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Chapter 128: A Much Needed Break
The first week of Team FADE's fourth and final year had been gruelling to an extreme that Felix would admit he had been unprepared for despite the repeated warnings that Corvid had given him over the summer and by the time the end of the week had arrived he found himself simply free of the workload that had pushed them all to the verge of breaking, or at least able to study and work at his own pace, though he had very little energy left to anything at all at the moment.
The mission into the Emerald Forest and the rigorous lessons that had awaited for them upon their first day had been only the beginning; Dove Bronzewing, Professor of Grimm Studies had decided that to aid his students in both retaining information for their final exams and to inspire possible topics for their thesis, he would subject them to a mock exam that covered the entirety of everything that they had learned thus far and Felix was sure that were it not for Arctus's meticulously kept notes and Eagle's impressive ability to recall seemingly all trivia related to Grimm that Team FADE would have been without hope. Professor Peach's Dust handling classes were reaching dangerous levels of difficulty, though Felix's ability to siphon and absorb heat as he acted as Diamond's hands made a great deal of difference; Diamond herself having a practical understanding of the subject that matched Arctus's theoretical knowledge, though she had expressed concerns about her current level of dexterity. The first aid lessons that Team FADE had elected to take had become a source of indescribable tension, Felix and Diamond both being stunned, impressed and more than a little concerned by their respective partners' drive as Eagle and Felix silently promised themselves that their would be no catastrophic injuries whilst their survival classes had been something of a welcome release, if no less thoroughly demanding and exhausting, their Professor having sprung a surprise exam on them which Team FADE had fortunately been somewhat prepared for by virtue of having grown in a variety of environments, each with their own distinct risks.
Qrow Branwen had, regrettably been as punishing as his brief speech during the initiation ceremony had promised; using the first week to gain the measure of his new charges by putting them through a battery of written and practical tests, assault courses, training simulations and moral conundrums that had challenged the students in ways that went far beyond the realm of what was expected in other classes; more than one student had been gently escorted out of his classroom a crying and trembling wreck and whilst the grizzled veteran had consoled that same student afterwards and explained to his classes at large that it would always be better to know exactly what sacrifices they were simply not capable of making before their hands were forced by circumstances beyond their control, the message had been sent throughout the student body however, Professor Branwen was to be feared.
It was currently early Friday evening and the yearly tradition of a team of First Years being shown exactly how much they had to learn by having them spar with and be utterly overpowered, outclassed and humiliated by a team of older students had taken place earlier that day; footage of Team WAVE being pummelled and defeated in quick succession by Team SNST had made its' way around the various students during their lunch break to a chorus of jeers and sympathetic winces. Team FADE had entered Nora's classroom, the familiar hybrid of lecture hall and coliseum after lunch only for Nora to remind them of their own time as First Years and inform them that it was time for tradition to come full circle.
She had enlisted the help of her husband and declared that she and Ren would be facing off against a pair of partners of their choosing, to see just how much of her lessons they'd been paying attention to.
Eagle's face was a bruised and swollen mess and she'd needed to be carried out of the arena by both Arctus and Diamond whilst Felix had been left curled on the floor gasping for breath and still, several hours later didn't have the full amount of feeling or movement in his left arm and right leg. Nora had sparred with them in classes before but it had become painfully clear that she had been holding back on them until now.
"You okay man?" Arctus raised an eyebrow at the pained grunt that escaped Felix as he shifted his weight, currently he was laid on Eagle's bed as he wasn't quite able to climb onto his own whilst Eagle herself paid a visit to Qrow and would most likely spend the night in Team GORE's dormitory and Diamond was currently in the middle of a session with Councillor Vasilias, Neptune having set time aside for a meeting with her as soon as possible upon her request.
"I'm good, just bruised and everything aches" Felix sighed
"I guessed Nora was holding back but sweet Oum Professor Ren is fast….did you even see him move before he folded you up like…." Arctus's question trailed off as the Bear Faunus saw the look his cousin was giving him until the silence was broken by the sound of Felix's Scroll vibrating; he opened it and quickly answered once he saw that the incoming call was from Myrtle
"Hey, you okay?" he asked as he raised the device to his ear, the call being audio only
"Yeah I'm good I just wanted to see how you were doing" his biological mothers' voice betrayed a hint of concern before she added "It's just that Astra says you haven't answered his texts all week and I thought something might be wrong" Felix quickly suppressed the curse he'd been about to spit out
"Yeah sorry, that's my bad….first week back and they really have buried us under a mountain of work; I kept seeing the message, telling myself I'll reply to it when I get a minute and not getting around to it"
"You know your brother misses you" Myrtle's tone was blunt and though it was clear that she didn't want to risk the relationship she'd managed to form with the son she'd thought lost by openly chastising him there was still an undeniable hint of disappointment that made Felix's insides clench
"I'll call him and I'll try and visit as soon as I can; I promise" there was a sound on the other end of the line before Myrtle spoke again
"My bus home is here, I'll have to call you back later Felix"
"Okay, talk soon" the call ended and Felix buried his his face in Eagle's pillow to muffle a wordless groan of frustration
"You know I heard the whole call right?" Arctus noted, when Felix turned to look at him the Bear Faunus added "The slave driver routine is getting really old really fast, I think you need a break. Take tomorrow off man"
"I wanted to look at job listings" Felix sighed "Corey had a mission lined up before she graduated, we need to be looking for work and contacting employers as early on-"
"Fluffy I'm the heir to the SDC and Eagle's Mum is the CEO of Poly-Tech….I know I sound like a spoiled rich kid saying this out loud but we are never gonna struggle to find work as Hunters" Felix glowered at that
"Yeah but I don't wanna start a career with nepotism though"
"Just take a weekend off man" Arctus reiterated firmly "You need it, go see your brother and take Helios with you, you've barely seen him all week" that much was true and Felix was forced to concede it. Currently the redhead was in the gym, continuing to push himself even beyond the high physical demands that the academy placed on them; with their workloads and the fact that each of them led their own team Felix and Helios had spent far less time together than they would have liked during the last week which was only made more pronounced and unpleasant after they had spent the summer sharing a bed.
"You keep telling me to slack off and I'll snitch on you to Aunt Weiss" Felix eventually sighed
"You keep running yourself into the floor and I'll snitch on you to Eagle" Arctus retorted calmly, knowing the argument was won. Felix feigned a horrified look before taking up his Scroll again and texting Helios; asking if he wanted to head into the city the next day.
"How long have I been absent?" Salem's question was addressed to the truly monstrous Grimm that occupied a throne upon an artificial island which seemed to form the epicentre of a vast network of Spawning Pits and Grimm tissue that had enveloped much of the areas' existing ecosystem.
Adam stood in silent confusion, glancing to the two women Salem had recruited he saw that they shared his misgivings; it seemed that wherever they had come from the Creatures of Grimm did not speak either.
This one however did
"Days my Queen, less than a week" the things' voice was a multitude of guttural snarls, as though several voices spoke at once at each of them were equally savage; Salem frowned at the answer and silently gestured for the Grimm to remove itself from her throne. As she took her seat the towering monster with its' four arms, vast wings and long claw-tipped tail took a position beside the blonde woman whom Adam noticed, with his eyes widening behind his mask had an arm made entirely of Grimm tissue.
"It seems I may have misjudged our return, but only slightly, I intended for us to return mere moments after I left….no matter" Adam noted that the news that Salem had seemingly little if any experience with the power to rend dimensions she had used so readily caused far less of a disturbance than he would have expected.
"Our current place in time is one you would all consider the future" Salem continued, oddly this fact was the one that seemed to cause a modicum of confusion "The fall of Vale occurred at the same time in each of your timelines, so for reference that battle occurred over twenty years ago and I was defeated a matter of months later"
"Yet you stand before us my Queen?" the red-headed woman with the golden armour questioned and Adam noted that she looked strikingly similar to the Huntress Cinder had initially wanted to frame for murder in his timeline.
"I was defeated, but despite what our enemies within the Kingdoms have told themselves to feel secure I was not killed….not entirely" the Queen of Grimm's eyes flashed dangerously "And now I have returned, with the aid of Pantheon and in my absence I have obtained the Powers of the Wizard" she gestured to the Grimm which Adam surmised was capable of thinking as well as speaking; things must have gone badly in this timeline if a Grimm was being granted a seat at the table, he then noted to himself that there were humans who would have said the same about his people.
"Is this Pantheon to be an ally of ours?" the red-haired woman spoke again and gestured to Adam and the equally oddly familiar blonde woman; aggravating the Faunus slightly with her typical human arrogance as she presumed to speak on his behalf
"You will all have places at my table, but Pantheon will have their own role to play which will be separate to yours" Salem replied simply "Though I suppose introductions are in order since the rest of you will be working closely together; Pyrrha Nikos, Queen of the Nikosi and leader of the Anima Diaspora; Yang 'Chimera' Branwen the right hand and assassin of my counterpart in her timeline and Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang and head of New Menagerie-" Adam barely had a moment to register the movement beside him, merely a shower of black rose petals and a blur of motion that collided with him and flung him to the ground; shattering his mask in the process
"Well well well Specialist Taurus, we meet again!" Yang cackled evilly as she wrapped her flesh and blood hand around Adam's throat and hoisted him into the air whilst tendrils began to slither from the palm of her Grimm hand. Obviously he was being blamed for his counterpart in her timelines' actions but Adam was compelled to give her a twisted smile which his burned and scarred face transformed into something terrible
"I took your arm in Vaccuo, when the Vaccuan branch of the Fang were evacuating and the Hunters stormed the docks-"
"YOU TOOK MY ARM IN ATLAS YOU BASTARD!" Yang raised the tendrils closer to his face and Adam began to struggle in earnest, only to be left in mild confusion as Yang dropped him and her breathing became a series of pained and choked gasps; looking up he saw the reason.
Pyrrha Nikos had used her Semblance
"As much as I enjoy watching an honour duel" she clenched her outstretched hand, wreathed in darkness into a fist and the spiked collar around Yang's neck tightened even further "There is a time and a place"
"Enough" Salem's voice wasn't raised yet the sudden coldness of her tone made it clear that she would tolerate no disobedience. Pyrrha released her magnetic hold over Yang and bowed whilst the Chimera straightened herself and shot a murderous glare at Adam who rose to his feet and discarded the remains of his mask.
"Our enemies have had twenty years to marshal themselves against us and they done so effectively" Salem explained "I have small but expanding pockets of Grimm within the city they call New Vale but the task of truly becoming my eyes and ears, entering the places that my children can't will fall to you; the first step of your part in my plans"
"And the second step?" Adam demanded, refusing to believe that he'd been pulled from another reality simply to be a spy
"I have a plan to bring out enemies to their knees and change the natural order of Remnant to what it should be; but there are those who would work against us from the shadows; those who know the truth of my nature. They cannot be allowed to learn of my return before I wish it and when the time comes you will dispose of them….there's also the matter of vengeance for what I endured"
"As you wish my Queen" Pyrrha bowed, assuming leadership over both Yang and Adam once again "Though if you would allow us some time to become familiar with this world first, I'm sure it differs from those you found us in"
"Of course, now go New Vale is quite some distance from here" Salem gestured for them to leave her and as Adam turned he saw that the packs and flocks of Grim which filled the area cleared a path for them. The Faunus shot a glance at Yang Branwen and scowled; it seemed that whatever reality he found himself in there would be someone who wanted to kill him in his sleep.
It was Saturday morning and Arctus was alone in Team FADE's dorm; as expected Eagle had never returned the following evening and had almost certainly spent the night in Team GORE's dorm with Hellion whilst Felix and Diamond were currently in the gym, which apparently the Lion Faunus felt was somehow separate to his decision to take the weekend off, with Diamond joining him to work on her arms, whilst her cybernetic limb would obviously not benefit directly it would in theory help restore some the muscle memory that had been slow to return since she had received the prosthetic. Arctus was currently absently switching between playlists on his Scroll, looking for something to have playing in the background whilst he studied and also helping himself to some of the snacks that Eagle always seemed to have on hand whenever Team FADE departed for a mission or were in the midst of a particularly infuriating study session. In front of him was one of the many assignments that Team FADE needed to work on that he intended to make some progress on before Diamond returned; the two of them would almost certainly go an impromptu date of some sort, or perhaps have a movie night if they had the dorm to themselves later on but the importance of persistence and hard work had been drilled into Arctus from an early age and he saw no reason to ignore his responsibilities.
A distraction came in the form of the music being silenced as his Scroll vibrated to announce an incoming video call, seeing it was from his mother Arctus removed his earphones and set the small pile of books borrowed from the library and the notebook he had been writing in aside before answering the call
"Good morning" Weiss's tone was bright and jovial despite how tired she looked, Arctus noted that beside her was his father, the older Faunus looking equally drained
"Morning, you okay?" Arctus asked, hoping that this was only a social call but feeling that something might be amiss
"We're great thank you" Weiss smiled "How's school?"
"Buried under a mountain of work" Arctus turned to Gangrel and grinned, unable to help himself "How's school?"
"I want you to do me a favour" Gangrel sighed "When the Atlas students get to New Vale for the tournament I want you to kick their asses"
"You mean in the tournament right?" Arctus found himself laughing at his fathers' utter disdain for the average student of Atlas Academy, fuelled at least in part by having spent the last two decades only dealing with the cream of the crop
"I said what I said" Gangrel chuckled darkly "What? It might help 'em learn something!" he defended as Weiss swatted every part of him she could reach playfully, his cybernetic arm making a dull clanging sound
"How're the girls?"
"They're doing fine" Weiss sighed "Although AJ and Coral being in the same classes because she was moved forward a year has led to them both getting in trouble" Arctus couldn't help but snort at that whilst grinning proudly, Arctus remembered the teachers who taught at the prep school his sisters attended and was of the belief that they deserved any havoc the two girls caused.
"There was something we wanted to talk to you about though, so it's good we've caught you alone" Gangrel's tone was enough to convince Arctus that his earlier guess had been correct and something was indeed amiss
"That package that you asked your father to send on the Halo Academy for you, I take it you received it?" Weiss added and Arctus promptly scowled
"Did you actually open my-"
"No, but I did see the address on the packaging" Gangrel replied, cutting off his sons' anger before it could build any momentum. Arctus remained silent for a few moments, as did his parents and the pale Faunus felt a sense of tension building before he set down the Scroll and quickly leaving his bed to open his drawers and find the small box that he had hidden in a back corner where it wouldn't be seen before returning and opening the box so that his parents could see it.
"Sweet Oum that's a mortgage right there" Gangrel breathed, Weiss's hand flew to her mouth and a squeal that could only be described as un-Weiss-like escaped her
"Yeah" Arctus murmured, stomach clenching with nerves at the thought of what was in his hand "I'm gonna ask Diamond to marry me"
"Oh my Oum, look at you….my baby boy is all grown up" Weiss's voice cracked "I'm sending Yang to hug you for me, I'm so happy for you"
"She hasn't said yes yet" Arctus pointed out before closing the jewellery box and pocketing it "I mean we've spoken about it before a few times, we've been dating for almost three years and we both want a future together….it just seems right"
"Is it because of…." Weiss trailed off before steeling herself and asking a question that she clearly felt she needed to "Because of what happened, her arm-"
"I mean kinda, maybe?" Arctus shrugged uncertainly "We could both have died, we could both have died so many times that I don't even wanna keep count any more. I don't wanna die on the job before I get a chance to do this" the answer left stunned and pained expressions on both of their faces
"I get that, I really do" Gangrel sighed eventually "You're tough as hell, your whole team are and I think you're gonna be some of the best of your generation….but you've had some bad run-ins and been unlucky a couple times; I understand feeling like you might not bounce back next time I've been there. I wish you hadn't felt a need to be secretive about this though, you know your mother and I would do anything to support you and we'd both be happy to welcome Diamond into the family" seeing Weiss nod in agreement brought a lump to Arctus's throat and caused his eyes to sting; Gangrel obviously senses that the conversation was becoming a little too emotional as he quickly followed up with a gruff snort and added
"Just promise me you haven't bought a ring because you've knocked her up"
"GANGREL!"
"You mean like you did?"
"ARCTUS!"
"Okay I'll let you have that one kid" the older Faunus laughed "I was always going to marry your Mum though, finding out you were on the way just made me get myself in gear" Weiss rolled her eyes at that comment before leaning into her husband and making herself comfortable.
"So you'll welcome Diamond into the family….what about her family"
"Mercury is welcome to stay in Mistral" Arctus growled, though it had no malice; after so many years his distaste for the former contract killer had all but dissolved and was more of an in-joke between those that knew them both.
"So have you decided when you're going to ask her?" Weiss asked, uncharacteristically giddy at the prospect to the point of sounding almost like Nora "You have to make it special Arctus, a proposal is something you should only be doing once so make it count" Arctus grinned at her phrasing before admitting
"I know, I'm working on it….first day back just didn't seem right and-"
"Okay I'm gonna give you a hint" Gangrel interrupted "Whatever you do, do not propose to Diamond at the Vytal Tournament after Team FADE win a match"
"Oddly specific, why not?"
"Because that's how Rover proposed to Missy and if you copy that he might actually kill you for it" the older Faunus laughed. Arctus laughed along with him and mentally struck the idea from his list of options before changing the subject
"So, Team FADE are definitely entering the Vytal Tournament this year….You gonna tell about the Atlas students you want me to beat, who to watch out for?"
"Getting insider information….you're getting devious, I'm sure your Uncle Whitley's proud" Gangrel teased, earning himself a very Weiss-like glare from his son which only caused the jokes between the three of them to continue.
Morning was rapidly becoming early afternoon, yet Eagle and Hellion had made no effort to leave the pile of furs that served as blankets strewn across the communal bed that Team GORE shared, formed by pushing each of their beds into the centre of the room to evoke the way they had grown up as children within the Frost River Tribe, sleeping in the holds of ships with dozens of other Faunus children that would go on to become the Shadow Cadre.
They were alone save for Marauder sleeping on a perch in the corner of the room and Sentinel recharging close by as Raffia had left the night before and never returned, most likely he had found his way into the bed of one of the many young men or women that had taken a liking to him over the summer; what was important to Hellion and Eagle was that he was elsewhere as the Axolotl Faunus tended to be more irritable than usual in the morning. Carcharodon had left to train early that morning, he would most likely spend a good portion of the day training younger students and meditating before retreating to the library to study; his own reading and writing improving as rapidly as Hellion's. Onyx had made no effort to disguise the reason he had left and had bluntly told the two women that he was in no mood to watch them be adorable together, being surrounded by so many couples whilst he could speak with Corvid sparingly was taking a toll on the Puma Faunus's temper.
"You know you don't have to make anything up to me right? I'm not angry with you?" Eagle enquired as Hellion straddled her waist and peppered her lips, cheeks and neck with feather-light kisses; the taller woman's voice was admittedly a little breathy at this point and by no means did she want the Dragonfly Faunus to stop what she was doing, she just wanted to be sure that they were on the same page.
Eagle had explained to Hellion earlier in the week why she had wanted her girlfriend to join her for the flight to Halo Academy, the symbolism and tradition behind it and the fact that it was their final year making it more special. Ever since then Hellion had been making romantic gestures that could be described as incredibly sweet or comically absurd depending on who was asked; Marauder had been sent to deliver roses to Team FADE's dormitory on a daily basis whilst Hellion herself put her skills at thievery and going undetected to good use, almost every time the two hugged or sometimes when Eagle hadn't even seen Hellion pass her at all the blonde would find small love letters or poems hidden in her own pockets where the Faunus had slipped them.
"I feel like I should known it would upset you" Hellion admitted, leaning down and resting her forehead against Eagle's "It's something that I can't give you back and I'm sorry-
"It's okay, we'll do plenty of memorable things together" Eagle assured her as she leaned up and stole a kiss
"Are you trying to seduce me Eagle Arc?" Hellion countered slyly with a wink that gave way to laughter as Eagle blushed and stammered. The Dragonfly Faunus lowered herself so that she was flush against Eagle's chest and nuzzled into her neck and made herself comfortable
"But we certainly will be memorable together Little Canary….I've seen your soul" she felt Eagle adjust her weight under her so that she could meet her eyes
"You've seen my soul?" she asked "When you used your Semblance on me?" there was something cautious in her tone, this was a subject that had not been discussed or even broached between the two of them.
"I've never seen a soul before" the Faunus's wings buzzed slowly as she spoke "I've only ever used my Semblance on animals….I don't think I could use it on anyone without a Semblance like yours"
"What's it like?" Eagle asked slowly "My soul I mean"
"Beautiful" Hellion beamed up at her "Bright and warm….it's like hard to describe but it's as if kindness and bravery were physical things"
"Oh my Oum" Eagle gasped, pulling Hellion into a tight hug "I love you so much….I wish I could see your soul too, I bet it looks amazing"
"You think far too highly of me" Hellion purred in Eagle's ear "But I'm hardly complaining" she nipped at Eagle's neck and collarbone playfully before lacing her fingers' through Eagle's and firmly pinning her hands down against the bed and drawing a quiet, whimpering gasp from the blonde
"I love that sound" she whispered seductively, only to be surprised when Eagle used her impressive strength to flip them over and pin Hellion down, taking care not to trap or bend her wings uncomfortably before kissing the dark skinned Faunus slowly but fiercely
"We did have plans for today" she reminded Hellion playfully, drawing a low groan of discontent from her. The pair had initially intended to venture into the city as Hellion had shared Eagle's love of comics since being introduced to the art form and there was a store that the two of them enjoyed frequenting together
"But we've got plenty of time….we can stay here for a while" Eagle smiled and kissed her way slowly down Hellion's neck and breasts as she took charge, something that Hellion was unused to but quickly decided as the first throaty gasps of pleasure escaped her that she could very easily learn to enjoy.
The sun was already far passed its' zenith when a nondescript white van of the kind regularly used by tradesmen of all varieties was allowed through one of the various check points built into the perimeter wall that ran around the city. The individuals manning the checkpoint had seemed eager to let the vehicle through with as little hassle or investigation as possible, understanding from hints given to them by their superiors that those with the skills needed to return the city to its' former glory were needed inside the city and were not to be delayed; this along with the general ubiquitous nature of the white van were precisely why the vehicle had been stolen. Upon reaching the nearest settlement to Salem's domain, itself several dozen miles away, Adam had read a newspaper article alluding to a large scale battle and the restoration efforts that followed it and chosen their transport accordingly.
The van continued deeper into the city, moving through vast industrial estates and travelling between vast Hive Towers until the Faunus brought it to a halt within a dimly lit and abandoned sides street.
"What are you doing?" Pyrrha demanded, looking at him sternly from her position in the passengers' seat
"We should get rid of the vehicle" Adam replied with an irritable sigh, annoyed that he had to explain the basics of petty crime to someone in their mid twenties when everyone from the area of Lower Atlas he was raised in had a thorough understand of the principles and the reasoning behind them regardless of where their own personal income came from.
"The van has almost certainly been reported as stolen by now" he continued "None of us know this city or what traffic laws we might have broken….this city looks like it was modelled after Atlas so I can promise you that there are thousands of cameras in those towers. We should get rid of the van, it would probably be wise to burn it"
"Understood" Pyrrha nodded in acceptance before opening the passengers' side door without using her hands and sliding out; Adam followed suit and promptly punched the side of the van as he walked behind it, indicating to Yang who had been hiding out of view in the back to climb out. Once the three of them were stood in the side-street, which served as a poor place for a conversation between individuals such as the three of them with its' close quarters and unwelcome stench Pyrrha addressed Adam and Yang
"We have our mission" she said, her tone firm and imperious enough to visibly irk both of her supposed allies "See what you can learn, I'll find us lodgings somewhere in this city" before she could subjected to any questions and disagreements she stepped out of the alleyway pulling he hood of her thick fur cloak low over her face and leaping upwards, a subtle use of her Semblance turning her jump into a superhuman feat which carried her in a wide sailing arc onto a bridge that ran between two of the towers several stories above them.
"I enjoyed watching Salem kill the last human I had to take orders from" Adam noted conversationally.
"But she's right" Yang countered, her tone making it clear that she was furious at having to work alongside any incarnation of Adam Taurus "We have our mission and we need to gather information before we act….traffic laws are the least of our worries"
"And do you think any library cards you might have would be any use here?" Adam countered, every syllable drinking with sarcasm until his voice dropped to a murmur with his next words "I'm almost certain that I'm dead in this timeline"
"I'm not in the mood for your attitude Taurus-"
"And I'm not in the mood for another human who think 'they all look alike and they're all guilty of something' blaming me for their problems but by all means Branwen test me!" Adam's crimson Aura flared into life around him as he rounded on the Chimera and stalked towards her. Yang merely held her ground and met his harsh stare for a moment before breaking into a twisted grin
"Seeing red?" Adam looked ready to punch her in the mouth for the pun alone so she held out her hands and continued "Truce? Maybe you're wrong….maybe there's an Adam Taurus here I can kill instead; maybe whoever you cared about is here as well" the notion was enough for the Faunus to pause and stare at Yang's hand for a moment
"Truce" he nodded after a well, though after what he had seen and the abilities that he knew she possessed nothing would compel him to touch Yang Branwen's hand; he did however nod towards it "You should find away to cover that, I somehow doubt that Grimm hybrids are a common or welcome sight in this future"
"Point taken" Yang conceded before a shimmering pale gold light appeared in the centre of the Grimm tissue; as if the colour of her own Aura had been washed out and lightened, the light spread in each direction and took on the appearance of shards of shattering glass whilst the obsidian flesh it passed over was replaced by a mirror image of Yang's entirely human left arm. Adam realised that he'd seen this Semblance before, though the Aura that manifested it had been a candy pink colour
"You killed Torchwick's sidekick?" Adam's tone was reluctantly impressed
"Caught her in the ruins of Vale" the Chimera gave a wicked smile "Torchwick was gone and we didn't need her any more but her Semblance is a useful one….and besides we had a score to settle; there were so many ice-cream puns to get through before she died" Adam tried not to visibly shudder; in his timeline Torchwick had been double-crossed and killed during the fall of Vale but Neo had survived and had become effectively a one woman army, attacking supply shipments on both sides of the war but always taking extra time and effort to thoroughly mutilate any White Fang members she encountered.
"So….this city definitely didn't exist in my timeline" Yang noted "It looks like someone dug up an Atlesian city at put it where Vale used to be. Any thoughts on how it compares to your glorious Faunus Empire?"
"You have no idea how much I hate the Kingdom of Atlas and the fact the I had to leave so much of it standing when I built the Kingdom of New Menagerie in its' place" Adam scowled, his expression softening a fraction and becoming almost wistful as he looked around him and saw a small group of Faunus children playing in the street; no threat of being ignored by those above when the Grimm burst through their cities' defences and no Atlesian robots enforcing unjust laws with an iron fist or no airships from the other Kingdoms screaming overhead and unleashing devastating air-strikes on their homes.
"But after spending so long at war" Adam sighed "This is honestly beautiful"
"Tag the sniper first! She's putting holes in us for Oum's sake!" hearing the loudly declared order prompted Diamond to leap from the length of rebar that protruded the innards of a ruined building, shots whizzing over her head and narrowly missing her; she panted for breath she sprinted towards a house whose upper floor had been ripped away by the impact of something collided with it and quickly ducked around a corner, several more shots impacting against the wall a fraction of a second after her
"We have to stop meeting like" Arctus grinned, the Bear Faunus having already been using the same wall for cover
"Dork" Diamond grinned as she reloaded the paintball gun in her hands and watched the vibrant orange stain on the wall of the building they were using as cover slowly faded away as the nanobots which worked in tandem with the hard-light constructs and holograms of the academies' outdoor training area repaired themselves.
The two of them had been wandering the grounds debating what to do for the evening when they had seen a group of First Year students comprising two full teams; all of whom looked exhausted, beleaguered and honestly frightened. It seemed that Team FADE's guesses about the latest class of students being under more pressure than most had been true; being recruited during the year that New Vale would be hosting the Vytal Tournament would have been difficult enough, but the fact that there had been more teams formed specifically to offset the casualties of the battle in the city that was still fresh in everyone's memory had seemingly given those First Years a sense of having something to live up to and big boots to fill; something that those who were not fortunate enough to have already known people at the academy were struggling with. After talking to First Years for a while and realising that they collectively felt unwelcome and as though they were under constant scrutiny by older students that resented them Diamond had assured them that this was not the case and promptly made several Scroll calls to see if she could get some older students to join them, intending to help build a support network for the new students.
Somehow this had turned into a six against six paintball match with Arctus and Diamond joining one team of First Years whilst Aqua Tsuyu and Quartz Murus of Team AQUA joined another. Diamond had fortunately managed to take out their fellow Fourth Years early on, only for Team GLXY whom they had allied themselves with to utterly dominate their classmates on Team RAVN, leaving Arctus and Diamond outnumbered.
"I think they're flanking us" Arctus murmured after a while, straining his ears to decipher the occasional sounds which were all somewhat muffled by the nanobots that made the training area. Diamond fiddled with her nose piercing absently for a moment, a sign that she was concentrating
"No windows on this side, we'd have to go up and over….they'd see us" she cast her eyes around, the training area had shaped itself into a facsimile of an urban war-zone in some undefined city though the clear lack of Hive Towers made it clear that it was not intended to evoke New Vale. It spanned an area of several streets, less than a city block but with ample places to take cover, hide or set up a firing position; if they could reach them
"Overall this wasn't best place to take cover" Arctus admitted with a bashful smile "I feel like Qrow would give us endless shit if he saw this" Diamond smirked before focusing herself as the beginnings of an idea came to her
"We need a distraction….can you make a construct"
"In a paintball match?" Arctus raised an eyebrow
"Hey I didn't hear anyone say no Semblances, did you?" Diamond gave a devious smile as she leaned up and whispered her plan in her partners' ear, sensing that they had only a few moments before they were ambushed from both sides.
"You've got it" Arctus grinned before shouldering his paintball gun and creating a Glyph large enough to summon a glowing Beowolf construct
"Now" Diamond nodded and Arctus sent the Grimm tearing around the corner
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" the panicked cries of the First Years was Diamond's signal to use her Semblance to scale the wall the were covering behind, crouching at the very edge of where it had been ripped away and just out of view
"IS THAT A GRIMM!"
"IT'S HIS SEMBLANCE DID YOU GUYS NOT WATCH THE VYTAL TOURNAMENT?" hearing that he had been rumbled Arctus allowed his focus on the construct to break and as it shattered he sprinted out of cover, running to his right and heading towards another building.
"There he is!" the two First Years of Team GLXY who had been attempting to flank from the right rushed after Arctus and Diamond had only a moment to wait until the remaining two sprinted around the left corner of the building and ran directly under her without looking up as they gave chase.
She waited a moment until all of Team GLXY were in here sights and snapped off a series of shots
"Oh come on that's definitely cheating!" the leader of Team GLXY insisted as the match ended and the nanobots and hard-light projections began to disassemble themselves, though he was laughing as he did and Diamond merely stuck her tongue out playfully before looking over the teens shoulder and seeing that Team GLXY had collectively opened fire on Arctus, leaving him covered in neon orange paint which was thankfully easily removed and making Diamond the sole victor of the match.
Then the cheering and applause started; revealing that many of the engineering team who had been working on a nearby section of the campus had chosen to spend their break watching the match which was broadcast onto several screens surrounding the training area from a plethora of well hidden and protected cameras within it. Team GLXY were helped out of the arena by Aqua and Quartz, the latter hoisting a smaller student onto her shoulders.
"I think your plan worked" Arctus noted, squeezing Diamond's hand gently as they both saw that several older students had come to watch the events and that the formerly isolated group of First Years had effortlessly become part of a larger group.
"Good, they looked like they needed it" Diamond murmured, she made to join the group and Arctus lingered a moment and gestured behind him; indicating that would reset the training area to its' default settings, a common courtesy that saved time for the next user.
"You two did good, that was decent of you….which is why I'm not making you write five pages on the proper use of your surroundings"
"Sweet fucking Oum!" Arctus hissed at the familiar drawling tone "Professor Branwen"
"Come on, I'm Qrow outside of classes" the chair that Qrow carried himself on scuttled around the Bear Faunus on its' six mechanical legs and Arctus was left wondering exactly how the older man managed to be so stealthy in such a machine, appearing behind people without a sound or warning as he always had done.
"Honestly it was Diamond's idea" he admitted, to which Qrow merely shrugged and turned his attention towards the group of students; First Years included who seemed to be organising themselves for another game of some kind.
Arctus's eyes naturally sought out Diamond and his heart skipped a beat as he found her; she was simply talking to one of the younger students and ensuring that they were okay but to him it was merely further proof that she was one of the most kind-hearted people he'd ever met and that he was certain he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
"That part was so cool!" Astra exclaimed as he attempted to recreate a particularly action packed scene from the movie that Felix and Helios had taken him to see, earning a round of laughter from his older brother as he attempted to play the roles of several characters at once.
Felix had given the young Deer Faunus a brief training session to ensure that he had been keeping up with his practice and upon being presently surprised with just how well Astra was progressing for his age and after spending some time just talking and learning how his younger brother had been doing whilst Felix had been regrettably busy the Lion Faunus decided to treat Astra a little; he and Helios taking the boy out to eat somewhere before deciding to go and see a movie together. Currently it was a little passed Astra's bedtime and Felix and Helios were currently walking with him towards the nearest monorail station so that they could take him home, Felix fighting the urge to grumble to himself as grumble to himself as he contemplated just how much faster and more comfortable the journey would have been if he still had the Killer Bee.
"Are you gonna stay and hang out when we get home?" Astra asked hopefully, Felix looked to Helios and saw that the redhead had no objections
"Sure" he grinned, Felix had wanted to spend some more time with his biological mother anyway and in all honesty his relationship with her partner had improved greatly. Redwood now helped out the New Vale branch of the Coalition and dealt with Blake on a not infrequent basis in addition to his full time job as a mechanic and had become much more tolerable; going so far as to mention to Felix any halfway decent cars that were being sold for a halfway reasonable price which he was grateful for, even if despite how much he missed the Killer-Bee he wasn't planning on spending everything he had earned over the summer on a new car just yet.
"Mum says not to take these shortcuts through back-alleys" Astra noted as Felix led them down a gap between two currently closed stores in an effort to shave ten minutes or so from their journey through the Hive Tower they were currently in.
"And she's right" the Lion Faunus admitted "You shouldn't cut through back-alleys on your own, it's dangerous"
"But you're with two Hunters right now" Helios added, quickly assuaging the boys doubts. As they exited the other side of the alley Felix took a moment to get his bearings which was enough time for Astra to catch sight of something odd
"Hey, why is all that junk floating?" Felix and Helios turned their attention to see a trash can at the mouth of another alleyway across the road and several feet away, the can had been knocked over and several metal cans had spilled out of it and were now hovering several inches above the ground. Felix and Helios took in the sight and looked to one another for a moment
"Either that's someone trying to show off with a Semblance or there's a busted power line under us" Felix noted
"There doesn't seem to be a power outage" Helios noted as he gestured around them, the street was currently almost empty, save for a small group congregating outside a bar in the distance but the lights were clearly still functioning.
"They use Magnetic Dust coating on the inside of the power lines, it helps carry the charge longer" Astra piped up, happy to have some information that seemed important "Dad mentioned it, he was talking to a guy that works on them at the shop"
"So we might have a busted cable" Felix reiterated "Heely can you do me a favour and go see if there's anyone in that alley, I'll stay here with Astra. If the power grid is damaged we can get the message passed along to the right people before it becomes a problem"
"Of course" Helios nodded before crossing the road and making his way towards the alleyway, only for the cans and other litter to fall to the ground; which somehow managed to seem like an ominous sign. As he stepped into the alleyway Helios caught a glint of gold as light was reflected from something at the other end of the alley as was surprised to see someone wearing a cloak made from the pelt of some great bear pulled low over their face to hide their identity; what truly caught his eye however was the golden armour that could be seen beneath it.
Nikosi armour, incredibly similar to his own.
"You're Nikosi?" Helios demanded stepping closer, only to come to a halt as the unknown assailant reached into their cloak as if to draw a weapon whilst retreating backwards slowly
"Wait!" Helios exclaimed as he began jogging towards them "Who are you?" the figure had left the alleyway now and the street lights only served to cast their face into deeper shadow beneath their hood. Helios quickly closed the distance and rushed out of the other side of the alley.
Only to be struck with incredible force and sent crashing to the ground where he rolled to a stop and struggled to rise to his feet.
"Holy shit are you okay?" Felix demanded as he and Astra rushed into view, the Lion Faunus keeping his younger brother behind him "We heard you shout"
"There was someone in the alley….they hit me with that when I followed them" he gestured to the object that had hit him, a car with no driver and its engine not running which had still been moved several meters from where it had been parked.
"Do you know 'em?" Felix demanded as he helped Helios up, the redhead privately noted that melting the chest plate of his armour may not have been a wise idea before answering.
"No….but I will have answers"
Authors Notes:
And so the plot thickens.
I wrote a 10k word chapter when I said I was gonna take a break and then cranked this out in two days….business as usual.
….So basically you can consider the title of this chapter as an in-joke I made with myself.
On an unrelated note, god damn it RT that Archaeopteryx Grimm from Vol.7 Ep09 is great….I just wish you'd shown it a week or so earlier so I can have those be Pantheon's personal entourage of flying Grimm instead of Nevermore.
Also on an unrelated note, I'm giving more and more thought to the idea of a prequel story following a younger Jacques Schnee and his crew of explorers finding the Dust reserves in Mantle….It'd play out like a D&D campaign and I've got ideas for some characters already; but I'm already writing two multi-chapter stories so that might be what I do after FADE.
Anyway, let's summarise shall we:
That workload though….also it was a chance to show how Team FADE function in a classroom environment and who's good at what since; like RWBY itself I feel like I could have shown more of that side of things if minor things like the actual story hadn't gotten in the way.
Team FADE definitely treat first-aid lessons seriously now.
Stuff like survival training is gonna be kinda easy for them considering Eagle lives in a farm town, so she's a country girl; Felix lives on an island with cliffs and Grimm infested woods, Arctus lives on top of a snow-capped mountain in a tundra and Diamond lives in a city, but just outside are massive forests/jungles filled with Grimm and nomadic bandits.
Qrow is a ruthless fucker as a teacher but honestly he has to be; his class is "Ungentlemanly Warfare" and frankly someone has to make sure that the next generation of Hunters are willing to make the hard calls like "Are you willing to order your team not to fall back when it's clear you won't survive" "Are you willing to put a team-mate out of their misery if it becomes obvious that they're not gonna make it"
The old ritual beating is back and this time Nora and Ren were pretty much trying to kill them.
We don't get enough of Felix and Arctus just being cousins….any of my cousins would have laughed at me if I got beat up by a teacher.
I feel Felix's pain, I am honestly terrible at keeping in touch with family.
Arctus makes a fair point, Team FADE are never gonna be out of work.
Another reason for Salem not abusing her dimension hopping ability is that she doesn't come back in quite the right place; she actually missed a week by overshooting here.
So there is no Pantheon in any of the alternate universes, but that's at least partially because they're all around ten years behind where FADE is….Salem actually plucked them all from round about where "Our Happy Ever After was" in this timeline.
"Things must have gone badly in this timeline if a Grimm was being granted a seat at the table, he then noted to himself that there were humans who would have said the same about his people"….Is Adam going to become a Grimm rights advocate?
So, Salem is totally fine with her generals fighting amongst themselves to assert dominance.
Adam taking Yang's arm is a universal constant, it happened in the main timeline, Adam's timeline, Yang's timeline and hell probably Pyrrha's timeline as well.
So Salem has a grand master plan (At no point did I say it was the same one as before that involved Maidens) but Adam, Pyrrha and Yang are being brought out to deal with people like Qrow and his secret society of people who know the truth about Salem.
Come on with how busy Weiss and Gang are if they're both calling and the girls aren't in the room then it's important.
Gangrel's reaction to being a teacher was great to write.
So, that's what was in the box….who's excited?
Oh yeah, these kids have ALL got PTSD.
"Just promise me you haven't bought a ring because you've knocked her up" "You mean like you did?" OOF.
No Arctus will not be using his Uncle Rover's approach.
Is anyone surprise that Raffia isn't a morning person.
Poor Onyx.
Okay admit it, Hellion's romantic gestures are cute and you love it.
Seriously though….How do you start a conversation about having seen someone's soul without them turning into Zuko and dropping a "That's rough buddy" in return.
Eagle and Hellion just being utter nerds together on dates is something I can get behind.
White vans, probably used by more criminals than tradesmen at this point.
It's probably a sign of how miss-spent my formative years were that I get visibly annoyed having to explain basic shit about drug dealing and other crimes to people that don't know anything but insist on having an opinion.
So this Pyrrha is the antithesis of canon Pyrrha, not just in which side she chose to be on and how she feels about the praise she receives; but how she relates to people, canon Pyrrha is genuinely trying to help everyone around her….this one, nah.
But also it got mirror Yang and Adam alone and they need to talk.
So Yang Branwen killed her worlds' Neo….that Semblance will be one she uses sparingly so that she's not OP. Also, Adam's worlds' Neo is still out there.
Are those the first hints of doubt from Adam at the end of that scene?
Ah paintball mode, the best use of that outdoor training area…..And I love the fact that canon has basically confirmed that things like it exist in universe with Atlas Academy.
Yeah those First Years were probably just about at breaking point after just their first week; luckily Diamond is who she is.
Qrow is still Batman.
Honestly the paintball scene was just another chance to show Arctus being utterly head over heels in love with Diamond.
So Redwood is less of a dick now.
No new car for Felix.
Astra has probably spent plenty of time in his Dad's garage and will go on to be the engineer of whatever Hunter Team he ends up on (I have a plan for the epilogue) also, parents with trades….teach your damn kids.
And now Pyrrha and Helios have met each other….Kinda.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander, Viridian_Fox and Chloe Anderson50 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I'm not going to use the Multiverse angle too excessively, which is why I put hard limits on what Salem can and can't do; it won't be a regular thing.
I mean you could argue that Pantheon is more 'Death' than 'War' and a Pyrrha that was a willing accomplice in the Fall of Vale is 'Strife'….but I definitely see your point.
Neon, Jade, Neo….I've got something to sting everyone; just wait til Vol.11.
I'm glad you liked your OCs' cameo.
Oof, you have my sympathies regarding your workload.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review