Why is it I keep hearing stories about children dying in hot cars these days? Are the people looking after them to busy chatting on their phones or are they just that forgetful? Either way, and like I have said before, I hate it when children are killed either by violence or stupidity.
Anyway, time to get back to the main story and it's time for a moment you've all been waiting for. Also, I have decided on Tyrian's fate and replacement. I won't tell you all about it, but it someone who many of use may remember from the Clone Wars Micro series.
I also bet some of you are wondering what is it that Bo-Katan wants to talk to Ray about, but that's going to a surprise in the future. Also, we now know Neo's real name and background, but I'll keep it in line with my story, at least her background.
Now then, let's get onto the reviews.
Dragonzlayerx12: Don't worry about it, just enjoy the story and PM me what you think about the story. Speaking of which, sorry I haven't left a review on any of your stories in a while. Hope you can forgive me. If you are going to play the Force Unleashed games again, go for a blue bladed lightsaber. That's Galen's trademark lightsaber color, in my opinion anyway.
Antex-The Legendary Zorra: You left quite a lot of reviews. First off, I don't mind if you don't want to check out my Lone Wolf stories. Perfectly fine. Glad you are enjoying the story so far, please tell me what you like about the story.
Monster King: Please tell me what you like about the story and thank you.
Luffy L Deathwalker: Let's not jump into conspiracy theories or anything, ok? But it if it were conducted by the Government in the world of V for Vendetta, I'm pretty sure that someone like the Punisher would go after those responsible. But I'm more gratefully for first responders who went into the danger zone and rescued those trapped underneath all that rubble. Your opinion is noted, and I take no offense at all.
Chaotic Skunk Demon: Nice semblance. As for the animal trait and what they look like, I think they would look like your basic human but with a set of wolf ears. Seems you were older than me when it happened. I was still in grade school when it happened and from what I researched, quite a bit of the media was changed following the attack, like Robots in Disguise the one that aired on Fox Kids. Hope you didn't have an aunt who traveled by plane a lot and I hope your mom wasn't thinking she was dead.
Jack Smith 1: Just be glad that you weren't there when it happened. I mean, I wasn't but from a documentary I just saw, the collapse of the towers kicked up one hell of a cloud. The town I live in, one of the people who died was from my town. Glad your private messaging is working again. I had the same problem months ago.
Alright reviews done, let's get this chapter started.
Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 52: Tipping Point
An Ursa fell to the ground, riddled with bullets before it dissipated into mist while a pack of Beowolves burned to death. "We've got more Grimm coming in from the tree line!" Boba shouted to the Bad Batch as the arriving Grimm ran through the tree line right towards them.
"EAT THIS YOU FURBALL!" Wrecker exclaimed, firing his shotgun at the incoming creatures. His weapon roared to life as creature after creature dropped. "I can do this all day!"
"Yeah, but we can't do this all day! We've got to catch up to Ruby and her group before that psycho does!" Hunter reminded the muscular trooper as he threw a grenade towards the Grimm. The grenade landed just inches from the incoming creatures of darkness before it exploded, filling their bodies with lethal shards of metal. "Crosshair! Beringels coming in from the left! Take them down!" he shouted to the sniper.
"Sir, yes, sir." Crosshair replied and sniped the Grimm right in their heads, blowing them into bits. "Where's the kid?" he asked.
"Knowing him, he's probably in the middle of this horde." Hunter answered, firing his rifle at a couple of Creeps that were about to pounce on him from the right. His rounds riddled the Grimm before they collapsed and dissipated into black mist. A quick reload of his rifle brought Hunter back into the fight before he turned to Tech. "Any idea where these things are heading to?"
"That answers obvious, a settlement that's overflowing with negative emotions! We were lucky to come across this horde when we did, otherwise the settlement would be destroyed and most likely the militia would be slaughtered." Tech answered before he cut lose with his carbine and mowed down several Grimm.
Further ahead, Galen sliced his way through the horde of Grimm with his twin blue blades. Dashing towards horde, he slashed through five Ursa before using the force to uproot a tree which he then brought down onto an incoming Widow which was a new one to him. The thing reminded him of one of the spider droids the CIS used during the war, only more organic and from what he learned had a taste for flesh.
"Ruby would want me to defeat these monsters and protect the people of the next settlement. It's what being a Huntsmen is all about and a Jedi will do everything they can to protect the people." He reminded himself as more Grimm charged towards him from further ahead.
Their fangs and teeth dripped saliva as the horde stopped for a moment and glared at Galen who gestured for them to come at him. The lead Alpha howled and charged towards their prey getting the other Grimm to follow suit. Rather than move, Galen stood his ground and allowed the creatures to come to him and closed his eyes. Reaching out and concentrating with the force, he waited until the Grimm were right on top of him before he unleashed a powerful telekinetic explosion that disintegrated all the Grimm.
Or so he thought. Crashing through the trees was a Geist using old Anima military vehicles as its body, looking like something out of one of the comic books that Ruby had showed him before Beacon had fallen. "You're a big one." He observed as the massive abomination of military metal raised its fists and slammed them onto the ground, causing the area to shake violently that many people in the nearby settlement thought it was an earthquake.
Galen dodged the fists before the machine guns on the geist's arms opened with a burst of fire, forcing Galen to slice the bullets in half with his lightsabers and distracting him from the Grimm that were using his fight to their advantage to attack the settlement.
Luckily for Galen, Boba had already alerted the settlement and the villagers were already preparing themselves for the incoming horde, cocking their guns and twirling around their sharpened swords. As the women and children were guided towards the safety of the town hall, one child watched in aw as the Wrecker loaded up his shotgun with a new magazine and readied himself for a fight. "Anyone with a ranged weapon take up positions behind cover and wait until the Grimm are in sight. Anyone with a bladed weapon, let them come to you! Leave the bigger ones to us." Hunter advised the townsfolk as the Grimm horde drew nearer and nearer to their position. "Wrecker! Hope you're ready for action!"
"Now you're talking!" Wrecker exclaimed excitedly, his finger over the trigger and ready to fire when the creatures arrived. He didn't have to wait long before the Grimm horde broke through the main gate and charged towards the town's defenders. "Hey Sarge, permission to use my rifles launcher?" the big trooper asked.
"Only if you make sure not to hit any of the buildings." Hunter answered with a smirk before he gave the order. "OPEN FIRE!"
A hail of bullets flew towards the horde of Grimm as creature after creature fell to the barrage of gunfire. Beowolves, Ursa and Beringels were riddled with bullets as the townsfolk and clones fought with a courage that Boba hadn't seen in years. Activating his jetpack, Boba flew into the air and rained down a deadly storm of blaster fire from his carbine while lobbing a few thermal detonators down in the mix. 'Dad, I know I've made a lot of mistakes over the years, but this time I'm going to make things right and redeem myself. Mace Windu, I said I would never forgive you for killing my father, but after all these years I've finally forgiven you for what you've done. I'll make sure I live my life for my father!' he thought to himself before he drew his fathers old pistols and opened up on the Grimm.
Some of the villagers armed with melee weapons such as long poles, lances and few swords panicked and straight up charged the incoming Grimm, resulting in the deaths of several villagers while those that survived dropped their weapons and ran for the nearest building they could find and cowered inside while those with ranged weapons picked off the Grimm that got within range of their gunsights, but most of their shots ended up missing. "These guys are like a bunch of shinnies fresh out of basic training." Hunter remarked as jammed his rifles barrel into the gut of an Ursa and fired the shotgun directly into the stomach of the Grimm, killing it.
"You think that's bad; we've got several Grimm circling the settlement and heading straight for town hall! You'd think that the people of Anima would have a better defense against attacks like this!" Boba stated over the commlink.
"That's all we need! Wrecker! Get your butt over to the town hall and kill those things!" Hunter ordered.
"On it Sarge!" Wrecker replied and double-timed it over to the town hall as quick as he could, shouting like a mad man as he blasted any Grimm that got in his path. "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" Wrecker shouted over the commlink followed by the sounds of blaster fire.
As Wrecker made his way to the town hall, an Ursa Major slammed itself against the wooden doors of the building, only to be pushed back as the other side of the door was barricaded with various desks, chairs and cabinets while some of the armed townsfolk that opted to stay with their families readied their weapons as the Ursa continued to bash against the door. The young boy from earlier looked towards several of the other kids, some of whom were starting to become afraid and calmed them down. "Don't worry! Those soldiers out there are going to beet up all the Grimm! Just you wait and see!" they assured the other kids, including his sister who held onto him for dear life.
The Ursa continued to slam itself against the door and it appeared to the villagers on the other side that it was the end for them. They were proven wrong when the roar of weapons fire filled their eardrums. "YEAAHHHH!" Wrecker shouted as he bashed and blasted the Grimm standing in his path before the Ursa roared its massive head and charged at him.
Both the Grimm and the muscular clone soon found themselves grappling with each other for control, but Wrecker prevailed and stuck a grenade onto the creatures back, kicked it back towards the other Grimm before it exploded and took them all with its explosion. "None of you are getting past me!" Wrecker proclaimed and readied both his rifle and shotgun.
As the Grimm horde approached him, he opened up on the horde with a barrage of buckshot and rifle fire that ripped through the Grimm as if they were made of made of tissue paper. Limbs were blown off, heads exploded as Wreckers body count continued to rise as he blasted away. "Come and get it!" Wrecker goaded to the Grimm as he kept his fingers on his triggers before his weapons clicked indicating their magazines were empty.
Wrecker wasn't worried in the slightest for as soon as his weapons were empty, he used his most lethal weapons of all, his fists and trusty knife. "TIME TO UNLEASH THE WRECKING BALL!" he shouted before throwing his weapons to the ground, he charged towards the Grimm, slashing a Beowolf across the face while grabbing another by the throat and snapped it. Another Beowolf had its throat slit before Wrecker grabbed the tail of a Creep and slammed it to the ground like a rag doll.
Sheathing his knife, Wrecker grabbed a Beowolf and broke its back before bashing an Ursa's head in with his massive fists. Cackling away as he bashed each of his opponents, Wrecker didn't notice the kid from earlier had somehow managed to get outside the town hall and was in complete awe at the clone's strength. They were in complete awe that they didn't notice an Alpha Beowolf had snuck up behind them until they felt the foul breath of the Grimm on the back of their neck before they turned around and screamed, alerting Wrecker to what was about to happen.
Not wasting anytime, Wrecker charged towards both the kid and the Grimm throwing himself over the kid and having his armor take the blow that would have ended the kids life. "Stay down kid!" Wrecker shouted to the boy before he drew his knife and drove it into the head of the Alpha, killing it. "I might be reckless, but even I know a battlefield is no place for a kid. You could have been killed." He scolded.
"I…" the boy began before Wrecker scooped him up and brought him back inside of the town hall.
"Look kid, you want to be a huntsman, wait till your older and watch the Wrecking Ball at work." He told the kid before closing the doors and getting back in the fight. The boy peaked through the window and watched as Wrecker blasted away at the Grimm with his blaster rifle. "COME AND GET IT YOU FURBALL!" he shouted with laughter before configuring his blaster into its grenade launcher mode.
Pulling the trigger, he fired a grenade at multiple incoming Grimm and blew them all to bits as the rest of his squad and the surviving villagers ran towards the town hall, some of them dying when the Grimm pounced and sunk their teeth into their shoulders. "Looks like you guys have been busy." Wrecker stated before he noticed that Galen wasn't with them. "Don't tell me the kid is still fighting that massive hunk of junk?" he questioned.
"He is, but if we move to help him that means we leave everyone here for dead and that would be very bad, especially since the Mistral Council has been dealing with a shortage in available Huntsman and Huntresses." Tech replied.
"Anyone else think it might have something to do with that body we found a couple of weeks back? You know, Shiro Wan or something? That body looked like it had been through the meat grinder, at least we were able save that Heather Shields woman." Hunter inputted.
"I smell a rat and it's got to be in the council." Boba added, throwing his last thermal detonator towards the Grimm, killing a few more creatures of Grimm but he didn't expect a Beowolf to lunge at him from atop one of the buildings. Thankfully, Boba's life was saved when a volley of bullets ripped through the Grimms body.
Both Boba and the Bad Batch turned their heads as multiple armored cars, armored fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers sped down the road into the settlement. The machine gunners of the armored cars quickly opened fire on the Grimm as multiple men and women, both human and Faunus dressed in forest green camouflage combat armor, black boots, helmets with the same camouflage as the armor armed with assault rifles, battle rifles, submachine guns, shotguns and machine guns equipped with bayonets took up firing positions. The man in charge of these soldiers, a wolf faunus pushing fifty soon gave his men the order to unleash hell on the Grimm. "It appears that the Mistral Self-Defense Force was able to mobilize enough forces to assist the village with this horde." Tech observed as a petite and buxom girl with brown hair and eyes took aim and fired their battle rifle.
"Not sure who the hell you guys are, but thanks for holding them off until we arrived." The girl said, pulling the pin on a grenade which she then tossed towards the Grimm. "Hell Yeah! That's what you get for messing with the MSDF!" they cheered before charging in towards the Grimm and slashing at them with their bayonet, much to the annoyance of her fellow soldiers.
"Not again! Sergeant! Get your ass back here! You're going to get torn to shreds out there!" the commanding officer shouted, but the girl didn't listen. "Damn it! You four! Get her back here before she gets killed!" the commander shouted to four of his soldiers who immediately rushed after their comrade who kept on killing any Grimm that got in her path.
"We'll back them up. Crosshair! Give us covering fire. Wrecker, Tech, you're with me! Let's go straight to them." Hunter told the commander and his squad mates who were quick to follow orders. "Also, it'd be best if you don't send any soldiers down the road, there's a nasty Geist using military hardware for body parts. Galen Marek, leader of Team GARM is dealing with the issue right now." He added.
The commander was more than happy to oblige, especially when several Widows crashed through an empty building in the direction of the town hall. "All gunners, focus your fire on those spider Grimm! Take them down before they get too close!" he shouted into his radio. The gunners on MSDF vehicles were quick to shift their fire towards the spider Grimm, which still weren't noticed by the Sergeant who was still going all out against the Grimm.
It didn't take the buxom Sergeant long to notice the incoming Widow's, giving an Ursa a chance to take a swing at her with its massive claws, sending them flying back a few feet only to be caught by their allies. "Why are you always so gung-ho when it comes to combat! You going to get yourself killed!" one of the soldiers chastised the Sergeant.
"Cut me some slack. I haven't been in a fight like this for a while!" the Sergeant spat back as machine gun fire killed two of the Widow's while the third one started to pull back, only for it to slammed by several rockets. "At least I didn't try to one-up that massive Geist outside the village." They added.
Speaking of the Geist, Galen rolled out of the way as the main cannons from two of the tanks the Geist was using as arms exploded near him. "Damn it! Who in the hell would leave these things lying around if a Geist can use them as a body?" he cursed aloud to no one in particular.
Once again, he sliced the bullets fired towards him from the Geist's tank arm machines and it was right then he spotted an opening for him to kill the Grimm. Dashing in close to the Grimm, he waited until the creature slammed its fists into the ground before running up them and slashed at the Grimm's face. The damage caused its machine body to crumble and the Geist was quick to try and escape, only for Galen to reach out and grab it with the Force, pull it towards him before impaling it with his twin blades, killing it for good.
A mad dash to the settlement confirmed that the Grimm horde had been killed and the settlement was saved, except for the ones who died protecting their loved ones. "You, kid!" the commander of the MSDF forces shouted to Galen. "Nice job in taking out that Geist. That thing was a real pain in the ass for all the huntsmen who went after it, especially the ones who vanished before they could even fight it. Heather Shields sends her regards; you saved her life."
"What's her condition?" Galen asked.
"Let's just say, it will be a while before she can take jobs again or before we can get a statement as to what happened to her." The commander reported. "Normally, I'm not allowed to reward huntsman, but after what you did for these people, you've more than…."
"I don't care about a reward! I need to know if you spotted a group of people passing by lately? They had four guys in white armor sporting different colors." Galen asked the commander.
"Last I heard, some soldiers on patrol said they were heading towards Mistral. You got a map?" the Commander explained and asked. Galen was quick to pull out his map and the commander was quick to point out the last known location where Ruby was headed. "They should be right about here."
"Thanks." Galen told the commander before he turned to his companions. "Let's get moving! We're not far behind Ruby and her group now! We've got to hurry!" he exclaimed before dashing out of the village with the Bad Batch and Boba following him as fast as they could.
The following morning, miles ahead of them, the sky became cloudy as Team RNJR and their four clone companions continued their trek to Mistral. As they walked along the mossy stone tiled path through the wilderness, Nora stretched her arms up wide while Jaune read the map as Ruby and Ren continued alongside them with the clones bringing up the rear. "Another day, another adventure!" Nora exclaimed.
"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked, which both Jaune and Ren replied would be walking, getting Ruby to sigh in disbelief. "Haven is a lot farther away than I thought."
"Ruby? How long did you think this journey was going to take?" Ren asked.
"I don't know! I grew up in a small area; I've never been this far away from home!" Ruby stated in frustration.
"Right but… how long?" Jaune also asked.
"Maybe like, uh… two weeks?" Ruby answered, getting Jaune to glare at the silver eyed girl in surprise. "Okay, fine! Three or something! Look, whatever."
"Could be worse." Rex stated as he and his brothers joined up with the students. "If you were on Umbara and serving under General Krell, he'd have you continue onwards with your mission no matter how long it took. That and the fact he didn't care about the lives of his soldiers or even fight alongside us like other Jedi did during the war."
"Sounds like a real slave driver." Nora pointed out just as Ruby spotted something in the distance and getting the group to stop. That something in the distance were multiple damaged buildings, indicating a settlement was ahead of them, despite it not showing up on the map. Naturally, Jaune suggested they search for survivors and dropped the map he was holding.
As they searched the town, the four clones noticed that the amount of damage the settlement had taken was years old and that those who once lived in this settlement were now dead. They soon heard Nora claim that she found something and rushed over to her location and found the town sign. "Oniyuri? Never heard of it." Nora stated.
"Me neither." Jaune added.
"I have." Ren said, getting everyone's attention and told them what he knew. "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future. I know my parents did."
"I think we can all guess what happened to this place." Alpha stated, brushing some dirt off the stone border of a low wall, revealing a set of claw marks. "The Grimm wiped this place out."
"Not just any, one." Ren added.
"Come on. Let's just get through here. This place gives me the creeps." Jaune suggested to the group who were more than willing to do just that. All the while, Ruby sensed something was off about the destroyed settlement.
Meanwhile, in Atlas. Weiss stood alone on a large, empty stage singing to a wordless aria, her arms outstretched and positioned perfectly below the center of a painted emblem of Atlas that dominated the stage as she sang.
"I'm not you pet, not another thing you own. I was not born guilty of your crimes. Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore. I won't be possessed, burdened by your royal test. I will not surrender. This life is mine."
Concluding her song with a bow, the audience applauds. She looked up to the balcony above the stage left where her father and brother watched. Jacque remained seated, not applauding, but Whitley on the other hand gave a clap to his big sister, having enjoyed the song. Artoria and Arthur who were watching from the stage right also applauded while a mysterious figure watched the performance from the rafters, also clapping despite their distaste for the head of the Schnee Company.
Sometime later in the ballroom of Schnee Mansion, people milled about to soft piano notes as maids and butlers carrying martini glasses on trays served the guests. As the guests talked about their own matters, Hevy and Hardcase who were acting as security per the request of Artoria kept their eyes on the look out for anything out of the ordinary and, Jacque himself. The fact that Jacque transported droids' months prior to the fall of Beacon made both ARC troopers rather suspicious of the SDC company head, especially since he called them his own product.
As Jacque conversed with several guests, Whitley took notice of his older sister's displeasure of the conversation. He gave his sister a glance and smiled, assuring her that he understood her annoyance of having to just stand around.
As their father continued to talk, Weiss looked over to the largest painting at the other end of the ballroom, the painting depicted Beacon Academy and the Cross Continental Transmit tower, still standing tall and proud prior to the Fall of Beacon. Seeing this as her chance to break away from her father, Weiss took it despite her father's attempt to stop her.
Thankfully, Artoria stepped in and offered to 'escort' Weiss, which Jacque reluctantly agreed to before he continued his conversation with him claiming that he was the 'good guy' once again, sharing a laugh with one of the businesswomen he was talking to.
Weiss barely managed to reach the painting when one of the guests, Henry Marigold spoke to her, complimenting on the beauty of herself and the painting. Artoria could tell that Henry was the cousin of May Marigold, one of Robyn's Huntresses and an F20 pilot and was one of those self-centered and ignorant people, which was made even more clearer when he thought it was for Mantle. She did however get a good laugh when Henry went running after Weiss told him to leave.
"You're a much better person than he will ever be. Don't let him frustrate you." Artoria reminded the Heiress who smiled, especially when Arthur joined them. "Like we always say, 'respect must be earned'." She reminded.
Weiss smiled, but her smile soon faded when she heard one voice talking rather rudely about Vale. "But really, does it come as any surprise, what happened to Vale? It was a long time coming if you ask me." A blonde-haired Trophy Wife said to her husband.
"Honey…" her husband said trying to shush her, only to shake it off and getting him to glance around the room with a forced, nervous grin.
"What? You said the same thing last night. If they're so arrogant to think they can get by without proper kingdom defense, then I say good riddance." The wife continued. Her husband dropped the act and heaved a silent sigh as his wife continued her rant, but not for much longer.
"Shut up!" Weiss shouted angrily from across the room, getting the attention of all the party goers while Jacque was questioning his daughters' methods. "You don't have a clue! None of you do!" she continued.
"Excuse me?" the trophy wife questioned as Hevy and Hardcase spotted Jacque going for his daughter.
"You're all just standing around talking about nothing! Worrying about your hair, your money, your stupid problems that don't mean anything!" she continued to shout as her father quickly approached her and grabbed her wrist, while Whitley had look of concern on his face.
Jacque claimed that Weiss was embarrassing the family, causing his daughter to struggle and pull away from him, but all her got was a punch to the face from Hevy causing him to let go of his daughter only for her to lose her balance and collapsed to the floor, unexpectedly conjuring up a glyph and summoning a Boarbatusk that charged towards the Trophy Wife.
"Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just leave me alone!" they begged as the ice creature leapt towards her and her husband only to be slashed apart by Arthur. The woman then demanded that the two clones and Artoria arrest Weiss, claiming that she was insane and should be locked up.
"She's the only one making sense here!" Hevy stated to everyone attending the party. "Compared to the rest of you, Miss Schnee here, myself and brother along with the Penwolfs fought at Beacon. We saw what really happened there. What happened to Vale wasn't the fault of the Kingdom or its council. This was caused by the actions of several people and a force far more deadly than you all have ever seen. I've seen what war truly is and have lost too many brothers in battle. If you all can't see that, then you're more stupid than I thought."
"I couldn't put it better myself." Ironwood said before he thanked Jacque for the party and casually made his exit from the party, leaving Weiss to look at her father who glared at her while Whitley was concerned for his younger sister.
Back in Anima, Ruby and the others continued to make their way out of Oniyuri when Ren suddenly sensed something, who heard someone running towards them. Instinctively, Ren drew his weapons, as did the others as a mysterious figure leapt over the wall and engaged them, focusing solely on Ruby.
Ren intervened with his own weapons clashing against Tyrians blades, trying to shoot the crazy Faunus only to have his opponent dodge the attack before kicking Ren several feet away.
Tyrian then returned to his focus on Ruby who rushed towards him with her scythe at the ready, only for the scorpion Faunus to block her attacks with his arm blades before kicking her back. Ruby easily remained upright before clashing with her attacker again, only for a strike to hit Ruby's right arm causing her to cry out at the pain and for Tyrian to laugh. This however didn't break Ruby's stride as she leapt back to take a swing at him with her scythe, only for her opponent to dodge her attack and land a blow on Crescent Rose, causing a red shimmer to cross her aura in the area of the strike.
Jaune then charged in only for Tyrian to climb onto his shield with a grin before Nora rushed in with her mighty hammer, but Tyrian leapt from Jaunes shield to Nora's hammer and then up through the top story of a narrow rectangular building, holding himself by his feet with the wooden frames at either side of him as he looked down on his foes.
"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune stated.
"Who are you?" Ren demanded.
"Better give it to us now before we blast you!" Rex added, training his rifle on Tyrian, as did Cody, Fordo and Alpha.
Tyrian leaned forwards before dropping from the tower with a front flip, landing on his feet in front of them. "Who I am matters not to you. Or you. Or… Well… you do interest me." He began pointing to Jaune, Ren and Nora. "You four don't interest me either. No, I only matter to you." He added, pointing towards Ruby.
"Me?" Ruby asked in confusion.
Tyrian then broke out into laughter, finding Ruby's cluelessness to be exciting to him.
"What do you want?" Ruby demanded, getting a warning from the force.
"Oh, the rose has thorns! My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!" the madman declared.
"Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?" Nora questioned defensively.
Tyrian just stared at the group for a moment before he scrunched his lips up and answered. "Well, I'll take her." He casually stated.
"We're not going to let you do that." Jaune declared, standing between Ruby and their mystery attacker with his shield held in front of him.
"We've got you outnumbered!" Rex added.
"Good for me, but you aren't outnumbered!" Tyrian said with glee before snapping his fingers. With that snap of his fingers, battle droids exited the damaged buildings proving that Tyrian was more than ready for them before he rushed in and attacked Jaune from behind, delighted that these individuals were willing to fight.
Seeing his friend was about to be attacked, Ren deliberately fired at Jaune's shield so the ricochet would hit Tyrian, but Tyrian just cartwheeled onto Jaune's shield, using his claw blades to spin in the air against the shield. Ruby stepped in to face Tyrian as he made his descent, only to be kicked away to her side.
She was quick to regain her ground, using her scythe to steady herself but saw that Jaune was kicked away as well. Tyrian than rushed towards Nora, but Ruby was quick to shoot Nora with lighting Dust that passed over Tyrians left shoulder. Nora was knocked down when the bolt made contact and Tyrian mistook it for an error on Ruby's part, giving the hammer girl a baffled stare and laughed, calling it ironic.
He was proven wrong as a supercharged Nora rushed in behind Tyrian, moving over his right shoulder and actually hit him with her mighty hammer, the blast from the contact forcing the others to cover their eyes from the backwash of dust and air while the four clones focused on the droids.
The air cleared to reveal that Tyrian was not only alright but revealed his scorpion tail and robotic arms, before he kicked Nora twice in the face, leapt backwards and upward onto a roof, leaving his coat behind.
"He's… a Faunus." Ren said in shock.
"What is this about? The White Fang? Roman Torchwick? The Empire?" Ruby demanded.
"Plastic soldiers, pawns and canon fodder. My heart and body belong only to our goddess!" Tyrian exclaimed, making Ruby assume it was Cinder, but Tyrian muttered something she didn't pay attention to.
Leaping back into the fray once more, Tyrian used his tail to knock Crescent Rose down, but Ruby didn't lose her grip on her scythe only for Tyrian to kick Ruby back again before he used his tail to kick Ren away and attacked Jaune.
Not far away, a blur dashed through the forest with determination on protecting the one they cared about.
Jaune was kicked back into Nora before Ren jumped back into the fray, only for Tyrian to leap out of the way again but their attacker left Ren alone and went after Ruby again, delivering a right hook to her face and a left blow to her torso, causing a red shimmer on her aura on her head and chest. Swinging his tail, Tyrian knocked Ruby back several feet before hitting her in the abdomen while she was still midair, causing a large red shimmer over abdomen and hips.
With his pray still on the ground, Tyrian approached Ruby and raised his stinger, his eyes turning dark purple. Nora, Ren and Jaune looked in horror while Rex turned around and desperately shouted for Ruby to get away from that psycho, but Ruby couldn't move.
Just before Tyrian could strike, Galen leapt over the broken wall and landed a kick on Tyrian's chest, sending him back a few feet. Landing on his feet, Galen looked towards Tyrian before making eye contact with Ruby, who was almost looked like she was about to cry. "Hey."
And chapter done.
First off, the Mistral Self Defense Force and its equipment is basically what the Japanese Self-Defense Force uses today, including the new Howa-Type 20 assault rifle. I watched Gate again so that's where the idea came from.
Second, the Widow Grimm is basically the Manti Widow from Defender: Saving the Human Race and it is also a Grimm/Hybrid, like the Yellowjackets.
The party scene with Weiss is a bit different than canon, but still the same but at least Hevy punched Jacque in the face.
Anyway, my birthday is tomorrow so I figured I'd give you all a nice little something because of it. So until the next chapter, which will be a quite different than canon, please read and review. Be ready to expect a lightsaber duel next chapter.