Ok everyone back to where we left off, the intrigue grows.
Devvrat is my favorite right now guys, I love writing about those whose intelligence is beyond ordinary, even extraordinary individuals. There's just something fascinating about them, an edge that they have over others.
Sometimes, brain truly triumphs over brawn.
So far I've gotten two suggestions from fellow writers and contributors on what Devvrat's semblance should be and honestly both are so good I may as well just combine both and tune out the rest to make it balanced. Thanks Jebest and BioshockerN7, you guys are the best.
Rodal is an OC character, just to clarify. Thought of him on the fly when developing the story.
Someone already got something right, so hey congrats to you
I'm done rambling, let's get crazy
And I saw a film recently that gave me such…hope and strength in myself to overcome my obstacles in the Darkest Hour.
AND BLACK PANTHER IS FUCKING AWESOME WOOOO HAIL KING T'CHALLA RULER OF WAKANDA. I LOVE MARVEL SO MUCH RIGHT NOW
But there is a bit of a problem I've been noticing. What's up with the notifications on the site? I checked on my profile recently and saw like several messages and nearly 12 stories that I follow and read had been updated but I had gotten no notifications from my email. Is anybody else experiencing this problem cause it's been going on all month long for some time now and it's really weird and can't deny it frustrating and annoying. Please tell me I'm not the only one.
Last but not least a quick apology for the long overdue chapter. I last updated prior to the start of the next semester so that took up a large amount of my time and I am exhausted. But I ain't giving up on my work that I invested so much time into that easily. Thanks for being patient with me guys.
That and originally at the time of me writing this, this chapter was meant to go up immediately the day after Noble Justice chapter 27 went up which was the 25th of February 2018. But I suffered an arm injury immediately after so I had to take some time off to recuperate from my injury which is always a pain in the…well the arm.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day
Avenging Remnant Chapter 13: Raid on Menagerie
Hazel sat in silence, observing the newest acquisition that had yet to move or do anything for that matter since Salem's ritual.
The queen rested on her throne, recovering her strength.
Now one would normally say that when someone looked weakened or ill that they seem a bit light skinned or pale. But Salem's skin is pure white so…
Regardless, Salem's inner circle knew when the queen wasn't at her full strength. This was a dark and extremely dangerous spell that Salem seldom ever used. In her long existence, Salem had only used it three times and every time it had left her in a drastically weakened state where it took a great deal of time to recover.
This one seemed especially powerful as Salem said nothing upon completion of her ritual. She silently walked out and into her own personal chambers and submerged herself in a pool of black substance and remained there for several days.
Salem remerged looking more revitalized but still needed more time to rest.
So she sat upon her throne with Hazel, Watts and Tyrian present.
"What can this idiot even do?" Tyrian asked, bored at looking at the guy. He poked his head to no reaction
"If this is an enemy of the Avengers then he is one not to be taken lightly, Tyrian" Hazel said patiently "Look at what happened to Salem upon bringing him here"
"I don't think he's worth anything" Tyrian declared
"We shall see upon his awakening" Watts said, annoyed by the assassins attitude
"Watts" Salem spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper but had the undivided attention of her subjects
"Your grace" Watts said with the utmost respect
"What can you tell me about your time speaking with Devvrat?" Salem asked
"A grave new development" Watts said grimly "One that may benefit us or work against us"
"Oh?" Salem tilted her head "What does this mean, Watts?"
"Devvrat has disclosed some information that has shed some light on an event that had eluded us for some time" Watts said "The event being the fall of Mt. Glenn"
This caused everyone to now concentrate all of their attention on the man with the brilliant mustache.
"What do you mean?" Hazel asked warily
"During my latest meeting with Devvrat, he disclosed some troubling information in regards to the formation of the cleansers, Mt. Glenn, the leader of the Cleansers and, in his own words, it was the leader of the Cleansers who turned Doctor Merlot against Ozpin and orchestrated the downfall of Mt. Glenn"
That raised eyebrows and even Tyrian was stunned upon hearing this.
"How can you be certain of this?" Hazel questioned
"The source came from Devvrat himself" Watts stated as if it were gospel "A man like himself is not known for lying"
"Are you certain what he said was true?" Salem said, leaning forward "This could be a ruse"
"My queen" Watts spoke in complete seriousness "I am not known to make foolish gambles based on the words of others. But Devvrat is one of the only men where I take his words over what anyone else would say. What he told me is true"
"What else did he tell you?" Salem inquired
"As I stated before, this leader managed to turn Doctor Merlot against Ozpin" Watts reiterated "And Devvrat's confidence in the man seems to be in the extreme"
"How so?" Salem asked
"He is so confident in his leader that he believes that should his leader choose to do so, he will casually stroll into our headquarters and meet with you on his own terms" Watts stated
Tyrian snorted, letting out a mad cackle.
"Let him try" Tyrian said, grin displaying madness along with his pincer weapons "I could use the entertainment"
"Need I remind you that Devvrat is more than a match for you" Watts said sharply
"So?" Tyrian said unimpressed
"That means that whoever it is that Devvrat follows must clearly be more skilled than either you both" Watts said with finality "That includes myself and possibly even Hazel"
Tyrian only scowled dismissively, unperturbed by Watts's statement.
Salem leaned back into her throne, eyes closing in thought.
"You say that it was he who converted Doctor merlot against Professor Ozpin, yes?" Salem asked which Watts nodded to
"Interesting" Salem said, eyes closing in thought
Nobody said or did anything, waiting on their queen.
"Watts, Hazel"
Both men raised their heads in attention.
"Begin reconnaissance" Salem instructed "Sift through archives from all four corners of the kingdoms. I want you to find as much information as you can. Devvrat would not reveal information like this so lightly. Either he had done so himself or was instructed to do so by his leader. He is making his move now. Tyrian, see if you could hunt down some lesser known individuals from the Cleansers and see what you could find. Bring them to me if need be"
Tyrian gained a deranged smile with his eyes lighting up at the thought of blood drenching his pincers and tail.
"Try not make such a mess" Watts said in annoyance at Tyrians expression "We're trying to use discretion here, not full blown declaration of war"
Tyrian only rolled his eyes, childishly sticking his tongue out at Watts when there was a rumbling groan and cough.
Everyone looked to the table where Salem's summon lay.
It appears that he had at last recovered.
The man sat up, coughing violently while trying to get bearing as to just where the hell he was.
"What the fuck?" The man's voice was gravely as he was still coughing "Where the fuck am I?"
His vision was blurry, with everything being fuzzy as he blinked repeatedly to have his sight cleared.
Upon seeing where he was and who was surrounding him, he had only one thing to say.
"Who the fuck are all you people?"
Arc residence
Jaune Arc swung his sword down again, sweating profusely.
In his other hand was a circular wooden training shield, not unlike that which is wielded by one Steve Rogers.
Gritting his teeth, Jaune threw his shield and sword down onto the ground and fell to his knees.
He hung his head down low, clenching his knees tightly.
Exhaling heavily, Jaune wiped the sweat off from his forehead and looked up to the sky. He tilted himself all the way back in order to lay on his back.
Closing his eyes, Jaune took the moment to steady his breath and slow his heart rate down.
Opening his eyes, his youngest sister Jane was staring down at him.
"YAH" Jaune jolted up to sit, clutching his chest as he breathed heavily at the sudden appearance of Jane
"Jane" Jaune whined "What'd ya go and do that for?"
"I just wanted to check on you" Jane said innocently "You were out here playing all by yourself…"
"Training" Jaune quickly cut in "I was training. Or whatever that was"
"It looked like you were playing" Jane happily stated "Were you having fun?"
Jaune could only give his sister a small smile, standing up to walked over to her and ruffle her hair.
Jane immediately puffed her cheeks out and pouted.
"I hate it when you do that" Jane squeaked out, rapidly waving her arms up and down
Jaune only laughed at his little sisters behavior, messing up her hair further which made her smack her fists against his leg.
"Come on Jane" Jaune nudged his little sister "Let's go get some ice cream. I've got a real craving for chocolate right now"
Jane immediately brightened up and jumped up to grab her brothers wrist(not that she needed to), pulling him with her into the house.
She sat down at the downing table, rapidly slapping her hands against which Jaune promptly ended by placing his arm over hers and giving her a withering stare. She only smiled brightly and innocently, making Jaune flick her forehead for good measure.
To keep her entertained for the next several minutes, Jaune turned on the television and placed the remote down next to her so she could choose what she wanted to watch.
He got the ice cream out from the freezer whilst Jane idly flipped through the channels for anything to catch her attention.
We had a winner.
"Oh" Jane bounced in her seat "It's the Avengers!"
Jaune nearly dropped the bowl he had for Jane. He fumbled momentarily before righting himself to stare at the screen where the Avengers were being shown in action in a village fending off the Grimm.
Jaune couldn't help but be captivated by seeing the Avengers make looking like a hero so easily. He naturally assumed like most of the people Remnant that these Avengers were a new group of Huntsmen and Huntresses who had come together for the unifying cause of making Remnant a better place.
They're the reason why Jaune has now begun watching the news more intently now. It was now he had begun to truly train, to truly do everything in his power to become a Huntsmen.
If only his parents shared his drive and sentiment.
At least he had Jane.
"Here ya go Jane" Jaune said with brotherly affection, placing down a big bowl of ice cream in front of her.
The young Arc clapped happily, immediately digging in to her sweet treat.
Jaune only smiled, ruffling her hair momentarily before quietly exiting his home with his scroll in hand.
On it was a few personal videos he had been accumulating for some time.
Arriving at his little training area, Jaune set down his scroll and readied his makeshift shield with a stance in front of his own training dummy.
The scroll began playing a compilation of videos of one specific Avenger with a very specific move set.
Jaune observed the movement before looking back to the dummy and began striking it with his shield in a similar manner to that of one Steve Rogers.
He glanced back every so often to see how Steve positioned himself when striking. Jaune kept at this one motion for several hours, adding some kind of variety to the strike in terms of angle and stance. He eventually got tired with his entire right arm burning in soreness.
Jaune grunted, rubbing his arm.
He sat down on chair he had set up, not feeling like he truly accomplished anything.
The young arc remained unaware of his baby sister watching him in secret.
She held a curious and sad expression at seeing her brother so down in the dumps. Jane wondered why. Scrunching up her face with resolve, Jane left to run back into her home and see if she could try to whip up something to cheer her brother up.
Scene cut
The next day at Beacon Academy in Ozpin's office
The mood within the office was grim and serious as Glynda, Steve and Qrow stood around Ozzy's desk with the headmaster seated in his chair.
"You're completely serious about this?" Ozpin asked Qrow Branwen, tone and face severely grave
"Whoever tipped us off went through great lengths to show us this" Qrow said, tossing a couple of photos onto Oz's desk "They got more of that advanced tech on Menagerie in the possession of Ghira Belladonna himself"
Oz was silent, holding up several photos of what was aerial shots of Menagerie as well as discreetly taken photos of Ghira moving the tech with another Faunus.
"Who tipped you off?" Ozpin inquired
"That's just it, I don't know who did" Qrow said with frustration laced in his voice "One minute I was buying ice cream for my niece the next thing I see on the counter is a folder with my name on it"
"This is bold, even by the Cleansers standards" Glynda said in a serious tone
"Why would the Cleansers be after this technology to begin with?" Steve asked the million dollar question "What purpose does it serve to them? They don't even know what it is"
"Be that as it may, they are preparing to strike on Menagerie soon" Qrow said sharply "And they're being led by Lieutenant Stryker"
"Stryker?" Glynda noticeably paled "Of all people, he's in league with the Cleansers"
"You missed a teeny detail there Glynda" Qrow stated "He's a lieutenant still, one of their top guys last I checked"
"I take it this Stryker fella doesn't have the cleanest of resumes" Steve correctly assumed
"More like drenched then having some stains here and there" Glynda said with a rare display of venom "He is an abhorrent individual with a despicable past. Stryker is well known for his prejudice and discrimination against Faunus to a murderous degree. During his time in Atlas, he drove an entire unit of Faunus to their deaths against a Grimm's nest filled to the brim with ancient Grimm that shredded them to pieces. What was believed to be an accident was revealed to be an intentional suicide mission. Stryker ran before he could face justice"
"And he has been pursued by Ironwood for a good 5 years now" Ozpin said tiredly "Even though he's been off the radar for 3"
"But now he's back and with the cleansers" Glynda said in disgust
"So when are they supposed to be attacking?" Steve asked Qrow specifically
Tapping in a few commands onto the holo table, a map layout of Menagerie appeared. He pointed to the northern part of the island.
"That's one of their entry point" Qrow said moving down to the main of the docks "Their second is through the docks themselves, disguising themselves as either 'friendly' merchants or even as Faunus"
"So what's the plan then?" Glynda asked "It's quite obvious we must not allow the Cleansers to get their hands on this technology or attack the island"
"We have to warn this Ghira Belladonna of what he possesses and get it out of his hands" Steve said sternly "The longer he holds on to that tech the more likely he will become a target of constant attack by those who wish to own this weaponry"
"How is it that the Cleansers came to know that Ghira was in possession of such technology?" Ozpin asked aloud suddenly
"There clearly must be some kind of traitor in their midst in one way shape or form" Glynda surmised
"I'll go inform the rest of the team" Steve left the office, leaving the rest to ponder their thoughts.
Ozpin slumped back into his chair and exhaled deeply, hand running through his hair.
"You alright there, Ozzy?" Qrow asked "You look more tired than you normally do"
"Haven't had my coffee yet" Oz said casually, grabbing his empty mug which in an instant was filled with his favorite brand of hot coffee
Glynda's eyes twinkled slightly with amusement while Qrow snorted.
"When are you gonna teach me that trick?" The old dusty Huntsmen asked jokingly
"With your track record and penchant for drinking, probably never" Ozpin wryly remarked, taking another large gulp
"This is truly startling news" Glynda said, bring both men back down to the subject at hand "The Cleansers were not a ragtag group of racist as we had perceived. They are far more organized then they appear especially with a man like Stryker being one of them as abhorrent as he is"
"Think he's their leader?" Qrow asked
"No" Ozpin immediately shot down the idea "As much as a leader he may be, the cleansers are not just comprised of fanatics as we once thought. They are organized and have a structure. And judging from what you have given us, Stryker is just as he was in Atlas. A lieutenant"
"So the biggest mystery here is who is the true leader of the Cleansers" Glynda stated
"One that must be solved sooner rather than later" Ozpin agreed
"Looks like I'm going back out" Qrow said
"No" Ozpin quickly shot that down "The best place for you to start with is Menagerie. Go with the Avengers and whoever they round up, we can interrogate as to who is the puppet master behind the cleansers"
Qrow arched a brow, shrugging as he enjoys working with the Avengers so that wouldn't be much of an issue.
He left the two professors who were deep in thought at this development.
"What's on your mind Ozpin?" Glynda asked the rather aged looking headmaster
"Dread" Ozpin admitted miserably "I don't know how or why but I have this sudden feeling of dread in regards to the Cleansers. We have enough threats on Remnant to begin with. Heaven knows who else is in that radical organization"
"Do you think we will be able to handle them?" Glynda asked a bit perturbed by Oz's attitude
Ozpin silently contemplated on this new development, taking a moment to find the proper response.
"In time, we shall see just what type of threat the cleansers pose"
Several days later
Undisclosed Cleansers Base
Devvrat observed silently from the walkway above as Lieutenant Stryker spoke with manic conviction of their 'crusade' against the Faunus in their coming attack on Menagerie. How they would cleanse the world of their stain and make pure the race of humanity for all eternity.
He would commend the man for his charisma had it not been so droll and uninspiring in Devvrat's eyes.
How unoriginal and quite frankly disgusting.
"Why do you bother to keep him around, leader?" Devvrat asked casually to the imposing figure of the man who formed the Cleansers those many years ago.
He was broad shouldered, well postured with slicked back black hair and onyx black eyes.
"You know why already Devvrat" The leader said smoothly
"I do indeed" Devvrat said "But why do you specifically keep him. I know you abhor the man and his mannerisms"
"Very true Devvrat" Leader said with not much care "However I recognize I need a rallying figure for my plans here, so Stryker will do just fine. When the time comes, he shall be disposed of. A man such as him does not fit in the world I have in mind"
"Which begs the question, Leader" Devvrat asked, his voice with a low edge of threat "Do I 'fit' into this world you intend to enact"
"We shall see Devvrat" Leader said smoothly "We shall see. Are the plans in place?"
"Everything is as it should be Leader" Devvrat said respectfully "Stryker will depart tomorrow. All pieces are moving as they should"
"Good, good" The leader of the cleansers nodded his head in satisfaction "Then we shall leave Stryker to it"
Down below the man known as lieutenant Stryker spoke to his specific group of followers with intense passion, listing down the plans that the gods of this world had bestowed upon them in their crusade to cleanse this world of the plague that is the Faunus.
The man known as Stryker was not to be taken likely however. A buzz cut with his hair being pure silver with a glinting shine to it, he was very broad at an imposing six foot two. A muscular frame to compliment his angled face and sharp cheekbones. He eyes were a purplish-red with a focused insanity to his gaze. One couldn't help but be drawn in and/or unnerved by his demeanor.
His voice had raspy medium pitch that can reach a few high notes for emphasis when needed.
"Soon" Stryker spoke his final words "The true crusade shall begin. Tomorrow, we attack Menagerie and the rest of the world will now that the time for those mutated freaks has come to its end. This is OUR WORLD"
His followers only cheered ravenously as he simply held his arms out wide to soak in the adulation.
The next day in Menagerie
Wanda and Amber walked side by side, acting completely casual in the market place of the island of Menagerie.
All around them were Faunus of many kinds from the canine and feline variety to the rare lizard like and avian variety.
They were currently posing as dog like Faunus with Amber having a wraparound tail and Wanda wearing a headband with dog ears.
To say that this was slightly mortifying was an understatement.
Far behind back at the docks were Pietro, Steve and Sam, posing as merchants who have come to do trade with the island, selling off some Dust, food and other goods. Not that they weren't really.
Ozpin managed to pull a few strings to make their cover more legit.
Far up in the sky, unbeknownst to the denizens of this island was a bird shaped drone surveying the area.
"What do you see Sam?" Steve asked discreetly to his friend
Sam reached up to adjust his shades which were actually his main combat goggles.
"Nothing yet" Sam said turning back to the man he was doing business with, finalizing their little exchange.
"Nothing on our end either" Amber said, examining a nice shirt with colors that align with her season
"Clint?" Steve said through their ear pieces
Clint who was on the northern end of the island in the forest was kneeling on a sturdy tree branch was scanning the area with his keen eyes.
On his shoulder was crow which was Qrow in his animal form.
"Nothing yet Steve" Clint answered, hands tactically positioned to go for his bow in a split second
Qrow let out a caw of agreement, flying off Clint's shoulder up into the air for birds eye view of the area.
"It's crazy to think that there's no Grimm here" Scott remarked atop is steed Antonio. He had commanded the small army of ants he had brought here to speak with the other ants of the island to create a scout perimeter.
"Don't jinx it" Pietro said through the comms
Wanda was eyeing many Faunus, discreetly probing them with her telepathy for any hints as to where the cleansers may be.
Steve had walked away from their ship, casually walking further into the island with one destination in mind.
He was wearing a more baggy set of clothes and a large back pack that held his shield right on his back.
Up ahead, Steve had spotted the Belladonna's estate with some guards surrounding the area.
The place was lively and peaceful with many civilians going about their day, not a care in the world.
He couldn't help but narrow his eyes in contempt towards the cleansers for what they were about to do. No matter what or where, there were always those who wished to inflict their malicious beliefs and actions upon those that don't deserve it.
He will not allow that to happen.
Sam and Pietro remained at the docks with the speedster munching on a sandwich while idly gazing out onto the sea.
The waves were rocking back and forth gently with the sound of seagulls chirping in the air.
Pietro let out a momentary content sigh.
'Damn this is nice' Pietro internally mused
Taking another bite out of his sandwich, Pietro continued to observe the water with his eyes gliding over the ripples in the water.
Blinking, Pietro looked back to the ripples in the water.
At first he thought it was the waves but some of those ripples wee unnatural.
His curiosity was sated at the site of fish oriented Faunus jumping out from water, enjoying their swim in the sea. An appreciative look came over Pietro as he saw the figure some of the fine ladies that were in the water.
Glancing around, Pietro squinted his eyes at an odd shape that was bobbing up and down upon the water.
Tilting his head, Pietro had an odd gut feeling in his gut, moving to higher ground upon the docks to see if he could get a better look at the thing.
Climbing some stares to get to an elevated platform upon the docks, saw that the object had a curve to it. It kind of resembled a fin or horns of some kind.
Eyeing the shape, Pietro looked down into the water and saw a black shape underneath.
Slowly, Pietro's eyes began to widen in horror as he quickly started to suspect just what it was that was beneath the waves and it was moving right towards those in the water.
He slammed his hands down onto the railing and yelled with all his might.
"GET OUT OF THE WATER" Pietro roared with all his might.
With no warning a serpentine creature burst out from the water, letting out a guttural roar. The Faunus in the water looked up in abject terror as the Grimm Sea Dragon dove right down at them.
All around the docks, pandemonium and fear reigned as many began to flee from the scene while the armed guards of the island ran forward.
In Pietro's perspective however, everything had slowed down to a considerable degree. He felt his heart pumping with his adrenaline spiking substantially as he quickly threw off his clothes and bandana, revealing his main suit beneath and his silver hair flying freely.
Leaping over the railings and down onto the water, Pietro ran at his top speed quickly snatching up the people in the water and back to the shore.
In the blink of an eye, the Grimm was crashing into the water while the Faunus who were in the water stared in stunned silence.
"Steve" Sam quickly reacted, discarding his own clothing and called upon his suit to materialize around him "Grimm in the water. It's a god damn sea dragon"
Taking to the skies just as the Grimm resurfaced, Falcon flew right at the behemoth of a Grimm with his machine guns at the ready.
"Pietro" Quicksilver heard Steve's voice in his ear "Clear the docks of civilians NOW"
"On it" Pietro ran at break neck speed, clearing out a full three rows of civilians.
He skidded in front of some armed guards who were staring at him in astonishment
"Get these people to safety" Quicksilver ordered the guards who only nodded dumbly in compliance
Looking back with a hardened gaze, Quicksilver pulled out two short swords that he had gotten from beacon and ran at the Grimm dragon that was currently attempting to take Sam out from the skies.
Behind him, explosions began going off in the market place.
Moments earlier
Wanda was drinking a beverage she had bought from a stand, one that Amber had gotten for herself as well.
She side-eyed Steve who was walking at a normal pace towards the Belladonna estate.
It was then, Wanda felt a sudden shift in the air.
Her telepathy and slight development of empathy picked up malicious intent and turned behind her to a Dust stand where a group of roguish individuals were standing when all attention was turned towards the docks.
As clear as day for all to see was a Grimm Sea Dragon and instantly people began panicking and run further inland.
Steve had already given out instructions to Pietro and Sam when several explosions went off in the market place.
Wanda had thrown up a shield around herself, Amber and any nearby civilians to protect them from the blasts and debris.
All around them, Wanda detected at least several dozen well-armed Cleansers with only one goal in mind.
To inflict as much harm as they possibly can upon the Faunus.
She saw a cleanser with a sword ready to strike down a young couple.
Gnashing her teeth in rage, Wanda shot out her hand and ensnared the cleanser with her powers and promptly slammed him into the ground. Now that he was taken care of, she along with Amber discarded their disguises and ran forward to meet the Cleansers that were clear as day now.
The duo heard the familiar telltale signs of a shield bouncing off poor saps in its way, knowing that Steve was now in the fight.
In the forest, Hawkeye was nestled atop a tree and saw everything going down.
Qrow flew overhead and Ant-man was hovering above the archer.
"What do we do, Clint?" Scott asked
Before he could answer, Clint heard a tree branch snap beneath him and he quickly whirled round and fired an explosive bow down below.
An explosion was let off followed by cries of pain.
"They're all over" Ant-man cried out, getting his feedback from his ants "At least fifty"
"They came in force" Hawkeye jumped down onto the branches below with several pulse arrows nocked and drawn
Spotting a collection of Cleansers moving in through the forest, Clint fired the pulse arrows on the trees around the men and shockwave took them out quickly.
Clint was abruptly tackled down by Qrow himself from the branch which promptly blew up.
Qrow helped Clint to his feet and both men had their weapons out as they were surrounded by Cleansers, with a man with Silver hair being in the middle of it all.
Said man eyed the two intently, recognizing them soon after.
"Ah yes, the legendary Huntsmen Qrow Branwen and the Avenger known as Hawkeye"
"Lieutenant Stryker" Qrow said with narrowed eyes
"While it is a pleasure that such distinguishable figures know a man such as I" Stryker said overly gracious with a slight bow "I do need to know, how is it that you are here fully prepared for our strike on the filth of this island"
"Someone tipped us off" Qrow said plainly
"I see" Stryker nodded "Then there is clearly a traitor in our midst. I shall see to their extermination. But first…"
Stryker's weapon was a flail which could shift from its base form to a regular mace, blunder bust and grenade launcher.
Qrow blocked his attacked with his own blade, grunting slightly at the force behind the attack.
Clint quickly fired off a few arrows at Stryker and the Cleansers before shifting into his bow into a Bo and proceeded to whack aside several cleansers.
"You know the objective" Stryker shouted to his subordinates who ran past them
But most suddenly began convulsing in pain, shouting and clawing at various parts of their skin.
Suddenly some of them jolted and had their heads snap up, down, left and around.
Stryker of course growled and reached behind him to pull out a switch of some kind.
He grinned maniacally, pressing down on the little device.
Qrow and Clint stared at the man in confusion. What was that about?
"Guys" Ant-man grew to full size beside the two "The little guys are freaking out. There's some weird frequency in the air"
Clint looked back to Stryker who grinned menacingly before running off to his destination.
"Something's not right. Take to the skies" Clint said to Qrow and Scott "NOW"
Jolted by the sudden order by the archer, Scott shrank back down onto his steed while Qrow shifted back into his bird form.
Clint ran after Stryker, striking down several Cleansers that attempted to take him out.
Qrow and Scott were in the air, scanning the area when high above they heard screeching roars.
Their heads looked up to two Nevermores descend down upon the island, specifically towards them.
"What the hell?!" Scott exclaimed "Where did they come from?!"
Clint instead prepped to high powered explosive missile seeking arrows and fired at the Nevermore on the right.
While the arrow was flying towards his target, Clint took no chances and fired off two more right behind his first one.
The targeted Nevermore was barraged with dozens of missile projectiles with one lodging itself into the eye and it blew off the Nevermores head.
"Impressive" Stryker moved to attack Clint but was cut off by Qrow who slashed at him making Stryker jump back.
"I'll take care of this asshole" Qrow said to his comrades "Get after those Cleansers now"
Back at the docks and market place
Steve slammed his shield into the face of an unfortunate cleanser, whacking aside another that tried getting him from the back.
He then went off into a sprint towards the Belladonna estate at full speed.
Up ahead were guards who were mounting up to go into the market place while instructing civilians who were nearby to stay within the confines of the area.
Amongst them stood none other than Ghira Belladonna with his wife Kali, both of whom showed great concern, fear and fury for what was transpiring.
"Ghira Belladonna" Steve Rogers yelled, gaining the attention of all present as he skid to a stop before the leader of the island.
Some recognized Rogers instantly, with their eyes wide in awe and disbelief.
Ghira squinted momentarily.
"You look familiar" Ghira murmured
"Steve Rogers sir" Cap introduced himself with respect "I'm here with the rest of the Avengers fighting off the attack on your island. It's the cleansers"
Many Faunus began to panic in fear after hearing that statement, un-believing to the fact that they were here.
"How do you know of this?" Ghira said, tone slightly accusatory
"We found out quite literally the day before" Steve said earnestly "Someone tipped off an informant of ours on plans of a raid targeting your island. Apparently, they're after something you have other than their own agenda"
Before anything more could be said, several loud roars reverberated across the island.
All heads turned in shock and horror as they saw not one but now two Grimm Sea Dragons at the docks of the island with a Nevermore in the air.
To make matters even worse, one of the Grimm Dragons spread out its wings and took off into the air with its mouth open and crackling with lightning.
However, before the Grimm could unleash its attack, Falcon came swooping at full speed and with the momentum and angle of his missile like speeds, cracked his wing hard across the jaw to the sea dragon who shot his lightning breath out into the forests rather than the civilians below.
A purple energy shockwave resonated from the impact from Falcons wings.
"Gotta thank Shuri if I ever see her again" Sam remarked, greatly admiring his Vibranium laced wings, going back on the attack
Sam had to sharply dive down from the sudden flyby of the Nevermore.
"We gotta switch it up" Steve murmured, reaching for his comms "Team, new objectives. Sam, you engage the Nevermore, amber, Wanda, the Grimm Sea Dragon in the sky. Pietro, focus on clearing out the market place of civilians and take out the Cleansers that are there. Clint, Scott, Qrow, I need a status update"
"Qrow's fighting off Stryker in the forests" Hawkeye said on his end, running after the Cleansers who were running to the Belladonna house "I'm in pursuit of at least several dozen Cleansers. They're all armed and headed your way Cap"
"Scott" Steve said into the comms "Head to the docks. Take out the Sea Dragon now"
"By myself?!" Scott exclaimed in alarm
"You know you can do it Scott" Steve said in complete seriousness "We need to make sure the Grimm don't run rampant here"
Scott was momentarily silent on the other until he let out a sigh.
"You got it Cap" Ant-man said, now determined "Consider it done"
Steve only nodded, turning back to Ghira who could only stare at Shim in total bewilderment.
"There's Cleansers coming this way from the north end of your complex, sir" Steve said sternly "They are coming for your house for whatever it is they came here for. They are armed and ready to kill"
Ghira felt an unusual calmness come over him after hearing Steve speak, looking to his wife, guards and in many ways personal pupil Rodal.
"Rodal, get the guards to the north side now" Ghira instructed the young Huntsmen "Kali, lead the civilians to the west bunker, it'll be safer there. Veritas, take several men with you and get to the market place and help guide civilians away from the fight"
All at once, everyone began moving at a rapid pace but maintaining a semblance of order as all moved to their assigned locations.
Ghira turned back to Steve who was staring back towards the docks. Nodding to himself in a show of his faith towards his comrades, Steve was ready to head off to confront the Cleansers headed his way when Ghira stepped in front of him.
"I'm coming with you" Ghira said in a tone that left no room for arguments
Steve only gestured his head to follow.
"Would be surprised if you didn't" Steve said with a small smirk, the older Faunus finding himself smirking back
It's quite easy to say that the veteran super soldier has left the quite the first impression upon Ghira in the literal five minutes of meeting him.
Back with Qrow, he and Stryker were evenly matched in terms of having a type of proper counter for one another. Stryker's own power and technique managed to match Qrow's own Nimbleness and dexterity.
But something felt a little off. For both of them.
Qrow felt an overwhelming pressure upon him yet Stryker kept having these small 'hiccups' occur around him, preventing him from capitalizing on the clear discomfort that Qrow was going through.
'Why the hell does this keep happening?!' Stryker internally raged as a large tree branch simply fell in front of him, blocking his mace strike.
Qrow jumped right at the man, raising his sword up and making it split apart into a curve to defend his left side from the wild swing Stryker directed at him.
He landed a clean heel kick to the jaw of Stryker who stumbled back with a growl, clutching the side of his face.
"The hell are you doing?" Qrow abruptly called out to him
"What?" Was Stryker's response
"I know that the pressure in the air is coming directly from you" Qrow said accusingly "I could feel it getting stronger when you're literally an inch away from me"
"Ah so you can detect then" Stryker said nonchalantly "Then again, you are a veteran huntsmen so I shouldn't be all that surprised"
"What the hell is it?" Qrow said with obvious annoyance "It's giving me a god damn headache"
"I should be asking you something similar to that" Stryker shot back with a glare "Branches falling down on me, small pit falls and holes in the ground, constantly tripping over tree branches that clearly weren't there before"
"It's not my fault you're such a clumsy dumbass" Qrow countered smugly
"It's you isn't it" Stryker stated "You're manipulating the environment somehow to help you. Otherwise I would have knocked your head clean off ten minutes ago"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet big guy" Qrow wagged his finger mockingly "You're strong, but not all that fast"
"All I need is one" Stryker declared, retracting his mace into its base form that he uses for close quarter combat.
"Oh so you're gonna be serious this time then" Qrow quipped, flipping his bangs back "Then it's only fair that I am as well"
Qrow shifted his grip on his sword which in turn shifted gears and the mechanisms within his weapon. The blade split off into several parts before Qrow twirled it around, the sword transforming into a scythe.
"I'm quaking in my BOOTS" Stryker exclaimed that last word with a charge at Qrow
Stryker's mace doubled in size the jagged edges glowing red. He swung down at Qrow who slashed aside the mace. Upon hitting the ground, there was a small explosion and a crater was left in its wake.
"Dust lined edges" Qrow surmised "Not bad"
Qrow kicked Stryker in the stomach and went on the offensive, twirling his scythe around in a rapid motion making sure that Stryker couldn't get such an easy strike in if he wanted to.
Narrowing his eyes, Stryker thrust his mace forward which parried with Qrow's scythe making the two engage in a heated exchange between their weapons with sparks and occasional dust bursts flying around them as neither backed down.
Elsewhere, Amber and Wanda were levitating in the air both firing off energy blasts at the Grimm serpent that flew in the air right at them.
It let out a beam of lightning from its mouth right at Wanda.
She threw up her shield and strained under the pressure of the lightning beam.
Thankfully, Amber flew in and cracked her staff against the Grimm's lower jaw. The beasts head snapped upward, giving Wanda the reprieve as she wobbled momentarily in the air.
The Grimm was sturdy however as it began attempting to bite Amber out of the air. The fall maiden hovered back, spinning her staff around with both gems on each side glowing in their respective colors.
Wanda flew in to keep the focus on her while Amber called upon her powers for her attack. She let off rapid fire hex spheres, pelting the Dragon with her powers.
They were indeed effecting the large behemoth of a Grimm but it was not enough to put him down.
Wanda hadn't fully mastered her interior precision point(as she calls it) detonation ability as that took a great deal of concentration so she relegated herself to these distraction based tactics.
Amber in the meantime had the familiar wispy flames emanating around her eyes as she focused her powers, now holding up her staff above her head. Down below on the ground, leaves began to glow slightly, getting swept up in the wind.
The leaves began straightening into a more flat piece of green.
They swirled around the fall maiden, sharpening quickly.
"Wanda" Amber called out "Now"
With expert timing, Wanda snapped her hands to her sides with her fingers in a curled up manner. Her red aura was emanating powerfully from both hands, leaving the Grimm Sea Dragon motionless in midair.
Amber waved her staff around, with the collection of sharpened leaves following in its path until she swung upwards and then brought it down.
A barrage of sharpened, metallic leaves descended on down upon the Grimm Dragon quite literally tearing it to pieces leaving only small chunks to fall and disintegrate away.
"Grimm Sea Dragon taken care of, Steve" Wanda said through their comms
"Good to know" Steve grunted, super kicking a Cleanser back
Beside him, Ghira grabbed another Cleanser and threw him into a group of others.
Rodal was next to Steve using his three pronged claw gauntlets as his weapons of choice against the Cleansers.
The enemies were armed primarily with guns with a few exceptions possessing more close quarter weapons. These individuals used aura, meaning they were Steve's primary targets.
Blocking a sword strike, Steve pushed the blade back and decked the cleanser in the gut, elbowing him in the jaw and rounding out the knockout with an emphatic boot to the chest.
He held up his shield, deflecting gunfire while running forward to his next opponent. The fire let up momentarily which was more than enough time for Steve, throwing his shield at the gunmen while running right at a Cleanser who was using tonfas.
Cap's shield bounced off several individuals while he began to block and parry the Cleansers swings, using hard upper knee strike to get a tonfa out of his enemies hand and into his.
His shield returned to his hand and he struck
A tonfa to the right
Shield bash to the face
Overhead strike to the top of the head
And a spinning shield smash to 'cap' off the barrage of strikes.
Back in the market, Quicksilver cleared out the Cleanser that were stationed within the area. He left each one quite thoroughly beaten up and tied together in a small pile of poor saps.
Pietro also shepherded the civilians, running off to find any stragglers, old timers or children for any that asked.
Seeing that he was making good progress, Pietro glanced back to the docks and his eyes widened at the site of yet another Grimm appearing, this one an octopus looking one.
Eyes glinting at the challenge, Pietro spun his short swords in his hands and ran right at the newest Grimm.
He went bugged-eyed momentarily, stumbling to roll out of the way from a lightning breath attack by the still water bound Grimm Serpent.
Not being deterred, Quicksilver was already back on his feet and sprinting at the octopus Grimm, dragging his swords on the ground.
The Grimm didn't have time to blink when it suddenly screeched out in pain at one of his limbs being sliced off.
Its natural ally the Sea Dragon opened its mouth to fire another lightning attack upon the speedster only for it to jolt violently.
Blinking the serpent looked and sniffed around, trying to identify just what it was that struck him.
It snapped around several more times, roaring in pain and anger.
Then from out of nowhere, Ant-man grew to his full size and chucked a dust grenade into the beasts open mouth. He shrunk again onto his steed and face the Grimm in anticipation
It snapped its mouth closed instinctively and spasmed for several seconds with smoke coming out from its nostrils. It then roared out loudly in rage at the torment it just endured.
"Oh right" Scott snapped his fingers "That guy's bigger than most Grimm"
The Grimm Sea Dragon now was moving to the docks, intent on getting on land to wreak havoc upon the Faunus.
"Oh no you don't" Scott said defiantly, holding up his wrist where his controls were displayed "Ok Scott…"
He adjusted his suit settings accordingly and raised his left hand.
"Deep breaths and pray you don't collapse after this"
Jumping from his steed, Scott waited until he was halfway down when he pressed down upon the button.
On the island, the Faunus civilians cowered in terror at seeing the Grimm sea dragon drawing nearer to their island.
The fear turned into total, disbelieving shock when from behind the Grimm was a giant-man that seemingly grew from nowhere reaching out and grabbing the neck of the Sea Dragon.
Collectives jaws dropped at the gargantuan match up.
Gi-Ant-Man pulled the Dragon back further into the water, socking it in the jaw and body several times.
Water crashed around his legs as he moved forward to grab the Grimm only for it to swiftly lunge at him and wrap itself around his arm.
"OW" Ant-man yelled out in pain
The Grimm bit into Scott's arm, angling its head to get deeper into the bite.
Scott promptly bonked the Grimm on its head forcing it to let go in order to receive a right hook.
The hero momentarily looked over his arm, wincing slightly at the sting sensation and blood coming out from his wounds. He looked back up in time to reflexively catch the Sea Dragon by its neck, holding it back to prevent the creature from biting him.
He then quickly clamped its jaw shut after noticing the lightning breath it was prepping.
It wriggled around in Scott's grasp, trying to free itself.
Scott let go of its neck in order for him to drive the head right into his knee, dazing the Grimm. Not letting up, Scott delivered a strong right jab to the midsection of the serpent then a stiff kick to the side.
The Grimm Sea Dragon cried out at the punishment it was receiving, wildly firing out its lightning breath.
Scott flailed momentarily in order to dodge the bolts but saw that the beams were damaging the village. Thinking fast, Scott grabbed the neck of the Grimm.
He let out a brief yell as the bolt managed to singe is arm, but he grit through the pain and forced the head upwards to face the sky.
Scott proceeded to wail on the serpent with repeated strikes until he kinda went a bit crazy, grabbing a lower end of the dragon before snapping its body over his knee, effectively killing it.
Exhaling greatly, Scott rested his hand on his knees taking in deep breaths.
"Holy hell" Scott murmured/panted to himself "That was some Mortal kombat fatality shit right there"
Up above, Falcon kept himself at a manageable distance between himself and the Nevermore.
The damn Grimm was persistent however as it kept on using its wings for burst of speed to close the gap between its next meal.
Sam dove down, pivoting his body around to fire his machine guns. The bullets pelted the Grimm but it wasn't enough to take it out.
Focusing back on flying forward, Sam saw that Scott was in his giant form.
"Yo Tic-tac" Sam said through their comms
"Sam?" Scott sounded winded
"I know you're tired big man but I'm gonna need to do something for me" Falcon said, flying upwards to make a loop with the Nevermore right behind him.
"And that would be?" Scott was steadying out his breathing
"You ever played Street Fighter?" Sam asked, getting ready to dive bomb
"Yes?" Scott answered unsure of what Sam was insinuating
"When you look up, I'm gonna need you to tap into your inner Ryu and Shoryuken the living shit out of this bird" Sam said
"Was more of Ken guy if I were to be honest"
"COMING IN HOT" Sam exclaimed, folding his wings back just as the Nevermore reached him in hopes of eating him.
The Grimm let out and enraged CAW, flapping its wings down in pursuit of it.
In a matter of seconds, Sam was less than a few yards away from Scott with Nevermore hot on his tail.
Wrapping his wings around himself to perform a barrel role around Scott's gargantuan frame, the enlarged superhero cocked his fist back and swung a powerful uppercut with such strength and snap reflex that the upper half of the Nevermore was completely knocked/ripped from the lower portion of the body.
Sam flew up and landed on Scotts shoulder, letting out a whistle
"Fucking hell" Sam murmured, slightly disturbed "That was some mortal kombat fatality shit right there"
"I literally said that a few minutes ago" Scott said
"Grimm Have been taken care of cap" Sam said into his earpiece
"Not all of them" Pietro grunted on his end, sliding beneath a clawed tentacle.
Jumping to his feet, Pietro performed an X-slash to deflect several tentacle swings at once. The Grimm Octopus let out an angered roar, ready to kill the speedster.
Quicksilver was ready of course but that ended abruptly with 'Ant'-Man's giant foot stomping down onto the Grimm, effectively killing it.
The stomp shook the area enough to make Pietro launched a foot into the air before plopping down onto his rear.
"Hey" Pietro complained "I totally had that"
"What? You didn't see that coming?" Sam mercilessly mocked with a grin
Pietro rolled his eyes, getting back up as Sam landed next to him and Scott shrank back down to normal.
The hero immediately fell to his knees, breathing heavily in exhaustion.
"Whoa" Sam remarked with him and Pietro by his side "You alright there Scott?"
"Yeah" Scott wheezed "Just give me a moment. This is only the third time I've done this"
"Crazy man" Pietro joked, helping his fellow Avenger steady himself "Still as crazy as the first time"
"Thanks" Scott said, having Pietro drape his arm over his shoulder
"Steve" Sam contacted cap "The Docks, skies and the market place have been cleared out"
"Good to know" Steve said "Get yourselves over here and let's finish this up"
"Copy that" Sam said, looking up to see Amber and Wanda descend on down to them
"Everything is clear in the skies" Amber informed the trio
"The two of you will head into the forest then" Sam said "Back up Qrow and Clint if he's still there"
"Got it" Wanda nodded and with Amber took off into the skies once more
"Alright" Scott was now standing up straighter, though barely so "I'm good to go"
"You sure?" Pietro asked
"Don't worry" Scott waved off "Got my trusty little buddy Antonio to help me out"
"Alright, if you say so" Sam said, patting Scott's shoulder.
The three men then went off to rejoin their leader, seeing that the area was secure and the civilians safe.
Back in the forest, Qrow was managing to push back Stryker but he himself had sustained his own fair share of injuries. Stryker was also sporting some cuts and bruises and normally their own Aura would serve in healing their injuries but due to the ferocity and length of their battle, their Auras could only do so much.
Qrow was back on the offensive, swinging his scythe around in a helicopter like manner by holding onto the edge of the staff.
Stryker had to jump back a considerable distance but that didn't deter Qrow as his weapon quickly snapped back into its base form, allowing Qrow to fire at Stryker.
In response, Stryker released the lock on his mace to shift into its chain form. He rapidly spun the chain, deflecting the bullets. Swinging it around his body, the chain extended several times from its original length.
The mace bashed through multiple tree trunks in its attempt to get to Qrow.
Qrow positioned himself for a brief second before slicing at the mace, deflecting back into a nearby rock. The mace was stuck momentarily but Stryker sent a command from his weapon for to let out a dust explosion. Free once more, Stryker retracted the spiked ball back to him.
In its mace form once more when Stryker twisted his grip and the mace extended into a Morningstar.
Both combatants were ready to continue their duel when Stryker noticed that the Grimm were no longer present, signifying their defeat.
He had also received word that many of their men had been taken out by the Avengers, primarily Captain Rogers and Hawkeye.
He did however get one piece of good news, which was more than enough for now as he saw two figures headed right for them in the air.
Signaling a retreat on the scrolls of his men that had remained standing, Stryker had shades appear around his eyes and he pulled out a luminescent orb that expunged a blinding light in the area.
Qrow shielded his eyes and Wanda and Amber were both temporarily blinded, quickly going down to the ground as their vision was basically nonexistent at this moment.
When the light had died down, Stryker was gone.
Qrow had rubbed his eyes and saw an empty area, berating himself for his failure in taking down Stryker.
Back with Steve, he was joined by Clint, Pietro, Sam and Scott in rounding up the Cleansers that they had taken down and decided not to pursue the Cleansers who had fled as their mission in being here was important as it is.
After quite the commotion in settling down the people of Menagerie and helping with the injured, the Avengers stood with Ghira Belladonnas office with said Faunus, his wife Kali and the young Huntsmen in training Rodal.
"I must thank you profusely for your actions here today" Ghira said with genuine gratitude "Had you not come here….well, suffice to say that heaven knows the kind of pandemonium the Cleansers would have caused on our island"
"I thought the Cleansers were a rag tag group of racist assholes" Rodal stated
"Not so much kid" Clint remarked with some regret
"Turns out they're a lot more organized than we last thought" Qrow said, arms crossed with a frown
"Regardless" Kali said "Thank you. All of you"
"But I am curious" Ghira leaned in on his desk "How was it that you were aware of the Cleansers coming here?"
The Avengers looked at one another, unsure of who should go first and how do they explain it. As usual, it fell upon Steve.
"To be honest Mr. Belladonna…" Steve began when Ghira cut him off
"Mr. Rogers, you've done a great service to my people here" Ghira said humbly "Just call me Ghira"
"Then it's only fair you call me Steve" Rogers said modestly before returning to his explanation
"Qrow here was tipped off by an informant of unknown origin" Steve said, gesturing to the Huntsmen "Now naturally, we at first thought that the tip off was sketchy but after reviewing the information on how detailed the strike was, we knew it was real"
"And there's also the fact that the info mentioned something about technology that you had recently gotten your hands on that you had put away in your home" Clint said bluntly earning wide eyed shock from the three Faunus
"There was a traitor in your midst" Sam said grimly "And the Cleansers apparently are aware of this technology and maybe even the potential that it serves"
"And do you know of it as well?" Ghira sharply asked
"We do" Steve admitted "It's a rather complicated matter to believe, but we have actually fought against individuals that possess the tech you have found and we make sure to apprehend it and safeguard or destroy it"
"The technology is dangerous and volatile" Clint said "Which is why it needs to be kept out of the wrong hands"
"And you would be those hands?' Kali asked calmly
"We would like to hope so" Steve said honestly
"We've seen the destructive capabilities of the tech you right now have" Pietro spoke up "Our group made a pledge to protect the world from such threats should it ever occur"
"We do not mean to come off as confrontational" Wanda said respectfully "But the Cleansers are aware that you hold something very valuable"
"Please Ghira" Steve said "Let us take it off your hands to keep your island safe"
Ghira leaned back into his seat, greatly contemplating everything that has transpired today.
He learned now that Menagerie, while isolated, wasn't as safe as it seemed anymore. The elder leader had often forgotten the determination some individuals had and were willing to go through to inflict their ill will upon others.
"You have done a great service for this island and our people" Ghira said with the tone of strength "For that, we are deeply indebted to you. You may take what we have found and get it as far away from Menagerie as possible"
"Thank you, Ghira" Steve said gratefully "If you ever need any help from us, don't hesitate to ask"
"Anything you say?" Kali stepped forward surprising Ghira
"Name it" Steve said
"Our daughter" Kali said simply
"Pardon?" Scott said
Kali reached behind her and pulled out a small photo and held it out to the Avengers. On the photo was Ghira on the right grinning goofily, Kali on the left with a serene smile and a younger version of Kali in the center.
"Our daughter Blake" Kali said with a melancholy smile "We haven't seen her in so long. We know she could take care of herself and all but…"
"No problem" Scott immediately took the photo "We'll tell you anything if we see your daughter"
"We promise" Clint said in complete seriousness
The other Avengers held understanding smiles towards Clint and Scott who had pledged themselves to this small task. Kali and Ghira blinked in surprise at how quickly they had accepted when Clint elaborated
"We're fathers ourselves" Clint said, pointing to himself and Scott
"We know what it can be like" Scott stated with a knowing expression
Kali only smile, looking back to her husband who did the same.
"Come" Ghira sat up out of his chair "Rodal, help me gather what we found and hand them over to the Avengers"
Scene cut
Devvrat idly shifted the purple glowing egg shaped orb within his hand around, finding the glow somewhat intriguing.
Stryker had managed to secure two others along with what appeared to be some type of cannon with a great deal of power.
"What do you suppose will be found with this Dr. Merlot?" Devvrat inquired, not glancing back to the mad doctor who was currently fiddling with the cannon that the y had acquired upon Stryker's return
The Doctor was an elderly man with gray hair, mustache and beard, wearing a gray high collared lab coat, a robotic glowing red eye and robotic arm.
"Who knows?" Merlot said with a slight hint of madness "What Stryker shows is that my research is working. It has progressed greatly to the point that controlling small Grimm is not all it could do now"
"Yes Doctor" Devvrat praised truthfully "To attract not one but four enormous Grimm is truly an immense achievement"
"Thank you dear Devvrat" Merlot said "But it only attracts the Grimm. It still cannot control the Grimm, only the small fry like these little ones"
Resting on Merlot's shoulder was a lizard like Grimm that had armored plating on its head, portions of its back and on every limb. However, this Grimm was slightly different wherein the primary body of most Grimm was pitch black aside from their armor, this Grimm seemed larger than most with red streaks across its body.
It was also standing perfectly still upon Merlot's shoulder while he worked in his newest toy.
Devvrat simply set the orb down on the doctor's work station and departed from the labs to speak with their leader.
Said leader was currently residing in his own office, holding a smug expression of victory as he held his own purple glowing orb that they had gotten from menagerie.
The loss of some men was nothing but a small price to pay in the grander scheme of things.
The leader of the terrorist organization only brought up his glass to sip a small taste of the champagne in his other hand.
"The Avengers" He mused "Let us see what else they may be capable of"
Ok that took a lot longer than usual so not gonna say much other than leave you all with this teaser
The fields of Beacon academy were a literal warzone.
Huntsmen and Huntresses new and old all fought to their last breath to hold off the never ending onslaught of the Grimm hordes sent out by Salem.
Amongst the Grimm were humanoid creatures known as the Chitauri with the flying behemoth fortresses called the Chitauri Leviathans.
They had all fought against this wave for hours now and were undoubtedly beginning to get pushed back.
Down on the field was Qrow Branwen fighting with his beloved nieces Ruby and Yang along with Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos.
The rest of their teammates were god knows where as this war that spans the multiverse rages on.
Amongst their ranks were none other than the Avengers known as Hawkeye Clint Barton, Ant-man Scott Lang, The Wasp Janet Van-Dyne, Spider-man Peter Parker and The Fall Maiden Amber as well Beacons professors Goodwitch, Porter, Oobleck and its headmaster Ozpin.
It was complete pandemonium as both sides threw everything they had at one another with neither sides backing down.
Slowly but surely however, the Grimm and the Chitauri were starting to wear down the defenders of not just Beacon at this point but Remnant itself.
Jaune, Ruby and Pyrhha worked in tandem with one each other in taking down a collection of Ursa's and Deathstalkers.
They were successful in doing so, with Ruby going off to aid her uncle and sister.
Pyrrha and Jaune were now fighting in perfect synchronization which they had perfect after months to years of practice and training together.
One need not say anything as each fighter complimented one another whenever necessary.
However it was dashed when some Chitauri and Grimm ganged up on them, separating the two.
Jaune dispatched some of the Grimm and Chitauri around him with his sword and shield, both of which were glowing a radiant gold.
Pyrrha was holding her own but she needed to get back to Jaune as quickly as possible.
She saw that a Boarbatusk had successfully struck Jaune down to the ground.
The young Arc quickly got up, meeting the Grimm by smashing his sword onto the Boar's head and with a yell of desperation struck down the Grimm with a killing blow that was accompanied by an explosion of light.
The Grimm was gone with Jaune standing alone.
Jaune Arc stood alone breathing heavily, taking a moment to survey the battle around him.
He was greatly disheartened and filled with sorrow to see so many of his fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses down on the ground.
To his far right, Hawkeye and Qrow were using everything they had at their disposal to fight off several dozen Grimm.
Spider-man, Ant-man, Wasp and Amber were assisting the teachers and students of beacon but they were truly beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
Pyrrha had managed to finish off her enemies only to be on her knees, panting with exhaustion
It was at this moment that Jaune held up his glowing sword to his face, expression turning solemn.
The sword fell to the ground, embedding itself into the dirt while clouds above crackled with lightning and power.
Jaune closed his eyes and curled his fist up before looking up on to the heavens with his hand held out.
A beam of pure white light descended on down to Jaune's hand and a dome of pure light began encompassing the battlefield.
Like a wave of renewing, reinforcing energy, those that were down on the ground, those who were on their last legs stood back up once more, rejuvenated and eyes all blazing with renewed Vigor.
The power displayed by Jaune Arc was truly awe inspiring as many looked to him upon him dispelling his power.
"Stand, as one!" Jaune yelled out for all to hear, grabbing his sword and thrusting it forward "FOR BEACON. FOR REMNANT. FOR VICTORY"
All cheered and roared in defiance and power, charging at the Grimm and Chitauri once more to live up to Jaune Arcs words
The Battle of Remnant was far from over
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