Inside the Atlas facility, VEGA deposited Novus into an empty hallway.

"This is as close as I can get you" VEGA explained, "Penny's last marked location is in the door on the far right."

Novus looks in that direction in time to see the Ace Ops go through the larger door at the end; they were too far away to notice him. However, it was clear what they were after.

Novus cocks his shotgun and whispers to himself, "Oh no you don't." before taking off down after them.

...

Ironwood sits in his office, waiting for word on the Ace Ops' attempt to capture Penny. The aura sensors in the facility had detected the prolonged use of a semblance, which led Ironwood into thinking Ruby's team was somehow involved and promptly sending the Ace Ops down to deal with it.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside from one of the Atlas soldiers. "Hey, you can't be...here..."

The sounds of a brief struggle were heard, causing Ironwood to instinctively draw his pistol and lock the door to his office, tense at the thought of what might be at the other end. There were a few more tense moments as Ironwood waited. Just when he thought the threat had passed, the edges of the doors began to violently sparked as something began to shoot them from the other side, cutting through the edges of the door. Once the shooting stopped, the door fell to the ground with a massive thud and the smoke cleared to show Ekaj, his chaingun rattle smoking. Ekaj glared at the General as he slithered in to face him.

"Hello, General" Ekaj hissed, "You certainly have a few things to explain."

Ironwood remained unflinching despite recognizing the snake as a Sentinel warrior. "I assume you're sent here because I shot Novus. Is that it?"

"Part of it" Ekaj replied as he circled around Ironwood menacingly, "You also shot one of our Maidens. The Slayer is very disappointed in your actions, and I am here to put you in your place."

Ironwood glared at Ekaj, "You will do no such thing. Not unless you want to see Robyn Hill executed in her cell."

Ekaj hissed in anger and narrowed his eyes. "You locked her up!?"

"I will do whatever it takes to ensure Atlas's safety. If the Slayer comes, then the city is in danger of being leveled from the resulting battle."

"You don't know that!" Ekaj roared, trapping the General in his coils.

Ironwood gasped out. "Leave this in Atlas hands, or I kill Robyn."

The serpent simply tightened his bonds. "You will do no such thing. I can't wait to see what the Slayer will think of this..."

...

Novus managed to get to the door and open it just in time to see the Ace Ops trap Penny and Katrina outside of the next room and lock the others inside. Frantic, Katrina ran to the door and tried to touch it, but was shocked by the electric field around it, causing her to yelp in pain.

"Really, sis?" Harriet said, a determined expression on her face, "I thought you would be smarter than that."

Katrina simply glared back at Harriet and hissed in anger, her cat ears folding back.

Vine attempted to be the voice of reason. "Please, Penny, we just need you to open the vault. As you can see, Salem is here, and we need the Relic to stand a chance."

"That's not the only way!" Katrina argued, "Julius is going to bring down the barrier, he told us himself! Did you not feel that tremor?!"

Marrow was the only Ace Op who looked hesitant, "Wait, you mean...he did it?"

Katrina shrugged. "Most likely. There's not point in getting Penny; we already have the help we need."

Elm wasn't convinced, "Really? Then where is he? Where is the Slayer?"

Neither Penny nor Katrina had answer.

"Last chance, tin can" Harriet threatened, "You coming with us or not?"

Oh, that's it! Novus thought; he could feel the rage that made up his Semblance build as he walked up behind them, loading his super shotgun. Before anyone knew he was there, he raised the gun and fired. The sound of a shotgun blast was heard as Elm flew forward and hit the ground, her aura flaring. Groaning, Elm attempted to stand up before Novus stomped on her back, pinning her while he pointed his super shotgun at Marrow, Harriet and Vine.

As he glared at them, his words carried a dangerous tone. "Get...away...from her."

Harriet deployed her gauntlets. "Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it?"

Marrow, however, looked more nervous, not raising his gun. "Uh, maybe that's not a good idea, Hare."

Vine agreed. "Harriet, he's right. This isn't a fight you will win."

Harriet simply scoffed. "Wanna bet?"

Novus aimed the super shotgun straight at Harriet. "I'll pull this trigger. Don't think I won't."

"I wouldn't bother" said a voice as a drone appeared before projecting a holographic image of Dr. Watts. Everyone started back in surprise, including the Ace Ops.

Novus tookk his foot off of Elm and took a few steps towards the hologram. "You're supposed to be locked up!"

Watts simply chuckled. "I just so happen to have other friends besides Salem who are capable of pulling some strings behind Ironwood's back. However, that's not important right now."

Novus raised his gun. "If you want Penny, you gotta go through me."

"That's exactly the plan. Let's see how your power holds up against a more...worthy opponent."

A red portal opens up, spewing forth a hideous figure; a demon fused with machinery. As it emerged, Watts began to explain:

"You remember the great Agaddon Hunters, don't you? Powerful creatures that were arguably one of the biggest threats to the Slayer and his Sentinel armies during the early years of the Unholy Crusade. Of course, they were hunted to extinction, but I was able to locate some of their remains and give them a sort of...upgrade."

Here, Watts gave a devious grin. "Let's see how you handle one of my finest creations."

The hologram dissipated as the Hunter powered up, its yellow eye illuminating. Looking around, it locked onto both Penny and Novus before speaking in a mechanized voice. "Sentinel and Maiden detected. Prepare to die!"

(Mick Gordon-"Doom Hunter" plays)

Raising its chainsaw arm, the Hunter let out a hideous roar before advancing towards Novus with remarkable speed. Novus fired, aiming for the head, but the shot did minimal damage as a blue aura flared around it.

Elm gasped in fright. "It has an aura?!"

Even Vine was clearly disturbed by this. Novus, however, simply growled in frustration before charging the Hunter head on.

Penny immediately became frightened. "NO!"

She flew over to help him, swords drawn. Katrina also ran to help, but was clotheslined by Harriet.

"Oh no, you don't" Harriet said, glaring down at the cat faunus, "We have some unfinished business."

Katrina looked at Harriet in disbelief. "Seriously?! Now is NOT the time!"

"She's right, Harriet" Vine said, "It seems we have to make a choice; either we help bring that thing down and risk losing the Maiden, or we take the opportunity to grab her while Novus is distracted. Personally, I'd prefer the former."

Harriet looked at Vine in disbelief. Meanwhile, Novus darted in and around the Doom Hunter, firing from his Seige mode Gauss Cannon. The demon aura continued to flare, but showed no sign of weakening. Every time it tried to swipe at Novus with its chainsaw, Penny pelted it with lasers or sliced at it with her swords.

Finally, it backhanded Penny into the distance before bringing its chainsaw down on Novus, who blocked it with his own chainsaw. As he strained against the blades, Novus looked toward the Ace Ops.

"You have to...choose a side." he managed to get out, "It's either me, or this thing. I suggest you pick soon!"

The Ace Ops knew he was right, but they knew if they helped Novus, they risked losing Penny and failing Ironwood. Then again, having something like the Doom hunter on the loose wouldn't be any better...

Novus was beginning to get pushed down by the Hunter's saw, but only managed to jump out of the way when Penny flew back into the fight, blasting it with her lasers, before flying down and landing next to Novus.

"Are you ok?" she asked in worry as she helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine" he reassured, "But this thing just doesn't seem to die easily."

"We have to keep trying" Penny told him, "It has to have a limit of some kind!"

Novus brought out his rocket launcher. "I hope you're right. Stand back!"

Novus equipped a new mod to the rocket launcher and pointed it at the sky before firing. As the rocket flew towards the ceiling, it slowly arched back down before splitting into multiple rockets, all of which collided with the Doom Hunter, engulfing it in a dome of fire. However, as the smoke cleared, The Hunter still stood, growling at Novus and Penny. However, Marrow noticed something else; one of the thrusters on its hover sled was damaged, breaking a small hole in the aura.

He tapped Elm's shoulder and pointed. "See that?"

Elm followed where he was pointing and grinned. "So it does have a weakness."

"You're not seriously going to help them are you?" Harriet demanded.

"As a matter of fact, I am!" Elm announced.

Harriet started forward. "You can't just...!"

She was cut off as one of Vine's hands grabbed her head and slammed it into the metal railing, knocking her out.

"Apologies" he said, "But Novus does make a good point."

Marrow helped Katrina to her feet. "You ok?"

"I'm fine" she replied, "Now let's go!"

Elm was silent for a few moments, but then hefted her hammer. "Besides, I'll take my chances with Novus over that Hunter any day." With that, she let out a war cry and charged the Hunter, swinging her hammer down on another one of the thrusters, breaking it off. The Doom Hunter lurched a bit, but quickly regained its balance and glared at Elm as Marrow, Katrina and Vine ran up next to her.

Penny looked confused. "What are you doing?"

"What Novus suggested" Elm replied, not taking her eyes off the Hunter. "Choosing a side."

"Go for the thrusters!" Marrow added. "They're not protected by the aura!"

Hope renewed, Novus and Penny shot forward alongside Katrina and the Ace Ops. Seeing their approach, the Doom Hunter lifted its cannon arm, firing a barrage of plasma bolts. Penny darted forward, using her Maiden power to create and ice shield that countered the projectiles. Vine reached out with his Semblance, grabbing two of the thrusters.

"Katrina!" he called.

"Way ahead of ya!" she said, shooting forward with her semblance and slicing the thrusters with her katana. Elm jumped up, getting into the Hunter's face before delivering a hammer blow to the jaw. It didn't wound the creature, but it did stun it long enough for Marrow to throw his weapon in boomerang form, slicing the wiring on the cannon arm and leaving it useless. Novus then ran up, bringing out his Plasma Rifle and attaching a new mod to it. Aiming for the remaining thrusters, he pulled the trigger, sending out a thin beam of plasma that sliced cleanly through the metal, taking the rest of the thrusters down.

The Hunter roared in frustration as smoke billowed from the sled, but as the huntsmen watched, it simply detached the sled, using its backup thruster on a small base so it looked like just a floating body. As it regained its balance, Marrow threw his boomerang again, slicing the creature's arm.

Novus noticed the wound and realized that by taking down the sled, they took down the aura. Except...

"That wasn't an aura" he said.

Vine caught on too. "It was merely a shield."

Katrina raised her katana. "Looks like he's defenseless now."

Elm hefted her hammer. "Let's finish it off!"

Suddenly, and explosion was heard behind them, and they only had time to duck as the door ruby's team had been trapped behind flew off, slamming into the Hunter and pinning it to the ground. As everyone else stood back up, they turned around to see Nora standing in front of the rest of the team, her eyes and veins crackling with electricity and a huge grin on her face. Everyone else looked at Nora in shock as she strode out to see the remains of the battle.

Nora's expression became confused. "Uh, what did we miss?"

Elm shrugged. "It's a long story."

Ruby walked over to come face to face with the Doom Hunter, still alive and growling in frustration underneath the door. She gasped in horror. "What is that?"

Novus walked next to her, charging up the siege mode on his Gauss cannon. "Let's just say that one of Salem's goons has been busy."

Aiming the weapon at the Hunter's head, Novus fired, causing the demon's head to explode in a burst of blood. He then shouldered the weapon and looked at the others.

"Is everyone ok?" he asked. Ruby's team as well as the Ace Ops (minus Harriet, who was still unconscious), all confirmed they were fine.

Ruby looked to Nora. "How are YOU ok?! You absorbed so much electricity!"

"She's of Sentinel blood." Novus said, "We were built to survive."

Nora smiled in pride. Penny, however, looked saddened as she looked at the remains of the Hunter. "That thing was after me. I'm not sure if I should stay with you guys."

Ruby tried to console her friend. "Penny, if you were on your own, that things would have taken you to Salem, or worse. We have to stay together if we are to win."

"She's right" Marrow spoke up, "I mean, did you see how we manhandled that thing together? None of us could have done that on our own."

"He's right" Novus said, patting Penny's shoulder, "The only way if we win is if we fight together."

Penny seemed to lighten up a bit and managed a smile at the others.

Vine nodded in agreement. "It seems that you may indeed be on the right path."

"And Ironwood is wrong" Elm added before turning to the team, "We're coming with you."

"What about her?" Katrina asked, pointing to Harriet. Novus walked over and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"I think Hayden might have a cell or two tough enough to keep her for now." he replied, "Ok, VEGA, get us out of here."

Just then, a blue portal opened next to them. Novus motioned for them to go through, which they all promptly did. As they entered Hayden's lab, novusturned to Ruby. "Well, did it work?"

Ruby nodded with a determined grin. "Amity is now able to launch."

"Good." Novus said, "Now let's hope our message gets out."

Ruby could not agree more.

...

In his secret lab, Watts watched the fight play out, and now looked at the remains of the battle with an unamused expression.

"Well" he said, "I certainly wasn't expecting that."

Let me know what you think so far!