a/n: I'd like to give a shout out to ssjSega and his fanfic "BlazBlue: Alternative Remnant". I've been beta-reading for him, and was supposed to shout-it-out in the previous chapter, but I spent so long on the White Fang fight that I forgot. As such, I decided to write the shout out here BEFORE I so much as drafted the first sentence JUST to be sure I wouldn't forget again!
Chapter 14: The Death of Innocence
"... And that's the whole situation," Ozpin finished. Councilman Orville of the Kingdom of Vale, Councilman Viridian of the City of Vale, and Councilwoman Sapphire of Vytal looked skeptical of Ozpin's claims. Councilman Sleet of Atlas the Kingdom and Councilwoman Camila of Atlas the City looked more neutral, while Councilman Marigold of the City of Mantle looked amused.
"Honestly Ozpin," he remarked, "Do you seriously expect us to believe your conspiracy theory?"
"Look, the Decepticon threat is very real," Ironwood interrupted, "But in my defense, Winter provided misleading intel! Anyone would've come to the same conclusion I did!"
"... Dear gods, you're serious," Camila remarked.
"Ex… Excuse me?" Sapphire cut in.
"The General would never verify a story that reflects poorly on him unless the threat was very, very real," Sleet explained.
"You… You can't be serious," Sapphire laughed, "If… If you were all being serious, then… That would mean that… That… There are two killer, alien robots with technology far more advanced than anything on Remnant are heading straight to my home!" She grasped her head in her hands. "Oh gods…"
"Any particular reason you didn't come to us about this sooner, Ozpin?" Councilman Orville asked.
"Firstly, I wanted to avoid a war with Atlas," Ozpin replied, "It's why I went to my fellow Headmasters first, to try and settle this misunderstanding before it could erupt into a full-blown scandal and drown our cities in Grimm. Secondly…" He sighed. "I couldn't think of a subtle way to bring Bumblebee to a meeting."
"Hang on, didn't you say this 'Autobot' was disguised as a commercial vehicle?" Councilman Viridian asked.
"Yes, but have you ever tried fitting a G1-Dustfire sports motorcycle in an elevator designed for five or so grown adults? Or inconspicuously transported one into the meeting hall of our capitol building?" Ozpin asked, "Or would you rather do what I did, and fly out to a Grimm infested island to meet with him in a dusty garage?"
"... Moving back to the topic at hand," Councilman Orville stepped in, "Has any action been taken to address the Decepticon threat?"
"That's why we're holding this meeting, actually," Ozpin explained, "Winter contacted Ironwood after learning of the Decepticons' plans, but seeing how abruptly that call ended-"
The sound of a ringing Scroll grabbed their attention.
"Erm… That would be me…" Ironwood explained as he took out his Scroll.
"... Speaking of, I should get in touch with the leader of the Vytal Militia," Councilwoman Sapphire stated as she unpocketed her own Scroll, "Of course, explaining this whole situation to Faireborn is going to be an issue on it's own…"
"Specialist Schnee! You're alive!?" Ironwood exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention.
"I'm heading to Vytal right at this moment!" Winter replied as her airship soared over the ocean between Patch and the mainland, "The Decepticons wiped out my division, but they didn't touch my airship! They're not in my sights yet, but I think I can see them on my radar. I'll be ready to blast them out of the sky as soon as they're in range!"
"Well, at least there's some good news this morning," Ozpin remarked, "Although, given that the Decepticons have both Aura and regenerative abilities, I'm not confident in Winter's ability to do anything more than slow them down. And that's assuming both of them engage."
"What do you mean the Militia is clear on the other side of the island?!" Sapphire shouted, grabbing everyone else's attention, "Look, you have airships! You can just pile onto those, and- Engine problems? Seriously?!"
"... This would never happen with my Militar-"
"CAN IT JAMES!" Sapphire snapped, "It's not your Kingdom you recklessly endangered with this gambit of yours!"
"Oh please," Councilman Marigold scoffed, "If Atlas' best couldn't see through their deception, how could a simpleton such as yoursel-" General Ironwood booted him from the group call.
"Thank you, General," Sleet remarked, "Now, how long will it take the Vytal Militia to respond?"
"The Militia was dispatched to deal with a herd of Goliaths, none of them old enough to realize that attacking the city walls would be suicide, and our Airships were damaged when a flock of Griffons were attracted to the panic," Sapphire replied, "They could drive there, but it would take trucks and automobiles days to safely navigate the terrain! And that's assuming they don't run into any more Grimm…"
"Atlesian Airships tend to carry swarms of smaller airships within them, and have powerful weapons capable of eradicating Megoliaths with a direct hit," Ozpin pointed out, "General, how long would it take to send one of your airships to Vytal?"
"The only airship currently in Valean airspace is Winter's," Ironwood replied, "Which is a little small for-"
"I know, but are there any airships in Mistrali or Atlesian airspace that could make the journey relatively quickly?" Ozpin clarified.
Ironwood opened up his mouth to reply, then took his Scroll out of his pocket to check.
"Ozpin, don't you have airships you could send?" Sapphire asked.
"Well yes, but with Glynda in Forever Fall, I only know of a handful of Huntsmen who are both able and willing to drop everything for-" Ozpin's explanation was cut off by his Scroll ringing, "... Hopefully that's Glynda letting me know that the reinforcements arrived early so I can dispatch her to Vytal." He took out his Scroll and checked the message, noting it was from Ruby. "No, wait, it's one of the humans Bumblebee was living with."
Cons hacked CCTS. Sent new friends to check Patch relay. Be careful what you say over the CCTS in the meantime.
BTW, we need 16 pardons.
"... The Decepticons compromised the CCTS," Ozpin stated bluntly, "I suggest we adjourn this meeting for the time being and check the CCTS towers and relays."
"I'll contact the Mistral Council to let them know of the security breach," Sleet volunteered.
"I'll warn Faireborn to keep radio silence until the issue is resolved," Sapphire chimed in.
"And I am going to take my leave," Ozpin stated, "I have a job to do." He logged out of the group call, rose to his feet, and walked over to the elevator as he dialed a number on his Scroll. "I cannot, will not allow this Kingdom to fall." The elevator doors closed as he sent a message to the teachers still on campus. Some were ordered to stay behind and guard the academy, while others were ordered to meet him by the airfield for an emergency mission.
What I wouldn't give to have the Fall Maiden with me right now.
Amber rode her horse down the wooded path.
Almost there, she thought to herself, If I keep up this pace, then by sundown I'll be- What's that? She scanned the dirt-path, and saw a little girl sobbing on the side of the road. She carefully halted and dismounted her horse to approach the distressed child. She knelt down to the child's level and offered her an apple she had packed for her lunch, giving a reassuring smile.
Then she noticed what appeared to be nothing kicking up dirt and dashing towards her. A dark-skinned, green-haired girl materialized as the child Amber was trying to comfort disappeared. The Fall Maiden leapt back and drew and extended her staff, Fairy Stinger, as the green-haired girl fired her chain-scythe guns at her. Amber parried the shots and spun Fairy Stinger around, using the Wind Dust within to send a blast of wind at her assailant.
Okay, just gotta hold her off until Qrow notices I've fallen behind, Amber thought, If I could survive a Nuckelavee attack back before I had magic, I can handle some random bandit now that I do. At that moment, a light-skinned, gray-haired boy leaped out of the woods and landed on her staff. Oh come on! Amber sent him and the other assailant flying with a blast of wind. The boy leaped onto a fence and kicked off to fly towards her. Amber shot a fire blast from the Dust Crystal in Fairy Stinger's tip. The boy tanked the shot with his legs (The hell?), causing the fireball to burn through his pants' legs to reveal the mechanical legs underneath the fabric. He dashed through the inferno and delivered a bullet-boosted kick to knock Amber off her feet, at which point the girl from before dropped down on her stomach. Amber felt the force of that blow even through her Aura as the girl jumped off to stand alongside the boy.
That's it, she decided as she rose to her feet, head bowed and eyes closed, The gloves are coming off! She reached inward to the spark of power she had received from the woman who had bled out in her arms, and when she opened her eyes, the fire of the Fall Maiden radiated from them.
"So… what's so special about these Maiden Powers?" Amber had asked.
"While it's tied to your soul, magic isn't fueled by Aura the same way your Semblance is," Qrow explained, "So even if your Aura breaks and you don't have any Dust, you can still call upon the power of the Fall Maiden with just your mind!"
Amber floated into the air as the clouds above churned, the barrier of wind deflecting all of the bullets her assailants tried to hit her with as she reached for the sky, caught a bolt of lightning, and threw it down at her assailants, watching as they both dashed out of the way of the branching electricity, before calling down more bolts.
"Hang on," Amber cut in, "If that's the case… Then how did the last Maiden end up…" Qrow sighed.
"You see, there are two catches," he explained, "The first is somewhat annoying, but easy enough to work around: the power will radiate from your eyes while your magic is active. In the wizard's case, his eyes glow, in your case, it'll look like flames are shooting out of your pupils."
"And the other?" Amber asked.
"... You have to focus to keep access to your magic," Qrow replied, "If you lose your 'grip' on your magic, then whatever you're doing will stop, so you have to be able to multitask to even use your powers in the first place. And if anything breaks your focus…"
Amber used the wind to rip leaves from the trees, willed the heat to leave them until they froze over, and rained makeshift knives down on her assailants as she heard the sound of an approaching airship.. She glanced over her shoulder to see a red and gray Atlesian Manta flying right at her.
BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Fortunately for Amber, her barrier shielded her from the hailstorm of bullets, allowing her to hurl lightning at the airship. At which point her lightning struck Aura, and the Manta began to shift and unfold as it barreled towards her.
"What the-" Amber's shock disengaged her magic as a giant, grinning, red-eyed robot grabbed her out of the air and slammed her into the ground hard enough to make her Aura flash.
"Hah! No mere child can dream of matching wits with the great Starscream!" the robot boasted as Amber struggled against the hand pinning her to the ground, "Now hurry up and break her Aura so we can get her key!"
Amber glanced to the side of the road to see a Mistrali woman in red kick up a cloud of dust. She absent mindedly waved her hand through the dust cloud, melding the particles together into sharpened splinters of glass. The woman fixed her amber eyes on Amber, and with another wave of her hand, sent the sharpened glass straight at Amber's face. Thinking fast, the Fall Maiden reactivated her magic and called upon a gust of wind to redirect the flying splinters towards Starscream's face.
Wait, why did I do that? Amber wondered, Robots can't feel pai-
"MY OPTICS!" Starscream shrieked as he released Amber to bring his hands up to his face.
Amber leapt to her feet and dashed as far away from the giant robot as she could get, the boy and the girl from before opening fire at her. A wave of Fairy Stinger sent a fiery wind towards their faces as the woman charged straight at her with two curved blades. Amber snarled as she whirled around to parry her blade strikes. She swatted the woman away with a gust of wind, and the power of the Fall Maiden radiated from her eyes as she called down a bolt of lightning. The woman shrieked as it struck her, before dropping to her knees and hyperventilating. Amber sent another blast of wind behind her to keep the boy and girl off her back as the woman snarled.
"BLIND HER!" she shouted. Amber glanced around, and one by one, the girl, the boy, Starscream, and the woman flickered out of existence.
Amber quieted her breath, listening to the sounds of footsteps.
Well, I haven't heard the robot move, she thought as she sent a fireblast in Starscream's reaction. The angered cry of pain told her she had hit her mark, but the mechanical whirring told her she should probably move. She dashed to the left, and the ground where she had been standing was blasted by an electric beam. What appeared to be empty air opened fire on Amber, who spun Fairy Stinger in front of her to deflect the green gunfire. An invisible weight forced her staff down, and a powerful kick and gunshot from the invisible weight knocked her away and caused her to lose her grip on Fairy Stinger. Amber slid across the ground and then pushed herself up to her feet.
THUNK!
THUNK!
THUNK!
Three obsidian arrows hit the ground around her.
"You mi-"
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Amber screamed as she was engulfed in flames from the detonation of the three arrows, her Aura flickering out from the force. She dropped to her knees as her three human assailants gathered around her, and she could hear Starscream reposition himself a few feet away. Amber activated her magic, and rained down bolts of lightning in a circle around her, an extra bolt striking where she thought Starscream was just to be safe..
That should give me some breathing room, Amber thought as she rose to her feet, walked over to and picked up Fairy Stinger, and eyed the green-haired girl who started this whole mess, unaware that the woman was rising to her feet.
.
Cinder smirked as the carrier of the Fall Maiden's power approached Emerald, raising Midnight to point at her.
Good, she's focused on Emerald, she thought as she pulled back the bow string, an obsidian arrow forming out of the Dust that was still lingering in the air, Now I can claim her power, and tighten my hold on Emerald's heart in one fell swoop.
TWIP!
She let the arrow loose-
"AUGH!"
-and the obsidian buried itself in the Maiden's spine.
.
Amber dropped to her knees, holding herself off the ground with her hands as her legs went numb. She desperately tried to call upon the Maiden Power, only for a stab of pain to break her focus as the boy and the girl lifted up her arms and pushed down just below her neck. She looked up to see the woman who had joined the battle after Starscream pinned her down, and saw the cruel smile on her face as she put a white glove on her right hand.
W-What is she…
The woman opened the palm of her now-gloved hand. A red vortex formed on the palm-
SCHREEE!
-and a beetle-like Grimm emerged.
.
"There's one important detail you need to know about our enemy," Qrow explained, "She can command the Grimm, even create new species just to perform specific jobs."
.
"Please… No…" Amber begged.
The Grimm ignored her pleas, and spat its webbing onto her face, and then Amber cried out again as it melded to her skin. She was scared. She was confused. And then all she knew was pain and a horrible numbness that gradually spread over her body.
.
Cinder bit back the urge to scream as she felt the Beetle's tendrils wriggling throughout her veins. She had, thankfully, been able to channel her Semblance through the Beetle's webs, just as she had been told she would, and now she felt the power she had been promised flow through the Grimm and into her own Aura. She was so focused, in fact, that she was completely unaware of the Huntsman rapidly approaching her position.
.
Qrow Branwen had tried to hold onto his transformation for the speed it allowed him, but even from a distance he could see the Aura flowing through the webbing. And so his focus was broken, and he switched back to human.
Just cut the webs, save the kid, and get her as far away from here as possible, he thought, She won't have to fight, won't have to be a Huntress, just so long as she can live a long, safe life! Unfortunately, he had been so focused on the child he had been tasked with protecting, that he didn't realize that the mech was still active until he heard a horrible whirring. He jumped just in time to avoid an electric beam from the robot, which then shifted into an Atlesian Manta as Qrow continued to dash forwards.
"Can't you see she's already dead?" the mech's/Manta's pilot taunted as the robot-turned-airship fired a salvo of missiles. Qrow jumped back as the missiles detonated, some hitting each other, others careening into the woods, and a few striking the ground, but the explosive force still sent him flying back as the Manta shifted back into a robot. "How did that- Nevermind!" the robot snapped, and Qrow realized for the first time that the mech had a face and it was emoting as the pilot spoke, "I don't need my weapons to hurt you when I have my voice!"
What the heck is he- Qrow's thought was interrupted when the robot inhaled, before shrieking loudly enough to kick up dirt, rip leaves from the trees, and send Qrow flying as his ears rang as his Aura flared to keep his eardrums from bursting. Desperate, Qrow drew Harbinger and stabbed it into the ground, the blade shifting into Scythe Mode from Qrow's momentum before he finally came to a stop.
"Congratulations," the mech's pi-, no, the robot itself remarked as it sarcastically applauded him, "No organic being has ever withstood my Sonic Scream before. Even she needed a few hours to pull herself together."
"Just what the Hell is going on here?!" Qrow shouted as he pulled Harbinger out of the ground and shifted it back to sword mode.
"Hmmph, so it would seem as though Ozpin decided to leave you in the dark," the robot remarked with a smirk as he raised his right arm, the weapon mounted on it crackling with electricity, "Perhaps Shatter and Dropkick didn't screw me over as severely as I thought." Qrow growled, and the weapon fired forcing him to jump and dash into the woods to avoid the electric beam. As soon as he was in the cover of the trees, he closed his eyes and forced out his transformation, flying through the trees as a Qrow.
.
Cinder smirked as she felt the last few drops of the Maiden's power pulse through her Aura, the previous vessel's body going limp in Emerald's and Mercury's arms. Then she felt a strange burning sensation on her back as the Beetle's tendrils in her veins injected something into her skin there.
"Drop her," Cinder ordered as the glove the Beetle had nested in dissolved into her skin, the webbing sticking out of her palm and the markings she didn't know about on her back being the only evidence of the Grimm inside her body. Emerald and Mercury obliged, and the empty vessel's corpse fell, suspended from the webbing binding it's face to Cinder's palm. "I promise, it was nothing personal," Cinder sincerely stated as she lifted her right arm, the vessel's corpse now suspended in the air by the webbing as Cinder cupped its face with her left hand, "It could have happened to anyone. But your burden has become my liberation." She activated her Scorching Caress, and the hollow vessel flashed a brilliant amber glow, before collapsing into a pile of lifeless ashes.
"It's time to go," Starscream announced as he folded back into vehicle mode, "The former Maiden's bodyguard is here." The side door opened. "Hurry, he cannot see your fa-" Emerald glanced over her shoulder and yelped right as Ozpin's agent burst from the trees with a roar, blade drawn. Cinder activated the Fall Maiden's magic and blasted him in the chest with a fireball, sending him flying through several trees as he disappeared into the woods.
"Don't worry, I blurred our faces to him as soon as I noticed his mind," Emerald promised as she climbed inside Starscream's vehicle mode after Mercury.
"You had better," Cinder warned as she followed after her, Starscream closing the door behind her, "We need to keep our cover until we can bring this wretched world to justice, speaking of…" She turned to face the empty cockpit of the airship. "We need to head back to Forever Fall," Cinder stated as the Maiden powers flared in her eyes, "I believe Adam will be far more… Receptive with the resources I now command."
"Be careful not to turn Sienna Khan against us," Starscream warned, "Adam is just a stepping stone to her, remember?"
"Don't worry," Cinder stated as she conjured a crimson fireball above the palm of her right hand, watching it spin through the air as she willed, "His pride and delusions won't let him present or view it as anything but a mutually beneficial partnership."
Qrow emerged from the woods and picked up Harbinger as the airship flew away in the distance. There was nothing left of Amber but Fairy Stinger laying on the ground and ashes in the wind, already scattered too far to gather and bury. He sheathed Harbinger and scooped Amber's discarded weapon. She and Yang could've been teammates at Beacon. They could've been friends, there were plenty of things the two of them might have bonded over. But now they'd never know.
"Sorry for letting you down kid," Qrow finally stated, "I should've been more careful… Maybe then my curse wouldn't have cut your life short…" The growls of the Grimm cut his musing short, forcing Qrow to transform into a bird and fly away.
When he next landed, miles away, he struggled on what to say to Ozpin, a selfish part of him grateful that his nieces weren't the ones in danger.
Ruby, Blake, and Yang quietly munched on some emergency rations, Crimson switching the Bullhead to Autopilot so he could grab something to eat as well.
"... I'm not gonna lie," Yang stated, "If I had to live off of these, I'd probably go insane and try to destroy humanity as well."
"Okay, first of all, we don't live off of these," Blake cut in, "We call them 'emergency rations' for a reason! And secondly… Not all of us wanted to destroy humanity…"
"... Plus, these were technically taken from the Atlesian Military," Crimson noted as he took out one of the flavorless slabs, "Perhaps the Atlesians were simply jealous of Faunus cuisine this entire time!"
The Bullhead fell silent as they chewed on their stolen military rations.
"Would now be a bad time to mention that I packed myself a lunch before trying to sneak out of my house?" Yang asked. The other three organic occupants of the airship stared at her. "Oh, like you wouldn't forget about lunch after three harrowing near-death experiences in one morning!" Ruby wordlessly dug through Yang's bag.
"Do you think that Winter at least slowed down the Decepticons?" she asked as she pulled out a bag of chips, "I mean, she had a pretty good showing against Bumblebee yesterday!"
"I mean, on the one hand, those Summons are a headache and a half to fight," Yang stated as she took out an apple, "On the other hand, I don't think her swords will be much good against their metal shells."
The Bullhead fell silent as Blake took out a couple of snack bars and passed one down to Crimson.
"I can't believe we're actually rooting for Specialist Winter Schnee," she stated.
"Anything's better than getting vaporized by a bunch of alien robots," Crimson remarked, "Erm, no offense."
"None taken," Bumblebee remarked, "Hey uh… How well does this thing turn in autopilot? Because I saw a flock of avian lifeforms, and I don't know how sophisticated the computer's AI is."
Crimson cursed and dashed back to the cockpit.
"Okay, time for another several hours of flying this airship," Crimson commented, "Next stop, Vytal! Hopefully!"
The Bullhead fell into another awkward silence as the organic passengers went back to eating.
"Normally I'd be bored out of my mind," Yang opened, "But knowing what we're about to face…"
"We're going to be fine!" Ruby promised, "Don't forget, Shatter and Dropkick will have to take down Winter's airship before going against her Summons! For once, they'll be the ones worn down by a fight when we show up! That's bound to even the playing field a bit!"
"I hope you're right, Rubes," Yang replied, "I hope you're right…"
Shatter and Dropkick soared over the forests of Vytal as the sun approached the horizon, coming up to a large cliff. Shatter scanned the rock formations, detecting traces of Energon in the cliff face and Transmetal alloys further underground.
"This is definitely the place," Shatter remarked, "Curious…"
"What is it?"
"This cliff contains trace minerals found in this planet's moon," Shatter remarked, "Although most of this stone is chemically identical to the stone produced by your Earth Dust-infused Energon rounds. Perhaps seismic activity ruptured an Energon tank and caused a chain reaction?"
"Well, is there anyway for us to get in and terminate the Autobots without getting blown back to what's left of Cybertron?" Dropkick asked.
"Patience, Dropkick," Shatter chided, "I'm going to have to get closer to scan for a weak-point. But if I'm correct, then this rock formation should have simply formed above the Ark, with a massive cavern housing the wreckage itself."
"Alright, I'll help ya," Dropkick remarked as he started scanning, "I learned a couple of tricks from the Wreckers."
"When did you fight the Wreckers?" Shatter questioned as her scanner deactivated, "We've been partners since the Functionists attempted to overthrow Optimus, and I'm pretty sure I'd remember fighting them!"
"Fought? Oh no, I helped found them back when they were a band of Ascenticon vigilantes!" Dropkick replied, "Heck, I helped Blitzwing and Springer develop the Triple Change upgrade with T-cogs and other conversion components we ripped out of screaming Functionists!"
"... Huh…" Shatter commented, "Wait, YOU were the Downgrader of Polyhex?"
"What did you think the buzzsaw was for?" Dropkick asked, oblivious to the fish-shaped airship gaining on them, "Seriously Shatter, I might not be the smartest bot around, but you need some medical knowledge to know how to make a bot suffer without killing them. Seriously, if you thought empurata was fragged up, you should see what we did to the surgeons who practiced it!"
.
"Why hello there Decepticons," Winter commented to nobody in particular, "Allow me to teach you how we treat the enemies of Atlas." She locked onto Shatter and deployed her airship's guns.
.
BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Shatter engaged her PSF as soon as the first bullet struck her hull, then turned her scanners in the direction of the gunfire, scanning the cockpit of the white airship with the flowing ribbons attached to its thrusters.
"Schnee?!" she shouted in shock.
"But that's impossible!" Dropkick protested, "I pasted it!"
"Clearly you didn't!" Shatter shouted, "So go up there, and kill her properly this time!"
"With pleasure!" Dropkick replied as he shifted into robot mode, vented Earth Dust into his Energon canon, and fired the blast at the nose of the airship.
BOOM!
The blast collided with a grid of blue hexagons that covered the airship's nose, generating several rock spikes on the surface of the grid. The rocks crumbled off of the grid and plummeted into the woods, crushing several trees and kicking up clouds of dirt. Dropkick wordlessly snarled as the airship's guns redeployed, shifting back into Bullhead mode to charge her.
BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Dropkick flew under and behind the airship, before turning around and propelling himself at the roof of it at top speed. He shifted back into robot mode-
CLANG!
-and caused the entire airship to jossle as he landed on the roof and grabbed a hold of it with his right hand, shifting his left into a buzzsaw.
.
Winter made her airship spin as she tried to shake off the Decepticon clinging to her roof, the AK-130 serving as her copilot barely reacting.
"Let go of me you worthless piece of-"
Crrk!
Winter risked a glance up at the cracked windshield of the cockpit, and at the circular blade that had just scratched it. As if to spite her, the blade began to spin, cracking the glass further, and sank through it, sending shards everywhere.
"Shit!" Winter cursed as she unbuckled her belts and gave a time delayed command to her mechanical copilot. As soon as her task was done, she opened the door leading from the cockpit to the rest of the airship.
CRASH!
The windshield exploded into a thousand glass shards as Dropkick shifted his buzzsaw back into a hand and threw himself onto the front of the airship.
"Why hello there future bloodstain!" Dropkick greeted as Winter's eyes widened in fear. The Specialist ducked through the door and closed it behind her. "Oh, like that flimsy little thing is gonna save you!" Dropkick mocked as he shifted his right arm into an Energon canon and pointed it at the cockpit, failing to notice the AK-130 flipping some switches on the console. "Nighty-night!"
.
Winter anxiously watched the exit ramp lower as she power-walked away from the cockpit.
BOOM!
Winter shrieked as the shockwave sent her tumbling down the ramp and into free-fall, her airship exploding into fire and shrapnel behind her. Realizing that the ground was rapidly approaching and would shatter every bone in her body, Aura or no, Winter conjured a Glyph with a Leonine face, her loyal Manticore Summon bursting from the forest floor to soar towards its master. Winter's Aura flashed when it intercepted her fall, and the Specialist was forced to grab onto her Summon's neck as she steered it towards the cloud of smoke that her airship's detonation had left behind.
.
"Hmmph, too bad I didn't get to see the splatter," Dropkick grumbled as he dropped the twisted piece of metal that had been the part of Winter's airship he had clung to. At that exact moment, a blue fireball erupted from the smoke, striking Dropkick in the chest, before a frosty Manticore burst forth and latched onto Dropkick's head and shoulders.
"Did you seriously think I'd be content to lay down and die?!" Winter shouted as her Summon toppled Dropkick, causing the thrusters that he had been using to hover to now rocket him towards the ground, "As long as my General and my Kingdom need me, my life is theirs to use and discard! Not yours!" Her Manticore released Dropkick-
CRASH!
-who hit the ground hard and skidded across it, sliding to a halt near the foot of the cliff. Winter smirked as she admired her handiwork, and had her Summon charge up another fireball, having completely forgotten about the other Decepticon as Shatter shifted into robot mode.
BANG!
Winter shrieked as a yellow energy blast tore through her Manticore. The Specialist desperately conjured another Glyph, and the horse-like form of a Kelpie burst from the Glyph, allowing Winter to latch into the Summoned Grimm's back as it charged towards Shatter. The Decepticon security officer simply smirked and shifted back into a Dropship, machine guns locked onto Winter.
BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Winter had her Kelpie zig-zag to dodge the machine gun fire as Shatter flew towards her, kicking up a powerful tailwind as the Decepticon zipped past her overhead. Winter's hellish steed whirled around, just in time for a blue armored car to ram into it head-on.
"Gah!" Winter stumbled across the ground as her Summon fizzled out and the armored vehicle unfolded back into Dropkick.
"You know," the Decepticon remarked as he shifted his right forearm into an Energon canon, "I almost wish we could've kept you around just a little bit longer."
"Why's that?" Winter asked as she stabbed her saber into the dirt, forming a Glyph behind her.
"Because I would pay a million Shannix to see the look on Optimus Prime's face when he sees one of you putrid organics he loves so much fighting alongside the very cause he sold out," Dropkick answered as he pointed his weapon at Winter, "Ah well! Seeing your squishy insides decorate these trees is good enough for me!"
A flock of tiny Nevermores shot out of the Glyph behind Winter and soared into the air, before diving towards Dropkick in unison.
"Not this time!" Dropkick shouted as he pointed his canon at the flock.
BOOM!
An electrified Energon round tore through the flock, vaporizing the lot of them.
"Now where were… The frag did you go?" Dropkick questioned as he noticed that Winter wasn't standing in front of him anymore. He deployed his buzzsaw and scanned his surroundings to try and lock onto Winter's heat signature. At which point a frosty Beowolf jumped from the treetop and latched onto his face with a roar. "Gah! Seriously?" Followed by more and more of Winter's Beowolves dog piling onto Dropkick as he pried the first one off and crushed it in his hand. "I HATE THIS FRAGGING PLANET!"
Shatter continued scanning the cliff-face as she walked through the forest on foot.
"I swear, if the weak-spot is on the opposite side of this rock formation, I'll personally request explosives to implode the entire cliff-face on top of those wretched Autobots!" she snarled, "Of course, figuring out how to most efficiently dispose of the dormant Autobots will be a challenge in and of itself, if not an enjoyable one." The Decepticon was so caught up in fantasizing all the ways she could slaughter the Autobots - shooting them, stabbing them, blowing them to bits, draining their core bodies of Energon - that she failed to notice a Glyph forming under the ground she was walking over, or the massive hands that grabbed ahold of the ground as she stepped off, and pulled a giant, ape-like body out behind her.
Then a frosty hand grabbed a hold of her head and slammed her up against the cliff-face.
"Rgh…" Shatter's mouthplate closed over the lower half of her face as the Decepticon dug her heels into the ground, "Damned PEST!"
FWOOM!
The backblast from Shatter's thrusters shoved her up against the cliff face but had the desired effect of blowing away her assailant, allowing the Decepticon to disengage her thrusters and whirl around to face the Beringel Summon. The false Grimm roared as it lunged at her, and Shatter quietly deployed her right Energon blade to impale it.
.
Winter felt her blood run cold as she watched Shatter's blade pierce her Summon's midsection. As if to mock her further, the Decepticon slashed her blade upwards, bisecting the Beringel's head and causing the whole thing to dissolve. The Decepticon wordlessly turned to face Winter and took a step forward, and the Specialist sent out the order for the rest of her Summons to dogpile Shatter-
BOOM!
-freeing Dropkick to vaporize them with a Fire Dust-infused blast before they'd even made it halfway to the other Decepticon. The surrounding trees burst into flames as they toppled, the ones closest to the epicenter exploding into fiery splinters, while Winter backpedaled to avoid a falling tree that had toppled towards her, both Decepticons gradually approaching her. Winter glanced between Shatter and Dropkick, and conjured a Summoning Glyph on the ground, only for the Ursa to instantly get blown apart by Shatter. Winter stepped on a fallen breath and toppled back as the flames spread around her, pushing herself across the ground as the Decepticons deployed their melee weapons and drew even closer. The Specialist tried to sic a Griffon on Dropkick, only for the blue Decepticon's buzzsaw to grind through it. Winter felt her breath hitch in her throat as blind terror shot through her body.
And then, in the midst of the inferno, she felt a cold breath brush against the back of her neck. Winter pushed herself to her feet and whirled around, slashing through the Beowolf's head as it swiped its paw at her. Then a Boarbatusk exploded from the burning undergrowth, forcing Winter to jump out of the way as more and more Beowolves, Ursai, and Creeps surrounded her. Winter eyed the menagerie of nightmares as she separated her sabers, just in time for the Beowolves to lunge.
.
"Keep an optic on her," Shatter ordered as she retracted her weapons, leaving Winter to ward off the pack of Grimm, "Don't open fire until she kills the last Grimm."
"Yeah yeah," Dropkick remarked as Winter threw a Beowolf over her shoulder at a charging Ursa, "When can I get the chance to actually pop one of these things again?" Shatter rolled her optics.
"It's only been a few days since the fight at the dealership!" she reminded him.
"And I didn't even get to rip the squishy's arm off!" Dropkick insisted.
"Look, if this Specialist is as good as she thinks she is, you'll get your chance," Shatter remarked, before picking up something with her auditory receptors and glancing up through the smoke, "Actually, you might get your chance right now."
"Huh?" Dropkick questioned.
Shatter wordlessly pointed into the sky, and Dropkick followed where her finger was pointed, scanning to see through the smoke, and made out a bullhead.
"Well, time to do my job!" Dropkick laughed as he folded into bullhead mode and launched into the sky. Shatter smirked and turned to Winter as a Creep knocked her legs out from under her with a tail-swipe.
"This was never your game to win, 'specialist'!"
Yang tried to steady her breath as the Bullhead approached the raging inferno.
"Yeesh, I haven't seen anything like this since my hometown was destroyed," Crimson muttered, "How many Decepticons are here again?"
"Just the two," Ruby replied as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Well I don't see any giant robots," Crimson remarked as he glanced back into the passenger's area, "Are you sure that this is the right place?"
"If it was just the two, then the smoke from the fire's probably concealing them," Bumblebee explained, "Looks like Shatter and Dropkick weren't interested in sharing the glory, which works well for us."
"How so?" Blake asked.
"The fire implies that Shatter and Dropkick were fighting something or someone," Bumblebee explained, "Plus, we can use the to get the drop on them. Crimson?"
"I can drop you off to distract the 'cons and drop the kids off up-wind of the fire to find an entrance," Crimson explained as a blue Bullhead emerged from the smoke, "It'll be a piece of-"
"EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" Ruby interrupted as the other Bullhead unfolded.
"Huh?" Crimson put his eyes back on the sky just in time for Dropkick to grab onto the bullhead, "HEY! Get off you-"
"Forget it!" Bumblebee shouted, "We need to abandon ship and face him on foot!" Crimson nodded and flicked some switches on the dashboard as Dropkick's right arm shifted into his Energon canon.
"Okay," Crimson said as he unbuckled his seat belts and jumped to his feet, the bullhead's doors opening, "Let's get this party star-"
BOOM!
The Energon blast tore his body apart and splashed his blood onto the floor as the cockpit filled with stone.
"CRIMSON!"
"If we don't jump, he'll have died for nothing!" Bumblebee before the plates on his body unlocked, "I'll keep Dropkick distracted, you three make a break for it!" He moved towards the doorway, transformed an arm to grab a hold of the roof, and pulled his still-transforming body on top of the Bullhead.
"What?!" Dropkick exclaimed, "How did you sur-"
Bumblebee threw himself at Dropkick, stinging his face and grabbing onto his head to allow Ruby, Blake, and Yang to jump out of the falling Bullhead without the Decepticon noticing. When the Sting wore off, Bumblebee Stung him again, holding Dropkick prisoner with his very Spark keeping the Decepticon between himself and the ground, until they landed with a resounding-
CRASH!
.
Ruby, Blake, and Yang, meanwhile, got to work on their landing strategies as they jumped out of the Bullhead's port-side door. Ruby and Yang recoil boosted off of the cliff face and towards the woods, occasionally firing their weapons to slow their descent. They both landed on tree branches, but the sudden halt agitated Yang's stab wound and she toppled to the forest floor.
Blake meanwhile recoil boosted towards the cliff face to kick off of it, threw Gambol Shroud's scythe at a tree branch, swung off of it, and landed on her feet, her heels absorbing the fall. She sheathed her weapon and ran over to help Yang up as the wrecked bullhead vanished into the smoke from the nearby wildfire.
"I'm starting to think we should've left you with the Communication Security Team," Blake remarked as she offered Yang her hand.
"Too late now," Yang remarked as she took said hand and was pulled to her feet, "Besides, they handled the bug just fine without us."
"Guys," Ruby chimed in from the tree-tops, "Dropkick just got Bumblebee off of him, you might want to hide." The sound of two Cybertronian bodies shifting into vehicle mode backed up Ruby's claim, and Yang and Blake both dashed away from the feet of the cliff to hide in the shrubs as Ruby used her Semblance to dash into behind a pile of rocks that had inexplicably crushed some trees. And not a second too soon, as Bumblebee sped right by in vehicle mode, followed quickly by a blue, armored car which unfolded into Dropkick.
"Wretched little traitor!" the Decepticon snarled as he deployed his buzzsaw, "I'll be sure to rip your core body from your chassis and grind it into powder!" He punctuated his statement by slashing his buzzsaw through a burning tree, before charging through the flames after Bumblebee, causing a few of the burning trees to topple into the healthy ones, spreading the fires towards where Ruby, Blake, and Yang were hiding.
"What's the plan?" Blake asked as she and Yang emerged from the shrubbery, eying the flaming canopy.
"Don't let anyone else die," Ruby answered.
Winter struggled against an Ursa, pinned to the ground by its weight as she crossed her blades in front of her to keep one boney paw from crushing her ribcage. Shatter watched with a grin, but glanced to her right when she heard Dropkick shout.
"What's this about a trai-"
A yellow motorcycle erupted into the fiery battleground, unfolded into robot mode, and Stung Shatter, toppling her over before firing an Energon blast at one of the burning trees.
Seconds later, the burning wood toppled on top of the frozen Decepticon, right as Dropkick burst into the clearing himself.
"You worthless little-"
"Not in the mood!" Bumblebee shouted as he deployed his Energon blades and leapt off Shatter. Dropkick charged forwards as Shatter struggled to push herself back up, only for Dropkick to trip over her, sending both crashing to the ground.
"KIYAH!" Winter slashed through the Ursa with her blades, its body dissolving, "That should be the last of those…" She did a double take when she noticed Bumblebee staring right at her. "You're alive!"
The Autobot Scout wordlessly closed his battle mask over his face, raising his blades as he faced her, and Winter felt her stomach drop.
"W-wait, I'm sorry!" Winter shouted as Bumblebee surged towards her, "I didn't know- I didn't want either of those kids to be hurt as badly as they were, I promise!" She raised her own sabers and fell into a fighting stance as tears rolled down her cheeks. "P-please, I-"
Bumblebee dashed right past her, slashing his blade between the gaping jaws of a Creep that had been lunging at the Specialist.
"W-why?" Winter questioned as the remaining Grimm retreated.
"Don't get me wrong, I despise you," Bumblebee replied, "But I'm not going to murder a technical ally over a grudge match." He turned to face Shatter and Dropkick as they picked themselves up.
"Rgh… Can you kill NOBODY properly?" Shatter snapped.
"Tsk! He got lucky!" Dropkick insisted as his right arm shifted into an Energon canon, "It won't happen again!"
"If you're so confident, then I'll leave him to you!" Shatter remarked as she leapt into the air and folded into Dropship mode, "I have more important matters to attend to."
"Get back here!" Winter shouted, ready to chase the airship until Bumblebee grabbed her and yanked her out of the way of Dropkick's Earth Dust-infused Energon Blast.
"Let me give you a boost," Bumblebee offered.
"What are you talking aboOAH!" Winter screamed as Bumblebee threw her at the red Decepticon, before opening fire on Dropkick.
"Rgh…" the blue Decepticon snarled as he shielded his face with his left arm, "I'm going to enjoy tearing you servo-from-servo!" He roared and charged at the Autobot with a swing of his buzzsaw as Bumblebee switched his pistols out for blades and ran right towards the red-eyed Decepticon.
Winter, meanwhile, fell short of Shatter and had to catch herself on a Glyph, summoning another Manticore as she recombined and sheathed her sabers, before charging the retreating airship.
.
Ruby led the charge through the flames, slashing through flaming debris with Crescent Rose as her companions jumped and danced around the flaming plant-life.
"I don't suppose you brought a freeze-ray with you?" Yang questioned.
"Please," Blake scoffed, "If the White Fang had access to that, don't you think we would've used it during the battle at the hangar?"
"Focus you two!" Ruby cut in, "Dropkick will spot us if we go into the clearing, so we've gotta play with fire if we want to survive!"
"It's a good thing those Grimm cleared out some of the shrubs in their retreat," Yang remarked, "Certainly makes navigation easier."
At that moment, a burning branch fell onto a particularly dry bit of undergrowth, creating a wall of fire right in their path.
"... You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Blake remarked.
"Okay girls, don't worry," Ruby remarked, "As soon as Bumblebee gets Dropkick to face the rock wall, we can take a short-cut through the clearing and-"
"LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING FROZEN!" Dropkick roared as he fired an Ice Dust-infused Energon blast.
Bumblebee yelped and dodged, and the Ice Energon round released a blast of freezing cold, extinguishing that patch of the woods and creating a convenient cloud of steam.
"... I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth," Ruby remarked, "Let's go!"
The three girls dashed through the steamy, frozen woods as Bumblebee and Dropkick resumed their duel to the death.
"So… Now what?" Blake asked as soon as they were on the other side and the flames again blotted out Dropkick's and Bumblebee's duel.
"Well first, we-" Ruby was cut off when Bumblebee Stang Dropkick and tackled him into the burning woods, toppling the burning trees and taking the battle to where he'd have the upper hand, "Okay, we're going to have to get up against the cliffs, while Dropkick's distracted fighting Bumblebee and Shatter's dog-fighting Winter. Hopefully, we'll find a way into whatever cavern the Ark was buried in before the Decepticons do."
"Yeah…" Yang remarked as she watched Dropkick tear apart multiple burning trees with his bare hands as he tried to get to Bumblebee, "I'd rather not have a repeat of my first run-in with Dropkick."
"Then let's not waste any time," Ruby stated, "As soon as Dropkick's back is turned, we'll rush behind him and to the cliff face." Bumblebee then weaved around Dropkick, forcing the Decepticon to turn away from the clearing. Ruby rushed and weaved between the burning trees in a cloud of petals, reaching the cliff as Dropkick fired a Lightning Round that Bumblebee dodged, reducing a burning tree to flaming splinters.
Blake dashed after Ruby, lunging out of the way of Dropkick's legs as he took a step back to dodge a swipe of Bumblebee's Energon Blades, before reaching the cliff.
Yang ran after Blake, ducking behind a burning tree when Dropkick turned in her direction. While the Decepticon hadn't seen her, Bumblebee had, and stepped to put the Decepticon between himself and the clearing before opening fire.
Dropkick snarled and lunged at Bumblebee, pinning him to the ground with one hand, allowing the Autobot to Sting his wrist, holding Dropkick in place long enough for Yang to dash to the cliff. Dropkick unfroze as soon as Yang had passed, and threw Bumblebee over his shoulder.
"Now what?" Yang asked as she tried to tone out the explosions from Dropkick's Energon cannon as he fired at the yellow motorcycle that was very carefully keeping his attention away from the cliff face.
"Look for an opening," Ruby replied, "If even one of us can fit inside, we'll have it made!"
BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Shatter wordlessly snarled as Winter's Manticore kept flying ahead of her gunfire. Winter smirked at the Decepticon, before combining her sabers and willed the Manticore to pounce on the Decepticon. She ignored Shatter's indignant shriek and summoned a pack of Beowolves to claw at the robot's Aura.
"That is ENOUGH!" Shatter screamed. The Decepticon shifted into robot mode, sending a few of the Beowolves flying as she dropped to the ground. Shatter engaged her thrusters to slow her descent as pulled the Manticore off her body, and forced her right hand through its neck to grab Winter. Shatter spun as she descended, throwing off the remaining Beowolves before stopping on the ground next to the cliff face. "I'm going to enjoy bashing your squishy excuse of a processor out!" Shatter yelled as she slammed her right hand into the cliff face.
CRACK!
The Decepticon paused and pulled Winter away from the rock wall as a piece of it crumbled inwards to reveal a cavern.
"Is this…" Shatter scanned the stone around the hole and cackled, "Well, just my luck!"
"What are you-"
"Dropkick!" Shatter shouted as she tossed Winter over her shoulder and into the woods, "Disengage B-127 and fire a Gravity round at the hole in this cliff face!"
"Well…" Dropkick chuckled as he shifted into Bullhead mode, leaving Bumblebee on the ground, "Looks like you're too late!" The Decepticon executioner bellowed with laughter as he flew in the direction of Shatter's voice.
"Get back here!" Bumblebee shouted as he ran after the Decepticon, jumped into the air, then folded into motorcycle mode to give chase.
"C'mon!" Ruby started as she, Blake, and Yang ran towards where Shatter had landed as the Decepticon in question dashed away from the wall, "If we're quick, I should be able to use my Semblance to-"
BOOM!
A purple, Gravity Dust-infused Energon round tore through the trees and struck the hole Shatter had accidentally punched in the cliff face, blasting the stone away in the process. The shockwave knocked all three girls off their feet with a shriek and stripped the leaves from the branches of the trees.
.
"Ugh…" Blake groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, unable to see more than a few feet in front of her through the dust cloud that had formed, "Are you two alright?"
"I've felt better," Ruby replied as she pushed herself back up as well.
Yang wordlessly groaned in pain as she tried to push herself back up with just her right arm, her left arm hugging where Winter had stabbed her the previous evening.
Ruby and Blake shared a glance, nodded, and helped Yang up to her feet.
"I'll live," the blond insisted.
"Oh, but for how long?" a familiar voice asked as two golden lights pierced the dust cloud to stare down at them. All three girls turned to the lights, which were attached to the face of a large, winged, humanoid silhouette. Within seconds, the dust cleared to reveal Shatter's cruel smile staring down at them.
"If it isn't B-127's human pets?" Shatter remarked as she stared down at Ruby and Yang, before turning her attention to Blake, "And it seems that he's added another to his collection."
"I'm nobody's pet!" Blake spat as she unsheathed Gambol Shroud and swapped it to pistol mode, pointing it at Shatter's face.
"Is THAT supposed to scare me?!" Shatter laughed, oblivious to Winter dashing into the cavern behind her, "Oh, you poor, naive little organic!"
"Leave them alone!" Bumblebee roared as he charged Shatter. He unfolded into robot mode, kicked off the ground, and deployed an Energon saber as he threw himself at Shatter.
The red Decepticon scoffed and swatted him out of the air with her own Energon blade, sending the Autobot scout tumbling across the ground towards Dropkick
"Dropkick! Seal the cave entrance behind me!" Shatter ordered as she folded into SUV mode, "I'll ensure that Optimus never awakens, while you dispose of these wretched pests!" She swerved around, kicking up dirt in Blake's, Ruby's, and Yang's faces (causing Ruby to let go of her sister), before driving into the cave, three Earth Dust-infused Energon rounds filling the entrance with stone spikes behind her.
"Now…" Dropkick opened as he pointed his Energon cannon at the trio and vented Lightning Dust into the barrel, "Who wants to die first?"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The barrage of Energon blasts from Bumblebee pushed the barrel of the Energon canon so it pointed at the top of the cliff.
BOOM!
The electric blast dislodged several rocks, sending Ruby, Blake, and Yang running as the stones toppled to the ground.
CRASH!
"Rrgh…" Dropkick growled as he deployed his buzzsaw, "Just die already!" Bumblebee folded into motorcycle mode and drove out of the way as Dropkick's buzzsaw struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt as Ruby, Blake, and Yang dashed for safety in the woods.
.
"Okay, what do we do now?" Blake asked as Yang sat down on a tree stump and tried to steady her breath, Bumblebee and Dropkick's battle still audible from their hiding place.
"We need to find some way to slip past Dropkick and get into the Ark before Shatter kills the Autobots," Ruby replied as the ground shook.
"Okay, how do you suggest we do that when our only way in is filled with deadly rock spikes?" Blake asked, "I'd rather not give up, but unless your Semblance lets you pass through solid objects, we've pretty much run into a dead end."
"I mean, if we triggered a big enough explosion…"
"Too bad we left all the explosives on the bullhead when we abandoned ship," Blake remarked, "But even then, there's the matter of how to pull that off without grabbing the attention of the blue butcher."
"Maybe if we could get our hands on Dropkick's cannon arm?" Ruby remarked, "If we could find some way to dismember Dropkick and fire his cannon at the rock spikes-"
"... Ignoring the ethical issues of dismembering our enemy to weaponize his severed arm, let's not forget that this guy isn't like some Atlesian mech like a tank-walker or spider-droid!" Blake pointed out, "He has Aura! How are we supposed to circumvent or over-power that?"
Something dawned on Yang's face, and she wordlessly rose to her feet to walk back into the battlefield.
"Yang!" Ruby cut in as she grabbed her older sister's right wrist, "What are you doing?!"
"Aiming for the joints," Yang answered.
"... Wha-"
"The joints and the eyes are more fragile than the rest of his body," Yang explained, "Just watch."
Ka-click!
.
Bumblebee swatted Dropkick's buzzsaw away with his left Energon saber, only for the Decepticon to kick him to the ground.
"Face it, Autobot! You were dead the second we detec-"
BOOM!
Dropkick yelped as a fireball struck the joint behind his knee, causing his left leg to buckle, allowing Bumblebee to push himself off the ground and round-house kick the Decepticon in the head.
"You were saying?" Bumblebee taunted as he Stung the Decepticon, before turning his attention to Yang, "What the Pit are you doing?"
"We need to get his big cannon!" Yang replied, "Besides-"
Ka-click!
"- I needed to see that he wasn't invincible."
"Yang, I've got this under contrAUGH!" Bumblebee yelped as Dropkick grabbed him by the leg and rose to his feet.
"Oh, you think you're so tough?" Dropkick taunted as he threw Bumblebee over his shoulder and pointed his canon at Yang, "You're just a pathetic, fleshy little INSECTICON!" Yang felt her blood run cold and shot a quick glance over her shoulder, let out a sigh of relief, then turned to the left and threw her arms out behind her.
BOOM!
Yang rocketed out of the way of the Energon blast.
BOOM!
The blast froze several trees solid as the foliage on Dropkick's left rustled.
"Sit still and die!" Dropkick snarled as he redeployed his buzzsaw and charged at Yang.
CRACK!
Ruby exploded from the treeline behind Yang and hooked one of his feet with Crescent Rose.
CRACK!
"Augh!" Dropkick shrieked as Ruby used the recoil from the gravity round to trip him up and land the Decepticon on his back.
"You okay?"
"I'll be fine," Yang insisted, "Where's Blake?"
"She rushed to Bumblebee," Ruby replied as Dropkick started to push himself back up, "You go to his left, I'll go to his right." Yang nodded, and the two sisters split up.
.
Dropkick wordlessly snarled as he glanced between the humans.
"You still owe me an arm," he growled as he turned to face the primarily yellow one and revved up his buzzsaw.
CRACK!
He turned to face the red one, just in time to see it pull the trigger again.
CRACK!
An electrified projectile struck his right optic, causing the Decepticon to scream and try to shield his face with his hands, only to grind his buzzsaw against his face.
BANG!
"Not very bright, are you?" B-127 taunted from behind the Decepticon as the Energon blast pushed him forward. Dropkick snarled and whirled around, only for Bumblebee to Sting him and through the new organic at his face. The second Dropkick's Projected Spark Field solidified, the organic creature slashed one of its blades across his left optic and fired a burning projectile into it before leaping into a nearby tree.
B-127 took advantage of Dropkick's temporary partial blindness to dash between the Decepticon's legs and slash at his knee-joints.
Dropkick howled in pain, before shifting into armored car mode and charging towards the Autobot.
.
Bumblebee chuckled to himself as he folded into motorcycle mode and led Dropkick away from Blake.
Okay, I have to give credit to Blake, that was actually a clever idea, the Autobot Scout conceded as Dropkick bore down on him, As powerful as Dropkick is, he's not that effective against multiple, small targets spread out over a large area.
"Out of the way, Bee!" Yang shouted from up ahead as she threw two ammo packs into the air and caught them with Ember Cellica's chamber, "I've got an idea!"
Bumblebee swerved to the right, and Yang punched the air ahead of her right.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The explosive rounds struck the ground beneath Dropkick, toppling the Decepticon onto his right side.
Bumblebee shifted to robot mode and charged towards the Decepticon as he tried to right himself by opening his doors. He deployed his Energon blades and sliced through the neighboring trees in a single stroke, burying the Decepticon under twelve of them.
"That should slow him dow-"
Dropkick transformed into robot mode, knocking the trees away and grabbing one in his hands. He slid his hand across the trunk, stripping off the branches before bashing Bumblebee aside with it.
"Looks like some of the organic matter is good for something after all," he said, before turning his attention to Yang.
"Oh grapes…"
She had barely moved her arms to recoil boost away before the log struck her.
.
"Yang!" Blake shouted.
"Get down!" Ruby shouted as she pointed her sniper rifle at Blake.
Blake dropped to the ground-
CRACK!
-and an electrified bullet tore through the chest of the Beowolf that had been lunging at her.
"More Grimm?"
"... They are attracted to negativity," Ruby noted as she unfolded Crescent Rose into scythe mode, and glanced around at the Grimm emerging from the woodwork, "And we were pretty freaked out by the Decepticons."
"How are we supposed to fight both the Grimm and the Decepticons?" Blake asked as she jabbed Gambol Shroud's blade into a Beowolf's throat.
"Just let Bumblebee handle Dropkick," Ruby ordered as she bisected three Beowolves and a Creep with her scythe, "Even a guy as big as him has limited Aura."
"Why aren't you worried about your sister?" Blake asked as she jabbed her blade down a Creep's throat and out the back of its head.
"She's got a lot of Aura," Ruby replied as she cut down an Ursa, "She kinda needs it for her Semblance."
Blake didn't press Ruby for more info, focusing more on using her Semblance to keep an Ursa from biting her head off, and both continued their battles, unaware of Dropkick walking towards them, dragging his tree-club across the ground as he pointed his Energon cannon at Ruby, oblivious to the yellow motorcycle driving under his Energon cannon and unfolding.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The three Energon blasts forced it to point upwards-
BOOM!
-and the electrified blast struck one of the Nevermores that had begun circling the battlefield, causing dissolving Nevermore pieces to rain on the ground.
Dropkick snarled and kicked Bumblebee away, raising his improvised club above his head with a roar.
Bumblebee's eyes widened under his battle mask and he deployed his Energon sabers, crossing them in front of himself to catch the tree as Dropkick brought it down. A swiping motion with his arms was enough to slice through the trunk.
"Worthless little bug!" Dropkick snapped as he tossed what was left of his tree trunk aside and deployed his buzzsaw.
BOOM!
A fireball exploded against the back of the Decepticon's head.
"Oh what now?" Dropkick questioned as he turned around to face his assailant.
BOOM!
Yang rocketed forwards, eyes red and hair blazing, before striking Dropkick in the chest.
CLANG!
.
Yang bounced off the Decepticon's chest and smirked as Dropkick stumbled across the ground, his Aura flashing from the combined force of every single bit of damage Yang had taken since abandoning the bullhead.
Blake and Ruby both gawked for a second as the Dropkick crushed the Grimm standing between them, before going back to fighting the Grimm as the Decepticon skidded to a halt in front of the rock spikes.
Yang, meanwhile, marched right towards the Decepticon as tears rolled down her face.
"I'm sick of being scared."
BOOM!
Yang blew apart a Beowolf as she approached Dropkick.
"I'm sick of feeling weak!" she continued as she punched an Ursa hard enough to pop it, walking between Ruby and Blake, "But most of all…" She grabbed the tail of a Creep that had been lunging at Ruby and threw it at Dropkick. "I'm sick of you!" The Grimm splattered against Dropkick's face, causing the Decepticon to snarl in annoyance as he pointed his Energon cannon at Yang.
"I don't know who you think you are, and I don't care," he coldly stated as he vented Gravity Dust into the barrel of the cannon, "But what I do know is that no fragging organic makes a fool of Security Officer Dropkick of the Domestic Defense Corps!"
Ka-click!
"Yang, DON'T!" Bumblebee shouted as the Nevermores dove right for her.
BOOM!
Yang launched herself at Dropkick with a scream and threw a right hook right down the barrel of Dropkick's cannon, punching a fireball right into the cloud of Gravity Dust at point blank range.
Yang's entire world was engulfed in light and fire.
And then, darkness.
Ruby's ears rang as the dust settled and the smoke cleared. She struggled to her feet and surveyed the damage.
The hole in the cliff face had been reopened, most of the nearby trees had been flattened and either frozen, burned, or partially encased in stone.
The Grimm, without Aura to shield their bodies, had been completely obliterated by the blast.
Bits of blue and black metal lay scattered throughout the battlefield from the detonation of Dropkick's weapon.
Blake and Bumblebee were both rising to their feet, each one a few feet away from where they had been standing when all the Dust in Dropkick's weapon detonated.
Ruby pulled out her Scroll and checked.
Her and Blake's Auras were in the yellow, but Yang's was completely depleted.
"YANG!" Bumblebee called as tears welled up in Ruby's eyes.
Please… No…
"It feels like a bomb went off inside my skull," Blake groaned, "Wait, where's Yang?"
"Sh-she…" Ruby's entire body shook as she struggled to voice the conclusion she had reached.
The tears rolling down her face and her choked up sobs told Blake enough.
"Oh…"
They both stood in awkward silence. Blake hadn't known Yang for very long, and hadn't really had any positive opinions of the girl until that morning, but to lose her so abruptly was-
"I found her!" Bumblebee shouted interrupting both Ruby's mourning and Blake's shock.
.
Bumblebee scanned Yang's body for movement, his ventilation system halted from worry. He let out a sigh of relief when he detected that she was still breathing, but it was a small comfort.
The shockwave from the blast had detonated all of the Dust in Yang's right gauntlet, destroying both the weapon and her right forearm. While her Projected Spark Field had shielded her from both the shockwave and the shrapnel, it had gone out before the flames from the blast had, burning the upper-right quarter of her body beyond recognition. The skin nearest to what used to be Yang's right elbow seemed to have been burned off entirely, and he didn't know enough about human anatomy to know if the damage was skin-deep, or if her right optic had also been destroyed.
And then there was the bleeding, as what wasn't burned had been severely battered when Yang hit the ground without her Projected Spark Field to soften the blow.
"Hang in there," Bumblebee muttered as he knelt beside her.
.
Ruby felt her heart stop as she stared at Yang's battered, bruised, bleeding, burned body laying on the ground.
"Is she…" Blake's voice trailed off, not wanting to upset Ruby.
"She's not dead," Bumblebee answered (leaving the "yet" unsaid), "But I don't know how to treat these kinds of injuries."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Blake asked.
"I don't know," Bumblebee answered.
"But… The militia-"
"Isn't here yet," Bumblebee interrupted as a red-eyed raven landed on one of the still-standing trees that had been outside of the blast radius, "And we can't afford to wait for it."
"So we just leave her here and go deal with the other Decepticon?" Blake asked, "She'll die if we leave her like this!"
"I know!" Bumblebee snapped, "Do you think I want to let Yang die after living with her for two weeks? After she saved my life?!"
Ruby wordlessly stared at her sister's body, the whole world feeling much colder and darker as she struggled to steady her breath.
"That's… That's not what I was implying at all!" Blake deflected, all three of the still-conscious combatants oblivious to the creeping shadows that were closing in on them, "But we need to do something!"
Ruby went completely numb, her entire world was now Yang's unmoving body.
"If you have any ideas, I'm more than welcome to the-" Bumblebee's voice was cut off by a rattling hiss as a white, serpentine head slithered into view.
"A King Taijitu…" Blake muttered as Bumblebee deployed an Energon saber. He tried to swing his blade at it, only for the black head to lunge from the shadows and bite his midsection.
"Let me go!" Bumblebee shouted.
The King Taijitu complied by throwing him away, before both heads turned their attention to the vulnerable, unconscious body on the ground. Both heads opened their jaws wide as Blake pointed Gambol Shroud at the nearest head, then lunged as she opened fire.
"YAAAAANG!"
Both heads recoiled as the serpentine Grimm was engulfed in a brilliant flash of silver light.
Adam and his men trudged through Forever Fall, battered, bruised, and worn down.
Firstly, in the time it had taken to deal with the Alpha Beowolf, the bullheads had been stolen by the defectors, forcing them to hotwire a van and flee through Vale.
Then, the VPD had noticed that the man in the driver's seat was wearing a White Fang uniform after pulling them over, and they were forced to go on a high-speed car chase through the streets of Vale before eventually losing the officers and escaping into Forever Fall.
Then the van broke down and their poor morale attracted a gang of Ursas.
Add in texts from the camp confirming even MORE desertions (apparently, the defectors had made some calls), and Adam was in a very sour mood.
"Don't worry about it, sir," Lieutenant Schwarz started, "When we get to the camp, we can send out search parties to bring in her head."
"Forget it," Adam growled, "We need to cut our losses and return to Mistral." Then, when I tell Sienna Khan that Blake assaulted me, sided with the Atlesian Military, and led a mass desertion, we'll see how long her favor lasts. After that, I'll just have the Albains spread word of Blake's betrayal, and not even her parents will be able to stop the people of Menagerie from descending upon that back-stabbing bitch and tearing her limb-from-limb for betraying her species!
The sound of gunfire and explosions snapped Adam out of his revenge fantasy as smoke rose from the encampment. He, Schwarz, and their men readied their weapons and charged into the clearing, coming face to face with the woman from the previous night.
The woman mostly appeared the same as she did back then, outside of the fact that she was shooting fire from her hands and had golden flames in her eyes.
"You know, you're right, I could have gone to anyone," the woman opened as she drew her twin swords and threw them on the ground, "But I chose you." Both blades were engulfed as the ground around Adam and his men burst into flames, as if the pits of Hell had opened up to swallow them all whole. "And I'll be continuing my plans, with or without your help," the woman continued as her two underlings walked up behind her with briefcases, "So the way I see it, this can either benefit both of us-" They opened the briefcases to reveal Lien and Dust Crystals, "-or just me." The woman smirked as she raised the flames to obscure her followers. "So, Adam, which will it be?"
a/n: So... How many of you saw that coming? Because I've been planning this since before I uploaded Chapter 1.
Amber's scene was originally going to be in the previous chapter, but I pushed it back here for the sake of cohesive flow.
Now all that's left is the Volume finale and epilogue.
...
Welp, might as well respond to reviews!
Yeah hi sorry: Zarak isn't Tyrian, though I did DELIBERATELY set up that scene to make it seem as though Tyrian had dropped in for a visit. And as tempting as it was to kill off Adam there, you can see here that that's not what wound up happening.
Z-King: Yep! Just in time to join in with the traumatic experiences I subjected said "angels" too!
MadTitan9: Well, there's the death-threats Ironwood's fans have thrown at CRWBY, the way they harass fans of the show, AND the willfull ignorance of Ironwood's own incompetence.
I mean, he brought an ARMY with him to a kingdom his ancestors had tried to invade during the anniversary of that war's conclusion, spent his entire time in Vale trying to have Ozpin fired, shows ZERO tactical skill, demanded that Ozpin share all of his secrets while keeping secrets from his allies, had the AUDACITY to blame Ozpin for the Fall of Beacon when it was his refusal to listen to Ozpin that led to its fall, cut Atlas off from the rest of the world, took ALL of the materials needed to fix the holes in Mantle's wall instead of simply allocating a handful, and decided to abandon Mantle the second he learned that Cinder was in Atlas (with Cinder only failing because RWBY disobeyed him). Add in that his plan to abandon Mantle would've doomed Atlas as well (as the Staff can only keep Atlas afloat, they still need Mantle's materials to keep the Hard-Light Barriers and climate-control tech running), AND that his two Council Seats mean that there's no way to reign him in, and what you get is a self-important IDIOT with more power than any one man should EVER hold!
Ahem, sorry about the rant, I just NEVER got why people are so eager to lick his boots when the only reason Pyrrha died is because he was a hypocritical moron.
merendinoemiliano: I know that, and Blake knows that, but the woman who pointed out the age gap DIDN'T know that. As it stands though, we still had Adam raising Blake to be his trophy wife since she was twelve and he was eighteen, so it's KIND OF a moot point.
Regardless, there's only one chapter left, and it's a race against clock in the battle that will decide the future of Remnant.
