy that worked with Celeste; make them angry enough to miss important details and make them pay for it….Kafsi tried it but here's the thing; Felix is a younger sibling, he has mastered being an annoyance.
Nickel, as in five Pennies….that is legitimately why I called her that.
So, the sword's gone; but it's fine Nickel still had the scrap from the Omega Wing and a lot of ideas….there are also some resources lying around that people have probably forgotten about.
Getting little bits of info about Nickel through the chapter; you'll get more next chapter.
Pretty sure he said "You dumb bitch" to Celeste as well.
So Nickel's epidermis is closer to what Penny's original body was; not the T-800 style living skin over a metal frame that her rebuilt body has.
And that ladies and gents is why the chapter was called Icarus; she got too close to the sun….Yang's sun to be precise.
Funny thing; I had two possible ways for Nickel to be taken offline….I've already set the foundations for the other one.
Is it really a cliffhanger if we all know Felix is gonna be alive next chapter?

Thank you to SumoSnipe, DizzyDwarf and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
I take great pride in my bastard status.
A one line cliffhanger so good it blots out everything in front of it….sounds great until it means classics like "If you're happy and you know it catch some hands" get overlooked.
It's not that weird, I mean Oz obviously knows that Nickel looks just like Penny but there's no need for him to comment on it, Rhodey has probably seen Penny on TV but never made the connection and nobody in Qrow's cabal has actually seen Nickel; except maybe Antonia.
Not even as a weapon, emotional damage just makes a great distraction.
Nope, not even the A team could make something useful out of what's left of the Killer-Bee at this point; it's gone.
Hey, let's give proper credit to Felix's ability to push buttons when he is trying.
I think her left was covered.
Bold of you to assume Eagle wouldn't just put Sentinel in the passenger's side and make everyone else squish into the back.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.