Or 'Should We Make the Wizard Cry Before We Kill Him?'
—oo000oo—
I don't care! I love it! I don't care, I love it, I love it!
Gaige bobbed her head with the tune as she cranked the last bolt into place of her Enforcer. Wasn't a major adjustment, she was just removing the dust engine for a Maliwan Thunder-drum, 3800 series generator. It was old, at least sixteen years, but they were the right size and the things never went bad. The original vehicles they were part of lost their electrical before a problem happened with the generator. "Alright, let's give it a try." Climbing on, she started the turbines and began easing it through their paces. When she sat it back down, she began to adjust the power regulator.
"So, this is what you've been doing," a voice said from her workshop door. Nearly jumping, Greed was in her hand before she turned around.
"Damn it, Axton, knock!"
"Hahaha, sorry," he replied as he walked in.
And in followed Tina. "Whoa, shorty, this thing is awesome," she nearly shouted as she jumped on the Enforcer. (Not so) Tiny Tina had certainly grown since she helped them deal with Jack, she was about the same size as that Ruby girl she met a month ago, almost. She wore a white t-shirt that was covered by armor that appeared to be made from scrap. With shoulder pads, one being yellow with spikes. At her waist was a bunny on her belt, opposite a magazine pouch. Black cargo pants bloused into heavy, combat boots. A headband with rabbit ears on her forehead and a pair of heavy gloves. With grenades strapped to her right because Tina wouldn't be Tina without them.
"Not until I'm satisfied and digitize it, Tina, you're sitting on the original."
"For real?"
"Yes."
"And what was that out there," Axton asked.
"The guy is Adam Taurus, racist, murderer, terrorist. You know, like Jack, just without a multi-trillion dollar budget to kill people with."
"And why isn't he dead?"
"Because he works for someone who is coordinating all of it and he hasn't told me where yet. I figure a few days in the sun with no water will fix that."
"If not, we can just beat the slamma-jamma out of him," Tina said excitedly as she looked over the Enforcer and found the starter. Pressing it, nothing happened. "WHAT!?"
"Keyfob, Tina," Gaige told her and she knelt back down and continued her adjustments.
"...And what about the rest of that out there," Axton ask.
"Huh? Oh... Well, what am I supposed to do with a few million lien that I can't spend anywhere else in the universe?" She was talking about the Bullhead parked on the platform. "Besides, I'm tired of our enemies flying but not us. How is that fair?"
"Weapons on it yet?"
"Plan on changing out the dust firing machine gun for a Vladof vehicle mount. Just haven't had the shop create one yet. The harder part will be an engine that can run it. Everything on this planet runs on that eridium I told you about, Dust the locals call it. And the process of refining it is so imperfect that its actually consumed in use. They use it like fuel, if it wasn't so plentiful it would be ridiculous." Gaige stood up and pushed Tina off. Sitting down, she started the engine and went into a spin one way and then the other.
"Oh, I want one of those," Tina said from the floor.
Finally happy, Gaige sat it down on the digitizer and placed the keyfob atop it before activating the machine. After the Enforcer had vanished, Gaige went to her console and put her metal hand into an interface. Four slots showed appeared on the screen. Deathtrap took the first, Deathray and Fix-it the second, her bike on the third, and now the Enforcer on the fourth. "Done, Tina, go ahead and digistruct one."
"Sweet!" Tina tapped on the digistruct console and quickly formed a hot rod red Enforcer that she jumped on and flew off out over the water with.
"Tina, has the weapon system connected to your ECHO yet," Gaige asked her over said device.
"Let me check," a cryo rocket shot from the bike and hit the water, creating a small iceburg, "I think so. You do some fine work, shorty!"
"I aim to please," she said, grabbing a towel and wiping her hands off. "So, want a status report," Gaige asked Axton.
"Would like one, yeah."
"So, I haven't found the vault yet but I have possibly narrowed down which continent, the one that looks like a dragon, the Grimmlands."
"That's good."
"Oh, it gets better. I suspect that if that vault isn't already open then another has been and whatever was inside wasn't friendly and is on the loose. It recognizes the Vault Symbol. And unless I miss my guess, it is what is controlling the Grimm, the monsters of this world."
"Joy."
"Oh, it still gets better, my employer that has me hunting down those terrorist has started spying on me and wants me to meet them today or tomorrow at the auditorium of his combat school. An auditorium that was build to contain combat."
"Betrayal?"
"More than likely."
"How do you want to play this?"
Gaige sighed and said, "How about we give him the benefit of the doubt. You follow me, I go in first and then you two come in guns at the ready. Speaking of which, what do you have on you?"
"Nuke'em, Hammer Buster, Conference Call, the Ogre, HoT, Bonus Package, and the Legendary Soldier," he said, flicking his thumb at the camera on his shoulder. "Tina has her Boom Puppy, Teapot, Miss Moxxi's Creamer, Fire Storm, she's having fun with that by the way."
"What can I say, I got the inspiration from her Bunkers and Badasses games."
"Yeah, and the Swordspolsion." The two of them chuckled at that. Get Torque and Tina together and the weird and awesome happens. But mostly weird, like a shotgun that shoots out a sword that explodes into smaller swords that also explode. "1340 Shield is doing pretty well with her, kinda scary how well they get along."
"AHAHA, DIE DARKNESS BIRD!"
"What he said," Tina shouted.
"And that sums up what I've dealt with this past month. That and trying to keep Enrique from eating all the food. And the engines. Tina does have a fourth weapon she doesn't want to show me yet though."
"You know why?"
"Actually, I do, her first 'mega badass boss' solo kill was a few weeks ago and got it then. I think she's waiting to show us all at once or a good moment to show it off."
"So what is it?"
Axton chuckled and dropped his head. "Well, I can certainly state I have no idea why she is grabbing so much rocket ammo right now. Nor have I noticed distinct pattern of a Vladof rocket launcher under the sheet she's been using to hide it."
"Tina with two rocket launchers? This world is not ready for that...and yet I want to see that happen so much." She tapped her ear and said, "Tina, a half hour and then we have some things to do."
"You're bringing me down!"
"If I was bringing you down, I wouldn't mention the boost is on the underside of the left..."
"WWWWHHHHHOOOOAAAAA-YEAH!"
"Ah, you found the booster." Grabbing her mug, she filled it with coffee. "Something I should state, the people of this world are fond of overly complicated weapons that transform from melee to distance and back again. Giant scythes that turn into machine guns and sniper rifles. Bracers with shotguns. Have a few swords for Zer0 to take a look at."
"Anything worth keeping?"
"Nothing besides those swords. Won't lie, some are nice but they don't hold a candle to some of the weapons we've gotten."
"Well, we are armed enough to start and finish a war and some of them are just ridiculous."
"Like the Conference Call?"
"Yeah."
"...Let me call Oz, tell him I'll meet him in an hour and a half. More than enough time for him to set up whatever he needs to do. I'll hook you up to the Fast Travel while I do." Axton nodded his thanks.
—oo000oo—
Gaige pat Enrique on the back and threw him a flank of beef before doing the same to Jean. Looking at the kraggon, she still could not figure out just how Tina tamed the normally feral creature. Then again, her and Mordecai have been spending some time together so maybe she picked things up? The blue kraggon growled in appreciation, she hoped, as it tore into the meat, letting her connect both of their fast travel emitters to her network. This way Tina can just call them when she needs them while in Vale. Hopefully, she would do that instead of her normal technique of just riding around on one of them, usually Enrique. Jean, being made of rock, is a touch uncomfortable...not that Gaige knew from experience. She would never do something as childish as ride a kraggon...
"Gaige."
"I never rode him!"
"What," Axton asked.
"What?"
"...Okay, everything ready?"
"Yeah."
"Sweet," Tina shouted, running in. "Just let me get them off their chains and..."
"Sorry, Tina," Gaige interrupted. "They can't make their appearance until we're ready to let bullets fly."
"What!?" Tina's face looked so betrayed. "You want me to leave my puppies behind?"
"No, of course not," Gaige dismissed. "But people never have the same looks on their faces when they don't see the skag and kraggon coming before being eaten. You don't want to miss that, do you?"
"I...don't. Fiiiine, but I'm feeding at least one of these noobs to them!"
"Acceptable. Remember, don't be seen."
"Jawohl!" Tina saluted before hopping on her Enforcer and driving through the Fast Travel with it.
"Me and Tina will be ready, just don't die before we come in," Axton stated before he followed. Gaige nodded and sighed, checking the time to see she still had thirty minutes.
—oo000oo—
Tina set the Enforcer down on a roof and got off, giving a quick look around and saw that she wasn't seen. Giving a thumbs up to Axton as he flew by, she made for the door and started down the stairs. Opening the door on the ground floor, Tina saw she was in a cafeteria filled with students. "Yuk, school uniforms," and with that, she started for the door. She was almost there when she smelled it. That scent and aroma, there was only one thing that could give that! She looked around and on the nearest table, she saw it. "Target: located. Identity: Chocolate Chip Cookies!" Walking over, she said, "Hope you don't mind if I take some of these..." Only for a girl in a red cloak to take the plate of hot goods and held them out of her reach. Now Tina found herself in a bind. She was supposed to remain inconspicuous yet she was being denied her cookies.
"Great Oum, what are you wearing," this girl with painfully white hair asked.
"Uh, combat clothes, had a test just before coming here. Now if I could just get some of those noms..." She reached again and Little Red Riding Hood once again moved it out of the way. 'No guns, no explosions, no guns, no explosions.'
"Yeah, that's no going to happen," the blond with the heavy rack told her with a laugh. "Ruby won't even share with me sometimes and I'm her sister!"
"Besides, you could have anything on the menu," the black haired one with cat like eyes offered, "why cookies."
Tina looked to her and in her most serious voice said, "Because real badasses eat chocolate chip cookies."
The girl, Ruby, blinked in surprise at that but smiled and held the tray one. "Just three."
"...Fiiine," she whined, grabbing them and quickly ate one. "Mmm, so goooood."
"Aren't they," Ruby asked while eating one too.
"Good graces, there's two of them," Snooty-Whitey muttered, palming her face.
"Who are you, I haven't seen you here before," Top Heavy said.
"Me, I'm the wild child, the queen of obscene, that girl that will make you hurl, Tiny Tina! ...It just isn't the same with no explosions." She said that last part while dropping her head in despair.
"I'm sorry, whats so tiny about you," asked the Kitten, looking to her chest.
"What!? No, I'm still smol! I can still ride Enrique! I'm only fifteen," she denied. She looked at them curiously while a glass and a fork broke in the hands of two of them while the cheek of another began to twitch. Ruby looked blissfully unaware. "Huh?"
"I'm sorry, you're fifteen?"
"Yeah. Oh, I get it, you're wondering why I'm here if I'm fifteen."
"Yeah, that's what we're wondering," Top Heavy muttered, looking down.
"At least I'm not the only one," Ruby said happily.
"Sorry, I'm actually a bounty slash vault hunter," Tina said happily, making all of them blink in surprise once more.
"Wait, a bounty hunter? ...Do you know about a hunter named Gaige Crescent," Kitten asked.
"Boo? Yeah, me and her are tight! She made me these awesome robot things that I'm absolutely not to ever mention!"
"...What do they do," Ruby asked.
"They're robotic unicorns and pegasi," Tina said happily.
That got Top Heavy holding her gut, laughing. "Oh that's rich! Red has a thing for ponies! Hold my unicorn while I grab my shotgun! Bwahahaha!"
"That does kinda ruin what I saw of her," Ruby muttered.
"Well, I wasn't going to tell you about the dooms-day-devices or whateva. She might just kill me for what I have said," Tina said with a shrug. "Regardless, gotta go, got a meeting to get to. Ba-bye!"
"Bye Tina," Ruby called with a wave before she looked to the rest of her team. "So what were you upset about?"
"A fifteen year old should not be almost as big as your sister," Blake told her.
"But she was only a little taller than I am."
Walking outside, Tina walked of the large building up ahead. When she was almost to the door, she looked up and spotted Axton on the roof, watching for her. Giving an imperceptible nod, she walked in the door and followed the signs for the auditorium. Up ahead, she saw two professors talking to one another a moment before they turned to her. "I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid you can't enter," the one like a walrus told her.
"But I have a combat exam in twenty minutes."
"Must-not-have-gotten-the-word," the lankier one stated in a one long word. "All activities within the auditorium have been canceled for the day."
"Oh...I already have my weapon," Tina told them, motioning to the Teapot on her hip. "Should I return it to my locker?" The two glanced to each other and frowned.
"Very well but be quick."
"Thank you," happily before running pass them. "Running, running, running, I'm running over here, run, run, ru-run, ruuun." Once she rounded a corner and was out of sight, she slowed down and walked the rest of the way to the locker room. Inside, she went to the power box and hooked up the machine Gaige gave her to it. When she activated it, all of the lockers made a beep as they all locked down. Next, she went back to the doors and placed another device, this one wrapping around the handles and locking them. Finally, she pulled out her toys. With the door, she took a foam can and sprayed clay explosives on it before connecting it to the lock. If it failed, the door would blow. Walking away, she threw mines up on the ceiling, pointing at the floors in front of the doors. Finally, she placed unfolding rocket turrets aimed at the choke points. "Gonna blow stuff up and make people die. This is Tina, I'm all set in the locker room."
"Gotcha, Tina, I'm set here," Axton told her. "Do a weapons check, make sure you're ready."
"Jawohl," Tina replied, grabbing the magazines for her Teapot and making sure they're full followed by her Boom Puppy. Finally, she grabbed her first rocket launcher, Miss Moxxi's Creamer. Gaige liked Moxxi weapons so Tina figured she'd pick one up too. Her final weapon was ready though she hadn't used it yet. Setting everything back together, she waited, grinning as her fingers flicked the cover of a detonator.
—oo000oo—
Axton landed on the roof of the auditorium and moved to the edge, keeping low. So far there was no indication that anyone spotted either him or Tina but the Hammer Buster was in his hands at the ready just in case. After a few minutes, Tina finally appeared, meandering into the building so not to draw any unwanted attention. Seeing her nod, he backed away and slipped into a maintenance hatch. A building like this with its purpose had to have a lot of them so that any damage could be repaired quickly. Gaige knew this so she had stolen the blueprints and sent a copy to him. Moving through the tunnel, he come out at the rafters of the main room. Slowly walking along it, he placed a few of his turrets before placing explosives on the screen in the center. Arming it just like Tina had told him to, he got off the deathtrap and set a few more turrets.
"This is Tina, I'm all set in the locker room."
"Gotcha Tina, I'm set here. Do a weapons check, make sure you're ready." Finding a stable platform he wouldn't be noticed from, he did the same. 'Man, does this remind me of old times. Like that job on Crymia Six. Heh, Becky was really worked up after that one.' He pat his personal turret pod and said, "Ready to work honey? Gaige, the Mad Hatter and March Hare are ready for the tea party, we just need our guest Alice to arrive."
"Good, Gaige out."
—oo000oo—
Taking a deep breath, Gaige walked through the school grounds. Actually, this was the first time she had been here, it was very nice. Too bad it would likely be a smoking crater when they were done with it. Hopefully the kids wouldn't do something stupid like get involved. ...Ah, who is she kidding, with her luck that is exactly what they are going to do. "A very merry unbirthday to you," she muttered. Going down the hall, she saw two teachers knocking on the door.
"Young lady, I need you to come out now."
"What!? I'm busy," Tina shouted back, the sound of running water coming from the the locker room.
"You-need-to-get-out!"
"I'm taking a shower, do you know how grimey I feel!?"
"We have to get in there!"
"Help, the Walrus and Carpenter are trying to see me naked!"
"What!? I would never!"
"Rightly, so! Despite-her-physical-growth, she-is-much-too-young-for-me!"
"Wait, what did you just call me! I am not big!" Ah Tina, still trying to hold onto that Tiny title.
"I guess this way is blocked," Gaige said to them. "I think the other way to the combat ring is that way," she asked, getting both teachers to freeze and look at her.
"Uh, yes it is, Miss..."
"Now, now, no need to play coy," Gaige said to him the big man. "I know Ozpin said I would be the Teaching assistant today."
"Right, Miss-Crescent," the thin one said, coming up to her. "I-am-Doctor-Oobleck."
"Oobleck, like the non-Newtonian fluid that will harden under force but liquid without?"
The man blinked at her, rather surprised. "I'm sorry, did you say non-Newtonian?"
"Yes I did, Doctor. May I ask in which field you received your doctorate? Life sciences like agricultural, biological or medical, engineering, computer and information, mathematics, Astronomy, Atmospheric, Chemistry, Geological, Physics, Oceanography, Psychology, History, Letters, Education, Business, Communication, or maybe a field I haven't listed."
Both Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port blinked in surprise before Oobleck said, "History and Philosophy."
"Hmm, not bad. Mechanical Engineering and Astro Physics," she said while holding out her hand. Slowly, Oobleck shook it. "My teachers said my being a hunter is a waste but I believe I have found a good use of my intellect. Robots that defy gravity are not easily made."
Oobleck stared at her a moment before pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Yes surely that could not be the case, any action taken by these machines would cause them to go flying off otherwise."
"True but it can be countered by effectively creating a new point of gravity directly underneath it so the machine would be standing on something that isn't there. In layman's terms, defying gravity."
Oobleck covered his mouth and rubbed his chin at the implications of what she said. "I hesitate to say this but could not a propeller or booster engine achieve the same effect without needing to rewrite the laws of the universe?"
"Yet a booster engine would require a fuel source that could potentially detonate while also raising the need of engine strength to keep them afloat. In practicality, my machines are more efficient and capable than drones or androids."
"Oobleck," Port said, trying to get his attention.
"What is the strength of the power supply needed to do that and run the machines?"
"Not nearly so much as you would think. These drones I build run on only seven point five three kilojoules when in standard flight mode and nine point three repeating for the combat oriented drone and eleven point one six eight eight for the repair function on the other."
"Doctor," Port tried again.
"Only that little? You could collect that from the sun with only the average yard of a bright day in ten seconds."
"My robot takes more energy but has significantly more powerful capabilities, the least of which is a laser."
"What output?"
"A custom build, five thousand, five hundred watt capable of reaching a heat output of over seven thousand degrees. I wanted to go more powerful but I had neither the resources nor the design when I made him and now I find myself busy upgrading more important components."
"And how old were you when you made this?"
"I started when I was seventeen but I didn't finish until I was eighteen."
"I'm impressed. I would love to look over your work sometime."
"Doctor Oobleck."
"And I am further impressed that you understood my name, not many actually know about that."
"Yes, simple science it may be, wet cornstarch is always interesting. Especially when holding up the weight of a grown adult."
"You two keep using words I know but I'm fairly certain you're not speaking English anymore," Professor Port suddenly interrupted. "Doctor, don't we have work to do?"
Oobleck sighed and nodded. "Yes, quite right. Doctor Crescent, I do hope we can speak at greater length at another time."
"Just Gaige, please, I find Doctor a bit of a stuffy title."
"Hah, you couldn't be more different from Doctor Oobleck," Professor Port exclaimed, patting his partner on the shoulder. "He always insist that it is Doctor, not Professor. 'I didn't earn that PhD for nothing'."
"If you don't mind, I think I will keep using Doctor, for one so young, it is quite an achievement."
Gaige frowned but nodded. "Very well, I can't stop you if you truly desire to do so. Have a good day, Doctor, Professor."
Oobleck watched her go and sighed. "Brilliant mind that one, I can already see it."
"Aye, too bad she is likely allied with the enemy."
"I fear if that is the case because if it is, then I suspect she is ready for any..." He looked back to the door and swallowed. Knocking on it, he asked, "Young lady, what is your name?"
"Tina, Tina Bradsberry!"
"Port, try to find out if there is a student by that...name," he said before grabbing his scroll and noticing the message for everyone to get in position. "We're out of time, we need to get in position."
—oo000oo—
Gaige walked out into the arena where Ozpin stood waiting for her. "The Wonderful Wizard of Ozpin, to what do I owe this most auspicious of meetings? After all, we both know you don't actually want me to give a demonstration. By the way, that is a very nice hologram, I almost couldn't tell the difference." She was referring to the one of Ozpin so as that the man wouldn't be here himself.
"Truly no getting anything around you," Oz said with a sigh. Suddenly, a different hologram dropped to reveal that the stands had three dozen hunters in them all pointing weapons at her.
"...Wow, I am actually impressed, you nearly have enough here to do the job," Gaige told him. "Hunters from Atlas, Vale, Vacou and Mistral, and not one of them has their scroll on them. Not even an Atlas Knight."
"You would be able to detect them," the hologram of Ozpin stated. "As for the Knights, I have little doubt you would be able to turn those to your own purposes."
"Hmm, so...what now?"
"Now you surrender," a new hologram said as it appeared. It was General Ironwood.
"You must be joking," Gaige replied as she started pacing in a circle, looking them all over. "I have the I.Q. to make your greatest scientist seem like morons, enough weapons and bullets to win a war, and two days to prepare for this betrayal. Why would I surrender when I hold all the cards?"
"What did you do," Ozpin demanded.
"Well, maybe I just finished the plan White Fang had, placed a large enough bomb under Vale that when it detonates will completely destroy the city... No, too brutish. Maybe I left a virus in the CCT to take complete control of the information network of Remnant... Not elegant enough. Maybe I spent time placing bombs in key locations of Beacon academy... That sounds more like something I would be willing to do," she said with a smile, coming to a stop some distance from them.
"You're bluffing," Ironwood accused her. To which her smile grew.
"Why don't we get down to the serious questions," Gaige told them. "Why Oz? I played it straight with you, why the betrayal?"
"Because you're not who you say," Ozpin replied.
"You hired me to deal with the White Fang, I have been. To hunt Roman Torchwich, I am. I fail to see how I have done something wrong."
"You hacked into the CCTs and my ICC," Ironwood spat.
"To be fair, I hacked into your computer because you hacked into mine first and I am a firm believer that turnabout is fair play."
Ozpin motioned to Ironwood to stall his reply and asked a question. "And your involvement with Salem?"
"Who? I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I doubt that," Ironwood growled.
"I don't care."
Whatever Ironwood was going to say was stopped by Ozpin. "Let us say we believe that, that doesn't change something. Someone like you can't go unnoticed in the world today yet for all my looking, you seemed to have dropped out of the sky."
"So?"
"I want to know who you are and where you are from, the truth this time."
"No."
"Do you think this is a game?"
"Oh very much so," Gaige replied happily. At hearing some banging, she looked to the door to the locker room and said, "Might want them to stop, if they break through that door, they will find a nasty surprise waiting for them. I have little intention of cooperating, Ozpin. Why should I? I don't trust the General and I clearly shouldn't have trusted you."
"If you are a friend then this can all be put behind us with an apology," Ozpin offered her.
Gaige gave a mirthless smile and shook her head. "I'm not sure if you actually believe that or not. I am the most technologically advance person on this planet and a few others besides, Ozpin. The moment I am in custody, the General or someone like him will begin ripping apart everything I have in the hopes of making it their own. I assume the General is the one that got that Eridium sliver, oh, sorry, the refined Dust ingot slice, but not one of you primitives can figure out how it was made, can you? Even if we all agree this is some kind of mistake, once I am in your hands, someone will try to coerce me to divulge what I know and then I'll be tossed aside without my possessions or an apology."
"I would never allow that."
"What you would allow is irrelevant, it is what would happen," Gaige told him. "I can see it in the general's eyes, he wants everything of mine. The only reason he hasn't forced the situation is because of you. And the reason you don't is because you can strongly guess the price of such an attempt. The first and foremost of which is that the chances of me surrendering is none, zip, zilch, the same chances of your grandfather's grandfather's grandfather coming to see you today. Let me show you number two." She held out her hand and formed a grenade. "This is a Mirv that will explode with the force to destroy you, your dog, the small building that you are in, and your car on the street. It is tied to my heart. If it stops beating, this bomb starts booming. So even if you do somehow kill me and try to use that chance to take away my tech, all you will get is scrap." Gaige was snarling by now.
"You are far less civil now than before," Ozpin noted.
"Before, we were discussing business as equals. Now you are just another traitorous employer that I will have to kill. You don't actually think you are the first to do this to me, do you?"
Ozpin looked her in the eyes, long and hard, before saying, "I do believe you."
"Well, its a touch late for that," Gaige stated. "Needless to say, the contract between us is terminated. Now, what happens next is up to you. I can walk out of here or you can do something stupid and start this dance."
"Easy answer," Ironwood spoke up, not believing her at how dangerous she is. "Gaige Crescent, you are under arrest for sedition, criminal hacking, possession of illegal weapons..."
"This is Vale, General," Gaige interrupted. "Ozpin has to say it as you are outside your jurisdiction."
Ironwood growled and shouted, "Seize her!" Some of the Atlas fired but to everyone's shock, even Gaige, the bullets bounced off a barrier that had been raised. And the only one that could do so was Ozpin. Gaige slowly eased the Greed back to her waist and turned back to the man, smiling while Ironwood gaped. "What are you doing!?"
"I must apologize, Miss Crescent, I came to the wrong conclusion about you and that is something that doesn't happen often. I believed you working for someone that is an enemy to myself and the world at large."
"You already know I don't work for White Fang."
"No, someone far worse than them. I would like to come clean with you about it, if you will tolerate my presence long enough for me to correct this most grievous of errors."
"Uh huh. Everyone says it was a mistake when facing death."
"You'll find that death is something I would welcome after my life," Ozpin told her. "Everyone stand down. Please, come to my tower," he said but for Gaige to raise Greed up and rest that hand on her shoulder as she looked to the still gathered hunters. "...Disperse, all of you. Now."
"Ozpin, what are you doing," Ironwood demanded.
"Doing what I should have done before, 'play it straight', I think you said."
Gaige watched him closely and considered what to do, this was something she hadn't done before. It had always come down to shooting and desperate pleading. Sure, it could still be a trap but he was asking her to leave and go into his school where the students could still be found. The whole point of doing it here was to keep it contained where she wouldn't notice it first. "How do you want to handle this," Axton asked, still unnoticed, now over the gathered hunters that were slowly leaving with some grumblings.
"...I'm not disarming," Gaige stated.
"That's fine," Ozpin replied.
"And I'm not going anywhere alone," she further told him.
"...You're friends are here, Mister Axton and Miss Tina, aren't they," Ozpin suddenly realized, glancing around. Axton took that as his que to move over the arena and drop down. He landed with what Tina called the Superhero landing, bending his knees but not buckling. Standing back to his full height, he raised a finger to his ear piece.
"Stand down, Tina, no one is dying today."
"WHAT!?" Tina ran out of the locker room with the Teapot in one hand and the Creamer on her shoulder. "I was promised explosions!"
"We'll take you grimm hunting once we're done here," Gaige tried to placate.
"No! You said death, murder, mayhem, and that you would drink a beer from the wizard's skull!"
"I never said that, that's Salvatore's thing," Gaige denied. "That's it Tina, you're going on decaf."
"I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" Tina raised the detonator and pressed the button but nothing happened, she was using Gaige's explosives after all. "No! Damn you!"
"You will rue this day," 1340 added, unhappy at being denied.
"Axton, fry the spare turrets, we don't need them. Ozpin, you'll need to get a clean up crew here, the rafters and the locker room are covered in bombs. And Tina, eat a cookie or a piece of chocolate."
"Not gonna help with you blue balling me like this," she shouted, dropping unhappily to the floor.
"Who knows, Tina, maybe Ozpin can actually do something to fix this and if he does, I'll make you my teaching assistant. How would you like to have students that need an attitude adjustment take your puppies for a walk?" Tina tried hard to not smile at that.
"No good enough."
"Through a monster ridden forest," Gaige offered.
"...Maybe, but better get to shoot something today!"
Ozpin watched her through this and said, "I believe you mentioned how Tina is better than she used to be?"
"I know, right," Gaige replied, leading the way to the tower.
—oo000oo—
Weapons never put down, Gaige, Tina, and Axton came to the top of the clocktower where they found Goodwitch looking less than pleased and Ironwood almost shouting at Ozpin. "Ah, Miss Crescent. Miss Tina and Mister Axton, I have actually looked forward to meeting you."
"Let's get to the point Ozpin, what's going to keep me from killing you?"
"The truth, as I said. For which, our destination has not actually been reached." Ozpin pressed a button on his desk and a door to the side opened to reveal another elevator. "Tell me, Miss Crescent, what is your favorite fairy tail?"
"This is a terrible idea," Ironwood stated as he too got on.
"So you have said," Ozpin replied, walking into the elevator. "But then, maybe if I had just come out and said that I needed Miss Crescent's technological aid to save a life, this might be over already as well." By then, everyone had gotten on and it was on the way down.
"What does fairy tales have to do with anything," Axton asked.
"Have any of you heard the story of the Four Seasons?"
"No."
"No."
"I have," Tina said happily. "Four young women help a grumpy old man and are given great power for it."
"That about sums it up and it isn't just a story, it really happened and there is more too it. This power they each gained didn't die with them, it..."
"It transfers from one young woman to another whenever the current wielder dies," Axton finished. "We have ones called Sirens. Four seasons and six sirens..." Axton swallowed the lump that formed, it was becoming more and more important this planet be left alone. They needed to find the vault quickly and make sure it gave no signal for anyone else to find. What really worried him though was that these four were focused solely around that vault and the monster that came from it. "Sounds to me like the old man in question was an Eridian," he said to his partners.
"Brought, not drifted," Tina muttered, about how these humans got on this planet. "Is there any record on when the Grimm first appeared?"
"They've always been here."
"So humans were brought about to fight them," Gaige muttered, getting confused looks from the three Remnantians.
"What are you three talking about," Ironwood demanded. "What's an Eridian?"
"They are the ones that make the Vaults I told you about and made Eridium and Dust," Gaige told them, tapping her belt buckle. "There's something that I have been suspecting, Ozpin, ever since Qrow and I went to that ruin with the massive Vault Symbol on the ground. The Vault may already be open and whatever creature controls the Grimm came out of it."
"What makes you so sure there is something that controls them," Goodwitch asked.
"Because it spoke to me, challenging me to come and destroy it."
"Did it say where it was?"
Gaige leaned back a bit, "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"...She's had many names over the millennium, the one she uses now is Salem," Ozpin told them. "The schools, they were founded for the sole purpose to create a team strong enough to kill her. I almost thought I had one such team, team STRQ, before it collapsed and Summer died. How many Vaults have you opened?"
"Oh, must've been...twenty one between the three of us," Gaige said, looking to her partners for confirmation.
"Twenty three, now," Axton corrected. "Of which eleven were creatures that needed killing."
"Wait, wait, wait," Tina interrupted. "You mean to tell me that we are about to fight an entire planet's worth of monsters the Eridians themselves feared enough to lock away? I am slightly terrified and aroused by that."
"Glad you think so, Tina," Gaige said as the elevator opened to reveal the a large room with closed circuit android guards. A lot of guards. "...So, what is this, Oz, because this security is impressing even me. I'm at thirty seconds in hacking these." Walking by one of the android, she raised a fist and it did a fist bump with her. "Don't even get me talking about how long it took to add that subroutine. Flat out embarrassing."
"More embarrassing than actually adding it," Goodwitch asked.
"You kidding, this is krunk," Tina nearly shouted, doing the pong bump with one
"These, Miss Crescent are the guards to the most import item in all of Vale. One of the maidens," Ozpin told them, pointing to the machine at the end. Coming to it, he said, "This is Amber, a few months ago she was attacked and now she is dying. The most advance technology in the world available to me can only stave if off, not actually save her. Think you can do something different?"
Gaige stepped forward and looked her over real quick, her echo forming a health bar for her and it was not good. "Axton, one of the insta-healths in her IV."
"On it." He stepped to the machine while pulling out the red vial and was about to put it in the liquid when his arm stopped moving and a gun barrel was placed to his head. Looking over and finding Goodwitch was holding her arm out and somehow stopping him, Ironwood was pressing the pistol to him. "You wanted us to help, let us. The worse we can do is speed up her death which is coming anyway."
"Glynda, James, let them try," Ozpin told them and slowly they stepped back. A few moments later, Amber's heart rate went up before her vitals all normalized and even brainwave activity increased. "Fascinating." With Gaige, she summoned Fix-it and activated his medical protocols she had gotten from Wilhelm's Saint. It began scanning her while Gaige looked at the machine itself.
"This tech isn't nearly good enough. Tina, I'm going to need parts and raw materials."
"Sure, what do you need, my hoe?"
"Either twelve pounds of tech parts from the Rig including an Hyperion induction coil, a multiphasic transducer, and three boxes of self sealing stem bolts just to get this anywhere near where it needs to be. Or a temporary fast travel station so we can get her to an actually medical station. ...Got the complete scans. Okay, someone tried to syphon the energy out of her and her body can't compensate for the lost. Can't say I ever heard someone trying that with a siren."
"Yeah well that's to be expected since a Siren usually rips space in half before you can try and rarely get in fights with Eridian era monsters that are smart enough to do it," Axton stated while Tina began tinkering around with a box. "...Think 'Angel' will work?"
"Did you have to put it like that," Gaige grumbled while stepping back. "Theoretically, a direct infusion of Eridium could possibly restore the balance of any Eridian granted ability, at least temporarily but I'm not an Eridian/Siren expert."
"I'll get Tannis and Lilith on the line," he said, stepping back and giving them a call.
"One of you three make yourselves useful and send a complete datapacket to Axton's ECHO about Maidens. All of it, if we're going to do this we need data, information, so we don't end up turning her into some kind of monstrous abomination."
"That's possible," Ozpin asked.
"With Eridium, anything is possible. As you will see when you meet Tina's puppies."
"Fast travel is almost complete," Tina told them. "It'll burn out after first use though."
"Only going to need one use."
"Gaige, Tannis says an infusion might work but it will need to be in a 2:1 ratio with her element of dust," Axton suddenly shouted. "And Lilith says that while it will heal the damage, that benefit will expire a few days after the injection ends and her condition will resume. She also says that we can't just set her up with a weak intravenous because while she's conscious she'll be able to feel where her missing piece is. …Okay, Tannis is now talking about pizzas...she's back on track. Liquid Eridium-fire dust, one and a half liters over a week so we don't poison her. Tannis and Lilith are arguing. … Then an Eridium/Dust adrenal shot, one eighty CCs, to the heart to get her ready. We'll have three to five days to find the person her missing piece has been stored in and then kill them before Amber falls back in a coma."
"Got it," Gaige stated. "Ozpin, we're taking Amber where we can help her properly before we wake her."
When Ironwood protested, Ozpin spoke over him. "I understand you need to but there is only so much I'm willing to do. But if you let us come..."
"Us, no," Gaige denied. "One and not Ironwood. You can bring your scroll but you won't get signal. Its location is private and it will stay that way, thank you."
"I am not going to let you-" What Ironwood was going to say was cut off when Gaige spun around with Greed in her hands pointed right at his head. When the Knights began to react, they all began to spark and shut down.
"What you want is irrelevant. Sit down and shut up before I do it for you." When he did nothing, Axton came over and relieved him of his weapon.
"I got him, kiddo. Might want to listen to the young lady, General, I'll just kill you, she won't be nearly as merciful."
"...Soldier?"
"Marine, actually, and formerly. Apparently I was too much of a glory hound. So, General, I'm going to tell you what I never got the chance to tell my own commanders. Keep calm, be quiet, and let us work. With minimum input from you, everything will be fine." Ironwood scowled but did as ordered.
"Alright ladies, the magic portal is open!" Tina shut the panel and the box extended up and opened a light screen. "So, who's coming with?"
"Axton, another health." Gaige raised her hand and caught the vial before opening the machine and pressing it to Amber's arm. "Fix-it, stasis." She stepped back and let the surveyor put a shield orb around the young woman and pull her up. "Tina, activate it."
"Okay, thirty seconds before its scrap!"
"Who's going? Now is the time to decide."
"I am," Glynda Goodwitch said, stepping forward. "I'm not letting you take the Headmaster prisoner."
"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever," Gaige said before grabbing her and activating the console. The familiar tunnel of light appeared before Gaige and Goodwitch set down on the rig. Then came Tina and just before it shut off, Axton. "Alright, let's get her prepped," she said, leading the way inside.
—oo000oo—
Glynda Goodwitch looked around in shock, she already knew about the girl's teleportation technology but that was nothing compared to actually experiencing it. Seeing that she had been left behind, she walked to the closing door and stopped it. Heading in, she saw a setup that she knew any would envy. Seeing a table with a holo-map on it, she began tapping on it to try and see where she is.
"I'm sorry, you don't have access to that console."
"Who said that?"
"I did. I am Jenny, the AI in control of this station."
"Okay, Jenny, where am I?"
"You are on the Rig. An abandoned oceanography station that Miss Crescent rebuilt to her needs and desires. Judging by state of decay, this station had been abandoned for nearly one hundred and fifty seven years."
Goodwitch frowned, there wouldn't be a record of something that old. "...Where is Pandora?"
"Pandora is not listed on my charts of Remnant," the AI said, making the woman sigh. "The planet Pandora is located twenty seven lightyears from Remnant. Galaxy Pandora is located seven octillion from Remnant."
"Okay, where is Gaige Crescent from."
"I'm sorry, that is not listed in my records."
"...How did Axton and Tina get here?"
"They arrived via personal ship, the High and Flighty. Currently parked next to Miss Crescent's ship, Slipper Misfit, an EX-21 'near star' jump ship."
"Do you have access to their travel logs?"
"Yes."
"Where are they from?"
"They came from..."
"Jenny, designate Glynda Goodwitch as guest status. Further more, all others aside from myself, Tina, and Axton are to be considered guest unless specifically stated. And if any come without the access code, they are to be considered invaders," Gaige ordered. "That was rude."
"So is lying," Goodwitch replied, facing her. "What is all of this, huh? Robots flying around doing maintenance, teleportation, able to construct robots from your arm, you're not saying something and it is serious."
"...I'm a little green man from alpha centoria," Gaige told her before turning around. "Now come on, we got Amber in the medical pod. Its helping her so we just need to prepare the mixture to bring her back. Once she wakes up, she'll want to see someone she knows."
Inside, Glynda saw Axton liquifying an ingot of Eridium with some fire dust with it. "You are going to put that inside her?"
"Yes."
"Is it safe?"
"For you and me, no. We would die horribly, but maidens and sirens are different. They are humans that have been changed by the Eridians, they'll be fine."
"How do you know?"
Gaige sighed and said, "Her name was Angel, she was a Siren. Her father was an insane asshole that liked experimenting on people with Slag, that liquid. She would have died years ago if not for that stuff being pumped into her veins. When we shut it off, me and Axton, she died, quickly, telling her father how much she hated him. Then the bastard kidnapped a friend of ours, Lilith, another Siren. Did the same to her, so he could torture her until he got revenge on us."
"You killed his daughter?"
"Not the highlight of my life but Angel wanted to die and to stop her father."
"...That black armband, the gun with wings."
"Yeah, the one I killed," she spat out. "Axton, I'll keep a close eye on Amber's vitals, start when ready. Remember, slow."
"Yup." He activated the feed and watched the first drip of fire slag enter Amber's body. In moments, Amber seized up and her vitals jumped erratically. Gaige watched a second before reaching for a health stim when it stopped. Everything was normal.
"...Amber, Amber! Are you awake!?" Glynda pounded on the glass and began to smile when Amber groaned and slowly opened her eyes.
"Goodwitch? Keep it down, I'm trying to sleep."
"I'm sorry for waking you. How are you feeling?"
"Like someone ripped a hole in me."
"Okay, just rest and when you wake up, we'll get you something to eat, anything you want."
She nodded weakly and said, "Okay," as she closed her eyes again.
Goodwitch watched her in relief and finally said, "Alright, I believe you aren't here to hurt us. Now what?"
—oo000oo—
"So, you all know Gaige," Yang Xaio Long asked while leaving the lunch hall.
"Not in person," Wiess replied.
"Same here," came from Blake.
"I know of her through my father, he was rather upset when she kept hanging up on him when he tried to call her and now he can't reach her."
"I...used to sympathized with White Fang before it got extreme but that report... I didn't know it had gotten so bad."
"You supported them!? Why," Wiess demanded.
"Because whether you want to admit it or not, Miss Schnee, most faunus are treated poorly by humans. I don't support killing or anything but I just want things to be equal. Some work under terrible conditions no human would, just to bring home enough food to keep their family from starving. And this isn't just against your father, there are more racist in the world than just him. He just happens to be their figure head. After all, Taurus didn't brand himself with SDC."
"How dare you!? Do you know how many relatives and family friends those people have killed over the years!?"
"I'm not excusing that but it doesn't excuse that your father is a horrible person!"
"Girls, don't fight," Gaige said as she walked by with Professor Goodwitch, Tina, and Axton. "Hey, Ruby, Yang."
"Gaige," Ruby shouted excitedly as she suddenly appeared by her. "Save anymore towns lately?"
"Actually yes, Shion from a group of bandits," Gaige told her.
"Ah look, the Mechromancer has a fan," Axton jibed while nudging Tina.
"No heroes on Pandora, huh," Tina called.
"Shut it," Gaige growled back. "Keeping out of trouble, Ruby?"
"Of course!"
"Ahem," Professor Goodwitch corrected.
"Um, most of the time," Ruby continued.
"Yang, how are you doing?"
"I'm...better," the blond said unenthusiastically. "Oh, Gaige, these are Wiess and Blake, our team members. They follow your exploits somewhat."
"Hello."
"Greeting Miss Crescent," Weiss said nicely. "I'm happy to meet a talented huntress like yourself."
"Don't be," Gaige replied. "Depending on how things go with Ozpin, I might just be fighting against the teams in full contact sparring." To which, Yang grimaced, Ruby cheered, Wiess blinked, and Blake commented.
"A full fledged huntress against students?"
"Do you think out in the wilds, your enemy will care about such a disadvantage? Call it practice for the inevitable. You are Blake Belladonna, aren't you?"
That caused her to tense, "Yes?"
"Hmm. I liked your father's methods more. Shall we get back to it, Goodwitch?"
"Yes, have a good day, girls, and no fighting."
"Ladies," Axton said while flicking a few fingers against his forehead.
The team watched them go before Yang began to grin. "Well, he's a stud. Nice butt too."
"Oh, I'm so excited," Ruby cheered, jumping up and down. "A team battle against an experienced huntress! If we win that, do you think we'll get a reward!? How many first year teams do you think can do that!?"
"Not many," Blake stated. "I would go so far as saying maybe not even this one but then you two have seen her fight. What chances do you think we have?"
"Depends on if she'll go easy on us," Yang replied.
—oo000oo—
Gaige caught an axe in her machine hand, pulled it to bring the owner closer, slammed her fist into his face a few times, before tripping him, and pinning him to the ground with his own axe. "Team Quartz has been defeated," Glynda Goodwitch called, another notch going for the Vault Hunter. Currently the score was zero loses, twenty seven victories for her. The worst part for the students though was that they see that she had two bars for her aura gauge. The first fell down quickly but also recharged, so they had yet to actually hit her. It took only a little work for the machine to read her health and shield bars as supplied by her ECHO. "Miss Crescent, are you capable of continuing?"
"Of course," she replied, reloading the Greed and snapping the cylinder shut, giving off a burst of lightning. The only advantages she gave these students was that she didn't bother summoning Deathtrap or Deathray and she didn't hide her weapons or skills. They could watch her, they could study her, and maybe one of them could come up with a plan to beat her. Not likely but hey, sometimes the unknown happens.
"...Very well, is there any volunteers?" Of course there wasn't, there hadn't been any since the seventh fight. "...Team Cardinal, gather whatever you need and enter the arena." They got up and trudged forward like men sentenced to death while the remains of Team Quartz pulled themselves together and got out. Neither Gaige nor Goodwitch were cruel, once the volunteers stopped, they started with the senior teams and worked down. Now all that remained were the first years. "Team Ruby, Team Juniper, you are the only teams left, decide which will go first. Provided that Miss Crescent isn't beaten, of course."
"Of course," the eight teens muttered almost in unison.
—oo000oo—
Jaune Arc watched closely, breaking down every move the woman made, every weapon she used. Professor Goodwitch put this forward to them as a chance to compare themselves against a professional huntress their age and many had been excited. That excitement had vanished quickly. The girl, Gaige Crescent he believed, did not care for any precepts like honor or fairness, she focused on survival and victory and her fighting style showed it. She disabled, fought dirty, used their numbers against them, and discarded rules most thought sacred. Then there was just the absurd parts of her. Throwing lightning around, the ability to summon different weapons as needed, that second aura she used that quickly recharged. Her pinpoint accuracy with her weapons.
Down below, Gaige rolled over Dove's shoulders while bringing her gun up and firing at Cardin's mace, hitting the same spot she had five times already. The mace wasn't conducting the elecricity as Cardin thought to wrap the handle in plastic. Smart move. It was still a mace-grenade launcher. Which meant it held a dust grenade. That was sensitive to lightning.
The mace blew up in Winchester's hands, throwing him across the arena. It was a move that few would consider using as a weapon was often considered a far too personal an item. Something Gaige clearly didn't care for and that wasn't the first time she had done it. "Winchester is unable to continue," Professor Goodwitch called.
"Nora, no grenades," Jaune whispered, getting a groan but an agreement.
Gaige began reloading her pistol and the rest of Team Cardinal fell back, everyone had learned to not get too close by now. She had the habit of reloading when a team tried to stay close, what with that nova of electricity she gave off, it was a good move. Jaune didn't even want to think how much watts she gave off that it would cause people's clothes to burst into flames.
"Nora, see that," he said, pointing to her hand just before she shot lightning out.
"Yes?"
Down below, Gaaige grinned as she jumped back and waited a few seconds before firing again. The first round hit Sky Lark, covering him in this dark purple slime. "Ugh! She got that nasty shit in my mouth!" The next shot hit him hard enough to sent him flying into the wall.
"She always grabs that disk before she does it," Jaune continued. " When she does, get in her way."
"Yeah, will do," she said with a grin.
"What do you see, Jaune," Pyrrha asked.
"Everything comes back to electricity with her. Her guns, her abilities. I think her generating it is her semblance and she becomes more powerful as she uses it. That device on her right hip." He focused on the shell scale hollow of the machine. "That is what generates her recharging aura,I'm sure of it, while the disk lets her throw lightning. I don't know for sure what the lunch box is for but it can't be good. And I don't understand where her weapons comes from."
"Best guess?"
"Best guess is she has a short range teleportation device or ability to change her weapons out as needed. Maybe the lunch box." Gaige grabbed her hammer and hit it into Sky's breastplate, dropping him. "That cybernetic arm is custom and has to be grounded into her torso to be able to put out that much power."
"Sky Lark is unable to continue," Goodwitch called.
Gaige knelt down and grabbed Sky's halberd before throwing it. Russel jumped over it and when he was in the air and couldn't dodge again, Gaige fired twice with Greed. Both bullets hit him in the gut and when he fell to the ground, he curled up and stayed there, the rubber bullets innocently lying before his face. "And then there was one," Gaige called, turning for Dove. He held his sword out almost as if to block Gaige from doing something to him. "...Well? Are you just going to stand there? Come at me!" She watched him a moment before turning to Goodwitch. "I believe this one is unable to battle."
"Will you continue, Mister Bronzewing?"
"...No, I know I can't win."
"Dove Bronzewing has surrendered, Team Cardinal has been defeated." She turned to the crowd and said, "Team Ruby, Team Juniper, have you decided which will got first?"
Jaune hesitated a moment before standing, "We will, ma'am," he shouted.
"Come down then," she told them before looking to the defeated team around her. "...Cardinal, do you need medical attention?"
"I can walk," Russel groaned.
"It hurts to breath," Sky wheezed out.
"My arm hurts but I can walk," Cardin muttered, wincing at the pain and at his mace. This would take a while to repair.
"Mister Bronzewing, help Mister Lark to the infirmary, all of you go there."
—oo000oo—
Gaige leaned against the wall and began checking her weapons over before reloading the Greed and shutting it with a roll along her arm. Rubber bullets, sandbag shells, and they still couldn't handle her and they were her age when she landed on Pandora. And here came another team for the grinder. Looking up, she saw two swords, a warhammer, and the last had his hidden. The girl's hammer was a grenade launcher with six cylinders, lightning and fire would cause it to destabilize. The blond's sword she couldn't tell what the benefit was but she was sure it was overly dramatic and showy. The red head had a shield and the sword itself had too many angles to tell what it did. The last... He reminded her of Zer0. He was first.
The moment Glynda gave the signal, Greed was up and pointed at the green boy. And he was already gone. "Heya," the orangenette shouted, bringing her hammer down on her. Gaige didn't try and tank that, she stepped forward and caught the hammer close to where she held it.
"Reckless," Gaige growled as she pointed the Greed at her head and fired. The girl flew back and she ignored her in favor of the others. She blinked when she noticed that not only were there still four bars of health, one was growing way more powerful.
"OH YEAH!" Gaige spun around and was shocked to see the girl had jumped back to her feet with a storm electricity coming off her. Gaige fired twice more and hit her but any damage the bullets did was negated by the healing and empowering effect lightning had on her. "POWER! UNLIMITED POWAH!"
"Shit." Nora lunged at her, swinging the hammer from the side. No dodging that. Bending down and bringing her machine arm up, she tried to block it the best she could. It hit and it was like being hit by Terramorphous again. Gaige flew to the other side of the arena and only stopped because she hit the wall, which cracked and nearly broke under her. "...Ow."
"Don't you know!? I'm Queen of the Castle!" Nora came at her again, preparing to swing at her. From the sound of it, people were moving from behind her.
'Don't remember the last time I lost half my shield in one hit,' Gaige thought as she forced herself from the wall while switching out the Greed for Rex. She fell to the ground just before Nora Valkyrie landed the hit, destroying the wall. Gaige pointed up at her and fired twice, she wasn't using rubber with this gun. The rounds hit her aura and did damage to be sure but not nearly enough against that boost she gave her. Twisting around, Gaige pointed at the two charging at her, the blond and red head hiding behind their shields, and fired. While the shields took the hits, their auras did as well. Four. Gaige rolled on the ground and came up to grab Nora's hammer. Though she slid along the ground, she kept it from hitting her. Transformer began to feed off the electricity Nora emitted, trying to restrengthen. If not for someone shooting her with sub-machine gun fire. Shooting Nora in the stomach, she aimed behind her to get the one there but didn't see them. The Green Boy. She nearly reached for her Lightning mod but froze when she remembered the girl. Three bullets left.
"Let go and you're mine," Nora gleefully stated.
Twisting left, she aimed at the red head as she began to bring her sword down. Gaige was able to fire over the shield but her arm was jerked up when she did, the bullet going wide. Two. Feeling a hit behind her, she elbowed back. Hitting the shield, she grimaced. Bringing the Rex around to fire again, the same result happened, her arm suddenly pulled up. Swords to her left and right, hammer to the front, and gunner behind. She'd joke about Bunkers and Badasses if she could.
Her shield suddenly shattered but Gaige had no idea why, she still had a third of the bar. "Pyrrha, keep it away from her," Jaune shouted as he threw her belt to her as she pulled away.
"Fuckers," Gaige shouted, looking wide eyed after her belt as Pyrrha Nicos caught it and fell back.
"Ren, take it," Pyrrha called as she broke away and threw the belt farther. It hit the ground and sat there a moment before Gaige could just make out Lie Ren roll over it and pick it up.
"Ow, ow, fucking shit, ow!" The nano machines in Gaige's body did their job and kept the sword and bullets from actually piercing her but it didn't stop the impact. That's when she noticed that Pyrrha wasn't fighting anymore, she was pointing her hand at Gaige's cybernetic one. And it was being forced to let go. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!?" If Nora was freed, that was it, Gaige was done.
"Language, Miss Crescent," Glynda Goodwitch called, smiling.
"Eat a cock!" Gaige pointed the Rex at Pyrrha and like she expected, the gun pulled up. Gaige used that chance to tighten her grip on the hammer.
"Jaune, get rid of the gun!"
"On it!" Wrapping his shield arm around her gun arm, he hit the hilt of his sword against her pinned hand.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK IT!" Gaige dropped the Rex and called a regular grenade to that hand that she activated and dropped. It wasn't anything powerful, it barely hurt the three of them it hit, but it wasn't supposed to. It threw the three of them away. "FUCK ALL OF THIS SHIT! GET THEM BOY!" She summoned Deathtrap to focus on Nora before grabbing Axton's Nuke'em. Firing over and over, she reloaded and did it again until she saw one of the bars dip into red. Lie Ren.
Seeing him, she discarded the rocket launcher and ran over to him. Grabbing her belt, she sent it to her storage deck units to keep it out of the way until she was ready for it. Seeing Pyrrha stumble back to her feet, having been caught in a rocket blast, Gaige charged her and speared her shoulder right into her back, tackling her to the ground. Grabbing her shield and holding it to the floor with her metal arm, she slammed her fist over and over again into her head until she was dazed and done. Summoning Greed, she pointed it at Jaune and shot him in the crotch. He went down. Looking up in time to see Deathtrap be destroyed by a final hit from Nora, she summoned her belt and Heartbreaker and began firing it at the girl. Discarding the sandbag shells, she changed them out for the real ones and kept firing. Nora came at her, not going down until falling just short, out of breath and aura. Gaige stood there a moment, panting, before she fell back on her butt with eyes wide, her heart hammering away. Standing back up, she looked to the team as they struggled to stand. "Which, ha-ha, of you little shits, ha, came up with that plan?" Jaune hesitantly raised his hand. Gaige walked over, grabbed him by his collar, and pulled him to his feet. "You did," she asked, looking him up and down. When he nodded, she whispered, "I would have you, right here in this arena, until you begged for mercy twice."
"Uh...as in fighting?" Gaige shook her head no and made his face glow with a blush.
"Miss Crescent, stop threatening the students because they almost beat you," Goodwitch told her.
"Just making it clear I expect just as good a performance next time," she replied as she lowered him back to the ground. She walked away while holding up two fingers. "Twice," she said back to him. Clearing the students, she reloaded the Heartbreaker and enjoyed the shock of those watching as her health refilled. "Miss Goodwitch, I am changing my stance on these kids, they might just have what it takes after all. Team Ruby, get your butts down here."
"No, even if you have healed yourself, you are wounded. You're done." Gaige rolled her eyes and walked to the hall where Axton and Tina waited.
"Tag in," Gaige said while tossing the Nuke'em back to him while replacing her Badaboom. Acid wasn't sparring friendly after all.
"Ooh, ooh, me, me, me, me," Tina said, waving her arm wildly.
"Yes, Tina, go play with the kiddies," Gaige dismissed.
"Yay!" She ran out and shouted, "Let's get it on!" Pulling out the Boom Puppy, she loaded a magazine in it and cocked it in. "Last one down here gets to walk my puppies!" She threw down the transponder and in a flash of light, Enrique and Jean were both there, roaring at the crowds. "Enrique, Enrique, down, sit!" The badass fire skag looked to her and sat down. "Good puppy!" She threw him a treat and looked to Jean. He was sniffing around, trying to find something. The lighning kraggon walked up to Goodwitch, tilted his head at her, before continuing on. "Jean! Come back here," Tina called, running up to him and jumping on his back. "Where are you going?"
"Miss Tina...what are those," Glynda Goodwitch asked, shocked.
"They're my puppies! That's Enrique, the most adorable, mothahumpa Fire Skag of Pandora! And this is Jean, a Phonic Kraggon of Elpis."
"...They look like monsters," Goodwitch found herself saying but at least they didn't look like Creatures of Grimm.
"Welp, it looks like the last one down here gets to walk Enrique," Tina shouted. "Fear the Kraggon Calvary!"
Goodwitch stared at her for several seconds before saying, "Nope. Nope, I'm not dealing with this."
"Oh come on, Witch of the North."
"Nope! We're done for the day, you are all dismissed."
"But I..."
"Nope!"
"Not even..."
"Nope. Say no more, we're through here!"
Gaige couldn't stop laughing.
—oo000oo—
Author's Notes: See You Space Cowboy.