Hey guys. I know I know, I've been inconsistent with my updating of the stories. I messed up with a previous announcement in KoWaB, so I'll correct the error now. Right now, I'm in the middle of taking summer courses in order to get out of college earlier. It's expensive as hell, even with scholarships. That, and I'm in the process of job searching and esssentially working on a job thereafter. Plus, it doesn't help that one of those courses is capstone, which is very very tough.
So, here's the actual importance of this announcement. Volume 6 is around the corner with its release in the fall. And as many of you have noticed, I'm still far behind but for good reason. Essentially, I've been waiting to write this arc for what's been 2 years now since it's damn important for how the story will continue from now on. It involves important decisions and important happenings, so this arc needs to happen. Trust me on that.
In short, this is what I'll happen from now on until I catch up. Concerning VotA and KoWaB, instead of waiting every two weeks, or even a week for an update for one chapter for one story, I'll update both stories as soon as I finish writing the chapters. Seeing as I have nothing to do until September really in terms of free time, I'll spend most of my time writing and getting these out fairly quickly as soon as possible. So start expecting them every few days if I can manage it without the burden of capstone or my eventual job.
With that, announcement done. The chapter begins.
Chapter 35: Plastic Memories
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Leo and Bailey stood together in the elevator, checking their weapons as they waited. Bailey looked over her sword to see if there was anything she needed to fix before they went in, but found no chips in her blade. Leonard opened up the chambers of his handcannons and removed the cylinders, examining them briefly before reaching behind his coat and pulling out two new cylinders. The ones he took out he slid into a sort of small receptacle pack attached to the belt on his waist.
"How are your ammunition reserves?" Bailey asked glancing over at him.
"Oh yes… I never did quite tell you how my weapons work exactly…"
"I don't believe so. Would you… share with me?"
"Of course. To put it simply, reloading my guns in combat isn't necessary really. You've seen how I twirl my guns around after a few shots, yes?"
"I always thought that was some sort of trick you performed. So there is more meaning behind it?" Bailey asked.
"That's how I reload the clip without emptying the cylinder. Essentially, I'm 'refreshing' the clip with duplicates of the bullets. Cloning in a sense. The cylinders have built in cloning magic that are pre-charged through my Aura. Hence why I have the receptacle for depleted cylinders on my belt. After about thirty minutes or so, the cylinders will have a full charge and will be ready to use again. Ammunition isn't a concern unless I run out of charges for the cylinders."
"Impressive… Truly. Did you create them yourself?"
"In a way. Someone gave me an idea for them when I was younger, and when I was able to, I found entry into an abandoned Atlas weapons facility that had been overrun by Grimm a few years prior. I spent somewhere around a month developing and creating my weapons. And then a week or so actually making them function as intended."
Leonard glanced over at Bailey, staring at her pristine, white katana before his eyes slowly drifted up to her face, just as she turned it.
Needless to say, he looked in the opposite direction immediately.
"W-What of your weapon Bailey? How did you come by it?"
"My mother designed it, after which I field tested it to a more perfected state as is. I'm afraid I've nothing impressive to report about my creative ability concerning weaponry."
"T-That's alright! You had resources that were able to make it, that's all that matters really."
"Still, it's not often you find a capable warrior who's constructed their own weapon to use in the field."
"It is uncommon. My brother's… companion, for lack of a better term, also made her weapon."
"I see…"
A few seconds of awkward silence befell them, Bailey fiddling with her fingers while Leonard looked off to the side.
"Would you… like to understand how my weapon works?" She asked him, bringing Leo's attention back to her, "I-It would help us synergize much more effectively in combat if we understood how the other works."
She seemed… bashful almost? Leonard couldn't exactly tell with her.
If only she didn't wear that blindfold of hers all the time…
"Of course."
"Both weapons, my katana and nagamaki, work specifically to channel my Semblance effectively."
Speaking of, he had never seen her Semblance or caught a glimpse of it. What was it exactly?
"My Semblance allows me to generate wind using my Aura. I can use this wind to attack, defend, or speed up my movements. If I can oscillate my wind quickly enough, it can then transition into lightning."
Wind and lightning… An interesting combination…
"I think I understand then. You can channel your wind and lightning through your swords."
"Correct. Lifting the restriction on my Semblance will allow me to use it. Since my blades are meant to channel my Aura, if I decide to use my weapon in tandem with it, I can essentially create quick and powerful slicing waves of air or lightning."
"That's quite incredible by comparison." Leonard stated.
"Your Semblance isn't something to scoff at either, Simply Leonard."
"Yes, well, mine is more simplistic I'm afraid."
There was something else that entered his mind soon after.
"Speaking of Semblances… This may be a sensitive topic to cover, but…"
"It's alright. I already know what it is you were going to ask…"
Bailey finished tending to her blade and moved it behind her, letting it float behind her right shoulder along with her pristine, white nagamaki with black detailing.
"My sister… Alice… Her Semblance allows her to convert her Aura into shadow. She make smokescreens, unleash weaving waves of shadow, piercing attacks, and form thin barriers to negate damage. If she needs it, the shadows will provide a quick burst in momentum to either get behind her target, or make a tactical retreat. It'll even let her hide within her shadow and retreat if need be."
"Hmmm… A somewhat difficult opponent then… If we're quick enough this time, I may be able to use my Semblance to tether her in place to prevent her from escaping."
Only…
"Should we manage to capture her… What exactly will we do with her?"
Bailey fell silent a moment, but it seemed as though she already had an answer. Only, she didn't want to say. Which meant probably…
"What do you think we should do?"
"Just capture her of course." Leo stated, "Afterwards, we make contact with your people and have her transported. After we figure out a method of destroying the tower."
Leo didn't notice it, but Bailey's hand silently clenched into a fist, her lips twitching as if she had something to say, but…
"Simply Leonard…" Bailey, gaining his attention.
She made to say something, but she couldn't. She held herself back.
She couldn't say it.
"B-Be on your guard…" she said softer than usual.
He flashed a smile as he used the momentum of his hand motions to close the gun cylinders, raising his handcannons up as he stared at the door.
"Have no fear."
The elevator came to a gentle stop, followed with a brief chime before the white doors slid open, at which point the duo quickly exited with their arms readied, scanning their surroundings for any enemies.
There was… no one in sight…
But their immediate setting was… baffling to say the least.
The area took on the appearance of the towers outside; pure white with black, circuit-like patterns running through the floors and walls. Chunks stood out in certain sections in the walls and structure, cube-like in shape. Some cubes stuck out from other cubes. To Leonard, it almost represented the idea of perfect imperfection. Everything around him was an oddity, something he had never witnessed before.
But what weight heavily on him was the resemblance of the area. It… resembled something of an underground hybrid of a town and a facility. Some housing structures were present, but there seemed to be warehouses, and other structures resembling research facilities.
Why did it look so familiar?!
There was something scratching at the back of his mind, telling him to remember this place, or at least what it represented. This… fake hybrid of a facility and town… What was this place?
Bailey looked to Leonard, and seeing his mental struggle made her want to speak up all the more. But she bit her lip and looked away from Leonard, choosing to remain silent once more.
"Welcome, young warriors."
The duo went back to back and scanned for the voice that boomed throughout the area from a sort of intercom system. It didn't come from one area, however.
It came from everywhere around them.
Numerous projected screens blinked to life on numerous walls, towers and "windows", revealing the image of a man.
He had chin length ash colored hair that was slightly messy, but still fairly neat; a few strands hung loosely over the bridge of his nose. His attire consisted of black dress pants with a white sleeved dress shirt with faded black stripes that was tucked in, and a black dress vest, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also adorned black leather gloves, and sported a pair of black glasses with perfectly rectangular rims that seemed to magnify the slight shimmer in his silver-grey eyes. There was a sort of thick black band around his hips where one would put a belt on that hung diagonally, and had silvery colored edges. One the band itself was a white crest shield with a very formally written black "A" in the center.
Something else stuck out… There seemed to be cracks near the sides of his face near the eyes.
"Welcome… to my domain." He said with a bow.
Leonard took a few steps forward, asking "Are you the one responsible for raising the towers?"
"Indeed, I am."
"What was your purpose in doing so?!" The boy asked more forcefully.
The man let out a small chuckle, "Why indeed?"
"I'm in no mood for games. I wish to be done with this nonsense and leave. Come out and surrender, so that we may dismantle this tower."
"So confident in your abilities… I'm afraid I won't be accepting your proposal. I suppose that means you'll have to come find me instead and drag me out. IF you can, that is."
A challenge then…
Leonard already hated the man. He was making more work than necessary.
"If you're able to, make your way to the center of the town. If you manage, well… You'll certainly have garnered my attention."
"Very well then. Expect us soon."
"Heh… I'm looking forward to your arrival. My name is Valâr… And I welcome you to the place that was left behind." He spoke as the screens flickered off.
Valâr was his name…
It didn't matter. They now had a destination.
"Alert: Multiple enemy Units moving through the streets." SOL notified Bailey and Leonard.
"Are they coming towards us?" Asked Leonard as he raised up his guns again.
"Negative. Hostile Units lying in wait for Simply Leonard and Combatant Lianna."
"What about Alice?" Bailey asked.
"Unknown."
That didn't bode well…
Both knew it was fact Alice had entered inside the tower, but at this moment, she still remained undetected, even with SOL's sensory equipment.
Given her abilities, she could possibly attack from anywhere. If she were to do so during combat with other forces…
Leonard knew he would survive, easily. But Bailey…
…
As it was, there was no merit or value to protecting himself given his… nature. Prioritizing Bailey's safety was his main concern far from ensuring his own.
Speaking of, gunfire came their way, and Leonard, without second thought, returned fire as he and Bailey rushed to a building they could hide behind for a few moments until they had a quick, but impressionable idea of where they enemy was coming from. Peeking his head out, Leonard picked out two main groups; bladed enemies charging in front with some ranged units slowly following behind. Four Paladins modified to take on a more humanoid shape were visible so far. Those took priority.
"I'll go first and circle around them while focusing on the Paladin's."
"Then I shall cut through the middle." Bailey replied.
Leonard nodded and made to move, but found himself held back by Bailey's arm, staring at her in confusion.
"Whatever happens… Don't be too reckless. Please."
…
He didn't know what to say… or feel really.
Happiness maybe since she displayed concern for his well being?
"Understood!" He stated strongly as he rushed out first.
The small battalion of modified AK 200 Units took note of Leonard, but he fired upon them first before they could retaliate. Beams of white and black Aura pierced and tore through numerous androids and ripped through the ones behind them as Leo fired off shot after shot.
With their focus solely on him, Bailey rushed out from cover with her white nagamaki in hand, and spun around while lashing out her greatsword and letting it go, sending it spiraling into the crowd of mechs. Some hand turned around only to find the sword cutting through their bodies as the large blade continued spinning rapidly, making arcing turns to quickly clear out more and more crowds, making the rest easy pickings for the girl as she cut through whatever was left with her katana.
Since Bailey was conquering the main forces, Leonard was left to focus on the Paladins, one of which had arm mounted mini guns. Before the machine fully spun up, Leonard lowered himself into a quick and powerful slide, shooting at the legs numerous as he passed through the legs, and back onto his feet. Immediately after, he pointed his gun at the machine and fired off a large beam shot where the determined control unit was, shutting down the large machine for good.
Leonard kept up his sprint, shooting any smaller mech that decided to get in his way, and eventually spotted Baikey's nagamaki zooming by from the side until it planted itself into one of the next Paladin's head. The immortal leapt up onto the machine's chest and stomp kicked the blade outward until it planted itself into ground.
The next Paladin was already on its way, prompting Leonard to go into another slide on the ground, grabbed the large blade and spin-tossed it upwards to cut the mech in half as the blade traveled upwards diagonally towards the last Paladin.
Leonard twirled his right hand cannon and placed it back into the holster at the back of his waist, twirled his left gun around once as it transformed into its segmented, razor tipped sword form. With a solid thrust as he kept sprinting the blade uncoupled itself, the segmented attached to black strands that resembled muscle fibers that glowed white as the tip traveled further and further, planting itself into the under arm of the machine.
The segments of the blade locked together the closer Leonard got until he started running around the machine in circles, wrapping his segmented blade around across different sections of its body until it was tight. When he leapt into the air, he gave a powerful tug on his weapon as the blades sunk into the metallic body like butter, cutting it to pieces as the blade returned to its normal form. As soon as Leonard landed, he grabbed hold of Bailey's nagamaki, spun it around twice, and tossed it back to her as she cointied sprinting through the crowds of machines, cutting them to ribbons.
The nagamaki found its way back into the girl's hand, and with a deft and powerful twirl, she let go of both swords as they spun around her and expanded outwards, eviscerating anything within the expanding radius of her blades. When the last of the machines had been cut down, both of Bailey's swords slowed to a halt, suspended in the air for brief moments before they dematerialized in a faint glow of white, materializing behind her a moment later and floating in place at her back.
"Impressive work as always, Simply Leonard."
He gave her a brief chuckled as he approached her side, "I'm afraid you're far more impressive than I."
"Nonsense. Your ability to make quick decisions and neutralize targets is rather splendid. It shows how skilled you are."
"Well… Thank you, I suppose."
Both began walking past the fresh graveyard of machines, kicking aside a few of the metallic bodies in their path to clear it.
"How did you learn to fight like that?"
"Well, I taught myself, somewhat." Leonard answered.
"Somewhat?"
He rubbed the back of his head, averting his gaze from Bailey, "It's… somewhat embarrassing… My method of learning I mean."
"Share it with me. I'd like to know."
He let out a sigh as they continued walking through the "fake" facility-town.
"I… learned mostly from watching television and reading books… Then I replicated what I've seen or develop something else. Most of my combat however is simply reaction movements. By that, I mean I react accordingly to whatever comes my way with the best movement possible, that being either dodging, blocking, or counter attacking. Almost the same way my brother fights."
"Your brother… You always speak so highly of him…"
"How could I not?" Leonard said with a smile, "He's a person of greatness. My number one role model of sorts. He just… always seems to know what to do. He knows what choice to make in a difficult situation, or follows a choice of his own making. Though, whenever I say such things in his presence, he always shys away, or tells me to be different."
"You mentioned a sister… How is she like?"
"Heh… My sister is nothing short of a dunce really. But… she has her moments of brilliance from time to time." Leonard said with a chuckle.
"I… I look forward to meeting them. W-When we travel back I mean…"
"Y-Yes… I hope you find them pleasant as well…"
Both couldn't help but smile foolishly as they looked away from one another, continuing down their path.
Both, unaware of the shadow watching them from high above.
They continued walking through the town, clearing out whatever came their way. With SOL's help, none had managed to sneak up on them, and thus, any enemy units that lied in wait for Leonard and Bailey met their demise once ambushed by the duo. The way they worked together was near flawless now that they knew of each other's abilities and their styles of combat.
Leo was more or less ranged, but he wasn't afraid to get up close and personal and get his hands dirty. Bailey was something of a mix, mostly up close. With the way she could discard her weapons and return them to her person within an instant, she could easy do both simultaneously. And with her graceful motions that were as fast if not faster than bolts of lighting… It was as if she were a goddess of the battlefield…
As captivating as she was, it wasn't the time to lose focus. Things were… almost nearing their end. And yet… the closer Leonard got, the worse that feeling of dread spread throughout his body, making it feel heavier with each step. It was like trying to walk on the floor of an ocean; all that pressure bearing down on you, threatening to crush you at any moment.
They made it this far, not without its own share of difficulties and troubles, but they still made it.
So why did the end feel so terrible?
"Simply Leonard!"
Leo's head jolted up and turned in the direction Bailey's as they came to a stop, the girl herself stepping in front of Leonard and looking him over, before placing a hand to his forehead.
"Are you unwell?"
"What..?"
"Where you inured perhaps and didn't speak up?!"
"N-No, that isn't it!" He said stepping away.
Was he going to tell her?
"I'm…" He started, looking off into the distance, "For the first time… I'm scared. And I don't know why I am. I've had brief moments of terror before but…" he raised his hands up, staring at them as they trembled slightly, "Never anything like this…"
"Leonard…" she said grabbing both of his hands, "There is nothing to fear. We're finally here. And… I'm here. With you." Her grasp on his hands tightened the more she thought to herself, "All this time… I never quite really appreciated the company of others. Or anyone for that matter. But these weeks that we've been together, I… I changed that limited point of view. Leonard, I… I..!"
The ground trembled briefly, stopping Bailey from delivering her words as the duo looked on towards the direction of the tremors.
Bailey let go and drew her sword, and Leonard his guns as they looked on, waiting for whatever came their way.
"Alert: Enemy unit approaching."
"So we've noticed!" Bailey pointed out.
"Enemy unit identified as Alice Lianna…" SOL spoke rather softly.
Bailey and Leo exchanged glances momentarily before soon returning their gazes to the field.
Shadows rose from the ground like tendrils, and soon after, the figure of a woman. Alice strode out from the pit of shadow as if she were ascending stairs, her waist long locks of ash colored hair drifting in the subtle breeze her shadows created. When she fully emerged, she stopped momentarily, resting her right hand on the butt of the handle of her jet black katana that had a white handle and guard, floating near her hip. Her other katana, a pristine white blade with a black handle and guard floated on the left side of her hip, seemingly quivering, eager to be drawn.
Unless she kept that other sword as a spare, he presumed Alice to be a dual wielder, like Leonard himself. Thus, if both he and Bailey attacked her at once, she'd likely draw the other sword. But there remained the question.
Should he even partake in this fight? The two of them were sisters. This had to be a matter between them. Even so, he still-
"Simply Leonard…"
"Yes..?" He answered Bailey.
"Support me in this fight."
Her answer surprised him, but, that soon turned into a small sense of joy. The feeling of dread was still present within him. But it was lesser now.
"Understood!"
The duo charged forward first, and like Leo predicted, Alice had drawn her other to meet them head on, blocking Bailey first before sidestepping Leonard and delivering a swift kick to his back. Staggered but not defenseless, Leo immediately spun around an attempted to shoot back at Alice while Bailey continued with her constant stream of attacks. Leo weaved in as much as he could, attacking when least convenient for Alice, but he focused on disrupting her attacks in order to give Bailey much more opportunities.
And for a time, he succeeded.
Alice and Bailey entered a brief clash momentarily before the rogue sister kicked away Bailey and dashed for Leonard. Unperturbed, Leonard twirled his guns once to transition them into their segmented shortsword forms and met her head on without reservation. They lashed and hacked at one another fiercely and rapidly, each throwing in a stab or two on occasion to see if one could distance the other.
But it was all so odd…
Her style of dual combat concerning dual swords was… unnerving.
It was like Leonard had been fighting himself. Rather, it felt like he was the amateur in using the style and Alice was the master of it.
It was all too strange…
They were on an even playing field for a time, but Alice was becoming more aggressive ever few attacks; the force of her blows were stronger, her attacks viciously aiming for what would be anyone else's weakpoints to permanently disable them.
Bailey soon returned to the fray, dashing forward at full speed before spinning and throwing her sword, making it like a spiraling saw that ate away at Alice's swords when she pushed away Leo moments before.
Recalling her blade, Bailey and Alice were at each other's throats once more, Leonard off to side to rethink his approach momentarily. He had already fired off a few shots, and Alice was well within acceptable parameters concerning "the zone".
If anything, now was the time to use it.
Leo raised up his right gun, and aimed it carefully at Alice.
Once he was sure she was locked on, he then spoke the words "Boundary of Restraint." and pulled the trigger.
Bailey leapt away from Alice shortly after, and from the nothingness, thin, stream-like tethers of white and black Aura emerged, attaching themselves to the girl's arms, legs, body and neck to keep her in place.
Leo aimed his guns at Alice, and intended to shoot her lower legs to completely prevent her from moving. But as if she had figured that was his intention, a pit of shadow quickly formed underneath her feet and just as immediately swallowed her up, allowing her to escape the clutches of Leonard's tethers.
Leonard looked everywhere; above him, around him… It was only until he looked at his feet that two blades emerged from the ground, one piercing his chest where his right lung was, another into his right arm to stop it as he was forced back. Alice lowered herself to the ground on her back, keeping Leonard raised up in the air as she reared back both legs and then kicked up, burying her feet into Leonard's face and launching him a considerable distance away into buildings nearby.
For added effect, Alice lashed out with her black blade and sent out a small wave of shadowy black Aura that crashed into the building where Leonard had flown into, completely collapsing the structure on top of him.
The girl leaned back a bit, letting a clear, slicing wave pass by her face, steel colored irises that subtly shimmered with clear colored energy, swallowed by the black darkness of her sclerae focusing on Bailey as she stood in a pose from her previous strike.
"Semblance restrictions lifted. Unit Bailey Lianna is cleared for Semblance usage." SOL stated as he floated behind her.
Bailey only continued glaring at her sister as she kept herself in a defensive pose, ready to defend or attack for whatever the situation called for. Alice herself twirled both of her blades once and raised them up into an x-formation in front of her chest, all while the two circled each other.
"Why did you betray us?" Bailey questioned.
No answer.
"After everything so far… Every step we've taken… Why?!"
It was brief, but Bailey spotted something odd in the next moment. Alice's black sclerae… flickered a moment… Not only that, but her right eye twitched slightly and her face scrunched up for a brief moment as well.
"SOL, what's wrong with her?"
"Analyzing… Unknown…" he said with a unusually troubled tone, "Records compared from previous encounters to now suggest an odd irregularity in behavior and motivation."
"Meaning?"
"Data suggests unit Alice Lianna may not be acting of her own accord."
How..? There's no one that was…
…
It had to be him… Without question. But when? When did he do it?
"He's absolutely right you know. Of course, by now, surely you've understood it was me who did it as well."
Bailey went to move, but with a slight poke to her shoulder from a black gloved finger, she went completely stiff. No matter how much she willed her body to move, it would not budge at all. It was then, he stepped right in front of her.
It was the man from earlier on the screens, Valâr.
SOL made to move away, but Valâr had caught the small support unit from the air as it crackled with flashes of grey Aura, it's the white glow from its visor vanishing a moment after before he was discarded.
"Bailey Lianna… How long has it been since we last met I wonder..?" he spoke in that cool, calm voice of his, "A year or so if I can recall. How time just… flies on by."
"You damn..!"
Her body managed some small movements now that she was giving it her absolute all to move, but they soon ceased once more when Valâr raised up his hand.
"Heh… If I'm not careful, you might just manage to break free. You were always a tough one… You and your sister that is. Unfortunately for her, she was caught off by surprise. It's why manipulating her was so easy, the same of which I'm currently attempting to do with you. Or rather, have already done."
Bailey's body moved on her own, turning and facing Alice as both had simultaneously turned to face the other, readying their weapons.
"S-Stop!"
"And end our joyful reunion without a bit of fun? We can't have that now, can we?"
He clapped his hands twice, and both Bailey and Alice charged at each other instantly. Not because they wanted to, but he commanded them to. By some outrageous factor present, both were fighting with a more vicious nature than before, targeting each other's vitals, or areas of their body that would have something cut off if one or the other didn't block.
Bailey, like her sister, was helpless to fight back at the compulsion to kill Alice. Her mind told her no, but her body moved on its own as if it were possessed by some chaotic nature, all while Valâr sat back and watched with a smile on his face.
He already knew the outcome of this fight. But it was still best to watch just in case. There might have been some sort of unknown variable that would come in at the last moment, which made it all the more interesting to watch.
Sparks flew around the sisters as their blades collided, Bailey struggling to keep up with Alice's relentless fury of strikes. She could have used her nagamaki in her left hand to wield two blades as well, but that would slow down her swing speed by a decent enough margin that Alice would more than likely capitalize on it.
And at that point, it would spell death for Bailey Lianna.
She had to stick it out and get lucky.
Although her Semblance helped generate a strong enough wind barrier to lessen the strength of Alice's direct attacks, there was also the issue of her sister's Semblance. At times, Alice would project shadowy slices towards Bailey's general direction, and what made this worse was that some of those slices would wrap around Bailey near her blind spots, hence why she had her Semblance constantly active and projecting the wind barrier.
At the very least, it was able to counteract the shadow slices.
But it wasn't very helpful that her limbs were moving own their without her wanting to.
A few cuts covered her entire body and limbs, some deeper than others that only managed to slow her down by a small margin. Alice wasn't without injury herself, she had taken significant damage as well by this point. But she was already in the works of overwhelming her sister, who had been brought to her knees moments later. Regardless of her position, she still kept her katana raised, blocking the constant flurry of downward slashes, each one weakening the strength of her arms by the second.
Leonard's hand burst through the chunks of ruble, allowing him to slowly pull himself out of the collapsed building. His coat had been destroyed to the point it no longer existed, leaving him only with his black long sleeved shirt that was underneath. Even that had a few tears in it, his face covered in smudges of dirt and blood and his clothes caked with dust.
The young immortal shook his head to shake off the temporary concussion he suffered, hearing the repetitive striking of metal against metal, and a few cries of pain. A final strike was heard, and Leonard lifted his head up, regretting it the moment he did so.
His eyes widened as further ahead, he saw Alice standing above Bailey, a white blade piercing through her. And when he looked to Bailey, he saw a black blade had been run through her as well, both girls trembling for a few moments before Alice staggered backwards, collapsing to her knees moments later.
Bailey had coughed up some blood and quickly lowered her back to ground, turning her in Leonard's direction to see the stunned boy.
A smile. That was what he saw.
Her mouth moved, but he couldn't hear her from all the way over where she was. He knew though after reading her lips, she spoke his name a final time before she closed her eyes.
The boy's breath was shallow, almost non-existent, like he was stuck in a vacuum in space, or drowning deep underwater. His trembling body loosened some of the rubble and dirt on his person as he managed to look up at the stranger further away.
The bastard was smiling. It was a wicked, sadistic smile, a smile that resembled some of the more vile foes his older brother had faced throughout his years.
It was one of evil.
The sheer audacity of Valâr smiling as wide as he did almost made him forget what had happened. His blood was boiling to the point where his skin felt like it was blazing like a raging fire.
And then like Bailey, his body moved on its own. Not because it was manipulated to do so like Bailey was, but because Leonard didn't give it another. He just ran at the man. He ran, forgetting everything around him.
The only thing he wanted now was to kill the man.
Valâr's smile grew even wider than it did before as he stood up from his seat and stared Leonard, roaring in anger as he approached quickly.
"We'll have time to play soon enough, boy."
A snap of his gloved fingers and everything began to shake and shift violently.
The floor was quickly collapsing behind Leonard, but like the tremors, he paid it no mind and kept running.
Nothing mattered more now than killing that bastard.
Alas, the collapsing floor had caught up to the boy, causing him to fall only a few yards away from Valâr as he looked down upon Leonard. He was going to lash out with his segmented shortsword to try and latch onto Valâr, but he spotted Bailey's falling body a moment later and froze up.
Again, his body moved of its own accord, reaching for the falling body of Bailey Lianna and successfully cradling her in his arms as he looked back up.
That smiling bastard still stood there…
He raised up his arm as his sword shifted into its handcannon form. As Leonard continued falling into the depths below, he kept firing and firing and firing his weapon until he was empty. Even when empty, he still kept pulling the trigger until he fell far enough where he couldn't see the man anymore.
Leonard's eyes opened slowly, taking in the vibrant white of the space around him.
Part of him now felt as though he had a terrible dream just now, that none of it happened. But he knew it wasn't anything as generous, especially once he saw the black, circuits of energy coursing through the walls.
None of it was a dream. It was all harsh reality.
Leonard looked off to the side, noticing his arm was trapped under some ruble, and pulled it out almost immediately. His flesh had been horribly scrapped up since he forcefully removed it from the broken chunks of debris, and his hand was drenched in blood.
At least, for the moment it was. Skin had immediately appeared over his exposed hand in the next second, as if the injury never occurred. A brief glance over his hand and he dropped it to his side, looking in the direction opposite of him.
His heart never sank so low before…
Bailey lay near him, just a short distance away. He reached out with his other hand, but it fell short of the girl, so he propped himself up and dragged his body closer. It was then he only noticed her that blindfold she wore was gone.
She was… breathtakingly beautiful… He only wished she didn't wear it all the time.
Her skin was ice cold. Blood had pooled beneath her where she lay. Leo didn't know what killed her first; whether it was when she was run through, or the eventual bloodloss she suffered with a wound that deep.
What made it worse is that he failed in supporting her, watching her back. He was pushed back so easily…
It sickened him thinking about it, replaying the moment over and over in his head to the point he couldn't hold back his frustration.
Tears. They were the first tears he ever shed. At least, they were the first in what was a very long time.
It was all coming back to him now. This place, the reason it looked familiar was that it was a recreation of where he lived long ago before meeting Ciel. That, and…
Leonard took Bailey into his arms once again as droplets of blood fell from her person, some of it falling onto the boy as he brought her in close and held onto her tightly.
He failed her…
The young immortal heard a small humming noise and looked up briefly to see a slightly damaged SOL float up to him, glancing over Bailey first before it looked to Leonard.
"Unit Bailey Lianna has… ceased functionality…"
"I know…" Leonard replied softly, "And I didn't have her back like I was supposed to… If it were brother instead of me…"
"Combatant Leonard, as Unit Lianna once stated, you are not your sibling. You are you."
"I know that! But..!"
Leonard fell silent as SOL glanced at the floor briefly before looking back at the boy.
"Query: Why does Combatant Leonard seem to always suggest his older sibling as a solution?"
That comment was laughable at best, though, not because it wasn't true. It was laughable because it was true.
"My brother… is strength itself. No matter the situation, no matter the person he's facing… He always manages to beat them and achieve his goals, whatever they may be at the time."
People often confused Dante for being perfect because of this. But they didn't know the half of it. He was the way he was because he works hard for what he gains, and his past experiences built him to be what he is today.
"Impossible doesn't exist for him. In fact, he told my sister and I once that the word 'impossible' was a silly term people invented to limit other people, to stop them from rising up to their potential."
"Query: Your brother is an unbeatable combatant?"
"Unbeatable?" Leo scoffed, "Some would think so… No, he's just very difficult to defeat. He fights with everything he has, it's that simple. That, and there's no consequence to him really."
"Query: Wouldn't one be more enticed to do their best with consequence involved to their person?"
"Well, yes, but… For my brother, it's the consequence to others he concerns himself with more rather than himself. It's why he fights with no reservation. The same should be with me, and yet… I failed so miserably…"
Leo knew SOL was trying to be sympathetic, but it wasn't helping him at all.
One wouldn't expect it, but Leo hated hearing about how amazing his older brother was at first. But as time went on, and he heard more of his accomplishments, and what he had been through, he couldn't help but admire him. He wanted to be a person of great accomplishments, just like his brother.
"Idiot… You didn't fail because you're not as good as your brother…"
Leo looked up again, and along with SOL, both turned their heads in the direction of the voice, feminine and only slightly deep.
It was… almost unbelievable seeing her there.
"You failed because I kicked you so damn hard I scrambled your brains."
Leo quickly snapped his guns sights onto Alice, who stopped in her tracks and glared at Leo, just as he did.
"I hope you're still smart enough to realize I'm talking now… Otherwise I seriously overestimated you."
…
So she was being manipulated… Just like SOL hypothesized…
"That bastard touched Bailey… Am I right?"
Leonard wouldn't have known. He was…
"Visual data taken from Unit Lianna suggests physical contact was made during the confrontation."
"That explains it then."
"That explains nothing." Leonard said harshly, keeping his gun trained on Alice's head, "Why are you here? And why aren't you dead like she is?"
"She missed a vital point." Alice told him with a sigh as she slid down a column of seat herself on the ground, "I didn't. As for why I'm here… You're smart enough to figure that out. I hope."
"What made his touch so dangerous?" Leo asked.
"Are you an idiot?"
"You're not helping your case in me not shooting you."
Alice let out another sigh as she rolled her eyes.
"You know what it's like? Being locked inside your own damn body? It's torture. It's… insanity." Alice told him as she rested her hands on her knees, "That bastard Valâr controls you by touch."
By touch? Brainwashing?
"His… Semblance is a pain in the ass to deal with. Whatever he touches, he spreads out control nerves to manipulate that something. If he touched the ground, he could make it become a giant hand that's flexible and moves naturally like any other hand. If he touches a person…"
"Then he manipulates their nerves, and therein controls the person entirely."
"Query: Why was there a difference in control between Unit Alice and Unit Lianna?"
"Because, you floating chunk of metal, he had more time to spread his control out to me. With Bailey, it was just a quick touch and go, he didn't have full control over her. That, and… We're a special case. He's able to manipulate us a lot more easily"
"He essentially made you kill one another."
"You're finally getting it. Guess you aren't as dumb as I thought." Alice said with a shrug.
Leonard at last lowered his handcannon and let it rest on the floor, taking a deep breath before glancing back at Alice, and she stared right back at him.
"This might be stupid of me to ask, but… I'll ask it anyway. What do remember?"
What did he remember? Ah… That's right… He…
"Quite a bit. Not… Not everything's come back to me, but… This place... The reason it looked familiar… It resembles the facility I grew up in. They, used me to conduct trials and experiments. Nothing terrible or torturous, but… But they used the data analytics from the experiments on my body to produce whatever it is they made. Medicine, advanced technology to assist the human body, etc. I apparently saved lives with what they learned from my body."
Alice scoffed at that, not because it was untrue, but the because of the irony to it all. He did save lives in more than few ways. After all, he…
"And… I remember the two of you."
Her head jolted up, looking in surprise at the young immortal.
"The two of you were sick, weren't you? I don't remember how studying me helped, but… It did save the two of you from whatever illness you were suffering from."
"Saved isn't exactly the word I would use…" Alice responded, staring at her hand briefly, "You remember what was before, and you remember us. Then… do you remember what I am? What she was?" She said nodding to Bailey.
"Androids… But… with how you have your memories of your previous life and all, you could also arguably be cyborgs."
"Android, cyborg, I don't give a damn really… As long as I'm 'alive', it doesn't matter what I am. I'm still me, so I don't have any complaints." Alice stated, "Did you know? Before you got here I mean."
Leo nodded softly as he looked to Bailey, "I knew. I think I knew for the longest time but… I wasn't sure. Her mannerisms were a bit outside of the ordinary, and it didn't help that SOL added the 'Unit' bit to her name."
"Dumb robot…" Alice said.
"It's ironic really…"
"What is?" Asked Alice.
"Simply Leonard was expecting happiness at the end of this road." He said chuckling slightly.
Alice purses her lips together and clenched her hands together tightly, looking away from Leonard.
"Even better… How stupid of him to fall in love with an Android…"
"Tch… You damn idiot..!"
A few quick steps were heard, and before Leonard could look up fully, he was kicked in the side by Alice as she stood above him.
Oddly enough, he felt it. It… actually hurt him…
"Android or not she was still herself damn it! Why should any if that garbage matter?! Afraid that someone's gonna make fun of you?! Huh?! Get real!" She said kicking him again.
It was annoying him that it was hurting, but… it was enlightening to a degree.
"If she told you of how she thought the world of you, which she didn't get the chance to, would that have changed anything?"
"Of course not!"
"So why does it matter now you idiot when it didn't before?"
"It's just… How..?"
"Who cares how? All that matters is making it work without a hitch, right?"
Perhaps, but…
"God, you're still an idiot after all this time…"
"I know…"
Alice let out another sigh and walked over to a pile of ruble nearby. He didn't notice it until now, but Bailey's katana had landed with them, and remained planted in the ruble.
Alice effortlessly drew the blade from its place of rest, and twirled it a few times to look it over, soon giving an audible "tsk" as she walked over to Leonard.
"Even at the end all she did was think of you."
Leonard looked up and saw the girl flip the blade up into the air briefly, catching it by the blade with the handle facing Leonard.
A small red holographic display appeared on near the end of the handle, reading "Administrative rights transferred". When Leonard grabbed hold of the handle, the screen turned white, and vanished out of sight, the white blade itself crackling to life with energy for a few brief moments.
"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty damn pissed off with that glasses wearing bastard. So in the regard, I'm heading back up to kick his ass." Alice stated walking towards the open street, "How about it? It'll go smoother with the two of us. All we have to do is make sure that bastard doesn't touch us and we'll be fine."
Kill Valâr… Was something like that going to be possible?
"Staying here isn't going to help with anything you know. Might as well make yourself useful and… get some payback. Yeah?"
"What about-"
"We'll…" Alice let out another sigh and turned away from Leo, crossing her arms, "We'll be back for her later. There's nothing much we can do for her now. Right now, it's all or nothing. And if you're going to be up there with me, you've got to be there with me completely. Understand?"
Leo looked at her briefly, then looked to Bailey a final time as he stood up, and carried her to a raised slab, laying her on it. It wasn't until he was moving away that he realized he had stopped, not wanting to let her go. Not after the weeks they spent together.
Another hand fell over his, Alice helping guide his hands so that they could fold Bailey's hands together, in which they both allowed their hands to remain for a few more moments.
"Ready?" She asked Leonard as they shared glances with one another.
"Ready."
"Then lets go kick four eyes' ass."
The group of six continued onwards down the road. There was some light forest around them, a bit of rocky terrain, and a dirt road the lead them onwards.
They were getting closer to Mistral.
Jaune and Ren were currently carrying Qrow in the makeshift stretcher while Nora guarded the rear, leaving Ruby and Dante at the front. Occasionally the young immortal would take a glance back, making sure everyone was alright while ascertain if they were still safe.
But… something was off.
An hour ago, Dante… felt something strange. It was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest that was… hard to describe. And just now, he felt it again, only this time it felt worse.
It was as if his heart completely stopped for a few moments...
He stopped in his tracks, gaze on the ground before it lifted up as he turned around, glancing in the distance from where they came. He was looking at the towers, or at least, where they would be if he could see them anymore.
"Hey…"
He felt someone touching his arm, and turned to see Ruby holding onto it. The others had stopped as well, sharing cautious glances between each other, wondering if they were coming under attack again.
"Everything alright?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah.. Uh… We're cool guys! Nothing to worry about!"
Nora gave him a thumbs up and "urged" Ren and Jaune to keep moving ahead. Dante looked back once again and took a deep breath, looking towards the trio ahead.
"We're not that far from Mistral now. Qrow's Aura is fighting the poison as best it can, and the medicine I gave him is healing as much of the damage as it can. From what I can tell, the poison's been contained, but the medicine will only do so much. He needs proper treatment."
"We'll be okay. Once we get to Mistral, things will start looking up."
How many times has he heard that line before? Rather, how many times has he said it himself, and the exact opposite happened?
He stopped keeping track by this point in time.
Though, hearing Ruby say it… It made it feel like it would actually be like. Like reality would rewrite itself because she said "This is how it'll be".
Imagine the irony if that was true.
"Does your arm still hurt?" Ruby asked interlocking her fingers with his.
"No, not really. Just a minor burning pain now and then, but… Nothing as serious as it used to be."
"That's good news! Every time I've been changing your bandages I see it getting better! Won't be long before you're all healed up!"
"True enough I suppose."
…
Her optimism was always inspiring and incredible to see.
Ruby was something rare indeed.
But she was right. It wouldn't be long now. And for once, he was inclined to believe things would be looking up for once.
(Omake: Simply Leonard, by Xera Stark)
«»
"You able to walk straight, little lady?" Two buff arms crossed as the bouncer stared down at the girl in front of him.
Donned in a silk black dress, the girl's hem fanned slightly in the breeze to reveal one of her pale legs just beneath her slit skirt.
Paired with heels, a black bag, and a partially revealing back, Bailey looked up at the burly man with a small smile and nodded.
"I can probably fair better than most of the guests you've already let inside," she replied.
"With that blindfold on?" His voice grew more abrasive, flickering with just the tiniest hint of concern. The comment he made was only enforced by the line of gazes taking in Bailey's stunning appearance behind her.
From the line of others trying to get into the same club.
"I can't let a pretty lady like you into an expensive joint like this. Not blind with those heels on." The bouncer's own eyes lowered, tracing Bailey's figure with a disregarding grin before moving his hand forward to usher her aside.
But a swift hand rose to tap his away, the girl's blindfolded eyes staying on his face.
"My eyes are up here. Though, perhaps my reason for being here should be addressed," she explained, giving him a mildly coy, but simple smile. "I was invited. Informally, of course."
"By who?"
"Your boss, I presume? She and I met just the other day. Fun, yet, has an air of excellence about her," Bailey explained, tilting her head to the side in thought as the man in front of her leered. "Iria. I believe that was the name she gave me."
A quiet grumble slipped by her ears as she smiled, the bouncer reaching his hand up to his ear out of obligation to at least check the girl's facts.
"Miss Iria, I have a…" his eyes glanced down to Bailey for a moment before grumbling again, "blindfolded video game character standing in front of me-"
He went quiet for a second, words cutting short before his face grimaced, then grew shocked.
"Are you sure it's her-"
Bailey smiled a little more as the man got cut off again.
"Very well…" And there was his grumble again, the burly man stepping aside for the white-haired girl to step forward.
A simple, grateful smile rested over her lips as she gently touched his arm, black blindfold pointing forward and level ahead of her.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't trip," he replied.
Bailey made her way inside, the man opening the door for her before letting it close shut. A dimly lit hallway led her to a quietly bustling room, the sounds of several guests sitting about in booths and tables making their way to her senses.
A delicate hand lifted, moving up to brush some of her white hair behind her ear, but the action was simply hiding a more purposeful listen for a familiar click of heels.
"Bailey! You made it!" a feminine voice called out, sounding distant at first, but the approaching clickof heels brought the figure closer. "I was beginning to think you didn't have a dress for the occasion. This place can be a little too fancy at times, but still comfortable."
Slender hands came to rest on Bailey's lithe shoulders, another little smile forming on the blind girl's face, unsure whether to chuckle or nod. "I may not have made it in the end, if your bouncer had his way."
"Oh, Jamie? He can get a little protective of me is all," Iria dismissed, the smile in her voice prevalent enough to notice from sound alone. "I should have said something to him. I'm glad you're here,because I know someone sad and lonely who's begging for attention."
Bailey's head tilted for a moment again, wondering if that was the only reason why she was invited here. "I wasn't aware I'd be meeting anyone else."
"I figured there wasn't a better time than now. And he only works night shifts, so I couldn't keep him in one place for long with how active he is," Iria replied, warm smile getting just a little wider. "The boy just doesn't know how to turn down a job! I hired him here, but what free time I do give him, he's off working for someone else!"
Bailey felt the urge to nod there, a look of concern starting to cross her lips at the way Iria spoke of this boy. "Shouldn't one take breaks with that much work on their shoulders?"
"You would think," Iria sighed, moving her hands down Bailey's arms to gently squeeze below her shoulders, then finally let go with a sigh. "Part of me wonders if he sleeps at night… Or has a reason for keeping his mind so preoccupied."
It was a wonder, wasn't it…? Bailey's smile came back, her hands staying politely clasped in front of herself around her bag as she blindly looked around the room. "Perhaps I'll enjoy speaking with him, then. Where does he work?"
Iria smiled, unbeknownst to the girl in front of her before moving into Bailey's side and looping her arm into the blind one's own.
"Just on the other side of the bar. I'll take you to him."
With Iria leading the way, Bailey kept her steps paced and even, matching Iria's own as she felt them cross the room and stop just after a little while.
A gentle hand slipped down Bailey's arm to adjust her own hand forward, placing it on the padded seat of a high-backed stool just in front of her.
"Take a seat. I'll take care of the rest," Iria whispered, helping Bailey into her barstool before flagging over the white-haired bartender. "All of this lovely lady's drinks are on the house. Now, why don't you two get to know one another while I take care of business?"
"Understood."
By the time Bailey set her bag on the bar counter and rested her hands on it to get a feel of where its edge was, she heard the click of Iria's heels tap away into the drowning ambiance of the rest of the room.
Then, silence.
At least, for a little while.
"Whenever you're ready, the menu is just above me," a young, male voice spoke. It sounded calm, collected even, and Bailey was fairly sure it came from someone with a slimmer build. Sleek, kind of like her, but maybe even leaner.
"I'm not so sure I can read such a menu. I'm a little-"
"Blind?" he asked simply, the quiet tap of a glass being set down on another part of the bar filtering into her ears. "Perhaps a question may help. How many people do you suppose are currently in this bar?"
Bailey's head tilted again, the tied ends of her blindfold swaying with her hair just past her shoulder as she was asked the strange question.
Why would one ask a blind girl something like that?
"I… can wager a guess."
"Not a guess," the boy replied, almost sounding confident and forward with his phrasing. "Just give me a number off the top of your head. Any number."
"Seventy-three, if I were to still make my guess," Bailey replied, reaffirming her little tilt with a soft look of innocence and ignorance.
"Forgive me for saying," the young bartender returned, his voice sounding closer to her now as he moved to the area ahead of her. "But if you were really blind, you wouldn't have counted the exact amount of people in the room upon first entering."
The small, little smile on Bailey's face faltered for a second, feeling his gaze rest firmly on her blinded one for a few long, elapsing seconds before that smile came back.
Wider, this time. More than it had been over the course of the night.
"What's your name, bartender?" Bailey asked, taking some delicate fingers away from her bag to rest their intrigued touch softly against her cheek.
"Leonard," the bartender replied, moving again to place another drink down further away.
"Just Leonard?" Bailey asked. "Or is there more to your name…?"
"Simply Leonard," he clarified, making his way back to her.
"Simply Leonard…" the blind girl echoed, her smile widening. "My name is Bailey Lianna. It is nice to meet you, Simply Leonard."
A long few seconds passed, her blind gaze staring at where he stood in silence before finally sensing the tiniest of movements in his figure.
"Likewise."
Weapons Illustrated 15
"Heya folks, been a while huh? Apologies, our idiot author has been exhausting himself too much lately, so it's been leaving himself with nothing to do really besides wanting to sleep. Huh?"
Danted touched the side of his head, apparently listening to someone.
"Don't talk about the authors perosnal but minor issues? They're not important? Ah, well if you say so."
He tapped the side of his head and looked to the audience.
"Well, alright then. Let's get this started then, Ruby."
"Is the author okay? Sounds like he's having a rough time of it lately..."
"Meh, he's just working hard like anyone else would. Anyway, let's get started."
A screen came down front he ceiling, displaying a white katana with black detailing around the oval shaped guard and the handle. Another sword of similar design was on screen, but it had a longer handle and blade.
"So, today we'll be talking about Bailey's weapons, Virtuous Engagement and Virtuous Bond. Both swords share similar effects, but are used for different attack methods. Virtuous Engagement is the katana Bailey mainly uses. It allows her for light and rapid attacks to quickly cut down her enemies in no time. Virtuous Bond, the large nagamaki sword, is a bit slower in terms of attack speed, but it definitely hits harder. Though, Bailey uses that mainly for heavily armored targets."
"Even with that in mind, she can wield the two of them simultaneously for devastating effect! But the coolest part of her weapons... IS THAT SHE CAN THROW THEM AND CALL THEM BACK LIKE INSTANTLY! AND THEY FLOAT!" Ruby stated excitedly, jumping up and down.
"That's right, using tech that involves gravity dust, her swords can float behind her as a means of rest. As for the recall effect, that's all done through short range teleportation tech that feeds off her Aura Reserves by only a miniscule amount, that way it doesn't sap her Aura too much." Dante mentioned as he placed a hand atop Ruby's head to stop her from bouncing up and down.
Even so, his hand still vibrated up and down violently amongst excited giggles.
"What's better is that her weapon was made specifically to work in tandem her Semblance! So if she lashes out while using her Semblance, she sends out waves of slicing air that can cut into metal even!"
"Take that into account with Virtuous Bond, and you've got one hell of an armor breaking weapon." Dante added, looking up at the sky for a moment, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Her weapon pair has another nasty effect to it. In fact, it's soemthing I previously used in Anvil's previous stages before I turned my weapon into what it is now. And that effect was for the blade to oscillate at high frequencies."
Ruby's joyous squeals intensified, and she may have been drooling a bit now after hearing that.
"As you know, giving a weapon high frequency oscillation capabilities makes it much deadlier by increasing its cutting capabilities by a large margin. Well, to be more accurate, high frequency oscillation actually weakens the molecular bonds of whatever it comes into contact with, which is why it works best with bladed weaponry."
Dante clicked the remote, and the screen went back up into the ceiling shortly after as he picked up the frozen Ruby like a cardboard cutout and began walking away, stopping for a moment.
"Right, well, that concludes Weapons Illustrated for this week. Come back next week and Ciel and Leo will give you the details on Bailey's Semblance. Later."
Well folks, I already gave you the run down of events, so there's not much for me to say now. So with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.
Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!
Bye-bye now!