Chapter 77

Kamina flipped over the woman's head, slashing with his claws as he did so. She blocked it with the shield, spinning it expertly around her back as she struck with the sharpened edges. Kamina evaded it cleanly, deflecting her blows with deft precision as she continued to assault him. Making full use of her weapon's reach advantage, she lashed out with all parts of the kite shield in a textbook display of weapon mastery. Failing to exploit any openings, Kamina backflipped out of reach, ducking as a burst of gunfire zipped through the spot where his head was. He flashed towards the guards on either side of the woman, barraging them with quick strikes and knocking them unconscious with knife-hand blows to their necks. He locked eyes with the woman, and she growled in response, a barrel popping out of her shield. She aimed it at the boy, firing off a burst of machine gun fire, and cursed as Kamina disappeared. She heard someone clear his throat from behind her, and she whirled around to face him, giving him a look of disdain.

'Well now, this has been fun and all but I'd like to wrap this up quick. I'm on a pretty tight schedule.' The fox boy said, glancing across her towards the clearing. The woman raised an eyebrow, planting her shield point first into the ground.

'Same here.' She replied, smoothing out the creases in her uniform. 'But I have orders to bring you in, and I have no intention to fail. It'd be a disgrace to the Atlas military.'

'Doesn't it tire you out to talk that way?' Kamina groaned, leaning against the wall of the security hub. 'The only disgrace here is following orders; if I had to do that I'd just kill myself.'

'Hey, not like I've got a choice. It's my job.' The woman took her shield up into her hands again, pausing mid-swing. 'Alexius.'

'See-us? No one's here to see us.'

'My name. Alexius.' She breathed out slowly, raising the shield once more. 'Remember me now?'

'Can't say I do sweetheart.' Kamina flashed her a smoldering grin. 'Jog my memory?'

'Atlas. The failed attempt on Ironwood's life, amongst other things.' Alexius spat, and Kamina made a face like he'd just remembered something.

'Angry shield girl!' He stretched his hands out to her as if to embrace a long-lost friend, teleporting out of reach as she swiped at his neck with her shield. 'You cut your hair! The bob suits you.'

'I'm aware of that.'

'How's the rest of your team doing? Good, I hope? We didn't kill any of them, did we?'

'The Ace-Ops is doing just fine, no thanks to you. And it would be a cold day in hell before you killed any of us.' She scowled at the fox boy, who was still giving her a look that said "I'd hug you if I could". 'But it looks like I get to finish the job.'

'Last I checked we took out like, six of you. That's like… all of you.' Kamina pointed out, scratching his temples. 'Or am I remembering wrong?'

'You never beat Clover!' Alexius burst out, her voice momentarily peaking as Kamina gave her a sideways glance. 'You ran away with your tail between your legs, a coward!'

'Um excuse you. Did you just assume my body parts?' Kamina gave the woman an offended look. 'Just because I'm a faunus doesn't mean I have a tail. That is extremely offensive; what would your Atlas military think about that racism hmm?'

'It's a figure of speech.'

'No, I'm THE figure of speech.' Kamina declared, snapping his fingers as sassily as he could at the girl. 'If you looked up the definition of speech, you'd just see a picture of my face.'

'Why are you like this. I can't believe our team got beat by someone like you.' Alexius groaned, spinning her shield. Kamina gave her a sly look.

'You admitted it!'

'Admitted what?'

'That we beat your team!' Kamina laughed brilliantly, dancing out of reach as Alexius dived for him. 'You said it no take backs!'

'Why are you like this!' She screamed, hurling the shield at the boy. Kamina flipped over it swiftly, rolling over the flat face of the weapon as it hurtled past him. Alexius clicked a button on her gauntlet, and the shield revved into gear as it shot back towards her. Noticing the shield heading straight for his exposed back, Kamina dashed towards the girl, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he flipped over her head as the shield reached them, just missing the cutting edge of the defensive weapon by a hair's breadth. Letting out a shriek, Alexius crossed her gauntlets in front of her as Kamina pushed her from behind into the oncoming weapon. The heavy kite shield slammed into her forearms with a metallic hiss, launching her off her feet and head over heels, before she crashed into the grass below. The shield spun off some distance away, and Kamina let out a comical whistle as he watched it go. Alexius staggered to her feet, earning herself a hard kick to the temple from the fox boy. She dropped groggily to the floor, raising her hands in a desperate bid to defend herself from the not-attacking Kamina. The fox boy sighed, shaking his head quietly.

'Word of advice; that shield return thing needs to be less obvious.' Kamina said. 'It might work on less skilled opponents, but someone like me will find it suspicious that you threw your shield, your one source of both defence and offence, at me with seemingly no means of retrieving it. Not to mention, you watched it come when you called it from behind me, so once I saw your eyes look past me that only confirmed my suspicions. Something to think about.' The fox boy sheathed his claws. 'Might want to look into using it more actively in your fighting style rather than as a surprise attack; it's not quite stealthy enough for that.'

'If you're going to kill me, then kill me.' She choked out, shaking her head in an effort to clear it. She staggered to her feet once more, raising her hands in a fighting stance as she glared at the boy. Kamina vanished, reappearing behind her in an orange burst. She felt his arms pass around her body, bracing herself for an attack, and made a sound of confusion and surprise as the boy squeezed her.

'HUUUUUUUUUUG!' Kamina declared, giving her one last squeeze before releasing the girl. 'It's a law that I get a hug every time I meet an old friend. It's illegal NOT to hug me.'

'We are NOT friends!' Alexius hissed, the air crushed out of her body as Kamina squeezed her again.

'Can't hear you, too busy hugging!' Kamina yelled, finally releasing the girl. Alexius made a sound of surprise as she realized her arms had been cuffed behind her back and yelped as Kamina pulled her over to the security hub door. He tied her to the door handle, rubbing her head with a shit-eating laugh as he paced off towards the break in the trees that indicated the path to the radio tower. 'Thanks for catching up with me, it was great seeing you again but I gotta bounce.'

'You won't get away with this!' Alexius yelled, pulling on the cuffs as Kamina walked away. 'You WILL face the judgement of Atlas!'

'Hey people judge me all the time, I just don't let it get to me.' The fox boy declared, laughing his way to the trail. 'Atlas can judge me if it wants, but words can never hurt me.'

'Atlas's judgement won't be words; it will be an iron hammer!' Alexius yelled, struggling against the metal restraint. Kamina raised an eyebrow at the woman.

'I know lady, it's called a joke. What on earth happened to your wit from earlier?' He sighed, rubbing a hand across his temples. 'Why can I never get a fight where my opponent doesn't just turn into a blubbering mess at the end?'

'I am NOT a blubbering mess!'

'Really not helping your case right now beautiful.' Kamina sighed, pacing off towards the clearing. 'I hope we never see each other again, but somehow I get the feeling we'll be seeing each other real soon.'

'Count on it.' Alexius growled, glaring holes through the fox boy's back as he stepped through the gap in the trees, vanishing once more in a puff of orange as Alexius slumped defeated against the metal door.

Back with the crazy old lady

'Very clever, but even the smartest apes can't compete with the intellect of man.' Cordovin declared, pacing her giant robot towards the cliff where the group was recovering. Her arrogance, her hubris, flowed off her in waves as she continued to talk, allowing the group time to gather themselves. Struck by the giant bolt of lightning fired from the immense cannon, the airship was down for the time being. Eyes short-circuited, Maria was incapacitated for the moment, and from the looks of things they were fresh out of options. Ruby paced her way to the old woman, and Qrow seized her hand.

'Ruby, stop!' He pulled her backwards, and she turned to stare unflinchingly at her uncle. He shook his head at her, but her stubborn eyes bore no semblance of fear as she watched him.

'I need you to trust me.' She whispered, squeezing her uncle's hand tightly, before pulling her fingers from his grip. The surly man watched her go quietly, scratching the back of his head in anguish. The smol girl squared up to the robot, setting the butt of her scythe into the dirt.

'Surrender for your crimes and accept your punishment.' Cordovin sneered, raising the hand of her robot to the girl. Ruby scowled as ferociously as she could at the metal contraption (which wasn't very ferocious at all but she tried her best).

'No!' She declared, thrusting her scythe into the ground with an adorable "humph" in her best show of defiance. 'We're going to Atlas! Bigger people than you have tried to stop us and failed, but we're supposed to be on the same side! We're supposed to use our power to protect people, but you just use yours to look down on everyone. We didn't want to steal from you, but we did it because you gave us no other choice! Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out.'

'Good bait.' Jaye's voice crackled to life in the girl's ear. He pulled to a stop behind a cluster of trees nearby, staying out of sight to avoid pulling Cordovin's attention away from the girl. 'Once she charges a shot, she most likely has no choice but to finish the charge and fire, otherwise the dust would just explode in the chamber. Definitely a safety measure that's been installed, so give it a second to charge so that even if she catches on, she can't stop it. The discharge when you hit the dust will probably knock you out, you know that right?'

'Don't worry, I got this.' She whispered back, watching the cannon level slowly with her as Cordovin continued to declare her superiority to the girl. 'You got me?'

'Always.' The boy declared, revving his bike into gear. The air surged with energy as the dust charged, and Ruby let out a battle cry as she activated her semblance. Shooting into the chamber of the cannon, she slammed her scythe blade into the metal to keep herself steady. Cordovin swung the cannon into the air in a panic, staring in horror as it continued to charge. Taking a deep breath, Ruby squeezed the trigger gently, her eyes trained on the bright spark before her eyes where the dust had to be, screwing her eyes shut as the gunshot went off. Launching herself into the air, she used her semblance to hurtle out of the cannon, her consciousness leaving her as the discharge of the lighting dust cascaded through her body. The cannon erupted in an explosion of dust, shards of ice and stone bursting out from the chambers as they detonated in turn. The robot fell to its knees, the additional weight dragging it down to the seabed as the cannon fell.

Spotting the smol girl hurtling through the air, Jaye revved his bike into gear, taking off for the edge of the cliff. Concentrating aura into the palm of his hand, he threw up a ramp of ice with a shout, shooting up it without a moment's hesitation as the girl continued to fall, her aura fizzling out in its telltale sign of exhaustion. Realizing he'd misjudged the height; he swore as the girl passed over his head and he released the bike between his knees. Planting his feet into the leather seat, he launched himself backwards and towards the girl, snatching her and her scythe out of the air. Spinning it back into its folded form, he flung it back at the onlookers on the ground, feeling himself slow in the air as Weiss conjured her black glyphs to try to break their fall. He twisted to face the ground, charging a burst of aura in his hand, as the ground grew ever closer. Flinging his arm out, a blanket of snow burst forth under the two as they crashed, disappearing under a cloud of white. The rest of the group surged forward to them, waving away the cloud of white powder as the pair appeared nestled in the snow. Arms still wrapped around the girl; Jaye groaned in pain as he shook her awake, swatting away the snow plastered to his face. She dragged herself off his chest, shaking the snow off her head and laughing at him.

'I knew you had me.' She laughed weakly, and Jaye swore under his breath at the girl. Weiss fell to her knees in exhaustion, the extended use of her semblance and the long battle clearly getting to her, and Jaune rushed to her side. Qrow surged forwards to his niece, holding out his hands awkwardly as if unsure if he could touch her as she shuffled her way to her feet. Jaye picked a twig out of his hair, tossing it aside with a sound of disgust.

'Don't make a habit of it.' He sighed, clambering out of the snow. Ruby met her uncle's gaze, grinning mischievously at him.

'Told ya.' She chuckled, earning herself a grin from the surly man. Jaye dusted off his pants, grimacing at his now damp clothes, and looked up in surprise as the sound of an engine coming to life erupted from behind him. Oscar and Maria sat in the thankfully functional airship as the old woman cranked at her still glitching mechanical eyes.

'Oh don't tell me I missed it!' She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. From the downed mech, Cordovin screamed her fury at the group still standing on the cliff.

'NO NO NO NO NO NO! YOU! YOU'RE NEVER GETTING TO ATLAS, DO YOU HEAR ME!' She wrenched the control stick furiously as the robot continued to pull in vain against the overwhelming weight securing it to the seabed. 'NEVER! ALL FORCES CONVERGE ON MY POSITION AND ELIMINATE THESE PESTS AT ONCE!'

Cordovin's voice came loud and clear over the radio, and the group turned to each other in unison.

'Crap.'

'Seriously?'

'Why can't things ever be easy?'

'What about Yang and Blake? Kamina too!'

'Everyone on board, we're making a run for it!' Maria called, waving at the group, nearly falling over as the airship's engine promptly failed once more and dropped them neatly into a pile of snow underneath. An airhorn sounded from the base, deafening even from a distance, and Jaye narrowed his eyes as he recognized that sound.

'What is it?' Weiss asked, and Jaye shook his head.

'Trouble. That's an emergency alarm, standard Atlas tech. Gets activated when there's an emergency, a big one.' He said, and Weiss rolled her eyes.

'We just took down their giant robot. I'd say that's an appropriate reaction.' She said, and Jaye shook his head once more.

'No, I mean, it's not for us.' He glanced out across the water, the unsettling ripples coming in from the ocean suddenly menacing in their gentle sway. 'I've infiltrated Atlas military bases before. As a precaution we learnt what each alarm sounds like so we could identify them; it would let us know if someone got caught. That kind of alarm is meant for bigger danger, specifically ones coming from outside the base. Usually it's meant for huge packs of flying Grimm, but since Argus is an ocean stronghold that means…'

'Something's coming in from deeper waters.' Weiss finished, turning in horror to the still blank ocean. The air was terrifyingly still, like the calm before a storm, and the radio crackled to life behind them as Jaye's fears were answered.

'Ma'am, we've been trying to reach you! Argus is in danger!' The soldier yelled through the speaker. 'It's a Leviathan! It began its approach during your battle; we need you!'

'What?' Cordovin's tiny voice just barely broke through the silence as the ripples in the water grew larger. Parting as if in slow motion, the heavy footsteps grew ever louder as the gargantuan creature rose out of the water's surface. With a cacophony of screeches, hundreds of flying Grimm appeared from over the city scape, rushing forwards in a massive pack to meet the creature that was their superior and their leader. Watching in horror, the group of onlookers stared helplessly as what seemed to be the entire Grimm population of Argus advanced on the base, and Jaye turned to the group with a resolute grimace.

'Time to leave.' He declared, jogging to the airship and leaping onboard. He strapped himself into the pilot seat, flipping a few switches on across the board and making the airship's engine cough in protest. He smacked the console a couple of times, the airship shuddering as if in protest beneath him, before it finally begrudgingly chugged its way to life and rose unsteadily off the ground. 'That's more like it. Everyone on board, we're picking up those three and getting the hell out of here!'

End of chapter 77. We're getting close to volume 7, which I thought was the best so far. Bit of a plot hole somewhere though that I don't get, but we'll see what other people say.