Hello Everyone! Back again with the new arc. I did say things were going to get dark and please don't hate me for what I'm going to be doing, I promise it all has a serious point to it and I'm not just doing something because I find it interesting. The whole thing might not be visible now, but as the arc progresses things will resolve themselves.
Chapter 83: Happiness only lasts so long
The dark of night slowly crept over the vast desert, dropping the temperatures from boiling to freezing in almost an instant. As the stars came into view, more and more Grimm began awakening, the sand slowly stopped stirring and the sounds of the empty desert became more alive than they were during the day.
None of that could be witnessed by the White Fang underground, however. The only ones allowed topside were officials on business and the engineers who maintain the perimeter defences.
"Ugh…" a lone boy of roughly sixteen years of age groaned as he stumbled out of his bunk, glancing around the small room. The same grey metal floors and white ceiling. The same sounds of beeping machinery and the roaring of the air vents overhead. Dragging himself out of bed he wandered over to the bathroom mirror, washing his face and combing down his brilliant white hair.
As he stared into the mirror, his bright blue eyes stared back at him, as if daring him to do something different. His ritual was mundane, he hated it. Always the same thing, wake up at sundown, take orders from Dr Stein and carry them out over the course of the night. It was rare he ever saw the light of day.
Dressing in his black carbon fibre combat uniform, he made his way to the mess hall. As he carefully made his way through the underground facility, passing through the wide-open corridors, he avoided as much eye contact with the other White Fang members as possible. It's not that he disliked them personally, but he felt no emotional desire to interact with his 'peers' as they were so-called. Not that they cared much for him anyway. To them, he would always be just another one of Dr Stein's experiments. An artificial creation…
The mess hall was filled with other members as he begrudgingly grabbed his daily rations and walked over to his usual table in the corner of the room, staring intensely at the 'food' he was given.
Slop, that was one word to call it. It looked like chunky oatmeal that hadn't been boiled properly, not that he knew what Oatmeal was.
"Stare any harder at it and you might make it mad," a lighter voice called from behind him. A girl dressed in a similar outfit to his sat opposite him on the white cafeteria bench. She had bright blue hair and startlingly pink eyes.
The boy didn't look up, seemingly not noticing her.
"Gauge," she snapped her fingers in front of his face, "Yo, Gauge? Anyone home?"
When he didn't respond she sighed, "Special Operative Thirteen?"
Tearing his eyes away from his meal he glanced up without a smile, "Special Operative Nine, I didn't notice you." His tone was even.
She sighed, "Why do you insist on sticking to those stupid operative numbers?"
"It's what we were assigned at creation. It's our given identity." He responded flatly.
"Numbers are no way to identify yourself. I've told you a thousand times, just because we were born in a lab doesn't mean we're not people too."
"We are agents of Dr Stein and Master Onyx, nothing more, nothing less."
"Why are you always so goddamn gloomy, Gauge? And before you ask, no I will not stop calling you Gauge, that is your name, I gave it to you." She huffed.
"I'm not gloomy and who gave you the right to name me?" he looked at her dryly.
She jabbed a thumb into her chest proudly, "I did!"
He rolled his eyes, "Of course you did," he looked around and then back at her, "Did you get today's assignment yet?"
She didn't answer.
"Nine? Did you get today's mission?"
She huffed and looked away.
Gauge groaned and his left eye twitched, "Skye, did you get the instructions from the doctor?" he said with increased effort.
With a smug smile, she chirped, "Nope! Dr Stein wants us to meet with him personally today."
Gauge blinked, "That's… odd. It's not time for our monthly physical exam. We did that last week."
"Not sure, but the old man was adamant we meet with him at 21:00," she shrugged pronouncing 2100.
He shrugged and glanced around the mess hall, catching the eye of a few White Fang members who were there. The moment they locked eyes the person would just look away.
"Seems we're as popular as ever," Gauge said glumly as he poked at his food.
Skye just rolled her eyes, "I know you're desperate for friends but I doubt they'd give you the time of day."
"I am not trying to make friends. Besides, I have you to annoy me enough as it is."
The blue-haired girl laughed mirthfully, "Oh my, is the great Operative Thirteen acknowledging me as his friend?!"
Gauge huffed, "I said nothing of the sort."
"Of course, you didn't," her eyes looked distant, "You remember the other ten that came in with us?"
"Operators One through Twelve excluding you and three? Yes, of course, I do. It's hard to forget when they all look like you," he remembered the day they were born.
One moment, nothingness, then within an instant there was breath in his lungs and light in his eyes. He remembered the cold chill of the air conditioning, the hard steel floors and the awful goop that stuck to his body like a membrane of mucus. The smiling face of Stein bore no warmth, but only the coldness of a man who'd seen his experiment come to life. Then it was hard, rigorous training and education for a month before they were deployed to the caverns around the facility. The other operatives performed better than him, faster than him. He was always the black sheep, so he never got sent topside for anything. His only company was his 'sister' clone Skye, who'd been born the same time as him.
They helped each other through everything, when he faltered she was there to pick him up, and when she fell he was always by her side to support her. Unlike him, Skye seemed to have been more with real emotions, she was always more expressive than the others and shared a similar distaste for their circumstances as him.
No loyalty toward the White Fang, they were just doing what they were created to do. Stein said they were anomalies, the imperfect batch, but here they were, two of the last three to survive.
He still remembered the night he came back from his tasks to find his barracks empty aside from Skye. Operator Three came back that night, four months ago, to say the rest of the squad had been wiped. He never said how or why just that they were lost in the line of duty and the three of them were all that was left.
Skye was the only one that cried that night, Gauge felt nothing. Ever since then Skye had been making extra efforts to be his friend, more than just a comrade in arms. He knew her likes and dislikes, her pet peeves and what made her happy. She was stubborn as they came, especially when he tried to push her away, she always came back as if nothing happened.
"Gauge, you're spacing out," Skye said bringing him back to reality.
He looked up to her face and sighed, "Oh, sorry. I guess it just brought back some memories."
She frowned, "It's okay to feel sad, you know. They were our siblings too. I've never seen you smile, or feel sad. It's like the only thing you're capable of is anger and impassivity."
"I'll smile when I find something to be happy about. I'll cry when I find something to be sad about."
"I bet you'll smile when we finally see the sky together." She beamed, punching him in the arm.
He snorted, "Maybe. Until that day comes, we're stuck down here."
At the appointed time, Gauge and Skye made their way to Dr Stein's laboratory at the far end of the facility. The great blast doors opened as the chilling air seeped out, had they not worn their combat uniforms they'd definitely feel the chill.
The walls were lined with various chambers with glass covers, normally not cause for concern but these chambers were filled with something. Each and every one of them, Gauge counted at least seventy-five, held a person… or rather a clone.
They lay in their sealed chambers, eyes closed like corpses, but the subtle movement of their chests suggested they were alive. All bore striking resemblance to him and Skye, for this was the place they were 'born'.
Clones were created using the DNA of Nova Flareheart and Onyx Steelemane.
The gauge had met neither of his two supposed parental figures, as he was barely alive for more than six months. He'd seen photos of them in the White Fang database, and he probably looked like them, but the mashup of features just made him look like a distant relative of theirs rather than a clone.
Skye was from a different branch of clones using Nova Flareheart's DNA and Cinder Fall's DNA before the latter had turned into a Grimm.
Technically he and Skye were siblings but he wasn't sure if that still applied to clones. All of his intelligence came from pre-programmed instructions embedded into his mind during the ageing process for his body.
The more he thought about his existence the more he felt that he was less than a person.
"Ah my children, good to see you on time," Stein smiled eerily as they approached the grand console that towered to the fifty-foot tall cave ceiling.
The two bowed, "Yes, Dr Stein. We await your instructions," they said robotically.
Stein smiled and tapped on the monitor, a digitized face of someone Gauge knew as Project Obsidian showed on display. It began reciting, "As of twenty-four hours ago, our perimeter defences shot down two unmanned drones outside the above-ground location. Scanners indicate they bear the digital signature of Hex Zephyr."
The screen shifted to display Hex's profile on their database.
"This is a class A priority target. Based on information analysis, we expect an attack tonight." Bortz Flint Flareheart said. On the outside, he was programmed to say these things but on the inside, he hated every second of this slavery.
Stein smiled creepily again, "Thank you, Obsidian."
Gauge felt pangs of shock reverberate in his core, "Tonight?! Sir, shouldn't we have prepared? Shouldn't the facility be on high alert?!"
Stein chuckled, "Oh, do not be alarmed, my child. We have received orders from her majesty, Queen Salem. The facility is compromised one way or the other, and in the absence of Master Onyx and Miss Fall we have no choice but to abandon ship~"
The doctor was oddly calm, no… if Gauge was to guess based on his body language… the man was… excited?
"Sir, what are we going to do? If they attack tonight then…"
"Do not worry about the details young man. You, Operative Nine and Three will be defending this room…" Stein walked up until he was in Gauge's face, "They will pass through here, and he will enter this room. Is that understood?"
Gauge was confused and slightly scared, "Sir… what do you mean? You want us to… let Nova Flareheart into this room?"
Stein's grin broadened into a face-splitting one, "Precisely."
"May I ask why?"
"No, you may not. Just do as you're told."
"Unidentified aircraft approximately six kilometres out of our radius. ETA 1 Hour at their given speed." Obsidian voiced in.
"Prepare for war… and open the gates, but not too wide. We can't have them suspecting anything right?" Stein instructed Obsidian.
The AI complied, however, Flint on the inside was screaming. 'SON NO! IT'S A TRAP! PLEASE DON'T!' he cried out, but his voice betrayed him.
"Oh, and Gauge?" Stein walked up to him, handing him a white bullet shell, "When the prince slips past you, shoot him with this… and don't miss."
Gauge took the shell and turned it over in his hands, it looked unremarkable except, as it rotated, suddenly six, red eyes shot open and stared at him, the symbol of the Grimm appearing over its body. Shuddering, Gauge pocketed the item.
-24 hours before-
Citrine gathered the team in the auditorium again since her office was too small to accommodate twelve people.
"You're all probably wondering why I've gathered you here…" she began, then motioned for Hex. "My dear if you will."
Hex took to the stage, "Okay," she inhaled, "Since we've been here at the Academy, I've been running remote scans on the various locations of interest around Vacuo based on your guys' scouting missions. Out of all the locations I've checked none so far have been remarkable…"
"Except…?" Weiss fished.
"Except for the Northeast coastline ruins. The only one we haven't visited in person and by process of elimination… can only be the most likely location of the White Fang hideout."
Nova's fists clenched as he heard the name and Ruby silently moved to squeeze his wrists gently. He gave her a soft smile in return.
"Okay, but you didn't gather us here on a hunch, did you, babe?" Yang pointed out knowingly.
Hex nodded, "So I sent some drones overhead and at first they seemed normal, nothing to pick up, except after about an hour they suddenly dropped."
"Dropped? As in, gone?" Weiss asked.
"More like someone or something shot them out of the sky."
"Oh…"
"So, we're taking action," Citrine took over again, "It's about high time you guys were allowed to operate as a full team. I am not going to strategize for you, I'm just here so that if you need resources and support, you have them." She looked at Nova for guidance.
He nodded, seeing his chance to step in and take control, "Alright do we have a scope of their base? Any information to go on?"
Hex tapped on her scroll and brought up a hologram of the outer structure. It was a small, ruined area with no remarkable features. A stretch of land covered in sandstone with four pillars erected around a small hut-like structure which seemed mostly intact besides its square shape.
"This is the most we could get, but I have reason to believe that this central structure is the entry to a larger underground network. A great complex facility beneath the surface. Not only would it provide shelter from the desert sun but also from prying eyes. It explains why no one has found it yet."
Nova hummed, his brain working in overdrive as he began calculating the scenario, "If this is anything like that facility back in Vale, we'll need the three teams."
He turned to them, "Blake, Ruby, Weiss, Luna, Neo, and Hex. I need you guys on the infiltration squad with me. This is a stealth mission if possible, we only raise hell when we figure out the situation." He turned to the others, "Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, Oscar, Ren, Nora and Nitro. I need you guys up topside. This is war and we all know what happened when we all focused on one place at Atlas. We need to make the first move this time, so I need one team to go in and one team to be ready for outside reinforcements, retaliation or any other unforeseen circumstances. We do not want to get caught with our backs turned down there."
They all nodded in understanding. Yang wanted to refute it and go in with them, but she knew she wasn't the stealthiest person around and they needed everyone to play to their strengths.
"And if my hunch is right, and what dad was true then this is where they're keeping him." He looked at Luna, the younger dragon had hope in her eyes. "We'll get him back… we have to."
A few hours before departure time, Nova and Ruby were in their room, with the dragon sitting on the edge of their small sofa. He was already geared up and ready with his equipment in storage cubes around his belt. His mind ran deep in thought as Ruby eyed him, walking over to sit at his side. She leaned her head on his shoulder and read into his mind.
"You're worried about the mission," it wasn't a question from her.
He sighed heavily knowing he couldn't hide anything from her, "It's just… there is a very real possibility that things can go horribly wrong here."
"Don't they always," she tried to ease him with a joke, but even she could tell humour was having little effect on his nerves.
He balled his fists and breathed, "I can't let them. Not this time. I've spent my whole life trying to reclaim what I lost… it's so close but just one wrong move and it will all go up in smoke."
He looked her in the eyes, "I can't lose him, Ruby."
Wrapping her arms around his torso she said, "You won't. Onyx and Cinder are still missing. Salem is in hiding; we can do this. We can win."
"But what if they suddenly show up?"
"Then we deal with them. Fear is the first step on the path to failure remember? You must have faith." She kissed his forehead.
He leaned against her, feeling her warmth and reassurance, "I believe you."
-Vacuo Desert Ruins, 00:00 Midnight-
They landed at the site at the height of the moon, a midnight operation but attacking during the day was too conspicuous.
Yang and her team stayed aboard the airship while Nova and his team tracked across the desert approaching on foot. The ruins were in the line of sight as they took cover behind a large sand dune overlooking the area.
Ruby pulled out her binoculars and scanned, "No sign of activity. What about you Blake?"
The cat Faunus also peered in the dark with her night vision, taking a wide area sweep, "Nothing… wait…" as she said that a bird flew overhead and landed on one of the pillars. At that moment, the stone structures shifted and split down the middle as a pair of turret guns came out and shot down the animal before retracting inside.
"Now we know what killed my drones…" Hex said dryly. She pulled out her laptop and began tapping away on the keys, recording the turrets with her scroll. "Motion sensing, infrared… looks like it spans about thirty feet in radius, a dome of no entry around the ruins. No living creature is getting near it without being detected and shot down."
"Can we do anything about it?" Nova asked without taking his eyes off the location.
"I can probably disable them for about thirty seconds with a wide-range EMP but anything longer and I'm afraid their systems will detect it." She responded.
Nova looked at Ruby, "Thirty seconds Red, can you do it?"
She smirked, "I can do it in five."
"Alright, on the count of three, Hex will disable the turrets and Ruby will use her semblance to get us through the door. Okay?"
They nodded.
Hex initiated the EMP, and Ruby immediately wrapped them in her semblance, dashing in a flurry of petals across the desert and into the opening in about five seconds. Once they were all successfully inside, Ruby clutched onto Nova in pain.
"You okay babe?" he asked, scanning her worriedly. Ever since Atlas, extensive use of her semblance had brought her immense pain.
She winced through the discomfort, "Yeah just need to recharge my Aura, transporting myself is easy but with all of us it drains a lot out of me."
It was near pitch black inside until Hex lit her flashlight. The walls were made entirely of stainless steel contrary to the outside, and they were on some sort of elevator platform with a lever to the right corner of the square.
"Only one way to go. What are our chances of being discrete?" Nova asked.
"I'd say slim, so be ready to fight at any moment. We don't know what's down there." Ruby replied, pulling out Crescent Rose.
"Shouldn't we let you recharge first?" Luna asked.
Hex shook her head as she pulled the lever, "No time, the EMP only buys us a few more seconds so we need to move now. No hesitation." The platform began to shake and rattle as it descended a long dark shaft that was illuminated by only a few lamps embedded into the wall that lit up as they descended.
Upon completion, the platform arrived at a pair of mechanical doors that opened automatically giving a view to a modern corridor, much like the ones at Atlas where the walls were painted white and made of steel. The corridor branched into three paths, one left, one right and one down the middle.
At first, there were no signs of life but as the team stepped out of the door a pair of White Fang members rounded the corner.
Blake wasted no time as black tendrils of Shadow shot across the ground entombing the pair in cocoons of darkness that blocked out all sight and sound. The guards didn't even have time to blink before they were immediately shut out.
"What do we do with them?" Blake asked, "Knock them out?"
Nova grimaced and weighed his options. They could knock them out but risk them waking up and being detected before they found the dragon's father, Flint. They didn't know how deep this facility ran and they couldn't risk being found out so early.
Ruby read his thoughts and her face darkened, "Is there really no other way?"
The dragon hesitated before shaking his head, "We… don't have to kill them. Look we're running out of time, Blake can you… make them comatose?"
The cat Faunus nodded, as she began constricting the shadows around the two, suffocating the life out of them but stopping just before they would die as the two now unconscious bodies fell to the floor limp but still breathing.
"We may not be able to afford this as we move. This took too much time, so… I want you guys to remember," Nova said as they ran down the corridors, Hex was disabling any camera they came across. "We might not have the luxury of leaving them alive. I know we're not killers, but this is war. They chose their side…"
Ruby grimaced, gripping Crescent Rose tighter, "We don't get to pick who lives and who dies, just… if it's unavoidable, and you have to do it, just remember that the risk of the enemy being alive is much greater to everyone else."
"That still doesn't make it any easier…" Luna grumbled.
"It's not supposed to," Weiss muttered, "It's just a duty we need to remember. We have a responsibility to not just ourselves but the people of Remnant as well."
Eventually, the corridors gave way to a larger open area, a cavern with a warehouse-like structure, similar to the Mount Glenn operation.
The team took to the upper platforms, staying out of sight of the enemy as the floor seemed to crawl with guards, robots and Faunus alike.
"Doesn't this seem… too easy?" Hex pointed out, looking back at their path to this place. There were guards, sure, but most of them were robots and even then the surveillance systems didn't pick them up, not once. It was almost like someone had deliberately left the door unlocked, but kept it closed to make it seem as if they were just caught unaware.
Nova nodded, "It does… so in the event this is a trap, be on your guard."
"There's so many…" Luna mouthed in a hushed tone as they observed the movements of the guards. There were far too many to make it across unnoticed and the amount of equipment…
"Scans are indicating explosives, ammunition, Dust… it's like they're preparing for war." Hex said as she snapped pictures. "Wait duh… we're at war already."
"There are enough weapons here to run an entire assault on Vacuo… if that happens it'll be a repeat of Vale all over again…" Weiss grimaced.
Neo signed, 'Sorry again… about all that.'
"Not your fault… entirely…" Weiss said awkwardly, "At least you're on our side this time."
She nodded in reply, 'Two Maidens, Four Aspects of Remnant and a team of badass fighters. We got this.'
"Alright, so we start small. Weiss, Neo, and Luna, we'll provide a distraction. Hex, you take Ruby and Blake and go around sabotaging their explosives. We'll set off a chain reaction and draw chaos to those areas. Once the majority of the guards go there, we'll escape through the confusion toward the other side." Nova said as he pointed to the different spots.
They acted, dispersing to their different roles.
A guard squad casually making their way across the myriad of crates, they were stopped suddenly when a strange trio appeared before them.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" one of the guards asked, he was a deer Faunus.
Nova had his hands behind his head, "Ah, of course. Typical villain questions. Can you be any more of an NPC?"
"A what?!" the man asked again.
"You know… non-player character? Do you guys not play video games?"
"Uh…"
"WAIT I KNOW YOU! YOU'RE THAT PRINCE!" another beside him said.
Nova clapped, "Oh good job! Five stars to the creepy dude in the mask."
The other members of the troop began raising their weapons but just before they could shoot Weiss and Neo froze them solid, leaving only the first guy.
"What are you gonna do now? Call for help?" Nova teased.
"INTRUDER!" the man yelled, "SOUND THE ALARM WE HAVE A BREACH! CODE RED!"
"There we go…" Nova mused as dozens of armed guards and robots began popping out of the woodwork.
Without a moment of warning a rain of bullets peppered the trio as a thick dust cloud obscured their vision.
When the bullets stopped, they found them encased in a dome of ice.
Nova sighed, "You guys done? Weiss, Neo?" he looked at the girls, "Showtime."
The shell broke and the dragon took to the air, spreading fire across the ground as Neo took to the skies as well, raining ice and torrential winds on her enemies. Weiss froze the floor and anyone in the vicinity as they began raining ice and fire across the facility.
As all the guards began conglomerating around them, several explosions echoed off diverting their attention.
"That's our queue," Nova said as he spied Ruby on the other side of the cavern, waving to them.
"Now I apologize for our short interaction, but we have other things to do… you guys also have several fires to put out." He bowed before flying off in their team's direction.
The other side of the facility wasn't as intricate as the first half. Instead of long convoluted corridors, it was one long hallway with several doors on either side of the white-painted steel path. Neopolitan and Weiss sealed the doorway with ice to prevent an unwanted backup from the enemy. No doubt by now the entire facility was aware of their presence so they had even less time to find Nova's father.
"Is ice all we really need to stop them?" Nova asked, knocking on the block that covered the entire door.
Neo placed her hands on her hips proudly, 'This is permafrost,' she signed, 'Nothing short of your fire or a tank could bust through here.'
"Where's Blake?" Luna asked, looking around for the cat Faunus.
Ruby shrugged, "She stayed back to give the guards an extra run for their money. She's buying us more time." the worried look on Nova's face made her reach out mentally, "Don't worry. She's more than capable of handling a few thugs."
He blinked, "Right, let's keep moving."
Gauge, Skye and Operator 3 were hidden away in the upper layer of the facility corridor. Instead of an air vent, there was a thin maintenance shaft above the corridor that fed into it, allowing them to stealthy await their targets.
"What do we know about our targets?" Operator 3 asked, he was a boy with blonde hair and green eyes, and his face resembled Gauge.
Gauge didn't look at him, his eyes trained on the grate that gave a window to the open corridor, "Not more than what's on the files. Expect a hard fight and be sure to let the Flarehearts into the room."
Operator 3 grimaced, "I still don't get what Stein's plan is, but orders are orders…"
"I think it's this way!" Weiss shouted as the three heard footsteps running down the corridor.
"They're here…" Skye mouthed almost despondent.
The team passed by a hatch-frame door with a large glass window. Inside was some sort of laboratory with several occupied tables filled with various machinery and utensils. At the back of the room was a series of glass canisters the size of tanks filled to the brim with a translucent luminescent liquid that bubbled consistently.
"Think this is where Onyx researches the nanomachine blood?" Nova stopped as he observed.
Hex hummed, "It's strange… I feel that this area should be more guarded… where is everyone?"
"Any chance they all went to put out the fires?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Probably not… be on your toes, everyone." Nova snarled as they all expanded their aura fields for detection. Just in time as well because the moment they did, someone shot out of the ceiling from a ventilation shaft. He was followed by three other figures all clad in black suits made of some sort of leather and carbon fibre.
One had startlingly white hair and vibrant blue eyes. He was a head shorter than Nova and although their frames were similar, the man's face was far from close. Behind him were two others, a boy with platinum blonde hair and a girl with bright blue hair.
Weapons drawn, Nova glared at the three, "Who are you…" he asked, raising his weapon and standing forward.
"None of your business," the blonde said, unsheathing a pair of daggers with glowing blades.
"All you need to know is that you're not taking another step forward," The white-haired one said, brandishing a charged pair of tonfas.
There wasn't a moment before Weiss shot a blast of ice at them and yelled out to Nova, Hex, Ruby and Luna, "You guys go on ahead. We'll take care of them."
The trio bolted past their assailants and headed for the final door, a large gateway at the end of the hallway. It wasn't locked surprisingly as they opened the grand gates, Nova sparing a glance back at Weiss and the others who were stalling the enemy.
Gauge took his aim, glancing at Nova from the corner of his eye he took the handgun from his pocket and inhaled, "I dare you to block this…" he muttered under his breath. The white shell left the chamber at lightning speeds, flying straight for Nova's forehead.
The dragon responded by bringing up his draconic arm, to block but the bullet shell split open mid-flight, to reveal a small, white, spider-like Grimm that latched onto the arm and bit down hard, its fangs sinking through the hard dragon scales and into the soft flesh beneath. There was no pain as it stuck there, pumping something into Nova's system that the dragon couldn't even feel. Immediately he smacked it and sent the creature sprawling onto the floor.
"That was… what did you just do?!" Nova turned back.
Gauge was silent.
"We don't have much time left," Luna hurried her brother into the lab, "Come on!"
Grimacing, the dragon decided he'd cross that bridge when he got there and headed inside.
On the inside was a vast room with dim lighting. The majority of the brightness came from the various computer screens and control panels that lined the central chamber that rounded into a large structure of wires and canisters. The same translucent liquid flowed through them as the soft sound of machine beeping was heard. A lone man clad in a lab coat was preoccupied with taking notes as he walked around observing several chambers.
The most surprising part of it all was the walls of the far east and west ends. The chambers that lined those walls were filled with… people. They appeared to be teenagers of various builds and sexes, all bearing either white, blue or orange hair. Each of them had the same facial features as… clones…
"What the hell is going on in here…" Nova growled, alerting the scientist.
The man spun on his heels to see the intruders and a broad grin spread across his face, "Ah, so you've arrived! The subject of my greatest creation…"
Ruby readied her scythe, "Who are you?! Where's Nova's dad?!"
"Ah, yes, Ruby Rose accompanied by the prince and princess… looking for the father yet now faced with the truth." He rambled.
"What truth…" Nova snarled. "What the fuck is all of this?!"
"Hm? Oh, you mean them?" he pointed to the chambers. "Where are my manners? I'm Dr Stein and these lovely creatures are all clones… of you!"
Nova's eyes widened, "WHAT?!"
"Yes! What did you think we were doing with all that precious DNA you left during your torture visit? Granted they are… incomplete. Most of them can't even think let alone live… but in time…"
"Why are you making clones of me?!"
"Why? Because you're DNA is the perfect genetic hybrid of magic, machine and primal power! Because you're a dragon! The Apex of all species… because of your blood, I will create an army for master Onyx, super soldiers that will revolutionize the world in his image!"
Nova's body began to tremble, "…"
"At a loss for words I see. I would be to at witnessing such a marvel."
"Where is my father?!" the dragon was furious.
"Flint? Oh Obsidian, would you be a dear and greet our guests…"
The computers all flashed on the screen with a digitized face, "Yes, Dr Stein. Hello children…" soon the monitors began to glitch out and Flint's voice sounded so much less robotic, "Son… daughter… how much you've grown…" it sounded so sad, "I-I… I'm sorry we had to meet like this."
"DAD?! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?!" Luna yelled.
"My body… is no more. I am a consciousness hardwired into this system…" he said sombrely as the central panel opened up to show a brain connected to several electrodes, inside a jar of transparent fluid.
"D-Dad…?" Luna started, then turned to Stein, "YOU MONSTER! WHY?!"
"Isn't it enough that you tore my family apart?! Why go through all this?!" The dragon growled fiercely, letting his emotions show through.
"For evolution!" Stein raised his hands to the sky as if praising something.
A banging was heard on the other side of the blast doors and Stein snapped his fingers, "Obsidian? Clear my schedule for the next week. Looks like I won't be making those appointments."
"As you wish my master." Flint looked terrible as if every action done against his will was killing him inside.
Seeing his father in this state, reduced to nothing but a brain, a slave to someone else's will. Rage boiled in his veins and the bite mark on his arm began to throb, his head felt like it was being split open. Bottling down his pain, he glared daggers back at the scientist.
Stein clicked his tongue, "When Mr Bortz Flint Flareheart heard you were dead he tried to kill himself… unfortunately for him… we were well equipped to deal with a death of the body. His mind is now under our control."
"You're insane!" Nova snarled back, and with his eyes, he motioned for Hex. The tech master unleashed her chain blades and swept them under Stein's legs as she threw him to Luna who effortlessly caught him with one hand. She then ran to the console.
Stein coughed as Luna gripped his throat, "Fool, you cannot hope to save him. He is already under my control…"
Hex tied her hair in a bun and got to work, "Can you give me ten minutes? This guy's mainframe is weak but not that weak."
"WHAT?!" Stein looked offended.
"Alright, we'll stand guard, Ruby see if you can help out the ice twins in the hall," as he said that a loud crash and what sounded like gunshots echoed. Ruby nodded and bolted after them through the door, leaving Nova and Luna behind with Hex.
The doctor began laughing, "I'm sorry children, but your time is up." He fished into his pocket and Luna caught it too late as he pressed a button on his scroll.
"What did you just do?!" Luna snarled as she used her other hand to grab his wrist and break it.
"I… released the hounds…"
The chambers on the walls began to open as one by one the clones' eyes shot open. Stumbling out of their chambers like zombies, dripping viscous liquid onto the floor as they all glared in the dragon's direction.
"… Is this the zombie wave?" Nova said dryly as he readied Helios.
"Just keep them off me for ten minutes and we'll be good!" Hex hollered back as she didn't look away from the computer.
Nova glanced at his sister, "Keep him restrained, I'll take care of them." A dark look hovered over his eyes.
"Nova what are you going to…"
"They're just mindless zombies," he said more to himself than to her, "They just look like me. They're not people…"
"Oh, but they are… living… breathing…" Stein cackled and was cut off when Luna squeezed his throat harder.
"Shut up!"
Back in the corridor, Weiss and Neo clashed head-to-head with the three assailants.
Weiss readied a pair of black glyphs behind her to boost her speed as she charged across the length of the hallway, spreading a path of ice in her wake.
The three were forced to take to the air, Gauge somersaulted over, barrelling his tonfas downward meeting Weiss' ice blade head-on. The heiress attempted to stab him with Myrtenaster but Gauge was faster, releasing one of his tonfas to block the attack.
Meanwhile, Neopolitan was brandishing her umbrella, taunting the other two silently with a smile.
Operator 3 charged in headfirst only to be met with Neo dodging out of the way and into the waiting blade of Crescent Rose that came shooting out of the corridor as Ruby emerged from the room.
The heavy scythe was caught in a burst of petals and swung down onto Three with blinding speed for a weapon of its size and he barely had time to dodge before it crashed at his feet. Using it as a stepping stool, he vaulted over Ruby's head and tried to slice at her neck but the red leader was faster, releasing her scythe and charging her aura into her fist she hit him so hard he crashed into the metal wall, cratering it and rattling the entire room.
Skye tried to follow as a mechanical device activated on her wrists revealing a pair of energy blades. Both her arms swung down onto Neopolitan who caught them both with the Umbrella, opening it and pushing her back.
On the other side, Three groaned as he pulled himself from the wreckage and his Aura glowed bright green as his body was suddenly jerked back as if rewound in time until he was back at Neopolitan's side.
Three tried to take her blindside while she was occupied with Skye but Neo simply smirked and removed the hidden blade from the Umbrella handle and caught Three's daggers. Her eyes glowed with the powers of the Winter Maiden as shards of ice erupted beneath Three sending him crashing into the ceiling shaft.
"What did you… FUCK, YOU'RE THE MAIDEN?!" Skye shouted as she tried to kick her way out of Neo's umbrella lock.
The ice cream-haired girl dropped the umbrella and slid under Skye, sweeping her legs from under her and pinning her to the ground, making a 'tsk' sound with her tongue.
Three, however, was not out of the fight. He scrambled along the shaft until he was directly above Neopolitan, diving through the vent and crashing onto her head, sending the trio sprawling across the room.
Neo was the first to get up, her anger flaring with the Maiden's power, a storm erupted in the corridor sweeping Skye and Three into a torrent of sharp icicles that cut along their bodies.
"SKYE!" Gauge shouted as he disengaged Weiss and tried to assist his teammates.
The Schnee was having none of it, clutching the Cryoseki she dropped the temperature of the room to sub-zero levels.
Gauge spun around and his metal grey Aura began to glow, as suddenly the metal in the walls began to tear off their bolts, collecting around him.
"What the…?!" Weiss looked in alarm as the metal folded and morphed around Gauge's tonfas until they formed two arm cannons that were aimed right at Weiss.
It was too late, however, as before he couldn't even fire, his fingers suddenly stopped moving.
Gauge's entire body suddenly began to slow, his legs became harder and harder to move as he turned to inspect his body. His limbs were slowly being frozen solid, eyes widening in horror as it dawned on him that they were severely outmatched despite having a numbers advantage.
"NEO! ENOUGH! YOU'LL KILL THEM!" Weiss yelled as she saw Neo losing control over her powers, letting rage consume her.
Neo, all at once, dropped the storm as Skye and Three dropped into a bleeding heap. Large gashes and bruises spread across their bodies from colliding with the chunks of ice.
The ice cream-haired girl wobbled on her feet as Weiss caught her in her arms, "Hey… don't overdo it. These guys might be useful. They're different from the others…"
'Sorry, I lost my cool…' Neo signed.
Weiss snorted at her pun, "Come on, let's get them restrained and take them back with us."
At the mention of capture, Three's head weakly rose from the floor, "I WILL NOT DIVULGE OUR SECRETS!"
Skye's eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do, "WAIT, THREE DON'T…!" but it was already done. Three bit down on his teeth hard as something broke in his mouth. Suddenly he began to foam as his eyes rolled back. He'd killed himself with the failsafe poison stored in their wisdom teeth.
Skye cursed as she pounded the floor, the temperature now getting to her as well.
"You're not going to do the same thing as your friend are you?" Weiss glared, pointing Myrtenaster at Skye.
The blue-haired girl looked torn, she wanted to say yes, that it was her duty… but she had enough intelligence in her. She knew it wasn't worth her life. Slowly she shook her head, "N-No… I… I'll come quietly."
Weiss nodded, "Good."
Skye looked at Gauge, a frozen statue, "Will he be okay?"
"He'll be fine. He's just suspended for now." Weiss gestured to Gauge.
Ruby yanked Crescent Rose out of the floor and folded it, staring at the large blast doors that separated her from the others, "How the hell are we getting in…?"
Back in the laboratory, Nova was still trying to fend off the clones.
One by one they threw themselves at the team, and then all at once, the clones took off after Hex. Nova jumped into the fray pushing them back with his scythe and pummelling a few away with his left arm. When his weapons connected, he could feel the flesh and bone under them.
It was as if they didn't care, they clearly felt pain but the more he swatted away they kept coming back.
"Fuck! Do they not know how to stay down?!" Nova screamed as he swung Helios in an arc, using the back end of the scythe to push them.
"They're programmed to follow my orders unconditionally!" Stein said proudly.
"THEN ORDER THEM TO STOP!"
"The command has already been given. They will not stop unless you kill them!"
"GODDAMNIT, ALL!" Nova screamed as he kept tossing them back. Even if they seemed mindless, these things still showed they felt pain. They were alive. He couldn't just take lives so freely… he couldn't…
"NOVA! HELP ME!" Hex yelled out as several of them jumped on her. She desperately fought them back, but it was slowing the progress. Nova moved to help her when several more jumped around his leg, holding him down.
"We're gonna be overrun if we don't do something!" Luna yelled as she jumped and dodged around, swinging Galaxia with her free hand to try and fend off the horde.
Nova was caught in a desperate situation. There was only one way out of this but… he couldn't…
The look of desperation on Hex's face, and one glance at his father's brain. The chambers, Stein's madness… it was overwhelming him.
The Agniseki seemed to read his emotions and hummed, trying to tell him 'Don't lose your cool! You will lose yourself!'
Nova didn't seem to hear it.
"Don't you think you should let loose a little…?" a sickly voice echoed back, layered and undiscernible, barely noticeable amidst the chaos in his mind.
Burying it down as just his nerves, he prepared his mind for what was to come.
He grew quiet, it needed to be done. He detached himself from the situation emotionally and closed his eyes, swinging his scythe in a circle as more jumped onto him. The warm feeling of blood splattering across his face, the sickening sound of bones crunching and the feeling of flesh tearing at the edge of his blade.
Each slice, each strike, with everybody that dropped lifelessly to the floor, it ate away at Nova's mental state. It was one thing if the clones died silently, but they screamed… they cried… they yelled out in pain but never once begged for mercy. It was horrifying…
Then, suddenly, Nova grew numb to it. Somewhere between the thirtieth kill and the thirty-first, a sickening sensation began to worm its way through his mind.
"Stop! This is wrong!" he argued back mentally.
"You're just doing what needs to be done, Nova… don't feel shame in taking a little enjoyment in it… after all… they did this to you." The voice returned and it was not Ruby. It startled him… dark and ladened with hatred it dripped venomous words into his mind.
"NO! I WILL NOT! I REFUSE TO…!"
"Come on… they deserve this… after what they put you through?! Death is the least of their concerns…"
Ruby heard his anguished cries from the other side of the door, she felt his emotions and pain from their bond… and she also heard his thoughts. At first, it was soft and almost silent, but the more Nova killed the more that voice became louder. It wasn't his, she knew that much, it was something else, something darker that had manifested from his pain. She wanted to reach out and find him, to push away that darkness that threatened to overthrow his mind, but the blast doors that separated them were holding her back.
"Nova! Don't listen to it! Please! I don't know what's going on in there but you're in a lot of pain. My love… you're stronger than this!" she pleaded.
She felt their connection reverberate as Nova heard her message, the dark voice in his mind scowling and sneering at her before retreating.
With an anguished roar, Nova erupted in flames, incinerating the clones around him until they were nothing more than burnt corpses. The stench of cooked flesh and boiling blood began to fill the room.
Nova ripped the clones off of Hex and carved them right down the middle, not allowing his mind a chance to think, he blinked rapidly around the room carving up the horde… until all that was left were mountains of corpses and a blood-soaked floor.
All Nova could taste was the deathly flavour of copper on his tongue. All he could smell was blood.
Luna observed the whole thing with mortified horror. It was a massacre…
When it was over she tentatively walked up to him, "Brother… are you okay?"
Nova didn't say anything as he took off his jacket and wiped the blood from his eyes, glad he chose not to wear Summer's cloak. "No. I'm not."
Something was gnawing at the back of his mind, an itch for… more…
Squashing it down he took a deep breath and looked over at Hex, "How are you doing?"
She didn't dare look around her, "One minute…"
At that moment Ruby and the others walked in, it seemed their fight was done and with Hex's work on the console, she got the doors open. The moment the doors opened Ruby gasped in horror, "What happened here?!"
She tried to reach for Nova through their soul connection and all she found was pain mixed with anger. "Did you do this?" she asked.
"I didn't have a choice," Nova said darkly as he teetered on his feet. Ruby ran up and caught him, wiping some more of the blood away.
"It's okay… I'm here now…" she whispered, stroking his hair.
He quietly shuddered before getting back up and looking over to Hex.
"Alright Mr Flareheart, you should be free now…" Hex said, addressing the brain.
The monitors flashed green as Flint appeared again, "Thank you, my dear." He looked at his son and daughter, "I… it's good to be free. I'm sorry for what you've had to go through. It shouldn't have to be like this…"
Hex hooked the brain up to a scroll and took the jar down from the main computer. "And we're mobile. Come on guys let's get out of here."
Nova took his father in his hands and smiled weakly, "It's… what needed to be done, dad. I'm glad to have you back."
Bortz's digital face looked at them, "You really have turned into a fine man without me… and based on my records…" he looked at Ruby, "You must be Miss Rose. It's nice to meet my son's… uh… girlfriend?"
Ruby laughed a little, "Fiancé actually," she flashed the ring.
"Oh my… well you both have my congratulations. You are just as beautiful in person as you are on the records." He smiled through the screen.
Ruby felt her heart swell, "Glad to have you with us Mr Flareheart."
"Please, call me dad, or father or…"
"Pops is what Nova calls my dad, so I think I'll call you the same thing," Ruby said with a chirp as they made their way to the door.
Just as they were about to make it to the entrance, something shot out of the ceiling and blasted the team apart.
Nova, holding his father, and Ruby were blasted back into the room while the others were flung out/
"What the hell was that?!" Nova scrambled to his feet but suddenly the great gates were slammed shut again, and red alarms were flashing on the door.
"That…" a familiar sinister voice was heard, "Was to separate you two."
They all glanced toward the ceiling where, from the darkness, two figures descended.
Dressed in a black combat suit, the rust-coloured hair of Thorian Callows flashed in the dim light followed by a robotic figure with a human face. It bore burgundy hair and though its eyes were replaced by red sensors, Nova could tell who he was looking at.
"Thorian Callows and Rogue… I was wondering where you two losers had fucked off to…" Nova snarled as he got up, calmly walking over to the control panel and placing his father down.
"You!" Ruby readied Crescent Rose. "You're one of those monsters who tortured my Nova!"
Thorian clapped, "Ah and what a lovely time that was… I'm afraid this is where your journey ends, however."
Nova spat on the floor, "Yeah… you villain types are all the same." he launched himself at Thorian who narrowly sidestepped and countered with a chakram slash, all the while laughing madly.
"OOOH RIGHT FOR THE FIGHT!" the rust-coloured man threw his other chakram at Nova's head. The dragon deflected it and closed in once more slashing down at him.
Thorian caught the mid-air chakram and blocked the scythe blade, glaring directly into Nova's eyes, "I see some darkness brewing in you~ Did you finally get a taste for blood after slaughtering them?" he gestured to the clones.
"SHUT UP!" Nova snarled, baring his fangs and claws he blasted Thorian with fire point blank, throwing him against the cave wall.
On the other side, Ruby was battling the cyborg, Rogue. The machine wasn't very fast but it was sturdy as no matter how much she struck at it, she couldn't put a single scratch on its armour.
Deciding that the traditional approach wasn't enough, she began dashing through the air with her semblance trying to build momentum. A series of sensor lasers came out of the robot as they began tracking her, a pair of machine guns erupted from its arms and began tracing lines of bullets in the air attempting to catch her but the reaper was too fast.
With enough speed built, Ruby flexed her scythe into a pointed shape and shot toward the robot like a spear, impaling it through the torso. This was not enough to put it out of commission, however.
"That's it! GIVE IN TO YOUR RAGE BOY!" Thorian yelled as he ran in at blinding speeds.
Nova expanded his Aura field and sensed the strike incoming, with a well-placed uppercut Nova caught Thorian in the torso sending him rocketing to the sky, "RUBY SWITCH!" Nova yelled in his mind as Ruby left her attack on the robot, Crescent Rose's blade still embedded in the machine the pole of the scythe detached as a chain connected it. The reaper dodged away from an onslaught of machinegun bullets as she flew toward Thorian in the sky, the chain in tow.
Nova encased his arm in fire as he slammed down on the unsuspecting robot, crashing it to the ground in a heavy explosion while Ruby spun her scythe pole in a flurry, "Gotcha!" she smirked as she clicked a trigger on the scythe and suddenly the chain became taut, then it began reeling in at incredible speeds, yanking the robot body towards Thorian. The man barely had time to raise his arms in time as he was smacked in the face with a two-ton robot, his Aura shattering instantly.
"You picked the wrong fight," Nova said as he and Ruby reconvened their enemies dropping into a pile at their feet, "If you want to fight us as we are then you're going to have to get much stronger…"
In the background, Flint was silently cheering on his son.
Thorian chuckled, "The Queen was right," he coughed out, "She said this would happen… so she gave me a contingency…"
"What drivel are you spouting…" Nova aimed his scythe at Thorian.
The man reached into his pocket and brought out a vial of black liquid, uncorking it he downed it instantly.
"Now perish before the might of her majesty…" Thorian grinned as his skin began to blacken, turning like that of a Grimm. His eyes turned blood red with black sclera, his face morphing into that of a skull Grimm mask with a pair of horns erupting from the corners of his forehead. His body began to convulse and writhe as black liquid pooled around him.
"What's going on…" Nova asked wearily as he pulled Ruby back.
The black mass began to take shape as a seven-foot-tall monster rose from the crater. It had bulging muscles and was bipedal with a horned Grimm Mask.
"FOR HER MAJESTY!" It spoke in a layered voice, tendrils of darkness shot out from behind it toward the couple who dashed away. The tendrils then changed trajectory and arced straight toward them again.
"NO, YOU DON'T!" Nova yelled as he burnt the tentacles in front of him and Ruby slashed hers then Petal Burst around to the creature's back for a surprise attack. That's when Grimm Thorian turned his head a complete 180 and grabbed her, slamming her into the ground.
"Do not touch her!" the dragon coated his scythe in a blaze of fire and smashed into the Grimm's head. The flames dissipated as they came into contact almost as if the creature was fireproof.
He didn't even have time to register his failure before tendrils grappled him and held him in the air.
"THIS IS THE POWER OF HER MAJESTY! TREMBLE BEFORE REAL MIGHT!" Thorian bellowed.
Ruby, pinned to the floor only saw one way out. She clutched her pendant as the Silver Heart activated her veil, the light burning straight through the arm as the monster recoiled in pain.
Using the moment of freedom she dashed toward Nova and petrified the arm, shattering it and freeing him.
"Thanks, babe," Nova said as he dusted himself off.
The creature groaned at its severed limb but soon began to laugh when it grew back, its petrified limbs regenerating.
Ruby was dumbstruck, "The silver eyes… how…"
"Did you think they were invincible?! That your so-called power was infallible against Grimm? You are dead wrong…" Thorian roared again as two Wyvern heads sprouted on its shoulders like cannons and began firing at them.
Nova and Ruby dashed out of the way as the creature began bombarding them with attacks.
Its fists shot out like stretching rubber, crashing toward them like meteors. Nova and Ruby dodged by a hair strand and ran across the length of the arm, dragging their scythes across it all the way to the torso where they landed behind it. The limb drops to the ground and dissipates before reforming.
"Do you see the futility of your endeavour?!" Thorian gloated.
Nova glanced at Ruby and relayed his plan. They were running out of energy and Aura… it had to be ended in one blow.
The dragon transformed into his female version and unleashed the power of the Fall Maiden.
Ruby reared her scythe behind her head as did Nova. Digging deep into their soul connection Nova's eyes flashed with the power of flames as her scythe became coated in orange fire… then blue… then bright silver with orange edges.
Ruby felt the pressure building within her as the flames of power emerged within her. Her eyes turned to dragon slits as silver flames with red tint coated her blade.
Thorian, realizing this was dangerous sprouted six arms and barrelled toward them, but it was too late.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" They yelled in unison as both scythes connected with the creature's fist, a blinding silver light erupted in the room as the entire Grimm body became petrified.
Exhausted Nova clutched onto Ruby as they stared at the statue which began to crumble, the dragon returning to his male body.
As the piece of Grimm crumbled away it revealed normal Thorian, unconscious.
"I can't believe that worked," Nova said exhaustedly as he looked at his finance.
She giggled lightly, "Yeah but I'm beat. Let's grab your dad and…" as she spoke suddenly a loud beeping was heard. Their attention was torn away from Thorian's body and toward the robot that had been downed earlier.
"Self-Destruct sequence initiated, countdown 5…4…3…"
"OH FUCK!" Nova summoned a dome of swirling fire to protect them.
"2…1…" as it counted down a great explosion rippled the area… or at least what sounded like one.
When the dome died down they saw that it was only a small explosion centred around the robot.
"Phew, that was close. Are you okay dad?" Nova glanced back at the far end of the room where the control panel was.
That's when he noticed Thorian was missing.
"You really shouldn't let your guard down…" Thorian said with a chuckle as he emerged from behind the control panel with the jar of Nova's father.
The dragon glared at him, "Put him down! NOW!"
"Oh… no I don't think I will…"
"What do you want Thorian?! Do you want to watch the world burn?! Do you love Salem so much that you'd go this far for her?! She's going to kill us all!" Nova argued.
Thorian cackled madly, "Of course, I know that! I believe in her vision, and a simpleton like you wouldn't hope to understand that."
"Why don't you put Nova's dad down and face us properly? He has nothing to do with this!" Ruby argued.
Thorian tapped his chin for a moment and smiled, "Okay!" and threw Nova's father… hard.
Nova jumped into the air as fast as he could to catch him but just as he was within arm's length…
*CRASH* shattering glass splintered around the dragon as the moment he touched it, a chakram flew right through the case containing Nova's dad.
Time slowed down as Nova watched it all happen frame by frame, Ruby gazing on with horror and rage as Nova barely clutched onto the remnants of the jar and brain, dropping to the ground and cradling it to his body.
"Dad…?" Nova asked hesitantly, looking at the attached screen.
The monitor was dim, "Son… I'm… so sorry…"
"Dad shut up… you'll be okay…. WEISS!" Nova yelled out as he rushed to the locked door, desperately clawing at the iron to find his cousin, "PLEASE WE NEED HIM ON ICE NOW!"
"They can't get to you…" Thorian smiled as he limped over to the control panel and shot it.
"Listen… son I..." Flint said through the scroll.
Nova felt tears welling up in his eyes, "Please, DAD! PLEASE NO!"
The monitor went blank.
Deafening silence followed as the dragon sat there in petrified horror. He was so close... his father, in his grasp and just as quickly as it'd come, he was taken from him. Emotions swirled in Nova's head like a hurricane, anger, pain, despair, it all hurtled at Mach speeds, bombarding his mind ten times stronger than they would have before the transformation. What was the point of getting stronger if things kept slipping away from him? Why was he always one second too late?!
"Nova are…" Ruby wanted to ask if he was okay but she knew better than anyone else in the world… he was not alright.
"HAHAHA!" Thorian cackled as he traced his damaged fingers across the control panel, "See what happens when you go against her majesty? You have no one but to blame besides yourself!"
Nova's eyes were clouded in a dark shadow as he slumped on the floor, his head bent low, refusing to look up.
"See? The more you fight against their evil, the more pain you bring onto yourself and those around you." The voice was back.
Nova was silent, for once he couldn't bring himself to argue.
"You try to be this valiant hero, the pillar of hope for all of mankind… and unshakeable symbol of virtue… but this is war boy…" the voice snarled… it sounded like… his own…
"The only way to truly get rid of evil… is to inflict your own…"
"WHY DON'T YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ruby roared, both at Thorian and at the voice in Nova's head and launched herself at the enemy, slashing widely with Crescent Rose but Thorian sidestepped as her movements were slow from exhaustion.
"Nova, sweetheart, please… don't listen to them. You're not a bad person… this isn't wrong. What we are doing… you're not…" she pleaded but she could feel the cold, numbness of his pain… and the boiling fire of his rage.
"No," a soft, quiet voice came from Nova's throat. It trembled and rumbled with something indiscernible. "He's right…"
"Of course, I'm right! Finally seeing reason, are we?" The Callows smirked.
"Every time I think I'm finally about to get back what you stole… you come right back and snatch it out from under me." Nova got up from his kneeling position and sauntered over to Thorian, "You know… when this war started, I made, two promises to myself."
"Oh, spare me your morals…" Thorian sneered.
"I promised myself that I'd never lose anything again, yet here I am…" Nova was getting closer, "My second promise was not to take any more lives unless I absolutely needed to."
The dragon took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling, "Yet here I am, breaking both."
Ruby felt something… off about Nova. In their soul connection, she didn't just feel anger… and pain. She felt raw, unbridled hatred. It was uncharacteristic of the dragon she knew. Nova was a level-headed, fun and headstrong and kind person. He was warm and loving.
Right now… all she felt was a fire of rage so hot that it threatened to even burn her…
"I thought that by not killing you… it was a form of mercy. That if I didn't need to kill you I wouldn't…" he glowered, "But now I'm starting to think that mercy…"
Thorian felt something shift in the air around him. It was dangerous and foreboding. A cold sweat began to break out behind Callows' neck as suddenly he felt frozen as the glare of the dragon landed on him. Mismatched bright eyes stared at him with raw killing intent.
"Mercy…" Nova began to chuckle darkly, his own thoughts of rationality quickly slipping away into senseless white noise, "IS OVERRATED!"
Thorian didn't have time to blink before Nova was already behind him, a fist of fire smashing straight into his backbone sending him sprawling across the room. With a draconic roar, Nova shot off the platform and arced his blade.
Thorian saw the image of the reaper when the scythe came down, stabbing straight through his torso as he screamed, his ribcage shattering when the blade carved its way into him.
"First you take my father," Nova growled as he punched Thorian's face, shattering his teeth, "Then you make me kill so many…" his claws flexed out as he sunk then into Thorian's torso, the man screaming in pain as Nova hoisted him up to eye level. "THEN YOU TAKE HIS LIFE!"
Ruby tried to read into Nova's mind but all she found was a chaotic cacophony of pain.
Thorian was tossed hard against the cave wall, the rock shattering into a crater as fires of rage swirled around Nova. The dragon did not take his eyes off his prey.
"Come on…" Thorian choked out, bleeding profusely from the holes in his body, he scrambled to his knees, "You're… not a real killer. You can't look someone in the eyes and take their life. It's just not in you!"
There was nothing but cold indifference in Nova's gaze, "I wasn't… but you're going to prove me wrong…"
"Wha…?"
"NOVA DON'T!" Ruby yelled but the dragon was already on Thorian again in the blink of an eye, his left arm gripping around Thorian's throat.
"This whole thing felt like a set-up from the beginning," Nova said darkly, "You wanted to ruin me from the start…"
He squeezed harder, and Thorian's face began turning blue from lack of oxygen, "I hope you like what you got…" The dragon's eyes shot wide with rage as he squeezed with all his strength, the sound of crunching bone and squishing flesh resounded in the room as Nova crushed Thorian's throat with his bare hands, the man's body going limp and cold as all life dissipated from him.
Without even regard for the corpse, Nova threw it across the room into the pile of clone corpses, glaring at it, "Burn in hell!" as he set fire to the mountain of bodies.
Emotionally and physically exhausted, the dragon slumped to the floor, his hands and body stained with blood that wasn't his as he looked down at his claws.
"FUCK!" Nova screamed as he slammed his fists into the floor, shattering the earth beneath it.
Ruby didn't know what to do. It was the first time she'd seen him snap. She wanted to cry out to him that this wasn't him, that Nova wasn't this person, but deep down she knew. This had been building for a while.
The more she searched his mind the more she began to understand that this wasn't just pain. This mental strain had been building in Nova's mind since the Fall of Beacon. With every loss, with every life, he couldn't save… with every failure it kept building. The torture chamber was the boiling point and Nova was constantly on the edge of breaking, but he healed thanks to her. She vaguely recalled hearing a voice telling Nova to not lose his cool or he'd lose himself, that his strong emotions would be amplified tenfold. Yet, Nova was still capable of handling his own emotions, there was some other catalyst involved...
It seemed that losing his father was the straw that broke the dragon's back, the trigger that set something off in his veins.
When Nova finally calmed down, Ruby walked over to him and gently placed her arms around his shoulders, leaning her head against his.
No words were needed, for she could offer none. The act was cruel, not unjustified but for the first time, Nova killed someone out of anger rather than necessity. There was a deep scar on his soul that would probably never heal now, and all she knew was that she needed to be there for him, even if his path was now stained in blood.
The door opened up shortly after with Hex and the others rushing into the room.
"W-What happened in here…?" Weiss asked hesitantly. She could feel the tension in the room.
Ruby silently pointed toward the shattered jar and then to the burning pile of corpses.
Weiss covered her mouth in horror, unable to say anything. Hex rushed over to the brain and began checking it.
"He… he's still alive!" Hex said almost in disbelief, "It's faint but… ICE HIM NOW!"
Neo froze the brain in a cube of ice to preserve it.
Ruby silently nudged her fiancé with her head, "Hey… you heard that? Your dad is gonna survive…"
Nova sniffed and wiped the blood from his hands and looked at her sadly, "Y-Yeah… come on… we should leave."
Meanwhile, on the outside perimeter, Yang, Oscar and team JNPR were surrounding the area, at different points to secure the location. The air was still, and the world had grown quiet. There were no disturbances with the ruins, but none of them could shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
Oscar felt the ground shift, the sand turned in the distance, "Oscar, be on your guard. I sense things will no longer be as peaceful as they were the last couple hours..." Ozpin mentioned in his mind.
"You don't have to tell me... I could have told you that one," he grimaced, eyes trained on the horizon.
"WE GOT INCOMING!" Yang yelled
Grimm began erupting from the sand, amassing a small army as they gathered around the base. Boarbatusks, Beowolves, Ursa, Berengels and even a Geist which immediately took possession of the nearby sand structure.
"Alright team, get to work!" Yang issued the command and they launched into action. The blonde tackled the Grimm immediately in front of her, Aura charged in her fists as they exploded on impact with an Ursa, the combination of Aura and Ember Celia manifested a massive eruption that blasted all the Grimm in a thirty-foot cone behind her into smouldering heaps.
Jaune and Pyrrha worked together, rounding up what seemed to be Centinels now crawling across the sand, burrowing in and out. Pyrrha's shield sliced through them as they reared their heads while Jaune defended her back, shoving off any Grimm that tried for a sneak attack. "Pyrrha, go wild!" Jaune touched her back to his and channelled his semblance, amplifying her Aura with his enormous amount as she was now free to manipulate her weapons at will. The Javelin and Shield work in tandem like extensions of her arms, carving circles in the mass of Grimm.
Ren and Nora were also back in action, with Ren swinging around a group of Berengels, netting them into a tight group with Nora's hammer slamming down and exploding them into bits.
Nitro was eagerly skating across the sand with his jet-powered gauntlets and breaking every Alpha he could find.
Oscar marvelled at his team's battle prowess, to think that two years ago, they could never have dealt with this many at once.
"Indeed, they have grown considerably in the time I've been... away..." Ozpin mentioned.
The boy frowned, "Are you still afraid of facing them?"
"I... need to atone for my mistakes. The time will come... and sooner than I'd like..."
"What's that supposed to..."
"OSCAR LOOK OUT!" Nora yelled, garnering his attention as he looked up just in time to see the Gheist, now fully integrated with the ruins, come to life. It's body was entirely made of sandstone like a golem, except its arms were the pillars that sat outside.
Yang paled, "Wait... aren't those pillars..."
"TURRETS!" Jaune immediately raised his shield to cover Pyrrha while hers was working elsewhere.
The Geist towered over them like a massive golem, raising its pillar arms outward and taking aim, the stone separated to reveal the large machine gun turrets which began peppering the battlefield in a hailstorm of bullets.
Yang focused her Aura on defence, using her semblance to try and soak some of the damage, Nora and Ren made a mad dash for Jaune while Oscar just stood there.
"OSCAR WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Nora screamed at him, "YOU'RE GOING TO GET KILLED!"
As the bullets were about to collide with the Pine boy, a thick, translucent green shield erupted around him blocking all the bullets.
"What...?" Yang was amazed as now all the fire was focused on Oscar who didn't even seem to flinch at the barrage.
The Geist, infuriated by this focused both turrets onto one point on the shield hoping to break it, but the guns overheated before the shield could break.
Oscar folded his arms, "Done? Now it's my turn!" with a smirk he focused on his Aura, a bright green energy surrounding him like an outer shell until it expanded above him, forming a large green armoured knight wielding a sword (Think similar to a green version of Artorias the Abyss Walker but as a Susanoo). The knight mimicked Oscar's movements, shadowing him as Oscar extended his arm to his side, a large green greatsword manifesting between its fingers. He gripped it with both hands and the knight rushed forward with Oscar, the great blade slamming down onto the Geist's head and cleaving it in two, shattering its mask.
When the dust settled Nora excitedly ran up to him and gave him a tight hug, "Oh my gosh! Oscar what was that?!"
The young man gasped for air, "My... semblance... Nora... you're squeezing too tight!"
She released him, "Oops, sorry..."
Back on the inside Nova shakily walked out of the room with Ruby holding him by the arm. His legs felt like jelly, his skin was burning hotter than usual, cheeks flushed with what could only be described as a fever. He stumbled into the corridor and took a deep breath, air that didn't smell like the stench of blood filled his lungs once more and he held Ruby's hand firmly. She sent waves of reassurance across their bond, and he was grateful for them.
The hall was still frozen over in ice but Gauge had been thawed and currently holding onto Skye as they watched the team warily.
"Who are these two?" Nova asked, trying to sound more like himself but his voice still shook unsteadily.
Weiss spared a soft glance at her cousin before deciding to stick with the mission. They could talk after they were out.
"This is Gauge and Skye, apparently they're... clones of you," Weiss explained, based on the information relayed to her.
Nova felt his head throb, he couldn't take much more of this, "Clones...? But you're different from the ones inside..."
Gauge flexed his fingers, unsure of how to begin explaining, "We were from the first batch of successful ones. Not slaves but in all honesty, we don't... really have loyalty toward Stein. He made us but we..." he glanced at Skye, "We were just following orders..."
The dragon nodded and motioned for them to move and speak, "This place... it needs to come down."
Gauge nodded as they ran back to the central area, "I can show you where the control room is. We can rig the facility power core to self-destruct."
"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap?" Luna glowered, her eyes flaring.
Skye looked at her, "The main strengths in this facility are dead or admitted defeat. I know you don't trust us but, we swear to you, if we're lying you have full permission to kill us."
"Gladly..." the voice in Nova's head came back.
The dragon shook his head furiously, he just wanted it gone.
The team finally bolted to the warehouse area where they found Blake casually sitting on one of the crates, "Fancy meeting you guys here... what the fuck happened to you?!" she morphed into morbid horror when she saw their faces. "Did you find Nova's dad?!"
Hex patted her bag, "We... we'll explain later. For now, we need to send this place crashing down."
"Let's not waste any more time," Luna said as they moved through the facility, Stein unconscious and slung over her shoulders.
The winding corridors eventually gave way to a large control room. It seemed most of the staff had abandoned ship since the room was empty. Hex got to work on the control panel while the others tried digging through the databases for any signs of information, however, everything was wiped clean.
"Looks like they were prepared for us..." Hex cursed as she furiously typed away, "This place has four reactors. I'm going to rig all but once I do we have less than a minute to bolt out of here."
Nova nodded, "We can do a minute. Everyone get ready, the moment it goes on countdown we need to move." They all took position at the door waiting for the signal.
"ALRIGHT GO!" Hex slammed the keys and they took off.
Topside, Yang and the others were finally finished dealing with the army of Grimm. Aura exhausted and physical abilities at their limits, the team didn't know if they could take another wave of the seemingly endless supply of Grimm.
"Where do they keep coming from?!" Jaune fumed as he cut down the last of the Ursa, looking around for more.
Pyrrha panted as she drew up at his side, "... I don't want to say we're in the clear but..."
Suddenly the door to the ruins flew off its hinges and slammed into a nearby sand dune as the team from the underground came tumbling out.
"Oh shit! You guys okay?!" Yang asked as she went to help them.
Nova waved her off, "Radio for pick-up. We need to get out of the blast radius."
"What blast radius...?" Oscar blinked as he noted Luna holding a middle-aged man in a lab coat over her shoulders.
"Facility is about to blow, we got..." Hex checked her time, "FUCK WE HAVE THIRTY SECONDS MOVE!"
"Not so fast..." a sinister voice said causing them to turn around, Stein had somehow wrenched himself off of Luna's back and grabbed Skye, holding her back. At first, they wondered how a frail scientist could hold down a special operative until they took note of his arms. They were black like those of a Grimm.
"How did you break loose?!" Luna snarled as she realized that it was Gauge who was around her shoulders.
Stein smirked, "Oh did you forget I too have a semblance?! I swapped my place with young Thirteen over there," he motioned to Gauge who was slowly reorienting himself after climbing off of Luna.
Luna cursed her oversight, "Stein this place is going to explode! What do you hope to gain from this?!"
Five... Four... Three...
The scientist laughed madly, "Gain?!" his eyes were crazed as though he wasn't himself. Ruby noted he looked hazy like he was being controlled. "I will make you suffer!"
"He's under some sort of mind control. I think Salem's feeding instructions into his head from those arms!" Ruby shouted, her eyes awakening trying to purify the Grimm inside of him.
Two... ONE
Before she could activate her eyes properly, the facility exploded. In that fraction of a second Weiss and Neo threw up a huge multi-layered ice dome around everyone including Stein and Skye, Nova shot out a swirling blaze to fend off the explosion as well. The force of the explosion was so intense it shattered the very earth around them, waves of force breaching the dome and sending it shattering and the team was blown away by the intense blaze.
White noise filled Gauge's ears as he stumbled to his feet, eyes peeling open amidst the smoke filling his lungs. Team ASHNRWBYJNPRO were spread across the sand, all of them getting up slowly, it seemed none of them were hurt.
"Skye!" he looked around frantically for her, "SKYE WHERE ARE YOU?!"
His feet moved before his brain as he quickly began running around the different mounds of rubble, digging through the scrap, desperately searching for her.
"Over... here..." her voice was weak, coming from a pile of galvanised that had been tossed out in the explosion. He rushed over to her and found the girl lying under the pile of rubble. She was bruised and bloodied all over, cuts and gashes ran across her torso and arms.
"Don't worry Skye, I'll get you out of here..." Gauge frantically began removing the pieces of metal. She weakly pointed to her left and Gauge spared a moment to glance, Stein was impaled on an iron beam that was jutting out of the ground. He wanted to curse the madman but Skye was his first priority. As he removed more rubble he found her lower half was pinned under a heavy chunk of metal wall, blood splattered across the dry sand.
"C-Come on Skye... y-you're tough, I'll get you out of here... come on..." he heaved the wall off to find her legs thoroughly crushed. Tears welling up in his eyes he pulled her onto his shoulder and tried to make it to safety.
She coughed violently, blood spewing from her lips as she smiled weakly, "H-Hey, Gauge...?"
Gauge shook his head, refusing to listen, "NO! Stop talking, we're going to get you out of here!"
The blue-haired girl weakly raised her arms and patted the top of his head as he limped away from the ruins, "Hey Gauge... we knew each other our whole lives..."
"Skye, that's literally just six months..." he tried to joke despite the sinking feeling in his stomach.
She laughed weakly, "I may not have many people to compare you to... but you were the best brother I could have hoped for..."
"Please..." he sobbed, "Don't..."
"I... wish I could see what you would become but, I don't think I'm going to make it..." she coughed violently again as she slipped off his back. He caught her in his arms, cradling her as his legs gave out from under him forcing him to kneel on the sand.
"Hey... look on the bright side..." she offered a small smile, her eyes looking toward the night sky, "We finally got to see the sky," shreds of sunlight peaked over the horizon, washing over her face as she reached up toward the sky, "The stars, the sun, the clouds... its so wide."
"Skye please, hold on, we can watch it tomorrow too! You'll be fine!" Gauge choked, tears rolling down his cheeks.
She reached up and flicked his nose gently, "You're free now. You get to live your life to the fullest, just promise me one thing?"
He nodded holding her close, "Anything..."
"Live it to the fullest... for the both of us." her eyes were fading in and out of consciousness.
Gauge sat there, brushing the hair from her face, "I promise..."
"That's... good," Skye was looking past him now, "It's getting dark..." she reached for his face,"Gauge can you smile for me? Just once?"
Gauge dug deep within himself, he had never smiled before. His thoughts flashed to times when Skye would join him at meals, when they hung out after missions, complaining about their orders together, a smile graced his lips for the first time since he'd been born.
Skye laughed, her lips folding into a smile herself, "I... knew you'd look better with a smile..." and as soon as the words left her lips, so did the light in her eyes. When her chest stopped heaving, when her heart stopped beating Gauge froze, his arms still locked, embracing her. When it all finally collided, he sat there and cried, for the first time in his life he'd cried.
The flight back to Shade was silent, as Gauge sat by himself on the airship, his head buried between his knees. Nova and Ruby were hanging on for dear life to each other, no one wanted to speak about what happened. The moment they landed, Hex rushed Flint's brain to the medical ward where she was met with Elain.
One look on her face and Elain knew something had gone horribly wrong. Wordlessly Hex brought out the iced brain and handed it carefully to the Wolf Faunus, she could see the mixed swirl of emotions flashing through her eyes as the doctor buried them down as quickly as they came.
Hex exited the medical ward to find Nova, Ruby, Oscar and Luna all waiting outside.
"W-What's the status on dad?" Luna asked hesitantly.
"It's... not looking good. Elain is going to do what she can but I'm going, to be honest with you... his chances don't look too good."
At those words, Nova's anger flared up as the room superheated for a brief second before he calmed down, "I... I'm going to take a walk."
"I'll come with you..." Ruby offered but Nova shot her a sad look.
"It's okay, I... can you stay here and let me know if there's a change? I just... I need some time alone."
She felt his pain through their bond and nodded, normally they were always there for each other in times like these but, she understood Nova just needed some space to clear his head. "I'll be here, just... be safe okay?"
He kissed her briefly on the cheek and offered a sad smile, "Thank you..."
Nova wandered outside to the courtyard, the warm morning air caressing his face as he looked out to the sunrise, its red streaks beaming over the horizon. That's where he found Gauge standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing sadly at the horizon.
"Hey kid," Nova said as he approached his clone.
Gauge looked up toward the sky but didn't turn to Nova, "Is it supposed to hurt this much?"
The dragon grimaced, he was so preoccupied with his own plight that he momentarily forgot that his boy had just lost someone dear to him.
"It doesn't really get better," Nova said frankly, "People say grief lessens with time, but that's not true. We just grow around our grief so we can handle it better. It will always hurt the same. I'm not sure if it means anything, but for what it's worth... I'm sorry."
Gauge inhaled sharply, "Why? You didn't do that to her... it's all that bitch's fault," his fists clenched in anger as he growled. It seemed dragon habits didn't go away even though Gauge wasn't a Faunus.
Nova sighed, "Salem. She's the reason for all of this..."
"I will make her pay..." Gauge glowered.
"She will pay..."
"You're not going to say some bullshit about not letting anger cloud my mind or let revenge ruin my life are you?" Gauge looked at him through the corner of his eyes.
Nova chuckled darkly, "You do what you want with your life. You're free now right? Besides... revenge is looking really good right about now..." the dragon's eyes lit up in fury, threatening to burn a hole in the sky.
It was twelve hours before Elain finally walked out of the medical ward, Nova, Ruby, Luna and Oscar were sitting outside the door. Their team had come by frequently bringing them food or coffee, but besides the caffeine, Nova didn't feel like eating.
The moment the door opened, they stood immediately, "Mom? How's... dad?" Nova asked, dry swallowing.
Elain's face looked torn, dishevelled and tired, "He... he's alive."
Luna's face lit up, "That's great...!"
"But his brainwaves are weak. Hex managed to get him to talk but... there's no telling how long he has left..." Ruby noticed her tear-stained face and gave the woman a brief hug.
"C-Can we go see him?" Nova choked.
Elain nodded stiffly, allowing them inside.
Flint's brain was in a vat of translucent liquid, electrodes attached to the various parts of the brain while his face was displayed on a monitor. Hex was slumped over the keyboard, her eyes bloodshot.
"H-Hey, dad...?" Luna asked nervously
"Luna... my dear. How are you?" Flint asked, his voice was chipper through the monitor but the state of the dying brain left much to be desired.
She blinked back tears, "Me?! Ugh, you were always like this."
Flint chuckled, "It's good to see you all again... truly. My beautiful daughter, my wonderful son and my lovely wife. This feels almost too good to be real."
"Dad... I..." Nova started but Flint cut him off.
"Son, none of this was your fault. Bad things happen to the best of us. I'd rather not spend my last hours alive talking about what has happened to me. I want to hear about you." Flint said with a smile in his voice, "Please, I missed out on almost twelve years of your life. I missed you growing up, I missed out on raising you. I never got to be there, so I want to be here now. Tell me everything."
Nova wiped the tears building in his eyes as a smile forced its way to his lips, "Well, let's start at the beginning then?" he looked at everyone in the room. They began recounting their tales and adventures, from the night of the fire to Randolf, to Beacon, to Nova's 'death', then Mistral, Atlas and now Vacuo.
Over the course of the next twelve hours, the various members of the team came in and out of the room, all meeting Nova's dad and telling stories of their own.
Flint laughed and enjoyed every moment of it, spending the time getting to know the people who raised his son, even Randolf and Olwen came in to greet him.
"How are you, you old bat?" Flint asked as he met with the short old wolf Faunus.
Olwen chuckled, "Same as ever."
"Still racist or are you past that now?" Flint joked.
She smirked and elbowed Nova, "Your son-daughter thing broke that out of me by force."
Flint raised an eyebrow on the monitor, "Daughter?"
Nova shifted into his female form and gave her dad a peace sign, "Surprise..."
The older dragon practically melted, "You're beautiful, I see you inherited your father's good looks," he laughed merrily.
Nova shifted back, "You're not weirded out by it?"
"Of course not. You're still my child no matter what you look like."
Nova felt tears welling up in his eyes again as the sun began to set over the horizon, beams of evening light streaming through the windows, cascading over them.
"Miss Rose, I'm glad that my son has someone like you by his side. I may not have had the pleasure of knowing you for very long, but you are a valiant girl with a heart as pure as they come." Flint turned to Oscar, "Mr Pine, I can see that my daughter loves you quite a lot, and from the stories I've been told, you seem like a very capable fellow. I... I trust that you will take care of her in the absence of Nova, right?"
Oscar nodded with confidence, standing before the elder Flareheart, "Trust me sir, I will protect her to my dying breath."
Luna roped an arm around her boyfriend and chuckled, "Not that I need protecting, pretty sure I can kick his ass," this made Oscar roll his eyes playfully.
Flint smiled contently as he turned to Elain, "Honey, I see you're still as busy as ever..."
Elain felt tears running down her cheeks, "Shut up you asshole... you know a doctor's work is never done."
"There's the sass that I fell in love with. A frown doesn't suit you, my love." Flint wanted to reach out and caress her face, to hold her in his arms once more.
"God, you're so... after being married for twenty years, you still find ways to make me blush..." Elain reached out to touch the monitor.
The monitor began flickering a little and everyone felt it creeping into their souls, his time was almost up.
Flint sighed and looked at them, "Nova, I'm glad to have been blessed with the chance to see the man you've become. You've grown... so much... into more than I could have ever dreamed possible. You did a good job of raising Luna in our absence... and I know things were hard, and not a second goes by where I wish I could have been there for you... but for what it's worth," Flint stared into his son's eyes, "I'm proud of you, and I know that you'll bring an end to this mess."
He turned to Luna, "My daughter, my baby girl... I... words can't describe how sorry I am that I wasn't there. Seeing how you turned out, and how you'll continue to grow... it makes me happy to know you're in good hands. You've done well, my dear."
Luna wanted to speak but her words caught in her throat as tears flowed freely from her eyes, Oscar held her close as she cried.
"My love," Bortz looked at Elain, "Please take care of them while I'm gone. I suspect that in the future they'll need you more than ever."
Elain covered her mouth holding back her sobs and swallowing hard, "I will, I promise..."
The monitor began fading rapidly as the brainwaves died down slowly, "I really... am glad to have met you all... I'm so proud, of each and every one of you. I love all of you so much..." as the words left him, so did his life. The monitor stopped beeping, and the display died for the last time, leaving the occupants in the room to just stand there in tears.
And that's a wrap! I hope you guys didn't cry your eyes out because I certainly did, several times writing this chapter... and this is just the beginning. It's going to get much more depressing going forward, granted there will be lots of ups as well.
As for the thing with Nova, think of it like this universe's version of the Black Blood from Soul Eater. I'm not going to turn him into a homicidal maniac but there will be some plot-relevant developments out of it.