Chapter 65

'Why is it always something?!' Nora yelled, ducking as a fireball sailed over her head. The chaos atop the train was a sight to behold, the bright red of the explosions and gunfire almost like flowers against the white snow of the mountains around them. Jaye spun into a corkscrew, kicking a grimm in the face and stabbing the others that came close. He swore as a claw passed by his face, sliding under the creature and opening its belly in retaliation. He watched as the grimm started to pull away from him, curiously, before realizing they were being attracted to the cannons firing from the front of the car. He groaned in annoyance as he realized his work was cut out for him and drew the handgun from behind his back.

Since leaving behind his shield and therefore his sniper rifle in Mire, he'd since replaced his ranged option with a handgun he'd liberated from a random thug who'd tried to rob him in the depths of the Mistral underground. It was a surprisingly nice gun, and he'd had no trouble finding ammunition for it. He decimated a few grimm with several well-placed shots, raising his eyebrow once more as he realized the grimm were retreating once more. Oscar's voice just barely cut over the howl of the wind and gunfire, and Jaye's eyes widened as he noticed the tunnel quickly approaching. He grabbed the twins as he ran past them, diving into the space between the carriages just in time as the inky blackness passed over their heads, but he heard the resounding crunch from the front cars that was unmistakably the sound of a broken bone.

Inside the car

Dudley screamed as he cradled his broken arm, the swelling clear against his relatively fair skin as the bone was clearly shattered in the arm. Thankfully it hadn't broken the skin, so he was spared the problem of dealing with blood loss, but he was out of the fight for sure. Qrow pushed his way through the girls, seizing the man by the shoulders and shoving him against the door behind him.

'I said; turn those damned things off!' The argument continued amongst them as Jaye turned his attention to the passengers who were clearly frightened out of their minds at the chaos that was ensuing. He grimaced as he realized that their anxiety would only bring along more grimm to their case and wondered if there was any way to calm the lot of them down at once. Artemis nudged the boy's shoulder.

'He's probably not going to shut off those turrets, so I think we should do it for him.' She said. 'We can cut the power to the turrets without stopping the train; unless whoever designed this train is an idiot it'll be on a separate power grid from the engine. It's probably powered by its own generator somewhere in the back carriages, or each turret might even have its own individual power generator, like a dust reactor or something.'

'It's more likely that each carriage has its own mini receiver to power the armor shutters and turrets; probably hooked up to the lights and AC as well.' Kamina interjected. 'It'll be something like a power box. We'd be better off just disabling that in each carriage and suffering the lights going out, since this train is probably drawing power from an electrified track somewhere in the actual tracks themselves.'

'Point taken.' Jaye said, glancing over his shoulder at the group who seemed to have come to a consensus. 'Looks like they're done.'

'Ren, could you use your semblance to mask everyone on this train?' Nora asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. 'With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us!'

'I've never attempted to affect this many people.' Ren pondered, and Ruby raised her hands in response.

'Well you've never had Jaune's help before.' She said, and Jaye felt a smile crease his face as the blond was starting to take an integral role in their teams. The rest of the group sounded off in agreement, but Ozpin/Oscar stepped forwards with a stern look on his face.

'I'm afraid there's one complication.' He said, gesturing at the lamp at his waist. 'The Grimm are also attracted to this.'

'Wait what?' Jaye exclaimed loudly, raising an accusatory eyebrow at the boy/man/ancientreincarnatingdevil. 'Seriously? You didn't think to mention this before?'

'Why wouldn't you tell us that?!' Yang said, echoing Jaye's thoughts, and the rest of the group glanced across each other. Ruby stepped forwards, raising a hand for silence.

'It doesn't matter right now. Every second we're aboard this train we're putting everyone else in danger.' She pointed out. 'Get the passenger to the front cars. You'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets.' She cast her eyes to the floor. 'We just can't come with you.'

'I see.' Jaye hummed. 'If we cut the back cars with us and the relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm without having to worry about protecting everyone.'

Ruby nodded in response, turning to Jaune. 'You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus.'

The blonde boy turned to the small girl, staring her dead in the eye. 'Only if you'll promise to meet us there.'

'Promise.'

'ALL RIGHT GET A MOVE ON PEOPLE!' Jaye yelled, ushering passengers into the frontal cars as the Grimm continued to float after them in the tunnel. Kamina and the twins were up ahead, pulling people out of the train cars and helping the older folks move ahead. The passengers now set; Jaye marched up to the group.

'Kamina, take the twins and disable the guns in the front cars. I'll handle the back.' He said, giving Kamina an almost unreadable look. The fox boy studied his face for a minute, silent, before shaking his head. He held out a hand to the boy, grasping his tightly.

'Promise me you'll catch up.' He said somewhat jokingly, smiling his goofy grin, and the twins gave the two weird looks. Jaye nodded, turning back to the cars behind and running down the hall. Kamina grabbed the twins by the shoulders, pushing them through the doors ahead.

'Wait, that guy promised to shut off the turrets, why are we still disabling them?' Apollo asked, and Kamina waved a finger at the boy.

'Because we don't trust the dumbass to keep his word once we detach the cars. If the plan doesn't work and the Grimm show up, he'll probably pop those things back on in a heartbeat.' Kamina explained. 'So let's get to it!'

'Then why's Jaye doing it for the back cars?' Artemis asked, narrowing her eyes. 'Surely they'd need the cannons instead?'

'Well for two reasons. One is to make sure nothing goes wrong with the train's power systems once we detach the cars. The turrets technically should be connected to each other, so there's a risk there.' Kamina said, pushing them further still into the train cars up ahead. 'Two, he's hardwiring the turrets for his own control, so they can actually use it during the fight. It's really important, so we should get a move on!'

'Maybe one of us should go and help him.' Artemis said, a rather suspicious look on her face, and Kamina avoided her gaze. 'It'll be a little tough hardwiring all those on his own.'

'Eh, he's got this. Don't worry about it.' Kamina said, pushing them through the door. 'We'll join up with him once he's done.'

'Right…' Artemis glanced at her brother, Kamina giving her a grin that said "I know you know, but let's both pretend you don't know and this won't get ugly", and Artemis gave him a look that said "not as ugly as your face". Grabbing her brother by the hand, she dashed down the hallway as Kamina groaned in response. He teleported in front of her, and she slid between his legs.

'Really? You couldn't just take the hint and follow me?' He called, vanishing once more. Artemis leaped over him as he appeared, and he whistled in appreciation. 'Nice prediction.'

'I DID take the hint.' She said, raising her bow at the fox faunus. The rest of the group appeared in the door, and Artemis glanced at Jaune. 'You really think we're that stupid? Did you really think we'd WILLINGLY leave Jaye behind? We're not children; we can fight too!'

'And that's precisely why we don't want you to.' Jaune stepped forwards, and Artemis narrowed her eyes at the blond boy. 'Oscar doesn't have a choice, but you do. We're not looking down on you for being younger than us, but it doesn't mean we want to expose you to more danger than necessary.'

'Besides, he killed your parents! You should be happy to throw him to the Grimm.' Kamina said, grinning at the cat girl as she glared at him. 'Too soon?'

'We're staying. That's final.' Apollo declared, drawing his daggers, and Kamina glanced at the blond boy.

'Well, thank you for agreeing. You WILL be staying on this carriage.' The fox boy declared, the smile leaving his face. The air grew heavy as they realized he was serious, and the twins tensed for an attack as they felt the carriage shake. They heard a rumble behind them and glanced back at the door. 'Looks like they're detached and ready to go.'

Blake slashed at the couplings, detaching the carriage. As the train cars pulled away, she caught a black-clothed figure out of the corner of her eye and let out a gasp of surprise as she drew Gambol Shroud once more. She blinked again, the figure disappearing, and she placed a hand over her pounding heart. She jumped as the door behind her opened, and Jaye gave her a curious look.

'Car detached?' He asked, glancing over her shoulder at the train cars pulling away. 'Actually, that was a dumb question, forget I asked.' He raised an eyebrow at the girl. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, just a little tense.' She breathed, putting away her blade. Jaye stared at the door pulling slowly away from them as they slowed down, and she crossed her arms. 'Something wrong?'

'Just wait for it.' He said, gesturing at the door. Blake raised an eyebrow at him, staring at the metal skeptically.

Whirling around, Artemis yanked the sliding door open. At the front of the carriage, Jaye and Blake stood, cross-armed, staring at the group as they pulled away. The train picked up speed, and the twins grimaced at the two across from them. Jaye raised a hand at the two.

'Ta-daa.' He said to Blake, waving at the twins and shouting over to them. 'You kids be good now.'

'Screw that!' Artemis took off at a run, leaping the gap between the train cars with Apollo following closely after. Jaye rolled his eyes at the twins, leaping into the air.

'Don't let them get on these carriages!' He yelled to the still confused Blake, kicking Artemis out of midair. She let out a grunt as his foot collided with her stomach, and he pushed off her, sending her flying backwards towards the door. 'Mina!'

The fox boy vanished, reappearing over the girl as he seized her by the collar. Grunting in effort, he threw the girl back at the retreating train car, and the team surged forwards to catch her as she landed. Kamina spun in midair, vanishing again to appear beside Blake. Jaune seized the swearing girl as she flew in, restraining her as she kicked and yelled. Blake threw out Gambol Shroud, the bungee cord wrapping itself around Jaye's waist, and she whipped him around and back to safety. Kamina launched himself off the railing, grumbling loudly as he tackled Apollo out of midair and teleported back onto the train as it picked up speed. He held the boy down as he yelled, saluting Jaye as they pulled away.

'You better get your ass back to us!' He yelled, and Jaye flipped off the fox boy as they pulled farther and farther away. The train went desaturated as Ren's semblance activated, and he gave the fox boy one final wave as the petered away into the distance. Patting Blake on the back, he thanked her for her help as they leapt onto the roof of the train. They battled the Grimm as they approached, drawing their attention away from the distant train as much as possible. Qrow stood at the end of the train, fighting off the main villain. The massive Sphinx Grimm unleashed a fireball at the man, the sheer force of it sending him flying off his feet as he blocked it. The girls charged at the Grimm, Blake and Yang succeeding in tying it down to the train roof. Jaye cut off the head of a nearby manticore, kicking off its crumbling body to launch himself at the massive Sphinx. He sheathed his swords as he yanked the pistol off his back. He hit the floor in a roll, coming up kneeling as he squeezed an eye shut. He took a deep breath, silently thanking Oscar as he distracted a manticore coming up behind him. He squeezed the trigger gently, and the bullet flew true as he nailed the snake-headed tail with a clean shot. It flopped down, bleeding profusely from the hole, and Weiss seized the distraction to plant her glyphs.

Unleashing a battle cry, she froze the beast's wings as it screamed its fury at her, turning its horrible head to the girl. She smirked in response, watching as Jaye crouched down in a draw stance. Breathing out slowly, the dust cartridge in his Katana sheath spun into place, and he slashed out with a wave of lighting. It shot over the creature, shattering its wings as it screamed in agony. The two red-caped scythe wielders extended their massive weapons, and Jaye placed his hand back on his sword as the Sphinx reared onto its hind legs. He narrowed his eyes as the head began charging a fireball, and he darted forwards as the two launched themselves at the creature.

'No wait! Go for the head! The HEAD!' He screamed to deaf ears, the wind whistling by them too loud for his admittedly small voice to cut over. The two fired in sync, spinning with their scythes tied to their waists as they cleaved through the Grimm, and they bored through it in a swift movement. Jaye launched himself off the floor, preparing to draw his blade at the beast's head. Too late, the fireball erupted from its jaws with a howl, and Jaye swore as it collided with him face on. Taken by surprise (sort of), he had no time to block the blow, the fireball blasting him out of the air and off the edge of the train. He grabbed the edge of the roof with his fingertips, crashing hard into the side of the train car, and Oscar dived for his hand. The fireball continued undaunted, crashing into the railway just ahead of them. Reacting to the damage, Weiss activated her glyphs to try to anchor them to the train roof, but it was too little too late as they went over the bump and off the rails. The cars crashed into the pile of snow gathered below, skidding down in orderly fashion as they slid across the smooth surface.

Losing his balance, Oscar fell over the edge with Jaye, and the assassin gathered the boy in his arms, shielding him with his body as he crashed into the thankfully fluffy snow below. The sky spun past his eyes for a split second, and then the world was engulfed in white.

The wind howled mercilessly as the snow finally settled, and Jaye groaned his way to his feet. He grabbed Oscar who was lying next to him, dragging him off his face and onto his feet. He held the boy up as he groaned, wincing in pain as he put his hand to his shoulder. Having taken the force of the fireball head on, he wasn't in fabulous shape at the moment, and the crash had hardly helped. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the smaller boy up as he glanced around the white blanket surrounding them, each member of their group slowly picking themselves out of the snow. Qrow rubbed his head as he got to his feet.

'Is everyone okay?' He called, and the girls pushed themselves off the ground.

'I'm fine.' Weiss called, and Jaye trudged over to the group who were thankfully not that far off from him. 'You okay Jaye?'

'Still alive!' A bright and cheery voice rang out from inside the train cars. An old lady trudged slowly out of the doorway, her mechanical eyes whizzing as they tried to focus on the group ahead. Dressed in bright blue clothing, with a skull pendant wrapped around her neck, she immediately struck Jaye as a witch doctor, even more so as he caught sight of her skull topped walking stick. 'That sure was a close one huh?'

'Right…' Jaye said, eyebrow stuck to the top of his forehead as he stared incredulously at the old woman standing before them. He rubbed his back where he'd struck a rock on the way down, turning to Qrow as he approached, and the red-caped man raised an eyebrow at the assassin.

'What? Got something you wanna tell me?' He asked, and Jaye groaned in response.

'You should've gone for the head.'

Yes I had to do it. Once I saw this scene I absolutely had to do it. Maybe I should do an "I am inevitable" one later.