Chapter 8

The More the Merrier

Team RWBY, JNPR, and Qrow, along with Alpha team, entered the massive room that served as Haven Academy's grand hall. It was quiet, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That was until Yang spotted a familiar black corvid sitting on a beam. Yang fired a quick shotgun blast to get its attention.

Raven landed on the balcony and shifted into her human form, pulling off her mask and earning a gasp from team RWBY and JNPR. Only Yang, Qrow, and Alpha team stayed silent.

"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me, that was insulting; It's been a while, brother" Raven greeted coldly.

Qrow's face hardened as he said, "what are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are," Raven said before holding up a familiar pocket watch.

Qrow scowled and said, "you do have the spring maiden!"

Just then, a slice, in reality, opened, Revealing Lupin, his two subordinates, Emerald, Mercury, and Dr. Watts.

Everyone drew their weapons as Lupin announced, "Raven, open the elevator to the vault."

Raven nodded and descended the stairs as Qrow questioned, "why are you helping them!"

The older Branwen twin shook her head and replied, "I did what any logical person would do in my position. I looked at the information I had, considered the best option, and made a choice, and it seems you all made the wrong one."

"Salem will destroy everything! We can beat her if we work together!" Ruby pleaded.

Raven stomped her leg and said, "your just as foolish as Summer! There is no stopping Salem, and theirs definitely no stopping who these three answer to!

Just then, the double doors opened behind them, and Hazel entered before locking the doors behind him, saying "the white fang has secured the perimeter, no one's getting in….and no one is getting out."

Lupin nodded and said, "my master requests Ruby alive, and we will need the Fall Maiden, later on, kill the rest."

Zander dashed at the group only to be met with an ice beam from Tempest, and a slash from Gale, the two winds of destruction were specifically here to keep the Latios contained.

All hell broke loose at once; Team JNPR charged at Emerald and Mercury, while Ruby turned to face Hazel. Qrow rushed forward but was frozen in place by an ice beam.

Raven inserted the pocket watch into the chest of the statue under the balcony, causing it to lower into the ground and leaving a flat elevator platform waiting.

Lupin and Watts joined her, and after a few seconds, they began to descend towards the vault.

Charlie, Nia, and Kelly ran towards the vault, only for a squad of creatures resembling a mix between an armored beetle and a rhinoceros to appear around them.

"Betas, here?" Charlie questioned as he drew his sword.

Kelly unfolded her Scythe and said, "no time to think about it, we have to get down there!"

"If we can get through this…" Nia admitted as she activated her tonfas and attacked the beta closest to her.

Mercury unleashed a torrent of lighting with his kicks , blowing everyone back except for Nora, who charged up and swung her hammer. Unfortunately, Mercury ducked under the blow and kicked her in the gut with a burst of fire; his boots' new dust abilities made him even more dangerous than before. Before Nora could regain her footing, Mercury unleashed another blast from his boots, shattering her aura and knocking her out.

"Nora! No!" Ren called out before he was hit with a flurry of attacks from Emerald's guns, along with a devastating combo of slashes; he was knocked out too, leaving only Pyrrha and Jaune to stand against them.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were doing their best to keep Hazel off-balance, but the brute was simply too strong. His aura blocked any attack from the crescent rose and the ember celicas. Blake and Weiss got grabbed and slammed into the ground, knocking them out in one blow.

Zander was keeping up despite his type advantages only for the Winds of Destruction to pull out their trump card; as Zander was rushing towards them, Tempest held out her hand, and a dimensional hole spawned.

Zander was going too fast and was sucked in, causing Charlie and Kelly to gasp as they saw him disappear.

"Where did you send him!" Kelly demanded as the last Beta disintegrated. Nia had already gone over to help Jaune and Pyrrha.

"50 dimensions away; he won't be back for weeks at least!" Gale taunted.

Charlie's eyes flashed red for a moment before turning his sword to level three and rushing forward.

The mega scizor tried to block it, only for Murasama to completely cleave one of his arms off, luckily his blood cauterized the wound instantly, but that did nothing for the pain.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! DARKRAI SAID YOU WERE WEAKER THAN THIS!"Gale screamed as he fell on his back; his arm glowed red hot and slowly began to regenerate.

"Wait….Darkrai, is he the one that nearly destroyed Earth 403? TELL ME!" Charlie demanded.

Tempest sighed and reached for the pair of Sais on her back, but she stopped as she saw the look in Charlie's eyes and said: "way to blow the secret" before summoning a ball of water in her hand, throwing it on the ground and creating a smokescreen of mist. When it cleared, both of them had disappeared into a dimensional hole. Their job was only to remove Zander from the fight, and they had no desire to fight the Mason twins.

Kelly walked up to her brother and grabbed him by the shoulders, saying "CALM DOWN!"

Charlie's eyes flashed red again; his anger at losing a team member had pushed him over the edge. He gasped and tightened the rings on his wrist. Just then, there was a massive explosion underneath the room, clearly coming from the vault.

Kelly looked down and said, "we need to get down there."

A high-frequency blade landed at their feet, Jaune had just been disarmed, and Emerald tried to bring her blades down for the kill, only for Nia to block it with the shadow crescents and shove Emerald back before rushing after her.

Mercury dodged a blast of fire from Pyrrha and said, "your pathetic compared to the Fall Maiden Cinder ambushed!"

Pyrrha disregarded his taunt and covered her blade in flames; she got a lucky hit in and knocked the silver-haired assassin off balance before unleashing a massive blast of fire the size of a car, completely consuming Mercury, whose aura shattered as he fell to the ground, smoking and unconscious.

"How's that for pathetic!" Pyrrha taunted.

Her words died in her throat as Mercury dissolved into thin air, Emerald had been distracting him as Mercury dropped in from above and continued his onslaught, he had used Emerald to dodge the attack and prepare an ambush.

Just then, a familiar bull Faunus burst through the doors, and Yang froze in her tracks.

"Did you miss me?" Adam taunted.

Hazel scowled at him and said, "this wasn't your orders!"

"Blake is going to PAY!" Adam screamed.

Hazel shook his head and pulled out two dust crystals before jabbing them in his arms, then another, and another until his veins were glowing in several colors and bulging all over him.

Hazel ran towards the Mason Twins and Pyrrha, while Adam sized up Yang, only for Ruby to stop her and order, "get to the vault! Stop your mom!"

Adam smiled, only for a shotgun blast to hit him in the chest, revealing Qrow, who had just broken out of the ice.

"We got this asshole; go on, firecracker!" Qrow grunted.

Yang nodded and ran towards the hole in the floor, jumping down and using her gauntlets to slow her fall.

Qrow switched Harbinger to Scythe mode and looked at Adam with, "no one, hurts my niece and gets away with it!"

Author's note-whew, that was a LOT.

I did my best; I've never written an action scene this massive before; that's partly why some people were knocked out early.

Charlie got a little violent when he lost a member of his team. I wonder why he tightened his inhibitors after that….hint hint;)

The Winds of Destruction were only really here to remove Zander from the fight and set them up for their role in Silver Gaze. Zander is my favorite member of Alpha team, but I can't have him end every conflict. With how strong he is, it makes sense Lupin made an effort to get him off the field.

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Next time- Raven vs. Lupin, we'll see how her predictable double-cross goes….