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Chapter 159: The Head Of The Snake
It was late morning, the sun quickly reaching its' zenith in the clear blue sky and glaring down on the open sea that the Nemesis Kharybdis cut through with scorching rays; the waters were, at least for the moment remaining undisturbed as what little tenuous sense of peace had emerged once the tremors that had shook the entire island chain and the mainland coasts beyond it held out, the air being filled with nothing more than the squawking of gulls rather than the dull rumble of some approaching cataclysm.
It was a facade, the calm before the proverbial storm and each of the Hunters knew it.
"This is going to be the hardest battle we've ever faced" Helios's voice snapped Felix out of his brief reverie and the rapidly spiralling thoughts that the Lion Faunus was becoming lost in as the two of them stood at the prow of the Nemesis Kharybdis, staring out at the island from which the tremors had come which was still too far in the distance to be any more than an indistinct and blurry shape on the horizon.
"Yeah" Felix agreed, before taking a moment to consider before finally feeling a weight lift from his shoulders as he admitted "Heely….I'm scared"
"We'd be fools not to be" the scarred and tattooed redhead answered quietly, Felix turned and saw the countless worries and fears building behind Helios's acid green eyes and reached out to squeeze his hand.
"Talk to me" he murmured
"Qrow might want us to simply scout ahead and gather information" Helios said quietly "But when have our missions ever gone so smoothly?….I fear that whatever good fortune is keeping those tremors at bay will fail us and that we might have to face Salem herself"
"Yeah….it feels that way" Felix admitted, the same fear having been lurking at the back of his mind since the moment they boarded the Nemesis Kharybdis "I don't wanna lose you….I don't want to die, to see you die or get thrown into some other Remnant like Eagle and Arctus or…." he trailed off, his voice seemingly no longer willing to comply and give names to the nightmarish possibilities that waited for them on the desolate island in the distance.
"Rest assured there is no Remnant dire or war-torn enough to keep me from fighting my way through it and back to you" Helios answered pausing a moment and bowing his head before continuing, voice wavering a little as he spoke "As for dying….we're warriors Felix, we were never promised long lives but know if our story ends on that island then it's been an honour to love you and fight alongside you"
"I love you too" Felix answered, voice barely above a whisper as he continued to hold Helios's hand and took what comfort he could from it, eventually stepping closer and resting his head on the taller mans' shoulder whilst Helios wrapped an arm around his waist, the two of them staring out at the island looming in the distance, steadily growing larger and distinct enough that the two of them could see some massive structure built upon it, from which waves of silent menace seemed to emanate. The pair were uncertain how long they remained like that, their peace undisturbed as thy were certain that their friends who were, at least nominally in the process of preparing themselves for whatever their venture into what was almost certainly Salem's abode might bring were also sharing moments very much like this one in their various groups and couples; eventually however a disturbance came in the form of Carcharodon's light but unmistakable footsteps behind them causing both Felix and Helios to break apart as they turned to face their fellow team leader
"What's wrong?" Helios demanded, seeing the expression on the Shark Faunus's face and needing no further proof that something was amiss.
"That" he rasped out pointing to the indistinct shape in the distance "Is a fortress….look" as he spoke he produced an ornate telescope, its' burnished and seemingly old and worn exterior betrayed the fact that it was actually a far more advanced piece of equipment; Felix took the proffered telescope and brought it to his eye, his own enhanced senses adding to the effect and his deep blue eyes widening at the sight that greeted him as he steadily increased the magnification
"Holy Oum" he breathed out
"What is it?" Helios asked carefully
"The entire thing….it's like it's made out of armour, there's Grimm that are just extra armour plates scuttling across it and….what the fuck, the whole thing looks like its' breathing, is there soft tissue under that armour?"
"Likely to absorb the impact of a ships' guns" Carcharodon noted, midnight black eyes becoming thoughtful as he added "Fracture was built to destroy a Spawning Pit….I think Salem made this place specifically to counter our new weapon, whatever Spawning Pit she has will be beneath so much protection that we won't be able to hit it from long range"
"Then that settles it" Felix breathed out, swallowing thickly and mustering all of his courage "We're gonna have to land on that island and attack Salem directly"
"We should tell Qrow" Helios noted
"Yeah" Felix nodded "I'll call him, right after we tell the others"
"I spent most of my life raiding coastlines and islands" Carcharodon sighed "That is easily the most foreboding fortification I've ever seen….I'd expect nothing less for a prize like this. Today we're going to kill the Queen of the Grimm"
"You think we can pull it off?" Felix asked incredulously
"I think either we succeed and live as heroes or we perish and go into the great beyond as heroes" Carcharodon answered with a slight shrug "It doesn't matter….we know what we have to do regardless"
"It's odd that our tribes have never fought side by side" Helios beamed "You would have made good allies"
"Then we fight as allies today Nikosi" Carcharodon answered simply.
"Okay" Felix squared his shoulders and straightened his back "Let's go tell the others…..this is officially no longer a recon mission, we're launching a direct assault on Salem's base"
When he said it so simply he could almost convince himself that it was possible.
Salem and Pantheon locked eyes, each point of blazing red light narrowed to a hate-filled slit as the Sentient Grimm glared down at the master they had once served, a great betrayer no longer worthy of the title of Queen and whose reign they were determined to bring to an end. Moments seemed to stretch out for an eternity until finally, with a single flap of their powerful wings Pantheon swooped down and landed with enough force to rock the bridge that Salem stood on, the two stared at each other for a moment longer until finally the alabaster skinned woman with inky black veins that marred her flesh spoke, her voice a mocking and bemused coo as if she were admonishing an unruly child.
"A power play Pantheon?" she chuckled as the words escaped her "I expect this from all those I bring into my inner circle eventually….Don't fool yourself into believing that you're any less disposable to me" her words grew steadily more furious, revealing the scope of her rage at the act of betrayal and Pantheon let out a low, rumbling growl before they answered
"We would have followed you and seen your rule the Grimm for all time" the beast snarled "But you don't want to rule, you want to destroy-"
"I AM THE GRIMM!" Salem bellowed "I AM THE END OF ALL THINGS!"
"NO!" Pantheon roared back "We are balance! We destroy and unmake, but never like this….you are like a freshly spawned Beowolf, pawing and biting at anything around you, unable to think beyond your own hunger. You have gone too far and now we must stop you before you destroy us all"
"How….DARE YOU!" Pantheon couldn't even perceive Salem's movements, instead she was merely stood before them in an instant, her clawed fingers slick with oozing liquid obsidian as as shattered the streamlined and armoured fin that grew from their chest in a single blow and sent waves of agony through them.
"YOU TALK AS IF YOU CAN OUTGROW ME AND TAKE MY PLACE?" Salem demanded in a berserk scream before a blow from her fist sent Pantheon hurtling into the air "I MAY HAVE CALLED YOU MY CHILD, BUT YOU WERE NEVER ANYTHING MORE THAN A TOOL….And now, I have no more use for you" her voice dropped to a low whisper yet held no less icy fury, Pantheon who had heard every word replied equally quietly
"And that is why you are no Queen"
The two were upon each other again in an instant.
Pantheon collided with Salem in an explosion of force, the entirety of the bridge the battled upon swaying as the masses of sinew and muscle that held aloft were strained and it became abundantly clear that in terms of raw power Pantheon was superior to any lone Hunter, even the famed Ruby Rose. Monstrous as they were however Salem's own powers were of an entirely different calibre and Pantheon felt fresh lances of pain tear through their body with each exchange of blows.
They lashed out with their upper arms, the three scything prongs of each claw clasped tightly together into a single terrible blade aimed plunging down into Salem's torso only for the which to catch them and hold them in place; Pantheon attempted to open their claws out to break her grip only for the Witch to simply crush and shatter the tip of each blade with seemingly no effort at all, effectively blunting Pantheon's claws.
The next attack was an earth shattering blow to the side of the skull that left Pantheon's skeletal and mask-like armour reduced to a lattice of fractures and their world spinning as they staggered towards the edge of the bridge; sensing that even without the crescent-bladed scythe she had once wielded Salem was going to be a formidable opponent they attempted to leap from the bridge and take to the air again and battle from above. Salem appeared before them once again, bending the flow of time around herself so that she seemed to be impossibly swift and grasping Pantheon's right wing, shattering a joint in her hand and when the would be usurper lashed out with their three-pronged tail, the claw aimed directly at her face the Queen of the Grimm simply plucked the limb from the air and used to swing and hurl Pantheon across the length of the bridge, the monstrous creature sailed through the air before striking the ground and rolling several times before finally skidding to a halt.
"We will not be defeated!" Pantheon asserted forcefully as they dragged themselves to their feet, liquid Grimm tissue running off of their body in thin streams and pattering onto the bone-white surface below them as their body tried to repair the damage that had been done to it and knit itself back together; with an a guttural snarl they kicked off the ground and forced their damaged wing to comply as they fought to take to the air once again.
Salem brought to a halt with ruthless efficiency.
She appeared before them in a near invisible blur of motion and delivered a crushing knee strike to the already crushed armour of their chest whilst in mid-air, sending Pantheon hurtling backwards and downward until the sound of shattering bone filled the air when they crashed into Salem's throne and all but destroyed it with the impact.
"I should have replaced you the moment I returned from the void" Salem taunted coldly as she landed on the bridge and straightened her robes out as though she had done nothing challenging at all "You're not what you once were Pantheon" the insult rung in Pantheon's ears until finally pieces seemed to fall into place in their mind and a strategy became clear. Their regenerative abilities indeed had slowed, they had been reduced ever since they had ripped their heart of condensed and fossilised Grimm tissue almost year ago, that same shard of obsidian and deep indigo stood a few dozen feet away from them, nestled in Salem's own body that had formed around it when Pantheon plunged it into Ozymandias Eldritch.
"You forget…..you may have made me, but I made your new body" the palm of one of Pantheon's more humanoid lower limbs rested against the ground "You returned to the Hive Mind through me….your power comes from me!" Salem's fiery red eyes widened a fraction as she realised exactly what was being said.
Pantheon had as much control over this place as she did.
Whatever she may have intended to do was irrelevant, her next attack was halted as the chitin surface of the bridge erupted beneath her, the smooth footing sprouted spears of bone with blood red markings and Salem was hoisted into the air as one of the jagged protrusions ripped through her back and out of her torso, lifting her from the ground and holding her in place whilst Pantheon returned to their feet, their body continuing to slowly recover. The sound of shattering bone filled the air once again as Salem ripped herself free of the bone spear and leapt down onto the bridge with her body repairing itself impossibly fast, the powers of the Wizard working in tandem with the hear of pure darkness that had once belonged to Pantheon.
The two regarded each other both physically and reaching out into the Grimm Hive Mind to size up the mental control and sway that the other possessed, re-evaluating their adversaries before leaping into battle once again; this time bracing themselves for an entirely different kind of combat.
Ruby stared at the computer screen in absolute shock, her remaining silver eye wide and the dim, pale light of her cybernetic eye flickering slightly as her heartbeat thundered in her ears and the room seemed to spin; flanking her were Penny and Nickel, the two androids wearing equally stunned expressions as they took in the information they had received
"They're gonna take the shot" Nickel finally breathed out "They're gonna attack Salem head on"
"That's their plan" Qrow replied, the veteran Hunter had contacted Ruby's home on Menagerie to inform his niece and her wife of the rapidly unfolding situation and it was a testament to how dire things had become that his voice was no longer the familiar detached drawl Ruby knew so well but rather a fearful, hoarse croak that threatened to crack at any minute.
"They'll die" Ruby gasped, finally able to speak "They'll all die….We need to stop them-"
"We can't" Qrow countered "Whatever Salem was doing will cause disasters across Remnant if its' allowed to continue….We can't afford to let her continue, so instead we're scrambling forces to help them"
"The Atlesian fleet won't be combat ready in time" Penny asserted bluntly "That's why you contacted us, you want us to fly ahead?" Qrow simply nodded in silence and the utter scope of what was being discussed seemed to sink in for each of them, giving the entire conversation an air of bleak finality. Eventually Ruby turned away and strode purposefully out of the combined office and workshop that had been set-up in the attic of the house, down to the hallway where her ubiquitous red cloak, ragged and tattered after decades of being worn on battlefields was hung and promptly slipped into place before returning to the workshop and taking the collapsed form of Crescent Rose and holstering it behind her back.
"Ruby-" Penny began, only for Ruby to cut her off with a voice that was all steely determination.
"Qrow, send the co-ordinates and any additional information you think will be useful. Penny, start preparing the Pearl for a long-haul flight. Nickel, you don't have to-"
"Yes I do" the android, now styling herself after the same Hunters she had initially been intent on killing answered firmly "The Omega Destroyer can be prepped in five minutes" Ruby nodded in understanding and swallowed a lump in her throat, this mission would require the three of them and it would be pointless to argue otherwise yet this meant that something precious was being left behind and as Ruby locked eyes with Penny it was clear that her wife knew it as well
"I'll be back soon" Ruby said simply before vanishing in a blur of rose petals and tearing through the streets of Port Alistair with single minded focus.
Mere seconds later she stood amidst a massive construction site, the people she sought staring at her in surprise
"Ruby?" Coco lowered her sunglasses to take a better look at her, everything about the caped Huntresses' appearance and demeanour worrying her
"I need a favour" Ruby tried and failed to make her tone sound conversational, as if nothing were wrong at all; Coco was a member of Qrow's inner circle and if she hadn't been informed of these developments it was because she was needed here.
"There's a mission….short notice and something that can't be turned down, it's gonna need me, Penny and Nickel" she continued "Will you be able to look after the twins?" Ruby heard movement behind them and Velvet and Yatsuhashi stepped into view, the giant of mans' expression was unreasonable whilst Velvet wore her confusion plainly on her face, the torn and severed rabbit ear that had been injured during the Battle of Vale twitching slightly as she asked
"What aren't you telling us Ruby?"
"It doesn't matter" Coco shook her head "Yatsu, you can pick 'em up with Little Fox later" Yatsuhashi nodded in silent agreement and Ruby turned back to Coco
"Thank you"
"We can look after them for a couple days….because you're coming back in a couple days right? You're coming back" Ruby heard the sudden iciness in Coco's tone and realised that the slightly older woman had perceived far more than she might have liked and simply nodded, unable to force a reply that she knew would be false passed her lips.
"I'll see you when you get back then" Coco said quietly and Ruby nodded again for bursting into motion with another shower of petals falling in her wake.
Her next destination was the school her children attended.
It was recess, or perhaps lunch break, the distinction meant little to Ruby right now as she watched the two of them play with Team CFVY's child and their other classmates, she spent several seconds second guessing herself and debating whether or not she should speak with them and risk worrying them before the decision was taken from her by one of the twins' friends catching sight of her and alerting Tai-Jaune and Summer-Pyrrha to her presence, sending them rushing towards the fence around the edge of the school that separated them.
"Hey Mum" Summer beamed, before her expression faltered a little "What's wrong?"
"Yatsuhashi is gonna be picking you up from school today, you're gonna be staying with him, Coco and Velvet for a while"
"Cool, sleepover at Fox's house" Tai-Jaune smiled before pausing and asking "How come though, have you got a mission?"
"Yep" Ruby popped the P and found it far easier to appear brave for her children than she had expected "All of us, even Nickel is coming and I wanted to say goodbye before we left; so you two be good for Coco"
"Always do Mum" Summer assured her and Ruby smiled weakly, reaching though the fence to hug the twins tightly for a few seconds that seemed to both last forever and at the same time nowhere near long enough
"I love you" she whispered "Don't ever forget it" and with that she left.
She was back in the family home mere seconds later, Nickel and Penny halting their preparations as she returned
"Team CFVY are gonna watch the kids, if we don't make it home…." she trailed off, the knowledge that their children would at least be in good hands if the unthinkable, yet ever more likely occurred managing to relieve some of the tension etched into Penny's face
"Sensational" she breathed out
"Are we ready to go?"
"A few more minutes" Penny answered, looking away for a fraction of a second before adding "But even as heavily modified as the Pearl is….it's still a Bull-Head, I'm not sure if we'll make there in time"
"We still have to try" Ruby replied simply and both Penny and Nickel found that they couldn't argue with that.
Word of Teams FADE, NEON and GORE's approach on the desolate island where Salem had built her fortress and prepared to make her stand had also reached Corvid Xiao Long and the eldest of the Xiao Long siblings was preparing to respond in the only way those familiar with her knew she could, it was proof of both her abilities as a leader and the bonds of trust, loyalty and friendship however that the rest of Team CLIR were marching towards her destination alongside her.
"You don't have to be here" Corvid repeated
"Yeah we do" Iris answered with a faint sigh, the joints of her burnished gold cybernetic arm whirring audibly as she fought the urge to reach over her shoulder and unsheathe Venus Rising, the massive mace that she wielded single handed.
"She's right Little Lady" Rusty adjusted his Stetson and gave her a wink "Mainly 'cos you can't fly worth a damn" the attempt to lighten the mood was entirely unsuccessful and Corvid simply regarded her team-mates, her remaining steely grey eye filled with hope as though she could simply will them to stay behind and let her do what needed to be done alone.
"Look all I'm saying is that if we fuck this up we're all dead and if we don't fuck this up then we're still probably all dead….you don't have to do this"
"Yeah we do" Lux shrugged, fingers drumming against the hilts of his twin rapiers "And even if we didn't have to be, we'd do it anyway" with no more arguments to make Corvid simply swallowed thickly before pushing her emotions as deep down as she could manage and continuing onwards until the four of them reached the airfield of the base that those initiated into the Specialist Branch were trained on. Even in summer the exterior of the hollowed out and unfathomably vast mountains that housed the Hive Cities of Atlas were snow-capped and the ground beneath their feet was covered in a fine dusting of frost and grit that crunched softly as they walked whilst the bulk of the snow had been shovelled into large mounds at the edges of various walkways by some private unfortunate enough to have been given the job as a punishment. The airfield was, as always a bustle of activity with soldiers of various ranks including several fully trained Specialists coming and going even though none of the capital ships that operated out of this particular base were currently on the ground, likely patrolling the cities' borders from the air or on some mission that had taken them further afield; Corvid allowed herself a small sigh of relief as this would make things easier, if only a little, what was currently on the ground however was a collection of various transport craft and fighters which Team CLIR completely ignored as they made their way towards the only craft that was suitable for their needs.
The experimental model that had been brought here only days ago.
Closely resembling the remotely piloted and transformable 'Baba Jaeger' drone fighters this was a later iteration of the same experimental series of aircraft that her own mothers along with Weiss, Gangrel and Adam Taurus had used to return to New Vale; far larger than the average Bull-Head or later Manta transport models and with an arrowhead shaped design with large, powerful thrusters mounted at the each swept-back tip whilst several weapons could be seen mounted under each wing and a further propulsion system was fitted at the rear, giving off the eerie green glow of an Eco-Dust fuel system. Where the previous iteration of this design had been a glossy black this was finished in the usual pristine whites and chrome of the Atlesian military, marking it out as closer to a finalised design.
Team CLIR were here to steal it.
"Hey! Hey Xiao Long, wasn't expecting to see you out here today?" the owner of the voice that called out to Corvid came into view a moment later, another potential recruit for the Specialist Branch, currently wearing a set of blue overalls whose various oil stains indicated that they were currently on the airfield for some manner of engineering or maintenance lesson; Corvid fought the urge to curse out loud as the person, whom had been trying their best to become more than casual acquaintances ever since Team CLIR had arrived on the base reached them.
"Yeah, change of plans today; last minute thing" Corvid answered with a nonchalant shrug before nodding towards the aircraft that was so painfully close to being in her reach and adding "We're taking the new toy out for a spin"
"On your own? That's weird, they don't normally let experimental stuff out without somebody from Matte Skye's ship overseeing things….Suppose knowing General Schnee gets you some perks-" the recruit paused, eyes widening as they seemed to realise that Team CLIR were in full combat gear rather than the training uniforms that might have been expected and they seemed to hone in on the Omega Wing hovering behind Corvid before speaking again, this time in a nervous whisper "What are you guys-"
"Lux, now!" Corvid barked and her partner acted without hesitation, activating his Semblance and becoming what could best be described as a human flash-bang grenade; the rest Team CLIR, knowing what to expect covered their eyes and ears before a flash of blinding light left everyone else on the airfield covering their burning eyes in pain whilst the cascade of noise left them deafened and in several cases bleeding from the ears or collapsing from a mixture of pain and simple disorientation. With their opening salvo launched the rest of Team CLIR sprung into action, Iris using her own Semblance to send a wave of telekinetic energy rushing outwards to sweep the soldiers rushing towards them off of their feet and Rusty tackling Lux to the group before he could be picked off by gunfire, High-Noon in the Vaccuan gunslingers' hand in an instant to return fire; Corvid soared above the battle the moment the Omega Wing formed around her and used the targeting system of its' featureless, visored helmet to lock on to the various allies that they were in the act of betraying and open fire with her twin rail-guns, though she took care to do more damage than she needed to and purposefully missed several shots and instead blasted targets from their feet by striking the ground near them.
Then something grabbed her.
Looking around frantically she saw a pair of glowing talons, translucent and icy blue clasping the support struts of her battle-suits' wings in an unshakeable grip and before she could hope to activate the shield generator within the Omega Wing she found her self being half carried, half dragged through the air towards the experimental fighter craft; just as one of its' hatches slid open and a Glyph ripped through the airfield at incredible speed, smashing Lux, Iris and Rusty to the ground before a trio of Grimm constructs of some obscure variety that Corvid had never even heard of pinned her team-mates in place.
"CEASE FIRE!" General Winter Schnee's voice echoed in the frigid air and as she stepped out of the craft the surrounding area fell deathly silent, all the better for her to hear Corvid's pitiful attempts to explain herself as she was brought to a halt mere inches away from the General's face, icy blue eyes filled with barely contained fury boring into Corvid despite the mask covering her face
"Aunt Winter I can explain-"
"Allow me to explain what's happening here" Winter's voice silenced Corvid in an instant yet when the General spoke again the frostiness in her tone was suddenly absent "Qrow contacted you and informed you of the developments regarding your brothers' mission where your boyfriend, still regarded an enemy of the state is also present. You decided that time was of the essence and that protocol and chain of command would have to be disregarded, as such you enlisted your team-mates to steal an experimental transport in the hopes that it might allow you to Rendezvous with Teams FADE, GORE and NEON more quickly and aid them, despite knowing that should you fail your position as initiates to the Specialist Branch means that you would be tried as Atlesian citizens and executed for treason. Am I correct?" Corvid's mouth hung open for a moment beneath her helmet before she managed a reply
"Yeah, yeah you're correct"
"Then it's fortunate I was on base to appraise the progress of the Specialist candidates in person" Winter noted "I expected that you might try something like this the moment Qrow informed me of the situation, that's why I've had your transport refuelled and resupplied and performed all of the necessary pre-flight checks"
"I….what?" Corvid's head spun as she tried to make sense of this development.
"A full strike-fleet will be following behind you, but that will take time to prepare. A lone team of expertly trained Hunters piloting the latest in Atlesian engineering is exactly the kind of surgical strike that could turn the tide of this battle before it ever truly begins and is exactly what the Specialist Branch exists to deliver" Winter explained, her Grimm construct finally releasing Corvid "Operating within a moral grey area whilst also having an unshakeable moral character indeed, my sources were certainly right about you Corvid….now, make haste" with that she stepped aside and gestured to the transport that Team CLIR had been intending to steal. Corvid, still not entirely sure that she could believe this was happening yet having no choice other than to press onwards slipped out of the Omega Wing, her battle suit reverting to its' aerial drone form and following her into the aircraft before she turned and called out to her team-mates
"Come on, we've got work to do! Let's go CLIR out some Grimm!"
Salem and Pantheon had continued their battle for what felt like an age, time holding little meaning for the two of them as they continued to struggle on both the physical and psychic planes as they slipped in and out of the fractured and disjointed web of consciousnesses that was the Grimm Hive-Mind.
The surface of the bridge exploded out again, Pantheon forcing the floor beneath Salem's feet to grow rows upon rows of jagged spikes, gnarled and twisted things which appeared as sickening, tumorous growths yet it was to no avail as the Queen of the Grimm leapt from each of the bony spears to the next with superhuman speed and agility until finally she closed the distance between them and brought her knee crashing into Pantheon's chest. The Sentient Grimm was sent hurtling backwards and their focus was broken, the ground ceased its' shifting mutations and as Pantheon came skidding to a halt at the point of the bridge where one of the sinewy masses of tissue that held it aloft was attached Salem used her own control over the Grimm matter that surrounded them.
"Now die" she sneered as barbed tendrils burst from the cable-like muscle holding the bridge in the air, lashing at Pantheon and wrapping around their body until the monsters' upper and lower left arm ran with thin trails of liquid darkness and the membrane of their left wing was a shredded mess. Without hesitation Salem lunged forward to deliver a killing blow.
Only to be caught unawares.
In her haste she had neglected Pantheon's tail and the massive, clawed and serpentine limb arced overhead to grasp Salem by the skull and drive her face first into the ground before Pantheon, in a display of supreme strength ripped themselves free of the expanding mass of tendrils and quickly plunged their scything upper limbs into the sinew that supported the bridge, tearing it apart before taking to the air despite their damaged wing and watching the vast bone bridge tilt and Salem be sent skidding downwards towards the hole her Grimm Drill had bored into the ground.
She was not so easily beaten however
The Queen of Grimm leapt to her feet and launched her self through the air, repairing the damaged bridge behind her and bringing it level again almost as an afterthought. She sped towards Pantheon, powered by a single leap only to be snatched out of the air by a pair of clawed hands attached to vast, boneless tendrils that had burst from the wall behind Pantheon, rather than drag her away the sentient Grimm pulled Salem towards themselves and swooped aside and the last moment, a bone spear large enough to eviscerate her entirely bursting from the wall on a collision course for her torso. From there it became a simple battle of willpower and as monumentally powerful as Pantheon may have been, their willpower and control of the Grimm was in no way equal to that of Salem, the bone spike ceased growing and the claws that held her slackened their grip a mere second before she could be impaled and she promptly ripped herself free in an explosion of darkness and decimated Grimm tissue.
"You were a fool to believe you could challenge me" Salem asserted coldly as she locked eyes with Pantheon, the Grimm soaring through the air and positioning themselves for another attack; looking for an opening that she had no intention of giving them. The Witch reached out into the Grimm Hive-Mind again and the entire ceiling of her cavernous throne room seemed to shift and lurch like a vast wave of some congealed liquid before bursting and erupting outwards; revealing a swarm of countless thousands of miniscule Grimm, each no larger than a fingernail, insectoid things possessed of a single glowing eye and hardened shells which served no purpose other than to be used as simple ammunition.
Pantheon was consumed by a maelstrom of living gunfire.
The Queen of the Grimm watched as the thousands of Grimm struck Pantheon, cracking chitinous armour and ripping into obsidian flesh until her former General fell from the air with contrails of the viscous dark liquid they had in place of blood trailing behind them yet even then it seemed that Pantheon remained unbowed and unbroken, their wings flashing out and breaking their fall a moment before they impacted against the surface of the bridge. Salem let out a sound of annoyance as Pantheon glared up at where she clung to the wall of her throne room, handholds growing from its' surface as she moved until, in another burst of blinding speed she launched herself directly down at them like some malevolent comet whose collision made the very around her tremble.
She missed.
Even with all the speed that the powers of the Wizard afforded her it seemed that Pantheon could evade at least some of her blows by simply predicting where she would strike the instant it seemed that she would move; this was proven as Salem felt the three claws of the monsters' tail grasp her by the face, cutting into the ghostly white flesh before a wave of true agony washed over her body, expanding out from her right shoulder as Pantheon drove the three scything claws of their upper left arm through her flesh and prepared to simply open the claws out to rip her arm away. Salem refused to allow that to happen and Pantheon let out a pained howl as her left fist shattered their claws, leaving jagged stumps still buried in her body. From here her admittedly tenacious opponent attempted to return the battle to what had been its' status quo and cause the ground to erupt beneath her again.
Salem refused.
"NO MORE!" she roared hands lashing out to the side and spears that were intended to skewer her from beneath found themselves reshaped and blasted aside, finally solidifying and appearing as cascading waves of bone that had been frozen in place. Pantheon attempted to lunge at her again but was forced back by a shock-wave of pure concussive force before Salem reached down to the ground with her left hand, her right arm still hanging limp beside her and forged something from the Grimm tissue within the bone bridge.
All of Pantheon's eyes widened at the sight of Salem producing a living sword.
The things' blade was as tall as she was and wider than her chest yet she wielded it single handed, its' cross guard was a twisted mass of fangs with a single hateful red eye glowing within its' centre like a jewel whilst its' blade was a pure, void black with a mirrored finish marred only by the points where serrated claws that twitched with a bloodthirsty mind of their own grew from its' surface. Pantheon looked at the thing and felt a deep, primal fear in the darkest recesses of their mind before their mind went blank as everything other than ice-cold agony and numbness competed for dominance.
The Grimm looked down and saw that Salem had sprung forward and buried her sword to the hilt in their armoured chest, its' length bursting from their back.
"And now, you-" Salem was interrupted as Pantheon used a final burst of strength to rip their own body open to free themselves from the blade, pools of liquid darkness splashing onto the ground at their feet even as their body tried to knit itself back together again. Salem gave a cruel smile as she held her new sword overhead for a decapitating blow only to be pushed back a single step by Pantheon unfurling their limbs and mirroring her own concussive shock-wave attack with just enough force to create an opening for themselves, the Queen of the Grimm watched her treacherous subject take to the air and use their own control of her domain to open a hole in the roof.
Pantheon fled.
"Run, it makes no difference" Salem sneered "Soon there will be nowhere left for you to run to" with that she sunk her monstrous sword into the ground at her feet and glanced first at the ruination around her and then at her own mangled form, ripping Pantheon's severed claws free of herself she took a moment to debate whether it was worth her time and effort to heal herself and decided that it wasn't; instead her right arm remained limp and motionless as she reached out into the Grimm Hive-Mind to begin her great work once again; only to suppress a scream of indescribable rage.
"No more distractions" she snarled to herself as she became aware of a presence approaching her domain, finding it through the small aquatic Grimm that were cut down as it encountered them; likely some lone foolhardy Hunter investigating the seismic activity her plan had caused with no idea of what awaited them. Her island was equipped to deal with more than the Kingdoms' new weapon that destroyed her Spawning Pools and as she restarted her Grimm Drill she unleashed one of her protections on the hapless intruder.
She would not be denied her victory, Jormungandr would see to that.
"You feel that?" Felix asked quietly as the Nemesis Kharybdis rocked more forcefully than it had been previously as the waves around it became noticeably more violent.
"I did….and I can see it as well" Carcharodon replied in a low rasp filled with sudden apprehension. Teams FADE, NEON and GORE had gathered on the deck of the ship after Felix had informed his friends of what awaited them and then relayed that information to Qrow so that he could do whatever he felt was required; initially the eleven Hunters had simply watched in silent dread and awe as Salem's fortress loomed ever closer, many of them holding hands and looking to one another for reassurance as they neared the island she had made her home yet from there they had quickly been forced to act as shoals of aquatic Grimm resembling sharks, piranhas and other horrific sea creatures sought to obstruct their path, each of them adding their own firepower to that of the Nemesis Kharybdis to pick off smaller targets whilst the ships AI fired on the larger monsters. Eventually they had cleared their way through the tumultuous waters that were surely the first line of Salem's defences only to be rewarded with a fresh sense of fear as the inevitable happened.
"It's Salem" Arctus breathed out "Whatever she's doing….it' started again"
"Then we'll just have to stop her sooner" Carcharodon answered bluntly before turning to Onyx "Is there any way you can make the ship fast-" he was cut off by vast waves rushing out from Salem's island in all directions in a powerful surge that rocked the Nemesis Kharybdis and nearly threw those aboard it to the ground
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Helios demanded, weapons at the ready as though he intended to face the waves themselves; though this idea was proven less absurd than it seemed a moment later when Hellion spoke, taking Carcharodon's telescope and bringing it to her eye
"That's not possible….no Grimm can be that large" her jaw hung open for a moment before she screamed out in warning "GRIMM BREACHING THE SURFACE!"
What burst upwards from the depths redefined the word huge.
Its' body was serpentine and long enough that it reached around the entirety of Salem's island and as it uncoiled the Hunters realised that its' skeletal, yet muscular form was thicker around than the Nemesis Kharybdis itself. Overall its' body was an uncomplicated thing and it was clear that this Grimm would need no strange or unforeseen abilities to be a tremendous opponent, instead relying on its' sheer size and the power that it afforded. At roughly the upper third of its' length the skeletal spine and ribs that were layered over the serpents' flesh gave way to thick, jagged and interwoven armour plates that covered the things' neck and skull; the Grimm's head could only be described as draconian, a broad and ugly thing with a single pair of glowing red eyes, countless swept back horns each several times larger than a person and a crooked, beaked snout filled with thousands of fangs that seemed specifically made to tear through the hull of a ship whilst from the underside of the monsters' jaw a vast mass of greenish black algae and seaweed that seemed to be made of Grimm tissue hung like a beard.
Thought none of the Hunters had ever heard it called such, this was Jormungandr.
"How do we fight that?" Felix demanded as he looked up at the colossal beast that rose up from the depths, towering over the Nemesis Kharybdis and letting out an ear-splitting roar, the Lion Faunus studied it as much as he could in the limited amount of time available to him and quickly concluded that there were visible weaknesses that could be easily exploited and that the idea of taking Jormungandr on a direct confrontation was insane.
"Onyx, Hellion, with me!" Carcharodon demanded, turning and preparing to head towards the bridge of the ship where he would take control of it from the AI currently piloting
"You can't be serious dude?" Diamond asked, guessing the Shark Faunus's intentions "You want to take this thing on?"
"I don't have a plan" Carcharodon admitted "But I know that whatever happens we're going to need a better helmsman that a computer could hope to be…..Helios, you and your team stay here; I have a feeling that we'll need your Semblance before this is over"
"Agreed" the redhead nodded, Team NEON forming up around him. Team FADE looked at each other for a moment, the sense of urgency becoming overwhelming as Jormungandr began to surge through the raging seas towards them before an idea occurred to Felix
"The big turtle thing we fought on the way here" he began "We managed to distract it so we could get a better shot and keep it from attacking us directly" he stalled, there was something missing in his plan, a piece that wasn't falling into place until finally he locked eyes with Eagle and his partner's deep crimson eyes seemed to shine as a smile formed on her face.
"I've got an idea" she said simply "Come on" without waiting for an answer she sprinted down below deck and through the narrow corridors of the vessel, her own footsteps clanging and echoing around her joined by those of her friends and above her the sound of the guns of the Nemesis Kharybdis being unleashed as Carcharodon was forced to act, though judging by the screams Jormungandr let loose the volleys did little more than enrage the Grimm further. Eventually Team FADE reached the cargo hold and Eagle made a beeline to the Lightning Bug, her friends beginning to realise what she intended to do as she clambered into her car and started the engine.
"Felix can you get the doors open, Arctus I'm gonna need you to make a road, Diamond….you can hold onto people and affect them with your Semblance right, would you be able to do that for a whole car?"
"I can try" Diamond answered
"Okay, let's do this" with a single breath to steady herself Eagle activated the Lightning Bugs' transformation, even with Sentinel acting as turret the compact car unfurled several smaller weapons whilst its' wheels slid out to give it a wider stance. Felix prised open the door of the cargo hold, the vast door opening out onto empty air with nothing but the raging sea below them and then he, along with Arctus and Diamond quickly joined Eagle, the Bear Faunus focusing and creating a pathway of intersecting Glyphs.
"Seatbelts on?" Eagle asked, receiving a series of incredulous looks from her team-mates before slamming the pedal down into the floor and sending the Lightning Bug rocketing forwards with flames spewing out behind it.
"This is just crazy enough to work!" Felix called out as the car hurtled along a road made of glowing Glyphs and ludicrous speeds, kept steady by Diamond even as it made impossible turns that brought it almost onto its' side; tearing from behind the Nemesis Kharybdis to race out in front of it and position itself between the ship and the enormous sea serpent that threatened to sink it.
"Okay, now things are gonna let a little bumpy" Eagle warned her friends, ensuring that her seatbelt was secure before firing the Lightning Bugs' weapons, sending a salvo of missiles streaking upwards to strike the Grimm in the underside of its' jaw, setting fire to the beard of seaweed that hung from it.
"Well now we've got it's attention!" Arctus exclaimed, not sure if that was strictly a god thing "Where do we go now?"
"Head for the island!" Felix ordered and the Bear Faunus complied, extending his Glyphs out as far as he could reach, Glyphs behind them vanishing the moment the Lightning Bug crossed them so that he could reach just a little further. They sped towards the island even as the shadow of Jormungandr fell over them and a rush of air announced that the titanic serpent had lunged
"I can't keep us steady if it keep doing that!" Diamond warned as she pushed her Semblance as much as physically possible to keep them steady, Eagle's face scrunched up as she willed her car to move just a little faster as Jormungandr resurfaced and swung its' massive skull at them like a hammer and missed by the tiniest of margins.
"We're close!" Arctus assured them as his Glyphs reached to the shores of Salem's island "We're gonna make it!" spurred on by the sight of victory so close each of them redoubled their efforts until; mere feet away from a clean victory Jormungandr struck the Lightning Bug.
The car sailed through the air.
"HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" Eagle cried out in warning as the sound of metal being rent assaulted her ears, her stomach lurching as they were sent skywards and then crashing to the ground, the car bouncing and rolling several times before coming to a halt with the debris of its' own smashed and mangled chassis littering the ground around it; a state of ruin that was only added to when Eagle kicked the windscreen out so that she could first climb through the hole and then help her team-mates out of the thoroughly demolished car.
"Damn it" she whimpered before quickly pushing the feeling of loss aside and reminding herself that there were far more important things at stake "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah, I think so" Felix managed to answer, they would all sport bruises after this and both Arctus and Diamond needed a moment to catch their breath after the use of their Semblances but the fact remained that they had succeeded, the four of them stood on the blasted and desolate ground of Salem's island, her fortress within walking distance; yet as a colossal shadow fell over them they were forcibly reminded that this battle was far from over.
"Here it comes!" Felix warned, preparing to activate his Semblance and enter his Balrog state as Jormungandr reared up over them, the sea-serpent still able to reach them whilst most of its' body remained in the water.
"Wait, LOOK!" Eagle called out and gestured to something beyond the enormous Grimm; each of Team FADE were left dumbstruck by the sight of the Nemesis Kharybdis on what could only be a collision course and it was Felix who asked the question suddenly on each of their minds.
"What are they doing?"
"They made it onto the island!" Hellion cheered as she saw Team FADE scramble out of the wreckage of Eagle's car, largely unharmed after being batted aside by the enormous Grimm that they had managed to distract for what was hopefully long enough for Carcharodon to form a plan. She and Onyx were stood beside the Shark Faunus, Onyx manning the weapons and Hellion using both her Semblance and the telescope to perform her duties as scout, giving Carcharodon more information that that provided by the ships' radar and other sensors. Team NEON could be seen below them, still gathered on the deck and waiting for a plan of action to be formed yet it became painfully clear that they had run out of time and that if they were to act it would have to be now as Jormungandr continued to give chase after Team FADE who now had nowhere left to run.
"Car-" Onyx warned only for the Shark Faunus to silence him with a hand gesture before producing his Scroll and contacting Helios
"I have a plan" the Shark Faunus began "I need you to use your Semblance and make this ship float….I assume you can do this" there was a moment of tense silence as Helios replied before Carcharodon collapsed the device and turned his attention back to his crew-mates
"We can't fight it head on" Onyx reminded him pointedly
"We won't be hitting its' head, prepare to fire all weapons" he then addressed the disembodied and synthetic voice that was the ships AI "Computer….GIVE ME RAMMING SPEED!" at his command the Nemesis Kharybdis surged forwards, cutting through the turbulent waters at even greater speeds that it had been previously whilst Carcharodon frantically made minute adjustments, predicting how the Grimm would move and correcting his ships' course to ensure that they struck Jormungandr in exactly the right place until he felt the entire ship lurch upwards and forwards, the sound of creaking metal filling the air and a nexus of darkness in the lower edge of his vision as Helios used his Semblance to manipulate gravity around the Nemesis Kharybdis and allow the ship to float out of the water.
"A flying ship!" Onyx roared with laughter "If we die today we do it as legends Car!" the shit tore through the air on its' collision course and Carcharodon continued to focus on the matter at hand, seeing that Nyanza was using his own Semblance to tilt the odds of this endeavour in their favour whilst Olivine opened fire with Buster Bravo, striking Jormungandr and turning the beasts' attention away from Team FADE.
"FIRE EVERYTHING!" Carcharodon roared and Onyx followed the order without question, unleashing one destructive salvo after another and blasting chunks out of the enormous Grimm as they closed the distance and braced themselves for what was to come. Ether used his Semblance to pull the rest of Team NEON to safety, forcing Helios to release his own Semblance and as a result the prow of the Nemesis Kharybdis swung down and forwards; acting like an immense guillotine as it struck the exact point where armour plating gave way to visible ribs and spine, the ships' momentum carrying forwards like an immense steel comet and breaking Jormungandr in half.
The sound was indescribable and when their ears stopped ringing each of Team GORE pulled themselves to their feet, having been flung to the ground by the impact and saw vast clouds of midnight black smoke rising on either side of them as the body of the sea-serpent Grimm dissipated, once it had done so it became clear that they had been carried perhaps too far forward, the Nemesis Kharybdis had been run aground, mounds of upturned earth in front of it a deep trench cut into the shore behind it; though it would likely make littler difference as it was unlikely that the ship was seaworthy any longer, its' prow having been buckled and crushed into a twisted mass of metal by the collision.
"Our ship" Hellion gasped as she surveyed the damage
"We still have Team CLIR's Bull-Head" Onyx noted "We're not stuck here" whilst useful information it was not the true cause of the Dragonfly Faunus's concern and he knew it; to members of the Frost River Tribe a ship was a spiritual thing, each vessel a relic of their people and to see one destroyed in battle was heart-wrenching yet it had been clear that there was no other way. Onyx watched all of these thoughts play across Carcharodon's face before the Shark Faunus forced himself to focus, jet black eyes focusing on movement on the remains of the deck below him
"Team NEON are heading after Team FADE" he observed, watching as Helios led his team scrambling over the side of the ships' hull and across the barren surface of the island which seemed to exist entirely beneath the shadow of Salem' fortress.
"They'll be under attack" Hellion noted, suddenly worried
"So will we" Onyx growled, readying his axe. Carcharodon followed their gaze and saw what at first glance appeared to be a dark cloud forming around Salem's fortress but on closer inspection was revealed to be a mass of airborne Grimm, powerfully built things with bat-wings and grotesque mask-like faces. The leader of both Team GORE and the last remains of the Frost River Tribe shed his hooded cloak and reached within its' folds to produce the five-finned helmet laden with intricate tribal detailing that served as the crown of his people, exhaling slowly as he slipped it over his skull.
"And so it begins"
Author's Notes:
So….here we are, we're in the endgame now.
This chapter was written in two days with an ungodly stroke of inspiration and willpower, one of those days being spent almost entirely hungover; I pushed myself because I've got a longer than average chapter of my other story to write this week as well and I refuse to take breaks on FADE, not this close to the end.
Also if you're reading this on Ao3 you'll see that I've updated the chapter count, this story will be 165 Chapters long including its' epilogue.
On an unrelated topic…..I saw the character designs for the RWBY DnD game that Rooster Teeth are making and look, all I'm gonna say is I know for a fact that people at RT have read my writing, it's not debatable they've literally told me; now they've got a Lion Faunus called 'Fenix' with a Semblance called 'Beast Mode'….Just say you like my ideas and be honest about it, I'm not even asking for money.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
First off the title works on multiple levels "Cutting off the head of the snake" is what Team FADE & Co are trying to do by taking on Salem, arguably also what Pantheon was trying to do and also what Carcharodon by crashing his ship into a giant sea serpent.
And off the bat I'm also gonna say that chronologically the first scene between Salem and Pantheon should actually have gone first but I just didn't like the flow of the chapter as much that way.
We're starting off with that tension and foreboding….and seriously, how bleak does it have to be for Fluffy to admit that he's scared.
They know it's not just gonna be scouting ahead.
I mean Heely has a point….being a Hunter is not a line of work you should go into if you want to live a long time.
I could have wrote scenes like this for each couple but honestly, that's what the beach episode was for.
Carcharodon having a faux steampunk, digital telescope just makes perfect sense to me for some reason….And now they've seen the fortress.
Car and Heely finally not bitching at each other.
Pantheon has grown steadily more intelligent through the story to the point that they can debate philosophy and the nature of being before a showdown with Salem.
Salem isn't fast, Salem literally bends time around herself because of the Wizards' Power.
Both Salem and Pantheon used to have melee weapons, Salem had her crescent moon scythe and Pantheon had Flesh-Seeker.
So Oscar told Arctus that the key to defeating Salem was the "Heart of Darkness" made of solid fossilised Grimm tissue that's in her chest, but remember that it actually came from Pantheon, so Salem is actually using Pantheon's connection to the Hive-Mind….Did any of you see that little plot twist coming?
So, Ruby, Penny and Nickel are inbound but even they don't know if they're gonna make it in time….Anyone smell bullshit ex Machina cooking?
Also, anyone a little heartbroken by Ruby basically saying goodbye to the twins?
You didn't really think Team CLIR were gonna be absent for the final battle though did you?
I mentioned the experimental fighter being on site the last time there was a Team CLIR scene, it was foreshadowing.
I think it's important to note that Team CLIR were deliberately avoiding harming people here.
Winter 'Captain Bad-ass' Schnee was a step ahead, all according to cake.
So, Winter knew that Team CLIR had been informed of the situation and knew exactly what Corvid would try, so she prepped her fastest fighter and gave it to them; Team CLIR are going to reach Salem's island before Ruby & Co or the Atlesian Fleet which is still preparing itself.
"Salem and Pantheon had continued their battle for what felt like an age, time holding little meaning for the two of them" is me bullshitting and making the timelines add up again by deliberate vagueness.
This is basically a tables, ladders and chairs match isn't it?
All the speed in the world doesn't matter if you're predictable as fuck.
Yes….Salem basically has a giant demon-sword now, she will definitely be using that in the final battle.
So Pantheon ran away….which I suppose seems anticlimactic, but only if you think this is Pantheon's last fight of the story and you're smarter than that.
She left her arm hanging and she's pumping all of her power into the Grimm Drill, so Salem isn't going to completely OP by the time Team FADE face her, but it's still gonna be a crazy battle.
I was initially gonna show the fight against the schools of smaller Grimm but it didn't really add anything.
The Gestalt was fun, but that's a monster of the week Baddie; if we're taking on Salem's fortress that's a different kind of enemy being called for, in Downward Spiral she had a giant Barrier Reef Grimm.
The Gamera fight was a proof of concept, surprise!
Who else forgot that the Lightning Bug had a battle mode?
Anyone else hear Ian Malcolm? "Must go faster, must go faster"
And that's the car scrapped….well it was never gonna be as good as it used to be without Sentinel anyway.
"GIVE ME RAMMING SPEED!"….Car is one of my favourite bad-asses to write.
Yep, Helios can bend gravity enough to sink that island turtle Grimm in second year so now it doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch that can levitate a ship.
I'm not gonna lie, smashing Jormungandr in half like that was based on that one scene from the Boys season two that was in the trailer, y'know the one.
Also yeah, the ship got smashed in but they do still have a way off of the island….if everyone fits in one Bull-Head
So, Team FADE are the ground, Team NEON are heading their way, Team GORE are on the ship and there's a flock of Gargoyle Grimm heading for them.
"And so it begins" indeed.
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
If Car had done that to Helios it would be a blood feud….but hey, stealing is what his people do.
I'm gonna say it was the tsunami warning and the Helios glare.
Nope, definitely not the last boss….as we saw.
Snuff out the core and collapse it from the inside, just shatter Remnant like an Easter Egg.
Not quite the murder you wanted, but hey there's a few chapters left to go.
Well the possible spin-off to the spin-off is slowly taking shape so I'm glad that there's potential readers already out there.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review