RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)
I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.
I am making no money from this.
Chapter 120: Decimation
Something wasn't right.
Torchwick had finally returned to his home for the first time in months, dressing himself in the ludicrously ostentatious and expensive designer clothes which had once been his norm in an effort to restore a sense of control over his life and had also taken the opportunity to retrieve his sports car which he had not dared use for just as long, relishing its' speed and the power it handled with as he sought to distract himself from the unshakeable sense of paranoid dread that grew with each passing moment and seemed to loom over him like some dark cloud. He brought the car screeching through once industrious areas of the capital city that had fallen into poverty and disrepute with many of the factories having closed down and relocated as New Vale took the place of its' predecessor and new hubs of industry were formed; eventually making his way towards the wide area that had been cleared out in preparation for what was to come. Whilst Rhodium had suggested a perimeter of a single city block in each direction Rover and his accomplices had outdone themselves and roughly tripled that area, clearing out what few businesses still operated in the industrial estates close to what had once been Phage Pharmaceuticals and now served as the central nexus of Torchwick's narcotics operation.
The problem was that Rhodium feared that the additional people needed to clear out a wider area had somehow caught the attention of their targets and that they had been discovered, a thought that sent chills down his spine. Whilst he had been something of a criminal for as long as he could remember; selling fake trading cards, and stealing cigarettes and alcohol from shops to sell to his classmates as a child before progressing to muggings, drug dealing and eventually forming the beginnings of his criminal empire the fact remained that this lifestyle was not one that a child had any place in and he hated himself for giving the task of fitting charges to the Booster supplies to someone so young; they were inconspicuous however and with his usual cold and callous reasoning Torchwick had decided that the risk was justified.
Things had changed when the text messages he had instructed the teen to send him every thirty minutes abruptly ceased, the updates had served as both a way for Rhodium to monitor the progress of their plan and to ensure that his young co-conspirator held his nerve and Torchwick had leapt into action and drove towards his base of operations the minute they had ceased, fearing the worst.
Tires screeched on gravel as he brought his car skidding to a halt and leapt out with Melodic Cudgel at the ready, sacrificing the element of surprise without a second thought as he rushed into the abandoned building and sprinted towards the area that he knew the drugs were being kept in, only to come skidding to a halt and staring in baffled silence as he tried to make sense of the sight that greeted him.
The drugs were gone.
There were no sign of the dozens of crates filled with volatile Eco-Dust or finished Booster, nor was there any sign of the charges and Torchwick quickly scanned the area for the teen he had sent to plant the explosives, only for his eyes to widen and his blood to run cold at the sight of a crimson smear adorning a cracked concrete pillar and misshapen heap of a body crumpled at its' base.
"You sick fucking bastards!" Torchwick screamed, words echoing in the empty space as he sunk to his knees and struck the concrete floor with enough force to bloody his own knuckles. The mobster raged to himself for a few moments longer, hot tears spilling from his eyes as the sum of all his failures was laid before him with cold and unfeeling clarity; eventually he dragged himself back to his feet and wiped his eyes with a leather gloved hand as he forced his emotions below the surface and attempted to be the stoic and relentless leader that the dead teen before him had put their faith in. Torchwick decided that he would have the body collected and properly dealt with later, right now his only priority was finding answers.
He made only a few steps towards the exit before answers came in the form of his Scroll vibrating
"Who is this?" he demanded impatiently as he answered the call from an unfamiliar number
"Is, is this Mister Torchwick?" a nervous voice asked
"It is and I'm not in the business of repeating myself"
"Right I'm sorry, it's just um…." the voice trailed off for a moment "Look I work security detail on one of the gates into the exclusion zone and a truck just pulled up, the guy driving it said he worked for the Scavenger Guild and he was doing some work on your behalf….We let him in, obviously Mister Torchwick but we um we haven't heard anything from you and-"
"What did he look like?" Torchwick urged
"Well that's the thing, he was wearing a mask" the voice replied apologetically "He said it was because there might be a chemical spill in the part of Old Vale that he's gonna be looking and-"
"And it looked like a beak, all black with two red eyes….I'm guessing he was wearing a black trench coat as well?"
"That's him, I take it you know him?" Rhodium debating telling the truth but then thought better of it, whoever this hapless fool was they were unable to help and sending good people into the exclusion zone would only lead to more deaths, for all Torchwick knew that could be part of Eldritch's plan.
"Yeah that's my guy" he breathed out, quickly adding "Listen do yourself a favour and take a day off work, tell your buddies to do the same and give yourselves some plausible deniability….I'll square it with your boss later" with that he ended the call and cut off the stammered response. The moment his Scroll was collapsed he sprinted for the exit, realising that he had to get to the Exclusion Zone and he had to contact Rover and his allies or something terrible was going to happen.
When he made it outside a police cruiser was parked next to his car with a familiar Mastiff Faunus leaning against it
"OH THANK FUCKING OUM!" Torchwick exclaimed, in no condition to appreciate just how odd the words seemed when coming from him
"Looks like you're fucking up Torchwick" Fawn Bordeaux noted conversationally as she drew close "We cleared out three blocks in every direction….this place is still standing. Looks like mistakes were made"
"Listen, you need to listen" Torchwick gasped "Oz has made us, he's got the bombs, he's got the Booster and he's headed into the Exclusion Zone, I've got no idea what the fuck he's planning but I know we've gotta stop him, we've gotta call Rover and-"
"Yeah, I'll get right on that" Fawn's expression morphed into an evil grin "But since the plan's already gone sideways and nobody else knows you're here" Torchwick's Aura had barely flared around him before it fizzled out and vanished with an uncomfortable sensation when the police officer snapped an Aura dampening collar around his neck, his protesting being silenced by a firm punch in the face which left him unconscious. Fawn supposed that she should find a way to pass Torchwick's information on to Rover on the off chance that the thug wasn't lying but was intent on not exposing herself in doing so; she had waited for this moment for a very long time after all.
Cuffing Torchwick's hands behind his back she threw his unconscious form in the trunk of her car before driving off, taking care to run over the dropped Melodic Cudgel as she did so and allowing herself a satisfied smile as the weapon broke in half beneath the tires of her cruiser.
Ozymandias allowed himself a gentle chuckle as he worked, his ever present warm and grandfatherly demeanour at stark odd with not only his sinister appearance but also the vile and abhorrent actions he was taking, the laughter being halted only by disturbingly wet gurgling that preceded the Wizard coughing blood into the inside of his mask in what was a sure sign that his failing body did not have much longer left and that acting immediately had been the correct course of action.
It had been laughably easy to gain access to the Exclusion Zone, with Torchwick providing one last unwitting service in the fear that the mere use of his name instilled in the uninformed citizens of New Vale and once within Ozymandias had found somewhere secluded to park the truck that he had commandeered, that was hidden from the view of the security cameras that he was well aware Halo Academy kept operational in the area as it was not quite time to reveal himself yet. Once safely sequestered away the treasonous and twisted scientist had begun fitting the remaining explosives to the crates of Booster and the even more volatile Eco-Dust that the drug was derived from before tapping into the corrupted powers of the Wizard in order to flit across the barren wasteland in the blink of an eye, hauling the crates with ease that should not have been possible one at a time and placing them at strategic locations around the perimeter wall of the Exclusion Zone, each explosive positioned in such a way that the blast would weaken one of the few gates that led out into New Vale itself or either cripple or outright destroy one of the larger weapon emplacements mounted on the wall.
Now there was only one crate left, a slightly larger one than the others which had been filled until overflowing with eerily glowing jade green crystals in clear anticipation for a specific purpose and rather than use his powers to position this final payload Ozymandias had simply used a pallet jack that had fortunately already been on the truck and begun making his way deeper into the ruins of Old Vale, the Eco-Dust trundling along behind him with Flesh-Seeker held firmly in his other hand and the old man whistling to himself as he went with an utter lack of concern that would have led even the most obtuse observer to regard him as utterly insane.
Eventually a slight breeze carried the sound of snarling to Ozymandias's ears and beneath his mask he smiled as much as his mangled face would allow, things were going according to plan. He continued meandering through streets that had been ruined for decades a while longer before the source of the snarling made itself known, a small pack of Beowolves, less than half a dozen of the monsters in total rounded a corner and regarding him hungrily before spreading out in obvious attempt to flank their prey and cut off any chance of escape. Ozymandias merely regarded the largest of their number, too small and underdeveloped to be considered a true alpha and whistled to the Grimm as if he were summoning a dog. The Grimm snarled once again, baring its' fangs in response.
The poisonous green light of Ozymandias's Aura began to flicker and swirl around him and the smaller Beowolves each slunk back into the shadows and bombed and burned buildings whilst the leader of the pack visibly shivered and let out a whine, the nightmare made flesh cowering in the face of the commanding presence of the Wizard and when Ozymandias spoke it was in a voice that was not his own, the feminine tone that had been an undercurrent within the maelstrom of voices that the Wizard spoke with rising to the fore and addressing the Grimm
"Show me" the rush of dominating power subsided and after a brief but painful coughing fit and sudden dizziness on Ozymandias's part the Grimm acted on the instructions that had been given to it, the rest of the pack scurrying away as the larger Beowolf led Ozymandias deeper into the ruins of Old Vale with an unnatural sense of purpose until the air finally reached the Wizards' goal. Before Ozymandias was what had once been a wide and open street located in close proximity to the city square, there was something of a rumour among those who new of this place that it was the site of the first bloodshed on the ground in the battle of Vale where Adam Taurus had driven a truck filled with White Fang fighters into a crowd of civilians merely to indulge his own bloodlust; now whatever streets had once been present were sunken into a concave crater which was filled with a roiling mass of viscous and ever shifting Grimm matter that formed a Spawning Pit almost a mile in diameter and was deep enough to submerge a house with room to spare.
This was the place.
Ozymandias allowed himself a sigh of contentment as he took in the sight, this gargantuan mass of living darkness was the horrific secret at the heart of the Exclusion Zone and was the answer to the question often asked the general populace of 'Why does the Kingdom not simply destroy the Grimm from the air' the Council knew that in no uncertain terms to launch an air-strike on this spawning pit would be their end as whatever Grimm it spawned in its' final moments would tear through the city of New Vale in a display of never before seen carnage.
Ozymandias intended to use that carnage as a diversion.
He sunk Flesh-Seeker into the ground and began looking around for one the cameras that was no doubt monitoring this unspeakable threat to the Kingdom at all times and soon found one; setting it on gently on sizeable chunk of rubble Ozymandias sat comfortably in front of the camera and removed his mask for a moment, allowing his audience to see his ruined features and corpse-like flesh as the Beowolf in a truly disturbing perversion of the natural order sat obediently beside him and allowed the Wizard to scratch behind its' ears as he began to speak into the camera
"As I'm no doubt sure that anyone with a modicum of intelligence can deduce, I am Doctor Ozymandias Eldritch" he paused, seemingly for dramatic effect before continuing "Now I am talking to you Professor Goodwitch of Halo Academy as I have no doubt that you will be viewing this message within a matter of moments. I have positioned well over a dozen explosives at strategic locations around the inside of the perimeter wall and I intend to detonate them in tandem and utterly remove your protections against the Grimm within the Exclusion Zone, I also have one final explosive which I will be using to, shall we say 'excite' the Spawning Pit that neither yourself or the Council at large has dared tackle. My reasons for giving you this warning are my own but you have less than an hour to make your stand" with that Ozymandias destroyed the camera before donning his mask once more and ripping Flesh-Seeker free of the ground and tapping into the powers of the Wizard once again to vanish in a flash of green light, his plan was not yet finished after all and he had no intention of being caught in the blast.
Penny and Ruby were hand in hand as always even after over a decade of marriage as they made their way through the streets of New Vale towards where there Bull-Head was currently docked. The pair had made their way into the city centre in order to take care of several pieces of important legal paperwork involved in both the sale of their current home and the intricacies of moving to somewhere that was technically part of none of the Kingdoms as Menagerie was fiercely independent, populated by those who had either viewed the Faunus homeland as their birthright or had simply had the skills and drive to rebuild the decimated island but it was yet to be recognised as a Kingdom in its' own right. Upon completing the unfeasibly large stacks of paperwork which the celebrity and almost mythical status of the two women had admittedly helped to accelerate there had been a brief meeting from a representative of the school that Tai-Jaune and Summer-Pyrrha would be transferring to in the city of Port Alistair which the surviving members of Team CFVY operated out of and intended to build their Academy in. Finally the two of them had decided to take advantage of the late opening hours that shops within the capital city boasted and made some purchases for their new home; they were trying to be as efficient as possible with their packing but the fact remained that leaving their friends behind would be hard on the twins and whilst some vibrant and cartoonish furniture and wallpaper for their new bedrooms might not make up for it, they might just soften the blow.
"Ruby look ahead" Penny murmured in her wife's ear and Ruby did so, seeing that there were a pair of police officers flanked by almost a dozen older model Atlesian Knights whose chassis had been repainted to evoke the uniforms' of the officers they were deployed with, several of them also wore hats and badges that had clearly been added by someone at their precinct as a joke; the police officers were saying something to a small cluster of people that had gathered around them and seemingly giving directions if the way they were pointing were any indication.
"Something's not right" Ruby noted, it was a rare sight indeed to see the polices' mechanised element out in force; indeed some citizens of New Vale could go for a years at a time without seeing the machines which were, unlike in Atlas only deployed in dire circumstances. Ruby and Penny made their way over to the officers slowly, waiting until the group of people had departed to introduce themselves
"Salutations officers….I don't mean to be rude but my wife and I are licensed Huntresses and can't help noticing you seem to be more heavily equipped than usual. Is something wrong?"
"Can we see your-" the first officer found themselves silenced by the second who nudged them and hissed
"That's Ruby and Penny Rose you jackass, you're really gonna ask them for their licences, they're on your kids' cereal boxes for Oum's sake" the first officer straightened up and seemed to struggling with the urge to salute and begin thanking the pair for their service until he eventually composed himself
"There's been some reports of damage to the perimeter wall of the Exclusion Zone so the areas closest to it are being evacuated and those districts are being sealed off in case of emergency, it's all precautionary measures ma'am"
"Thank you" Penny nodded and she and Ruby made it out of earshot before turning and giving each other serious glanced, Ruby's estimation that something was not as it seemed having been all but confirmed as neither of them had ever heard of such precautions being taken and the fact that those police officers had seemed honest meant nothing more than that they believed the lie that they had been asked to repeat.
"I think we should-" whatever Ruby intended to say was interrupted by the sound of her Scroll which she quickly answered, revealing the caller to be Syneffo
"Ruby we have an emergency" the gruff drawling tone that answered her was unmistakably that of her uncle
"What are you doing with Syneffo's Scroll? What are you doing in my house?" Ruby demanded with sudden anger, her relationship with Qrow may have improved somewhat after his help in tracking down Syneffo after she had run away but she was by no means willing to accept him inviting himself into her home without her permission
"Ruby listen to me it's urgent!" his tone was enough to give Ruby a reason to pause, Qrow did not sound as scared as he did now for no reason
"What's wrong?"
"Nickel is on her way here" the words chilled Ruby to her core and Penny's expression confirmed that the copper haired android had heard them too, not only was the news terrifying in its' own right but combined with what the police officers had told them a sudden feeling of dread came over the caped Huntress as she realised that something terrible was about to occur
"You're sure?" Ruby demanded in a hushed whisper
"She isn't hiding Ruby" Qrow replied "She's walking right down the middle of the road and showing her face, I think she wants to be seen"
"Qrow I think Eldritch is about to make his play" Ruby informed him "Something is happening in the city and-"
"I have Corvid with me, we'll head her off and hold the line-"
"No!" Ruby exclaimed, the idea of them risking themselves appalling to her "We'll-" whatever else she intended to say went unheard as the entire Hive Tower that they were stood in seemed to shudder with the force of an explosion somewhere in the distance, the sound was deafening and lights flickered. Ruby collapsed the Scroll and deployed Crescent Rose, silver eyes falling on Penny as her voice cracked
"What do we do?"
"We split up" Penny answered, running countless possible scenarios through her mind at lightning speed "Nickel was obviously sent to be a distraction, this is Ozymandias's main play and he wants you to be away from the city-"
"I can't leave-"
"I'll take the Pearl and rendezvous with Qrow and Corvid, we'll deal with Nickel. Vale needs their hero Ruby"
"Promise me that you'll be safe, promise me that the kids will be safe" Ruby's voice was thick with emotion as she pulled Penny into a hug so tight it was as though she feared her wife could vanish at any moment
"I promise" Penny kissed Ruby's forehead as she deployed her own swords "We'll be sensational"
"I'll see you when I get home" Ruby tried to muster a cheery smile and with one last lingering embrace the two went their separate ways and rushed towards their respective battlefields.
Goodwitch had almost dared to hope that the depraved madman was bluffing, now New Vale burned below her and bile rose in her thought at the mere thought of the carnage.
Ozymandias's predictions had been proven correct and the headmistress had received his message from within the Exclusion Zone within minutes of its' transmission; mere moments later preparations had begun and Glynda's last shred of hope rested on the capabilities of New Vale's defenders and that their preparations would be enough to save them all.
Six large battleships hung in the air above New Vale's capital at all times, each with a full compliment of Bull-Head fighters and ground troops including mechanised elements such as Paladin battle-suits and all six had been moved into position surrounding the Exclusion Zone with more inbound from further afield after Glynda had explained the scope of the threat that faced them and the credibility of the source to her peers of the Kingdoms' Council and urged them to act with all haste. The polices' own mechanised elements which were only ever utilised in the worst cases of Grimm incursion of civil unrest had been deployed in addition to the entirety of the Kingdoms' police force. Between New Vale's gargantuan and monolithic Hive Towers were a series of walls inspired by the divide which had once existed between Upper and Lower Atlas which featured enormous and nigh on indestructible blast doors which could be sealed shut at a moments' notice this had been done and although it wouldn't halt the Grimm entirely as Glynda was sure that once they had managed to enter those hive complexes nearest to the breaches they flooded into the city from they would soon cross into other areas, it would at least slow their advance and force them into more manageable areas. Those people within the sealed area which was being all but consigned to its' doomed fate had been evacuated and the call to arms had gone out to Hunters across the city who had responded in their droves, making their way towards the edge of the Exclusion Zone from their homes, offices both within the city such as Cain Security Personnel and the aerial platforms that hovered above New Vale much like the one of which Halo Academy was based.
Then the explosions had ripped through the perimeter wall and their defence against the monsters within simply ceased to exist.
"Neptune has evacuated the medical wing and taken the Atlesian researchers and all none Huntsman staff to a secure location off site!" her deputy, Lie Ren announced with his calm demeanour struggling to hold in the face of what was to come; his voice raised over the sound of over a dozen Bull-Heads bringing their engines roaring into life as they prepared to depart. Beside him Nora fidgeted before finally exclaiming
"We should use the Yashima Protocol, we can take out thousands of Grimm in one hit!"
"Denied" Goodwitch shook her head mournfully "It wouldn't work Nora, they're not all rushing for a single breach in the wall….there's no wall left, they'd just move around the blast and you'd be overrun in minutes" the news was chilling, the idea of Nora Valkyrie, a pillar of strength being simply overrun and washed away by the living tide was unthinkable
"Orders?" Nora asked a moment later
"Has Professor Peach been taken off site?"
"She has" Ren assured her
"Peach will acting as mission control, the two of you along with Bronzewing and Scarlet David are to deploy the students behind the sealed blast doors and have them move into the Hive Towers….they're needed on the ground and you need to act as their field commanders but let the Grimm break themselves on more experiences Hunters first"
"Understood" Ren nodded and prepared to make his way to the Bull-Heads and attend to his duty with Grimm determination. Nora remained behind a moment longer and placed her hand on Goodwitch's shoulder
"We'll bring 'em home safe and we'll save the day" she spoke softly and when their eyes met Goodwitch knew that Nora understood her, though the headmistress was far less vocal about her position than the diminutive woman and her husband were the fact remained that they were of the same mind, these students, these teens whose lives they were entrusted with and were positioning as a last line of defence were their children and Nora would see Remnant shattered before she allowed harm to come to them.
"Good luck Nora" Glynda said in a tone so soft that most of her students would not have believed her capable of it before turning away and retreating towards the Academy itself where her own duties lay. She made her way along the yellow bricked road that led towards the main entrance of her home, flanked by golden statues of students who had laid down their lives when Vale had fallen and desperately tried not to think of how many new statues might need to be commissioned before this day was done and as she reached the vast double doors she gave the slightest nod of recognition to the two women who stood before it like silent sentinels.
"Defences in front of the holding cell have been activated" Specialist Donner informed her as she dew her paired and oversized, curved swords and her Cybernetic eye readjusted itself to adapt to the change in lighting
"The engineering crew have been relieved from their post, I've rigged the place….he's gonna have a hard time getting through what I've got waiting for him" Professor of unconventional tactics and ungentlemanly warfare Jasper Cimmerian announced, her own cybernetic eye narrowing as the joints of her stripped down and skeletal mechanical right arm whirred with each shell she loaded into her semi-automatic shotgun.
"Good" Goodwitch breathed out as she palmed her riding crop and adjusted the artistically jagged cape that hung from her shoulders as she focused as best she could, gathering her power unto herself in preparation for the inevitable; Glynda Goodwitch was no fool and she knew that the only possible reason that Ozymandias could have for announcing his attack would be to redirect defences away from Halo Academy and Goodwitch had been forced to entertain the ploy at least a little, sending her students to battle not only so that they could do their duty and defend New Vale but also so that they would not be caught in the crossfire when she unleashed her fury upon this monster of a man the moment he dared set foot on her campus. Turning to her two comrades she peered over glasses, acid green eyes hard.
"And now, we wait"
The Lightning Bug swerved around a corner with tires its' screeching and billowing smoke with far more power than a vehicle of its' size or intended purpose had any right to have.
"Astra, Astra listen to me" Felix turned and addressed his younger brother, the bespectacled Deer Faunus clearly trying to hide his fear and failing miserably as he chewed nervously on his trembling lip
"Hey it's gonna be fine" Felix attempted to soothe him despite his own clear apprehension "We're gonna be fine, I just need you to promise me that you're gonna stay in the car, no matter what happens, okay?"
"Okay" Astra managed to mumble as she seemed to shrink further into his seat and appear even smaller when compared to the hulking form of Arctus and Diamond's lithe athletic frame sat on either side of him.
The call had gone out from Halo Academy and Team FADE were powerless to do anything other than respond, Felix had frantically contacted Myrtle Mars and found out which emergency shelter his biological mother was making her way to, promising the hysterical Reptilian Faunus that he would deliver Astra to her as soon as possible. As they drove however the various students began to text and call each other, friends checking in on one another and updating each other of the rapidly worsening outlook faster than official chains of command could hope to and upon learning that this was no mere breach, that the entire perimeter wall had been brought down in a single catastrophic blow Team FADE came to a single horrific realisation.
There weren't enough students.
With many of the Fourth Years having left the Academy and the Kingdom as a whole until their official graduation there was simply no way that those students holding the line in the towers immediately behind the sealed blast doors would be enough and if Team FADE didn't intervene they knew that people they considered friends, possibly their loved ones would die at their posts.
"We're coming up on the bridge" Eagle announced through clenched teeth and the air seemed to leave the interior of the small car, a tense and charged silence falling over them as they sped across the bridge, weaving between abandoned cars that had collided into one another before making it into the next tower, entering a few levels above the ground.
The sound screams and howling monsters hit them like a solid wall.
"BEOWOLVES TO THE RIGHT!" Arctus bellowed, leaning out of the window and hurtling a Glyph through the neck of a monster
"And the left!" Diamond added, snapping off a precise shot "Damn it they're everywhere!" Team FADE collectively looked to Felix for guidance, the Grimm had seemingly broken though or simply buried the first line of defence under the weight of their bodies in a matter of minutes and it gave a grim picture of the rest of the battlefield
"They're following us!" Astra panicked as he dared to look out of the rear window
"That's good, we want 'em to follow us" Felix assured the child, cocky grin plastering itself across his face like a battle mask of sharp teeth and oversized canines "Arctus, get their attention. Eagle how well armed is this car?"
"Very" Eagle grinned, crimson eyes twinkling with mischief despite the severity of the situation
"Good get some distance and then double back, we hit 'em head on and break their momentum" the team followed his orders with practised calm, Arctus using a Glyph that glowed with the deep scarlet of Fire Dust to create a construct of a Beowolf which bounded along behind the Lightning Bug until the exact moment the pack of scores of Grimm that were giving chase to the car drew level with it, at which point it exploded in a ball of flames and allowed Eagle to create some distance and bring her vehicle about in a tight circle, manic smile on her face as she warned her friends
"Here goes nothing guys!" she put her full weight on the accelerator and flipped a series of switches beneath the steering wheel which left Team FADE flung back into their seat as the reached truly insane speeds and began to transform.
Its' entire rear end opened out and unfurled to reveal thrusters that would have been more at home on an aircraft which spewed a trail of flames behind them, Sentinel who was stored on the roof rack unfolded and began to plug into several newly appeared ports which both secured the android in place and allowed it to control the rest of the Lightning Bugs' arsenal in addition to his own compact mini-gun. Protective bars slid over the windows, though they were still wide enough for the Hunters to fire out of them unhindered; the hood of the car rotated down and forwards, expanding outwards as it created an armoured plough an a pair of small laser weapons rose from hidden cavities to either side of the engines and finally the wheels and entire wheel arches moved outwards as the vehicle sunk a fraction, giving it a lower and wider stance as the front wheel arches swung out to the sides to cover the wheels and hidden miniature rocket launchers rose from within them.
"Sentinel open fire!" Eagle ordered and a second later the space ahead of them was set ablaze, the pack of Beowolves being ripped apart by bullets and lasers until Team FADE's field of vision was obscured by the smog of their disintegrating bodies and the rocket launchers picked off several larger Grimm that lumbered towards them, having been drawn by the sound of the cars' engine and the Beowolves snapping and snarling as they chased it
"Astra stay in the car!" Felix reiterated as he ripped his seatbelt away and reached for his weapons "NOW LET'S CLEAN UP!" the Lion Faunus barrelled out of the Lightning Bug, crouching low as Sentinel still unleashed torrents of gunfire into the mass of Grimm. Hack and Slashed came screeching into life as Felix ran full-tilt into the remaining monsters, an Ursa reared up to its' hind legs and roared its' challenge and Beowolves snarled and bared their fangs in a loosely organised mass around around it; Felix leapt into the air and planted both feet squarely into the chest of the Ursa and kicked it several yards down the road where it landed with a crash, Felix pivoted as he fell and brought the whirring chainsaw blade through the skull of the first Grimm to lunge at him before flinging himself into the remaining four Beowolves with all his might. Another pounced at the Faunus and found itself torn in half as Felix brought Hack and Slash out in wide slashing arcs, side-stepping another and letting it sail past him on his left before turning and bringing his right sword down on its' back and following the motion up with a backhanded left that left saw blades biting into the fourth Beowolves' skull. He dispatched the final lupine horror by shifting Hack and Slash into their machine pistol forms and opening fire, leaving its' body riddled with holes only for his victory to be short lived as the thundering of the Ursa's footsteps informed him that the lumbering beast had returned to its' feet and was charging him.
Then a beam of light sailed over Felix's shoulder and ripped through the Grimm's skull.
Arctus gave his cousin a brief nod of acknowledgement before converting Grimmiger-Henker into its' great-sword form and attending to his own problem, namely a truly gargantuan Deathstalker with claws as large as the cars that it was batting aside as it bore down on him. A vicious slash from the Bear Faunus tore a gouge into the armoured skull of the arachnid monster as he avoided a stabbing attack from its' tail which instead tore into the pavement, whatever substance the things' stinger dispensed eating through the road and reducing the tarmac to a molten and blistering state yet Arctus pushed and planted his boot in several of the things eyes and pushed it back whilst blocking its' attempts to crush him its' pincers using the flat of his sword. Catching a hint of movement above him in his peripheral vision the towering teen conjured a Glyph in front of his outstretched left hand which blocked the stinger and allowed him to counter the attack with brutal efficiency by first stabbing downwards and burying his sword into the Deathstalkers' carapace and conjuring another saw-blade Glyph in his right hand and hurling it into the tail of the Grimm which let out a shrieking hiss and clacked its' mandibles angrily as its' tail was sundered which only continued as its' own acid spilled onto its' back. Arctus quickly grabbed his sword in both hands and dragged it free whilst turning about a face in a manoeuvre that ripped the Grimm almost entirely in half.
He saw a number of Beowolves bounding towards him from the left and tried to adjust his weight to meet them, though before he could shift Grimmiger-Henker back into its' double-barrelled laser cannon mode the first Grimm collapsed and rolled to halt with its' frantically weaving around it as a shot ripped through its' chest and back.
Diamond seemed to move in slow motion as she leapt into view, giving her partner a wink and confident smile as she landed in a crouch of the flat of his sword before using its' surface to launch herself into the pack of half a dozen Grimm. She performed a somersault and rotated and she shifted Lex Talionis from sniper rifle to glaive mode, planting a foot in the back of one Grimm's neck as she landed and crushing into into the ground; she weaved between the wild swipes and lunging bites of the monsters attacking her, ripping through the belly of one Beowolf and the throat of another before crouching low as a third pounced at her, ripping it in half at the waist as she spun into a low crouch and decapitated the Grimm she kicked to the ground as it struggled to rise. Returning to her feet she flourished her weapon and readied herself as the remaining pair of Beowolves advanced.
The first one was impaled before Diamond had even registered the streak of ivory hurtling towards it as Eagle in her avian form yet in a flash of pearly white Aura there she stood with her black bladed sword bursting through the ribs of the first Beowolf only to be pulled free and brought down in an overhead slash into the skull of the final monster. She stood panting with her blade held ready in both hands until Felix's voice called out
"That's all of them….But Astra can't stay here" Eagle looked around the streets, ensuring that they were indeed devoid of Grimm before jogging over to the Lightning Bug where Felix was waiting, Arctus and Diamond close behind her.
"I've got it" she assured her partner, connecting her Scroll to a port on Sentinel's gleaming cranium as the droids' weapon continued to pan across the streets in search of targets "Okay Sentinel, you know where to go, don't stop for anything"
"Doot da doot, doot doot" the droid chirped unhappily as though it wished to remain at Eagle's side
"I know" she grinned, patting the droid lovingly. Felix leaned down to rear windows of the car.
"Hey Astra, Sentinel's gonna take you to where your parents are okay; Team FADE need to carry on working out here….I need you to be brave for me, can you manage that?" Astra, chalk white and trembling nodded and tried to set his jaw and shoulders with the same resolute determination that his brother commanded and a moment later the Lighting Bug, under Sentinel's command began to drive away in search of a shelter.
"So what's the plan now?" Diamond asked, reloading her weapon. Felix took a deep breath and weighed up his options before making a decision
"We're gonna get into the towers on the other side of the blast door and push back into the Grimm, get outside of the towers if we can and fight out in the open….there's gotta be somebody left out there"
"We're taking the fight to the Grimm?" Arctus murmured
"Exactly" Felix gave a fierce smile and adjusted his grip on his swords "Let's go be the heroes"
Team NEON had been amongst the last students to deploy, securing a transport to themselves and Helios felt his fear of heights and mistrust of the flying machines that the Kingdoms employed which he had believed he had conquered bubbling and twisting in his gut before he promptly forced himself to focus on the matter at hand and turn his attention to his team. Olivine sat directly opposite him rechecking Buster Bravo and the goggles she usually wore pushed up onto the top of her head for the umpteenth time, more as a way to keep her hands busy and her mind occupied than due to any real need to assure the weapon was in working order. Beside her sat Ether, the guitarist counting the various guitar picks made of solid Dust crystals and assuring that his customary load-out was all present and accounted for before selecting a pick seemingly at random and scraping it gently along the strings of Ghost Reverie which lay across his lap. At Helios's side sat Nyanza, the bushy tailed Feline Faunus spinning the Pharaoh Mafdet around his fingers by their triggers in a display that the redhead noted that he would once have chastised his partner for; but he had learned to relax since those times and Nyanza had become far more responsible, even if he did currently look as though he would very much like to use his Semblance of good fortune just to ensure that they landed safely as he sucked in slow, wavering lungfuls of air.
"Soon as we're on the ground we'll be fine" Nyanza breathed out, directing the words at Helios who nodded silently though he was unable to keep a frown from his face or entirely escape the sense of foreboding which was only exacerbated as the Bull-Head pulled another sharp aerial turn and the sound of a Nevermore being shot down outside filled the crafts' interior. Taking a deep breath Helios unfastened himself from his harness and made his way into the crafts' cockpit to address the pilot and gunner who both wore stony expressions of pure focus and determination
"We should have landed by now" he noted simply
"Your landing zone's swamped, we're trying to find somewhere safe to set you down" the pilot answered tersely whilst the gunner brought the transports' weapons to bear against a huge Sphinx Grimm and tore it asunder. The revelation sent chills down Helios's spine though he did his best to mask it, the way the Kingdoms made war against the Grimm was vastly different to the Nikosi and even after living within them for years it was still a harrowing experience; he golden armoured man peered out of the cockpit and paled at the sight that greeted him, the Bull-Head circled around the walls and sealed blast doors that formed a barricade against the tide of monsters below whose obsidian mass moved like a solid object with the weight of tens of thousands of Grimm, whatever defenders remained appearing as small and fleeting islands and flickering embers of firepower before being swallowed. The battle for the air was equally bloody though perhaps a little more in the defenders favour as capital ship scorched the sky with lasers and photon weapons and the smoke from the fires burning below was eclipsed by the faded bodies of destroyed Grimm.
"THERE!" the gunner pointed to something that Helios had missed as he spoke to the pilot "There's a tank column moving in through Tower Twenty-Seven, drop these kids behind-" his next words were lost as the air itself seemed to be a torn apart by screaming roars of some new terror.
Then darkness fell over them all.
"GO, GO GET US ON THE GROUND!" the gunner screamed at the pilot, whatever nightmare made flesh had been spawned was behind and above them and Helios could only see part of the vast shadow it cast until a beam of vivid yellow light which crackled with lightning ripped past the Bull-Head, large enough to engulf the craft entirely if that had been the monsters' intention but instead Helios watched in dumbfounded and numb silence as single attack tore a hole through the entirety of a nearby Hive Tower.
Then the alarms blaring within the cockpit registered in his mind
"We just lost the right wing kid!" the pilot bellowed "Time for you to bail out, we'll bring this crate down safely" Helios met the pilots eyes and new it was a lie, these men would die in the crash and they both knew it; a fact made all the more clear by the fact that the pilot used what control he still had over the craft to turn it back towards the tide of Grimm within the breached part of the city and bring the Bull-Head into a steep dive. Helios nodded and turned towards the rear of the craft where Olivine, Ether and Nyanza were already on their feet and awaiting orders which Helios quickly gave
"Landing strategies, meet me on the ground. I'm going to help them land"
"Then I'm staying" Nyanza answered firmly "Whatever you're planning you're gonna need-"
"They're going to need your Semblance more" Helios countered Nyanza looked ready to argue until Olivine stepped up, deploying Buster Bravo as she spoke
"See you down there Heely" the side hatches of the craft opened and Helios watched his team-mates leap out of them before turning to the pilot and refusing to acknowledge the way the ground was rushing up at them.
"Kid what the hell are you-" Helios silenced them without speaking, his pitch black Aura manifesting around him and spreading out to encompass the entirety of the damaged Bull-Head as he gradually lessened the effects of gravity around it with his Semblance; the downward plummet was transformed into a graceful arc with sent the craft skidding along the ground and tearing a gouge through the mass of Grimm, killing hundreds in a single blow before coming to a stop in an abandoned street.
"NOW RUN!" Helios demanded as he readied Olympus Enforcer in its' ranged mode and leapt out of the Bull-Head, opening fire the moment he left its' confines. Scores of Grimm bore down on him and he killed as many as he could as he planted his body firmly between the monsters and the crew of the Bull-Head who drew their own side-arms and fought as best they could.
Then the rest of Team NEON arrived and the battle became almost routine, Olivine unleashed her weapon and the resultant firestorm tore through the Grimm with ease; Ether's Ice Dust pick froze monsters solid in a wide radius around him, allowing both Ether and Nyanza to put their Semblances to use and cut the immobile creatures down.
"Never pull a stunt like that without me again!" Nyanza exclaimed as he drew close to his partner, snapping two shots over Helios's shoulder which ricocheted and claimed three Grim apiece
"We need to come up with a plan" Ether noted
"We're supposed to be on the other side of that wall" Olivine added "But it looks like the people here need all the help they can get" Helios cast his eyes around and saw that no Grimm were in the immediate area, clearly finding more enticing targets and tried to decide the best course of action.
Before he could do so another screaming roar tore through the air and Helios looked up to finally see what it was that cast such a large shadow.
His weapons fell from his hands as he stared up at the sky in sheer terror that he had never felt before.
There were no words to describe the size of the thing, its' body was like that of some great dragon and threatened to blot out the sun with its' sheer size. Its' body alone was the size of any of the half a dozen warships that defended New Vale's skies to say nothing of the equally long tail that trailed behind it or the unspeakably large wings that kept the thing airborne in a mockery of the laws of nature; it lacked legs entirely as it it were never intended to land and its' body was made of the usual impenetrable darkness and bone coloured armour of the Creatures of Grimm. Helios's attention however was on its' heads for the thing had three of them, each supported by a neck wider than a street and lined with spines several times larger than a man the heads were monstrous things each capable of swallowing the crashed Bull-Head whole with ease, horned and skeletal things with snarling visages and monstrous fangs and armour of bony frills and ridges encasing them. Helios's jaw hung open and his hands trembled
"It can't be" the words escaped him in a frail and broken whisper, the Nikosi knew of this monster though none had seen it more than fifty generations at least. This was the Hydrakken and to the Nikosi it's arrival marked the end of things; his people had largely believed it to be a myth and now it was here and laying waste to the city he had made his home. The scarlet haired warrior stood rooted to the spot as one of its' heads reared back, yellow light gathering within its' vast maw before being vomited forth and into one of the warships; its' entire hull glowing with heat even as its' shields held for a fraction of a second before being ripped apart by the blast and raining down on the city like a shower of meteorites.
"HEELY!" Nyanza took his partner by the shoulders and shook him violently before pressing his weapons back into his hands "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE OR WE'RE ALL GONNA FUCKING DIE!" Helios came to his sense and saw that his partner looked to be close to his breaking point, eyes wide with fear. Silently, still unable to comprehend the terror above him Helios took Team NEON and ran.
Nickel Polendina's platinum coloured hair shone as it reflected the light and allowed them to see her coming which Corvid realised with an uncomfortable pang was almost certainly exactly what the android wanted.
Seeing that Nickel was alone and no other attackers were were approaching from other directions Qrow had deduced that this ploy was a distraction, nothing more and nothing less and had gathered Corvid and Syneffo and the three of them had made their way out to meet the threat head on, planting themselves what they hoped would be a safe distance away from Ruby and Penny's home, whose automated defences had been activated to protect the twins who were still inside behind a layer of shielding and weaponry. Standing at her uncles' right hand Corvid glowered as she got her first look at Nickel Polendina and realised just how just how much of a perversion of her Aunt Penny her twisted successor was.
Nickel walked towards them with calm self assurance, her sunglasses, face-mask and oversized sweatshirt abandoned to reveal her mismatched eyes, exposed patches of metal around her shoulders where her wings had once been and her hastily repaired and skinless left arm which Corvid noted with a sudden sinking feeling was adorned with a somewhat bulky device that was hauntingly familiar.
"Oh wow, we're actually doing this" Nickel sneered as she drew close enough to be heard and took in the meagre defence arrayed against her "All we need now is some tumble-weed"
"We don't have to do this Nickel" Qrow offered his voice conveying his clear tension
"Okay I'll make you a deal" Nickel grinned evilly as her tone became sickly sweet "How about you kill the kid with silver eyes stood next to you, Ruby Rose and those two kids of hers for me then hand my dear sister Penny over and I'll let you live, deal?"
"Not a chance bot out of hell….how about you walk away before I thrash metal" Corvid shot back, the idea of harm coming to her youngest cousins making her hands clench into white-knuckled fists.
Nickel laughed at her
"Oh you're funny, I like you" she grinned "I'm a fan of your work really….But I saw you lose your eye in Arcadia, you haven't got a chance against me" the revelation that Nickel both knew of Corvid and had been watching her some reason was chilling but rather than balk Corvid planted her feet firmly and let out a snarl
"How about I show you why you should never meet your heroes?"
"Corvid…." Qrow warned
"She can't be reasoned with" Corvid hissed through clenched teeth "This is happening. Omega Wing, combat mode!" the drone which had been hidden just out of view flew towards Corvid, drawn to the computerised controls adorning her left wrist and forearm before unfurling and wrapping itself around her to form the weapon that the Vytal Tournament had made iconic all across Remnant with its' four wings splayed out behind it in a swept back X formation, shoulder mounted rail-guns, arm mounted blades and featureless, wide-visored helmet encasing her head.
"See that's why I like you, you've got some style" Nickel beamed before her smile turned menacing and Corvid seemed to know what would come next
"But mine's bigger" the android declared, tapping several controls on her own arm mounted device "Omega Destroyer, combat mode!" the response was not readily apparent, then the trio of defenders saw something swooping down from the air
"You've gotta be joking" Corvid mouthed as the distinctive matte black arrowhead shaped form of an Atlesian Baba-Jaeger descended on them; the state of the art craft were already capable of converting themselves into a ground based form and Corvid realised what would happen a moment too late to prevent it.
The destroyed and subsequently repurposed aircraft swooped behind Nickel and began to unmake itself in a maelstrom of shifting and reforming components as it wrapped around the android until what confronted them was a truly obscene parody of Corvid's own weapon.
All in all Nickel within the Omega Destroyer stood at almost nine feet tall, the battle-suit supported by a pair of armoured but relatively spindly legs with inverted knee joints like those of a bird and ended in feet formed of three splayed toe like structures and a long heel spur which shifted and adjusted the suits' balance. The angular front end of the unmanned fighter had formed an armoured torso in which Nickel was secreted, tapering down from wide and flared out shoulder armour to its' nose at her waist and its' entire structure had been split in half vertically for some reason allowing Nickel herself to be seen; the wings had rotated and connected into where the androids' own wings had once resided, leaving them splayed horizontally over her shoulders. The legs that the Baba-Jaeger had once supported itself on in its' own walker mode had been repurposed into powerful upper limbs with relatively narrow and unadorned upper arms offset by oversized forearms which gave the thing the appearance of some dreadful flying gorilla, the arms each ended in a claw formed of two mechanical talons and an opposable thumb whilst the suits' weapons had been attached to those already bulky forearms; on the right were a pair of powerful lasers and on the left was the Eco-Dust powered propulsion system of the Baba-Jaeger repurposed into some obscene flamethrower. Finally Nickel's leering smile was hidden from view as the helmet of the Omega Destroyer formed around her head; it was oddly almost identical in design to Corvid's own yet it had been stylised to resemble an obsidian visored skull with exaggerated fangs and allowed her platinum hair to trail behind her.
Corvid brought the Omega Wing into life and kicked off the ground, hovering a few feet in the air whilst Qrow deployed Harbinger in its' scythe mode and Syneffo readied the Harpies' Claws. Nickel took a step forward with the Omega Destroyer, the untested weapon having a lumbering and ungainly gait and her voice was distorted by her helmet as she spoke
"Okay then buddies….Who wants to get flexed on first?"
Authors Notes:
And now we are well and truly into the finale of not only Vol.9 but third year as a whole, meaning that we are on the final stretch of the third quarter.
It's bittersweet and it's dumb because I know I've probably got another fifty chapters or so and a year of writing left to do.
But yeah….I've already shown off one of the things I've been holding onto for literal years in this chapter, but trust me when I tell you that I'm far from done…..I've got one really big reveal that I've been holding out on since before Chapter 01 was even written back in 2017, I can't wait.
I'll admit I was getting a little burned out and Aegis was becoming my new darling for a second but we got to the fun part of this volume at the same time RWBY came back for Vol.7 and well…..After than opener how could my hype not be restored.
But anyway let's summarise shall we:
I think you knew things were gonna go poorly for Rhodey once he got dressed up to the nines and took his car out for a spin.
I think there was some logic in Torchwick's choice, he could have told the guard that no he doesn't know Oz but Oz is already in the exclusion zone; sending under-equipped security teams in there after him will just get them killed, better to handle it himself and get Rover and co involved….At least he had the sense to tell them to get out of the way.
Let's be honest we've all been waiting for Fawn to go after Torchwick directly for a while haven't we? And if Melodic Cudgel being broken under her tires seems symbolic, good.
Pretty straightforward plan here, most of the attacks on New Vale's capital have been from relatively small breaches; first year was a little more complicated because Phobos had his packs tunnel under the city as well and subvert the blast doors but this is a much more blunt force approach of completely taking the Exclusion Zone wall away.
The thing about Adam Taurus ploughing a truck into civilians was in The Downward Spiral and it was literally just because he refused to let the Grimm get the first kill.
The giant spawning pit was actually mentioned at the end of Vol.3, it's why the Exclusion Zone exists; because the Kingdom can't risk the fallout of destroying it.
You know you're dealing with a maniac when the apocalypse is just the distraction.
Seriously, how many times have Vale's police had robots in this story? More private companies have used them.
Oz played a good hand, he goes for his objective and uses the Grimm as a distraction, then he sends Nickel to Ruby and Penny's house to try and draw Ruby away from the city so that her Silver Eyes aren't a factor. That's what Nickel was for the whole time.
Although Ruby and Penny don't know that and they think the attack is the main goal.
So Ruby's gonna be dealing with the literal ocean of Grimm and Penny is gonna be meeting Nickel face to face for the first time.
The blast doors aren't a perfect solution just because of the bridges between towers, the Grimm can get out of their containment area but it will at least bottleneck them.
Nope, no using Nora as a projectile this time.
So Halo Academy is evacuated so that Glynda, Donner and Jasper can go all out when they have to hold the line against Oz….Because we all know what his next move is.
So y'know what major cities look like in Zombie films…..yeah that, but with Grimm.
The Killer-Bee had the Stinger but the Lighting Bug has an entire battle mode which uses Sentinel as a turret. It was….I'm ashamed to admit, inspired by one of the Michael Bay Transformers Movies; the random gimmick that the car bots have in Dark of the Moon where they can sort of half transform and have unlimited guns.
I wanted the fight with the Grimm to be quick and dynamic and I really like that visual trick of the fight shifting focus to another character as they intervene in the last characters' fight; there's probably a name for it but I can't think of it.
So a brief appearance from the Lighting Bug and Eagle doesn't have Sentinel now but at least she's got 'em for Fourth Year.
I don't think Helios is ever going to get used to city-fighting or being deployed from the air; he's Nikosi and he would much rather meet his opponents in a wide open field.
How do you kamikaze and survive, you have a guy who can bend gravity with you.
I have been getting requests for a Grimm Ghidorah for literal years, there you go….I hope you're all happy because I'm gonna make you regret it.
I mean Nickel's right, they reall do need some tumble-weed for that shot.
"Not a chance bot out of hell….how about you walk away before I thrash metal"…..Had to, not even sorry.
The Omega Destroyer is one of the things I've been planning since day one and the Baba-Jaegers were made specifically to facilitate it. Corvid is a massive fan-girl around her Aunt Penny and she uses a battle-suit as a weapon, Nickel is based on Penny and saw Nickels fights on TV and decided to one-up her weapon design.
The overall design of the Omega Destroyer has changed in my head a few times but I always knew I wanted it to be this big lumbering monster of a battle-suit; the read is a recent change, if you collect Transformers basically take Generations Ape-Face's beast mode head, streamline it a little and paint it black...that's Nickel's helmet.
So…..The real question now is, who's gonna get fucked up before Penny gets there?
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their review on the last chapter.
They're gonna need miracles, bullshit ex Machina, plot armour and possibly some weighted dice.
There's never going to be a time where an attack on Vale happens without one of my original readers bringing up Squish is there….Well rest assured, I have plans.
If you don't argue over shotgun are you really friends?
Bad yes, as bad as it could be….not yet.
It was a bop, a jam and an utter cluster-fuck my dude.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.