Chapter 41 — Bring It
"When you're dodging, you're 'afraid of getting hit'.
When you're attacking, you're 'afraid of hitting me'.
When you're protecting someone, you're 'afraid of them dying'.
It's pathetic!
You can't give into fear in a fight!
When you're dodging, think 'I won't let you hit me!'
When you're protecting someone, think 'I won't let you die!'
When you're attacking, think 'I will cut you!'
— Urahara Kisuke,
Bleach
They crashed upon them like a wave.
Ozpin did not hesitate in giving the command, teachers and students alike tightening the grips on their weapons before splitting up. Meeting the attacking Faunus head on, the teachers took on the higher ranked members of the White Fang, while the students squared off with the lower ranked ones. Some decided to work solo, while others split into little groups.
Such was the case with Yang and Blake, who decided to fight Mercury, while Ruby rushed to Serena's side, intent on protecting her friend together with the red-haired Faunus that had saved Serena's life.
Mercury seemed rather amused that the blonde and cat Faunus decided to get in his way. Yang was first to attack, rushing him with a series of punches before Blake jumped in from above, attempting to shoot the grey-haired male in the legs. Expecting the attack, Mercury dodged nimbly, Blake landing at Yang's side as they each faced the other.
Then, so fast neither of the two Beacon students could see it, he was in front of Blake, delivering a quick but strong strike to her stomach. The girl gave a strangled cry as she doubled over, robbed of air. Angered by the attack, Yang charged ahead once more. It had always been clear that the male was in a league of his own, and it frustrated Yang that he seemed to so easily be able to dodge her each and every attack.
Becoming impatient, she miscalculated a kick, getting her body too close to his. In a blink, Mercury had recognized the opening and struck her with all his force, Talaria infusing the attack with enough power that it sent the blonde flying, her body crumpling to the ground.
"Yang!" Blake cried, having recovered from her own injury. Hasting over to her teammate's side, she took in the scrunched up face of the unconscious girl. "Yang, come on. This is no place to faint!" she berated, slapping the blonde across the face a couple of times.
"Ow!" Yang cried, a hand flying to her red cheek while she threw Blake a glare. But the black-haired girl had her eyes fixed on Mercury, the male standing leisurely a few feet away from them.
"Are we done already?" Mercury mocked, obviously entertained by the two of them. "Or does the bimbo still need time to get her head in the game?"
"Who're you calling a bimbo?!" Yang raged, eyes flaring red.
"What? Hurts to hear the truth, doesn't it?"
Gritting her teeth in anger, Yang got back to her feet, eyes a bright, furious red. "You know, I've always had my suspicions about you, Black. I guess this bimbo was right when she thought there was something fishy about you."
Raising an eyebrow, Mercury replied, "Oh? What gave it away? I must've done a pretty shitty job if even someone as hollow as you could figure it out."
"Don't flatter yourself. Every single one of us knew that there was something off about the two of you," Blake replied in Yang's stead.
"You shouldn't underestimate us like that again," Yang added, grinning at the way his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Cracking her knuckles, she declared, "Now, let's get this over with!"
"Bring it!"
On her own side of the battle ground, Weiss was facing Emerald, Myrtenaster already spinning, readying for the next attack. Having gotten in her way when her original target had been the woman named Cinder, Weiss was stuck with the female thief as her opponent. So far, neither of the two had gotten any closer to landing a decisive blow, each evading the other's attacks.
Having reloaded Thief's Respite, Emerald aimed another volley at the Schnee heiress. Weiss, thinking quick, stuck Myrtenaster into the ground, a thick shield of ice exploding forth and protecting her from the attack. In another quick move, she had frozen each bullet in mid-air before it could even be repelled by her defensive wall.
Growling in annoyance, Emerald opted to switch to close combat. She knew Weiss was a long range fighter — she had seen enough of the girl's fighting style to know that short range was her greatest weakness. The girl's effort at protecting herself was pathetic, and it only took Emerald a few seconds to land a solid blow on the heiress' side. Weiss stumbled back, winded, only to cut short her cry as Emerald used her sickles to cut her on both her arms and legs, the tips of the blades even nicking her face, creating small gashes on each cheek. Another kick to her shins had the white-haired girl on her hands and knees.
Twirling her weapon lazily in the air, Emerald approached the downed girl haughtily. "For someone of the renowned Schnee Family, I thought you would be more of a challenge. But, it seems the princess is as worthless as her title right now."
"I am not a princess!" Weiss cut in, blue eyes icy as they glared at the green-haired girl. "I am not here as a member of the Schnee Family, but as a member of team RWBY. If you think I'm done already and will just surrender like that, then you are sorely mistaken."
"Oh, did I anger her majesty?" Emerald mocked, taking her stance once more as Weiss got back to her feet.
"You'll see what you've done," the heiress spit, Myrtenaster at her side spinning. Fast as lightning, she sent out a flash of fire, before twirling gracefully and creating a block of ice. Switching back to fire, she let the flames lick at the ice, creating her own cover as the ice hissed away.
"I will show you what a member of team RWBY is capable of."
"Serena!" Ruby called as she ran for her friend's side, the red-haired Faunus taking care of another Faunus who attacked the pair of them head on. Halting at the girl's side, Ruby took out the staff she had kept with her ever since Serena had gone missing. Handing it over to the young woman, Serena gave her a grateful nod even as her trembling hands pushed the button so that the staff extended to its full length.
"I'll take care of anyone who tries to get to you. But, just in case…" Ruby told her, eyes briefly glancing down to the weapon Serena now held. Her silver eyes briefly swiped over to the male Faunus, noticing that he had engaged the White Fang lieutenant her team had met aboard the train that day. "Are you strong enough to fight?" she inquired, worried eyes looking at her friend's bruised body.
"Honestly, no. But I think I'll manage to hold on for now," Serena answered, her tired eyes crinkling with the small smile she offered Ruby. "Thank you for looking out for me. I'm in your debt, Ruby."
"What are you talking about? We're friends, right? Friends should look out for each other," Ruby rebutted, swiping away at a pair of Faunus that had tried to attack the two of them. As she looked back at the young woman beside her, she was surprised to see the other girl nearly burst into tears at her words. Laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Ruby spoke seriously, "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Thank you."
Ruby took stock of her surroundings. Behind her, the Faunus known as Adam was still fighting, though he had switched opponents as his previous one now lay unconscious on the ground. He had done quite a number on the burly Faunus, and she couldn't help but suspect that he knew that the lieutenant had been one of the Faunus sent to capture Serena. It seemed he had taken revenge for the girl's mistreatment.
A little further off, the woman with the spiky black hair — Raven, if she remembered correctly — had engaged the leader, Spike Desde, in a fierce battle. She noted with interest that, as the woman was pushed back by a particularly strong swipe of the man's war hammer and stumbled into Professor Oobleck, the latter seemed a little flustered as he helped her back to her feet. Momentarily forgetting the battle raging around her, Ruby already planned how she would try to get those two together. A giddy smile came to her face as she imagined all the possibilities.
A shot nearby ripped her out of her musings, and she quickly spun Crescent Rose, repelling the series of what appeared to be poisoned darts. Looking up, her eyes landed on a young Faunus woman who had a scorpion's tail swaying behind her, the tip gleaming dangerously in the sunlight.
Poison. I need to get her away from Serena. If she gets hit by even one of those darts… She won't survive in her condition. Having made her decision, Ruby fired a round of shots at the challenging Faunus, forcing the woman to back up and create distance between the two of them and Serena.
This, however, left Serena practically defenseless. Though she was able to evade minor or stray attacks, she had trouble as soon as someone challenged her for a serious fight. Her body was too weak, not having gotten much food in the past weeks, plus the strain it had been put through by Desde's cruel experiments. Her best bet was to knock her opponents out quickly, but at this rate, there would always be someone to follow up.
Then, just as she had knocked out her third enemy, she barely caught sight of a flicker of red and yellow from the corner of her eye before something slammed into her side. The attack burned her skin, disintegrating part of her shirt like it was nothing. Crying out in pain, Serena was blown back, her body harshly colliding with the body of someone else before dropping to the ground.
A shaky hand gingerly touched the burned area of skin, the girl pushing back tears at the pain. Her legs and arms had been scraped even more by her harsh contact with the ground, small rivulets of blood running down said limbs and dripping unto the warm ground. Blinking her eyes rapidly, Serena tried to regain her bearings. The sound of heels on pavements reached her ears, and it was with effort that she pushed her body up enough to be able to lift her head and see who it was that had attacked her.
Her heart nearly stopped as the glowing eyes of the woman named Cinder met her own blue ones. Though she was a woman of true beauty, at this point in time, all Serena could see was a human being warped by hatred and greed. She spun a ball of fire in hand, the flames flickering threateningly.
Serena knew what was about to happen. And she knew that there was no way she would be able to escape it. She was too weak, too tired. Adam had noticed her distress, but his opponents did not allow him to break away. In fact, it seemed as though all fighting had slowed down as each one present, be they Human or Faunus, turned to see what would happen next.
The woman sent another attack at her, but, to Serena's surprise, a pair of blades she had only seen once stopped the attack from reaching her. Her eyes snapped up as she perceived Perry standing in front of her, protecting her. Cinder seemed irritated her attack had missed its target, and, although Perry did his best to try and fight the human woman, her attacks proved too strong for him as a volley sent him flying back.
Now, Serena was all alone. There would be no more rescues out of the blue. She had been lucky so far, but it seemed her luck had run out for good this time. Looking up at the sky briefly, she thanked Ruby, and Adam, and Perry, and Ajax, and Loki…
Her eyes filled with tears as she thanked each one, the Grimm — creatures so different yet so similar to herself — who had welcomed her as though she were one of their own.
She thanked Ruby — the bubbly red whirlwind — for being her friend and keeping her safe for all this time. She would miss the afternoons she'd spent talking and laughing with the young girl.
She thanked Perry, for trying to protect her. More than once now he had helped her and kept her safe. If she met him again, she would need to thank him for his kindness when everyone else had been cruel.
And she thanked Adam. For making her feel alive again. For helping her cope with her own demons. For showing her that, even someone like him — stubborn, proud, rude and as scarred as her — had a soft side to himself. He was proof that, one day, she, too, could be as strong as he was. She thanked him for caring for her, as much as she had cared for him.
And, even though she was grateful to all of these people, she couldn't help but regret that she wouldn't have more time with them. She regretted that she would, once again, have to die. But at least this time, she was not alone. People would remember her.
And for that, she was happy.
As Cinder sent the attack loose, Serena kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to see her own death nearing so quickly — once had been enough.
At the back of her mind, she felt the familiar tingle of a large presence of Grimm growing near. She had no time to wonder why they were coming now as the fire hit her, burning through her. But, the next thing she knew, there was a collective gasp going through the assembled crowd and she opened her eyes, only to see Cinder looking at her with a look of pure surprise, then shock before morphing into fear.
"What… What the hell are you?!"
EDITED 17/04/2020
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.
Another chapter done. Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I know there is not much going on pertaining to fighting, but I never really intended to make it a big battle. So, I do hope that even this meagre attempt at a final battle is somewhat satisfying. I just really wanted to get this chapter out of the way.
Poor Serena just can't catch a break, it seems. Hope it wasn't too cheesy or cliché.
Always appreciate your thoughts and criticism, so do review if you feel like it.
Stay healthy and till next time! ;)