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Chapter 24: The Breach
Later in the morning, Team JNPR and Glynda Goodwitch headed to their Bullhead to return back to Vale.
"This has got to be the quickest in which any serial killer was ever dealt with." Glynda muttered as she took a seat and updated their mission status through her Scroll into Beacon's records.
"I'm sure they're fine." Pyrrha Nikos assured Jaune Arc. He had noticed his missed call early in the morning and had been unable to get back to Ruby. Then the morning worsened when Glynda took him and Pyrrha aside to give a brief lecture on the values of safe sex.
"You think?" Jaune replied uncertainly. He thought back to Cinder. "I just got this, feeling... I don't know..."
"Probably a butt dial..." Nora Valkyrie dismissed as she skipped along without a care.
"Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field." Lie Ren pointed out. "We should be focusing on getting home and into our beds."
"Didn't we just wake up a while ago?" Pyrrha queried.
"I miss my bed, Pyrrha." Ren argued strongly. "My soft, comfortable bed with adjustable pillows that when placed over my head are soft and thick enough to block out noises but still porous enough to let me keep breathing properly."
"So indulgent!" Nora cackled as she held her gut.
"We're changing our destination! Everyone on board!" Glynda declared with a note of panic. As the team hastily boarded, she pulled Jaune aside. "It seems your worry for that missed call was justified, Mr. Arc."
"Why? Did something happen to Ruby and her team?!"
"Worse. The City of Vale is under siege by Grimm and I fear that team RWBY are right at Ground Zero."
As the civilians scream as they attempted to flee the chaos, Team RWBY was surrounded in the middle of a pavilion by Beowulves, Ursai, Creeps, and a massive King Taijitu. The King Taijitu unleashed a mighty roar, signaling the Grimm to attack.
Ruby Rose planted {Crescent Rose} on the ground and used it as a pivot to run in circles, kicking away the Beowulves that surrounded her. Yang Xiao Long jumped onto a Creep's head, propelling herself upwards to allow her to perform an aerial bombardment. Unfortunately, two Nevermores sent her crashing back to the ground. Blake Belladonna slashed down a Beowulf with Gambol Shroud before firing on the other approaching Grimm. Weiss Schnee killed three Beowulves with Myrtenaster and then created a giant ice sword to kill a few other Grimm. Then Yang sent a car flying towards a few Grimm while Ruby killed two in front of the King Taijitu.
"Yang! Jaune talked to us about this! No unnecessary property damage!" Ruby yelled at her reckless sister.
"It was just conveniently there! Besides, let's focus on these bastards!" Yang yelled back.
"Language!" Weiss chided as an Ursa that tried to swipe at her got beheaded.
As Ruby finished slashing at another Grimm, she noticed the King Taijitu about to attack her. Fortunately, the attack was interrupted when a figure slammed down into the King Taijitu's head, rupturing it's head and killing it as the figure made a crater on impact.
As the dust cleared and Ruby then observed, it revealed a female Lion Faunus with long wild blonde hair which ended in green tips. She was dressed in a black fur coat and a scarf. Under the coat, she wore dark green pants. Her face was covered by a white skull-like mask with two thick vertical black stripes, each on one half of the mask, which were interrupted by the widened eye-holes and the jaw.
"Hey." The rescuer raised an arm at Ruby who responded likewise in confusion before snapping out of it.
"If you're a Huntress, please help us!" Ruby pleaded as she gestured to the Grimm surrounding them. "We have to stop them before they find the civilians!"
"...okay." The woman stepped forward, calmly patting Ruby's head as she passed. "You can call me 'Summer' for naming sake."
"'Summer'?!" Before Ruby could speak out more, 'Summer' rushed forward flying several meters into the air before she smashed down onto an Alpha Ursa with a fistful of lightning that tore it apart, smashed the ground and erupted several bolts of lightning from around her which killed every single Grimm around her.
"...glad to have you onboard." Ruby muttered in a melancholic tone before bisecting a Beowulf that came too close without even deigning it a glance. A few couple of meters away, an arriving Bullhead dropped Team CRDL into the fray as well.
"Wait a second. Nobody else is gonna deal with the fact that Weiss just said 'language'?!" Yang cackled as she caved in a Creep's head.
"I know!" Weiss paused to summon a glyph which redirected an attacking Nevermore's momentum downwards and caused it to crash into some Beowulves painfully. "It just slipped out."
Another Nevermore flew towards her but was suddenly shot down by a bolt of blue electricity. Weiss turned and smiled at the sight of Neptune Vasilias and Sun Wukong.
"[Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!]"
Leo the Golden Lion burst forth, an already charging attack around his fist.
"[Regulus Impact!]"
Team RWBY gaped as he shot forward a lion shaped beam of destructive Light Magic, easily obliterating half of the Grimm present. Unfortunately, more poured out of the Grimm hole to replace their missing numbers.
"We have to do something about that hole!" Blake yelled as she stood back-to-back with Sun, the area around them being filled with disintegrating corpses as they kept shooting.
"We have to do something about these Grimm first!" Sun yelled back as Leo positioned himself near the hole, destroying anymore that came through so that the others could focus on the ones already there.
Sun's yell was then punctuated with a fleet from the Atlesian Military arriving overhead, consisting of Dropships deploying Atlesian Knight-200 units and the flagship of General Ironwood.
As the robotic Knights deployed, they promptly started gunning down the Grimm. Two of the Knights were stampeded on by a Boarbatusk, but a separate group of three Knights were able to defeat an Ursa, and then another Ursa fell from a Knight's punch.
"So?" Mercury Black looked to Cinder Fall as he gestured to the chaos around them. "What do we do now?"
Cinder narrowed her eyes as she thought it through, staring at Summer's distant form before looking skywards. "Blend in. And don't attack the newcomer. She won't make distinctions if you do."
With that, she walked away, ignoring her subordinates' utterly confused expressions.
As an Ursa received the business end of Mercury's boots as he headed straight for the thick of it, at least half a dozen assorted Grimm stood in front of Emerald.
After gunning most of them down, Emerald quickly transformed her pistols into Kopis blades, flipping and slashing at the last rampaging Ursa Major.
Her blades detached with connecting chains, giving her the extra distance to kill it without being hit a single time.
"Who did Cinder mean by 'newcomer'?" Emerald wondered before deciding to focus on her given task.
"Sun!" Leo's yell got attention, causing everyone to look at the sight of the Celestial Spirit lifting a Paladin one-handedly while adjusting his glasses in front of the breach. "What do I do with this?"
Before Sun could reply, a corgi leapt out of the Paladin to headbutt a nearby Beowulf hard enough to send it flying before turning around to pant excitedly at a very confused Leo who now noticed the dizzy teacher in it.
""ZWEI!""
Leo shrugged and relaxed as apparently, Weiss and Yang knew the dog.
A Bullhead arrived, dropping off Team CFVY and Professor Peter Port, with the former jumping from the airship to join the battle.
As Yatsuhashi Daichi was surrounded by a pack of Grimm, he swung his mighty greatsword onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave which blew them all away... along with a good chunk of the ground too.
Velvet Scarlatina and Fox Alistair respectively kicked and punched the Grimm. When an Ursa Major charged at Fox and Velvet, Fox unleashed a combo of Aura enhanced slashes and punches that caused it to explode, impaling the nearby Grimm with its leftover spikes.
"Nice hustle, Fox." Coco gives him a light pat on the butt as she walked by. "Good job."
As Fox sighed and moved away, Coco approached an Alpha Beowulf that then roared at her. She pulls her shades down while looking at the building it smashed through to approach her.
"You just destroyed my favorite clothing store." She put her shades back up and spat to the side. "Prepare to die."
The Alpha Beowulf lunged it's right arm at Coco, but she simply swatted it aside with her handbag, with little to no effort used. She then walked closer to the beast and kicked it in the groin area, sending it to its knees and letting her stare down at it. Despite her seemingly lackadaisical attitude, she was very well aware enough of her enemy, knowing exactly how to bring it down with minimal effort.
Coco pulled her bag over her head and slammed it down into the Alpha's head after Hardening it, crushing it and leaving impact marks on the floor around it.
More Beowulves and a Death Stalker approached Coco, so she swung her bag again to send the Beowulves away and then dodged back from the Death Stalker's stinger.
Velvet stepped forward, about to activate {Anesidora}, but Coco stopped her. "Hey, come on, you just spent all semester building that up. Don't waste it here."
Coco then transformed her {Gianduja} into a giant minigun, and started firing, slaughtering the advancing horde of Grimm, including a Death Stalker and three Nevermores.
"I feel like you just wanted an excuse to fire your Gatling gun." Velvet muttered as she watched Coco kill off every single remaining Grimm around them with {Gianduja}, with each bullet that struck something erupting into a devastating explosion that pulverized it's target out of existence.
"We missed it all!" Nora cried as Team JNPR and Glynda were dropped off.
"Nora, that's a good thing." Ren chided while Glynda stalked off with an angered expression at the sight of the damage of the city. "Don't let Professor Goodwitch hear you with her current mood."
As Nora instantly slapped her hands to her mouth in panic, a couple of Grimm tried to attack Glynda from behind but were slammed around or crushed with a wave of her crop.
Glynda then pointed at the Breach, using {Telekinesis} to fix all the bits of rubble so that everything was as if there had never been an invasion in the first place.
High above the flying army, a hooded figure grinned before leaping off her Nevermore. As she descended, Mesrum crashed through a dropship, gaining attention as she landed right on a hastily blocking Leo.
Jaune and his team shook as the ground trembled from a great force hitting the ground, along with the sight of one of Atlas's dropships being attacked. From then, an immense wave of energy flew forward with a deep sound, almost like a mix between thunder and an electronic beat as the wave darkened the sky.
"Jaune!" Ren's worried yell attracted Jaune's attention away from the phenomenon, which was then directed at what he was staring at in horror. "It's her..."
The dustcloud cleared to reveal Mesrum there, with an unconscious Neptune beneath her foot and a horribly injured Sun dangling from her grip on his head.
"SUN!"
"Hey kids, remember me?" Mesrum greeted as she held Sun up for display. "I just realized I never gave you all a name to refer me as, so just go ahead and call me Mesrum! As for you..."
Her grip on Sun's head became dangerously tighter. "You don't seem like a mage despite being a reincarnation and somehow having Magic as well... so just die here before you become a problem."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Jaune burst into {Super Hunter} and blazed towards them, aiming to save his brother.
Mesrum smirked and tossed Sun into Jaune's path, causing him to readjust his arms for a catch.
*BRRMP!*
Jaune startled as Mesrum literally appeared out of nowhere between him and the thrown Sun, leaving vulnerable for a punch which smashed him away into a nearby building.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled before glaring at Mesrum and readying her weapons. Like a signal, fellow students snapped out of their surprise to attack as well while Ren caught Sun.
Mesrum hummed in approval as Jaune walked out of the damaged building, not injured in the slightest. "What the hell do you want, Mesrum? Are you here to create another monster?!"
"Oh? You're pretty tough." Mesrum smirked from underneath her hood. "There's no need to worry. It's just me here."
"Oh? In that case, you'd better be prepared to deal with me after what you did to my brother and Leo!" Jaune threatened. "Oh, and Neptune, too."
Mesrum hmphed at the sight before her. "What are you angry for? It's unavoidable that Hunters lose their lives in battle. You all take the lives of Grimm and extremely dangerous criminals, and make your livings doing so. You should all have been prepared to meet a similar end. If you all disagree on that... come at me."
A heavy pressure burst forth from Mesrum, engulfing the entire area with her Will made 'manifest.
"Conqueror's Haki?! And it feels almost as strong as Ozpin's!" Ruby muttered as she braced herself.
It should be noted that Ozpin has never put anyone under the full pressure of his Conqueror's Haki in years. The last time he did in his previous life, random civilians suffered heart attacks despite being several miles away from him.
"Bring it on!" Cardin growled as he and his team stood strong against the Will, unminding of the buildings around them starting to crack under the pressure.
Jaune grimly stared back, very unwilling to leave her challenge unanswered.
The air screamed and cracked as Jaune's Will crashed back against Mesrum's. The resulting clash sent waves of Haki scattering about and creating a small space in which all was Dominated, all but breaking down the nearby structures around them.
With one final push, the Wills shattered, leaving everyone free enough to breathe again.
"Now then, shall we begin?"
Mesrum burst forth towards Jaune and clashed her Hardened fist against his Hardened sword. With a little push, she slammed him down into the road, nearly breaking his arm as he screamed.
*BRRMP!*
Cardin and Dove Bronzewing barely had time to gasp before their heads were smashed against each other. Before Sky Lark could react, Mesrum buried her fist in his gut while smashing her Hardened heel to the side of Russel Thrush's head.
*BOOM!*
Nora's grenades impacted Mesrum's back. Without waiting for confirmation, she fired three more-
*BRRMP!*
Nora choked as Mesrum hit her in the chest with a lariat, sending her crashing into Pyrrha. 'W-What just happened? I-I couldn't see her attack at all...'
Mesrum hummed as Nora and Pyrrha went flying into a building similar to their leader. She was then nearly hit as Blake shot an upwards kick from below her. After dodging some slashes and gunshots, Mesrum grabbed her leg only for it to be replaced with her Semblance.
Mesrum briefly wondered why Blake didn't press her advantage-
*Bang!*
Ah, never mind. A Hardened bullet tore through Mesrum's shin, forcing her down to her knees and allowing her to sight Pyrrha aiming her rifle at her despite the blood flowing down her head.
"[Aura Slash!]"
"[Bomb Wave!]"
A crescent arc of white Aura and a line of constant explosions raced towards her from opposite sides. Jaune and Cardin's attacks clashed against each other, resulting in a gargantuan blast!
"Did that get her?" Velvet asked only to get her answer as the smoke cleared. The only damage seemed to be done was a piece of her hood on fire and her mask gaining a crack. However, her leg wound had already healed, leaving just smooth pale skin behind.
"Bombardment incoming! You're all in the way!"
At Coco's warning, every student cleared away, allowing Coco to rain bullets onto Mesrum. {Gianduja}'s bullets quickly blew a lot of debris as it decimated Mesrum's vicinity.
*BRRMP!*
Coco only had time to open her mouth before she was sent flying away, her Aura shattering as she smashed through four buildings and impacted a fifth.
Velvet faltered in assisting her Leader from the suddenness of her defeat. "What? Coco!? She was suddenly blown away! Impossible!"
*BRRMP!*
With an unseen attack, Velvet herself crashed back first into a water tower, and dented herself inside it so much that she was able to sit still as the water rushed out around her. 'Wh-What… just happened? Did she beat me? T-That sheer speed is impossible...'
Mesrum hummed in satisfaction only to raise a Hardened arm, blocking Ruby's Hardened slash!
"You've gotten faster than you were before." With that compliment, Mesrum batted her away, only to find a large glyph restricting her feet from moving.
"Now!" At Weiss's call, a charged up Yang and a freshly electrified Nora smashed Mesrum's midsection simultaneously, launching her several meters away right into Yatsuhashi's path.
With a growl, he swung at Mesrum only for her to punt his greatsword aside so hard his wrists cracked.
Yatsuhashi growled from the pain but hugged her still. "Now!"
With a wordless yell, Fox slammed an Aura enhanced kick right on Mesrum's head, shattering the ground on impact and throwing up debris.
For some seconds, there was silence until the sound of a single pair of footsteps permeated the air, revealing a still combat ready Mesrum and the defeated Fox and Yatsuhashi.
"What the fuck is she made of?" Cardin questioned.
Gritting her teeth, Ruby nearly broke the sound barrier, slamming her scythe into Mesrum's' cracked mask! The Hardened weapon broke a piece of it off, revealing a glowing silver eye with black sclera.
'Silver eyes...' Ruby halted at the sight of it. "Y-You're a person?"
"I haven't been human for years." Mesrum replied before her mask reformed properly. In an instant, Ruby was kicked away, only barely managing to block with {Crescent Rose} as she crashed into her leaping sister's arms.
"Not bad for Beacon students..." Mesrum complemented the combatants. "But still not good enough to deal with me! Power, tactics, determination... you've only got the bare minimum required for you to enter the Endgame, but not win it!"
""""Endgame?""""
Everyone questioned that particular term, before startling a puddle of what seemed to be black goo formed next to her feet. Everyone blanched as a jellyfish-like Grimm floated up from it, communicating with Mesrum in a series of raspy clicks.
"Oh, that's it then." Mesrum raised her hands and clapped once, releasing a wave of energy that lightened up the sky again. All of a sudden, Jaune was reminded of the army right literally above them. "Now that I'm done here, there's no need to keep out the professionals-"
Mesrum bent over backwards as Summer's kick rocketed where her head had been a millisecond ago.
The area around them kicked up a storm with chunks of rocks and clouds of dust tossed into the air, yet neither adult combatants were fazed by that.
Summer reexamined her options as she zoomed past Mesrum, stopping the flames that propelled her from her back and blasting off her hands instead to stop her momentum.
Turning her entire body, Summer proceeded to fire a burst of compressed wind and spin in the air to deliver a fierce spin kick that was nonchalantly dodged by Mesrum.
"N-No way, Summer's keeping up with her so easily..." Ruby muttered in an awe-struck tone while Yang turned sharply at the name. "She really is a super cool Huntress like Goodwitch!"
"Not bad, Summer Maiden." Mesrum complimented as Summer shot to the side as her attack failed.
The Maiden zipped around the terrain, using the explosive burst of her elemental powers to guide her way. She made several turns before blasting into the sky with a spectacular discharge of wind, leaving a pulverized crater in her wake.
Soaring high into the sky, Summer hoisted one of her legs into the air, arcs of electricity dancing around it. Creating a jet flame booster on her upper back, Summer barreled towards Mesrum with a lightning charged axe kick.
*BRRMP!*
Just as the kick was meters away from making direct contact with Mesrum, she blipped out of view, in time to dodge the devastating impact of Summer's kick that leveled the entire area into the air, along with Mesrum who decided to ride the current.
The nearby students along with the incoming Knights were forced away as well.
Mesrum surveyed the area from high in the sky, quickly noticing a bright blue light that was building up from the smoky crater. A large beam of intensive blue flames shot towards Mesrum from Summer's outstretched forearm.
*BRRMP!*
Mesrum blipped away, vanishing from sight as the concentrated fiery beam punched through a thankfully empty building, vaporizing its entire top side. The intense blue light quickly died down with the fiery beam, reverting the area back to normal color.
"That was close…" Mesrum said with concern. She landed down onto the still brunt ground that was partially alight with embers, gazing at the exhausted woman. "Most Maidens don't think to add in Scientific Elements along with the Classical Elements. Well, I guess that's what happens when you get a civilian Maiden instead of a Huntress."
Mesrum turned to face Ruby in particular as she looked over the students. "All I can say is keep getting stronger. The Darkness is almost ready. A day will arrive in the future when everything you knew will be questioned and after all these centuries, the Endgame is finally near... So remember, Reality is a recycled script, the Universe is one of many, half of you here are gonna remember memories you didn't live through, buy gold, bye!"
With that utterly confusing parting message, Mesrum grabbed the Seer and jumped into the goop it came from, causing it to vanish after.
Later on, everyone met in the pavilion as Roman Torchwick was escorted by Mercury and Emerald towards an Atlesian airship, much to Jaune's surprise. Apparently, Glynda told them that Mesrum had created a forcefield which blocked away all of the adults and soldiers from entering. After the battle, Summer had vanished, much to Glynda's hidden frustration.
"Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways." Roman remarked sarcastically as an Atlesian Knight grabbed him by the arm. "He-hey, watch the hat!"
"I can't believe you got caught." Jaune came close to observe. "I always thought you were a bit smarter than this."
"He was unconscious when we found him." Emerald smiled falsely at Jaune while giving a sincere kick to Roman's back as the Knights took him away. "If he wasn't, the breach would've given him a perfect escape chance."
"True..." Jaune wasn't really convinced, considering how Roman hadn't stopped smirking as he entered the Airship. Wait... Without Roman, who was gonna watch Neo?!
Velvet sat alone in silence for a few minutes, working out the kinks in her sore back before her Observation Haki alerted her to danger. At first she brushed it off , considering that the Grimm and Mesrum were long gone, but Coco had always told her to rely on her instincts more.
She kept an eye out for anything unusual, or anyone paying her particular attention. Sure enough, she found a girl about her age giving her an intense stare from across the square.
Velvet didn't like attention, but she could hardly avoid it in Vale. She was a faunus, and this was hardly Menagerie. Even if it was the second most faunus friendly kingdom (Vacuo didn't count. That harsh environment prioritized survivability over petty racism), racists existed everywhere, after all.
Velvet kept on working on her shoulders, but the feeling of being watched didn't go away. This girl refused to stop staring. It was more than just curiosity; she wanted something from Velvet.
A minute later, the girl crossed the street and stood on top of the bricks Velvet had used as a seat earlier. Velvet breathed deep and turned to face her, nervous despite herself.
"Y-Yes?" Velvet asked, folding her hands behind her back.
"I saw you," The girl said coldly. "In the battle."
"O-oh?" Velvet said. "You were near the fighting? Are… you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"No. I'm fine." The girl hissed. "But your friends crushed my father's arm when his business collapsed around him after getting Grimm spikes shooting through his home."
"I'm… so sorry," Velvet said, bowing her head. "I-if you contact the Headmaster, he can probably-"
"Money won't fix my dad's hand," The girl said angrily. She stepped closer. The girl was just a bit taller than Velvet, but it felt like she was towering over her.
"He's a clockmaker," The girl said, her voice rising. "Who do you think runs all those stupid gears in your school? What's he going to do now? Beg for a living?"
"I…" Velvet didn't know what to say. Unbidden, her eyes darted around for an escape route and her knees bent in preparation for a quick dash to safety.
"You probably wanted all this to happen." The girl stabbed Velvet in the chest with her finger. "You faunus are never happy with what you're given. You got a whole continent to yourselves and you're still killing people."
Velvet felt like she was about to throw up.
"As far as me and my father are concerned, there's no difference between you and the White Fang!" The girl suddenly shoved Velvet with both hands as hard as she could. Velvet stumbled for a second, but her combat training kicked in and she took her stance and reached for {Anesidora}, feeling nauseous as she did.
"Please…" Velvet said. "Just leave me alone."
"You want to fight?" the girl challenged loudly, grief and anger emboldening her. "I knew it! You animals are all the same!"
"Hey, you!" Cardin's voice called out. "If you're gonna fight a student from Beacon, could you at least pick someone with a weapon? We have a rep to maintain!"
Velvet's head snapped at the sound of her boyfriend's voice. While she appreciated his presence, he still had a volatile personality similar to Coco's…
Cardin strode up to the brunette girl challenging Velvet. He eyed the angry girl up and down and shook his head. With a slow, menacing motion, he drew his mace out from behind his back. He smiled at the look of fear and confusion on the brunette's face.
"Why…?" the girl asked, drawing back a few steps. "Why are you protecting this animal?!"
"First off, she's a faunus, not an animal. Get your facts straight." Cardin said, "Second, she's mine. If you think I look like a dangerous guy, I am. I'm nowhere as kind enough as Velvet or Jaune would be if you don't back off."
Cardin swung his mace back and forth a few times, flexing his arm and squaring his shoulders with a grin. The girl scowled, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She looked Velvet straight in the eye one last time.
"We're all watching you, animal."
A Hardened stone whizzed dangerously close to the girl's neck and easily pierced through a nearby metal sheet, prompting them to look at the source. Fifty meters away, Coco idly tossed another pebble in her free hand, her cracked sunglasses glinting as she stared down the racist girl.
"FYI, she'll do worse to you than I would." Cardin 'helpfully' added.
With that, she took off running. Cardin laughed and let her go.
"Annoying bitch." He said playfully. "Come on, Velv. It's okay to say 'thank you' to your savior."
"T-Thank you." Velvet replied. With a shiver, she slowly fell out of her combat stance and nodded her head in gratitude. She also waved at Coco who waved back and went back to Fox after giving a meaningful stare to Cardin.
"Great." Cardin said. "Come on, let's get you out of here. I saw a few police officers checking you out earlier that looked eager to make an example of some 'strays'. Don't want to let them pick you up after I'm gone, do you?"
Velvet frantically looked around. Sure enough, there were a few men in uniform at the other end of the square. They'd seen the whole thing, but if Cardin was telling the truth, that might not matter.
"O-Okay," Velvet said, hurrying behind Cardin as he led her away from the officers. They took a few twists and turns to make sure they weren't followed, and ended up near an old Dust shop that had seen better days.
"How was your mission?" Cardin asked as he took a seat on an empty bench and dragged Velvet down to his laps.
Velvet sighed before relaxing into his hug. "In a word... exhausting."
Afterwards, Teams JNPR, RWBY and Zwei were sitting on the edge of Beacon's landing platform, overlooking the City of Vale from across the lake.
"Well, we did it." Yang said.
"We did it." Blake agreed.
"We did it!" Nora repeated.
"We… did it?" Jaune said, unsure if it's okay to keep it going. As if she read his mind, Pyrrha shook her head before wincing. The head injury she took from hitting a building headfirst still stung.
"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm going to be seriously disappointed." Weiss remarked.
"Weiss, we just got attacked by Grimm and this Mesrum woman." Pyrrha pointed out. "Plus, Professor Goodwitch was still mentally exhausted from whomever she and Jaune fought in Nightblue."
"Oh yeah!" Yang cheered and put an arm around Jaune's neck, drawing him close. "How'd your mission go?"
"Great. I fought a pyromaniac Hunter assassin, got my legs shot," Jaune gestured to the bullet holes in his jeans. "and I saw Goodwitch do the awesomest thing I've ever seen in my life."
"How awesome?" Yang asked seriously.
"So awesome that if I went blind right after that moment, I wouldn't care." Jaune clarified, causing Yang to groan.
"I know how you feel." Nora nodded in sympathy. "Fearless Leader and Goodwitch hugged all of the boss fight!"
"Speaking of boss fights," Ren cut in. "Mesrum was..."
Ren trailed off but his point was carried across. Mesrum was quite literally the strongest person any of them had ever fought.
Even with his Celestial Spirits, Jaune had a hunch that if not for her mysterious playful attitude, he would have lost quicker than he did against Tyrian.
Even if they were students, to casually take on three teams and one (assumed) Huntress was a dangerous aspect of a person connected to the Grimm.
"And that weird warning she gave us..." Blake muttered in confusion. "It's almost like she was training us or at least, giving us an idea of something underway..."
"...silver eye..." Ruby mumbled. At everyone's curious stares, she spoke up. "She had silver eyes like me... and the whites of her eye was black like a Grimm... and then she told me that she hadn't been human for years... I mean, people can't become Grimm, right? Right?"
"I don't know but still, we can't think that every enemy we encounter is going to be like her." Jaune declared. "People like Tyrian Callows exist after all."
"In other words, it doesn't hurt to be prepared, right?" Pyrrha agreed with Weiss nodding along.
"It's troublesome, but..." Ren started with Nora finishing his sentence. "As Hunters, we should just keep combining our power in beating down Remnant's enemies!"
Yang laid down on her back and muttered in exhaustion, unminding of Zwei copying her. "Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, alright, good job..."
She propped up on her elbows to look at the others. "So, what now?"
"I'd suggest training for the tournament, but I think we all have that covered at this point." Weiss answered.
"So then..." Blake prompted.
"Uhh... time for bed?" Ruby suggested.
"Please." Yang agreed. "I'm going to sleep forever."
"Absolutely." Blake said.
"Yes." Weiss confirmed.
"Uhh... We don't really feel that sleepy..." Jaune muttered only for Ren to strongly disagree as he got up as well, overspeeding the girls as they headed for bed.
"Oh, and Weiss?" Yang smirked as if remembering something. "For gosh's sake, remember to watch your language!"
Weiss sighed in a resigned tone. "That's not going away any time soon..."
Mesrum hummed as she walked down the cave which the Seer had investigated. Reaching a cliff, she leisurely walked off it, falling a long distance down until she impacted the bottom.
She was currently in a massive cavern with a large tree that had glowing pink flowers.
"The Vault of the Fall Maiden." Mesrum observed the large door which housed the Crown of Choice. "Definitely not under Beacon... I could tell Cinder about this... Nah. Let her suffer a bit."
"Despite her surprise attendance, I'd call today a success." Cinder declared proudly as she and her minions met discreetly after the Breach.
"Cinder, who was that person?" Mercury asked. "Even though you told us to 'blend in', she still left us out of that barrier."
"All you need to know is that Mesrum is an ally of mine." Cinder replied, while masking her own confusion. Even though she knew that Mesrum was a subordinate of Salem's, it was still obvious to anyone who knew Salem that the Witch treated her more of an equal than she did to anyone else.
Barring Ozpin but that was an 'enemy' type of deal.
For Mesrum to be in Vale meant that she was here either on a separate mission of Salem's or completely for her own agenda.
"But still, those stupid kids really made a mess of things." Emerald complained.
"Yeah." Mercury agreed. "A lot of faunus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?"
"As if they would!"
The group turned to see Adam Taurus smash down from his quick flight. "But they'll listen to me."
"I'm still surprised that you agreed to come close to the city, Adam." Cinder raised an eyebrow at his presence. "You came earlier than I expected."
"When the news showed his face after the Breach, I instantly knew it was him." Adam replied, referring to one of the students with a mix of respect and loathing. "He might not have fully woken up yet, but he came back in a Saiyan-like form unlike me. And with that damned stupid grin still on his face. If anyone is to end Kakarot's existence this time, it's going to be me!"
KingVessel: Mwahahahahaha! Did you all think I added Dragon Ball aspects for no good reason in a RWBY/ Fairy Tail Crossover?! Please review!