Huh, not as many reviews as I thought I would get last chapter. Then again, it was more of a talking chapter instead of an action chapter, so I can't really do anything about that. Anyway, I just went to a model train show in my town and had a good time, even picked out a few Christmas presents for my family a bit early this year. I've heard that some people are doing their Christmas shopping early this year.
I have to say, this is another month I love when it comes to my gaming, especially games like Resident Evil, Doom and Dead Rising. I love a good zombie game as much as the next one. Especially Call of Duty zombies, which is fun.
Alright onto the reviews.
SilverFox45673: I agree with you one hundred percent. Serial killers, fictional and real are the worst scum of humans. If the Predator existed, I'd love it if they would kill those monsters, not for sport, but for justice, especially child killers.
Darth Cody: Glad you're all caught up with the story so far. You'll see what happens to Tyrian's body and who his replacement is.
Luffy L Deathwalker: Those messages to Ironwood and Jacque seem like a good idea. As for the whole necromancy thing, I have something else planned for Tyrian's body, but you'll have to wait and see.
Jack Smith1: I've said it before, but I'll say it again; serial killers are the worst kind of people in the world, along with school shooters. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a news report about a school shooting it really burns me up. Now as for Tyrian burning in hell, I want him to die in the canon as much as the next person, but for now I'm glad I killed him off in my story.
Monster King: Thanks.
42: You never know what will happen next.
Chaotic Skunk Demon: All four of those clones, I agree with you completely. I wonder the same thing, why didn't Willow divorce Jacque after he admitted the reason why he married into the Schnee family.
54godamora: That's the thing about bad guys, you never like what they have planned next.
Spartan-626: Thanks for the reviews. The Nuckelavee is going to be the least of their worries with what I have planned. Ren will still land the killing blow but sending Salem to a far-off planet would be a difficult challenge. As for what Maul has planned for Tyrian's body, you'll have to wait and see.
The Guest reviewer: Yeah, Salem has a lot of people who have their own reasons for joining up with her, but in Maul's case, he's working with her so he can gather enough forces and take down his former master, once Salem's goals are achieved. As for being cast aside by Salem, that's not likely since she has taken an interest in the force and Maul has been training Cinder in the ways of the Force. As for paying someone like Cad Bane, you'd be surprised at what kind of ships have crashed on Remnant over the years, so there's bound to be some ships carrying credits. Not that I'm saying that Cad Bane is the one taking Tyrian's place.
Alright, time to get this chapter started. Disclaimers are the same as always.
Chapter 55: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back
After six long months of just mopping around, Yang was finally feeling like her old self once again. Lifting her head up with her arms ready for a fight, she blocked a strike from Tai with her robotic wrist, pushing his away from her. The action repeated several times before Yang used the momentum to turn and come back with a roundhouse kick. Her father bent down to dodge it with his legs in a lunge, giving his daughter a solid punch that pushed her back a few feet.
Nearby, Kix, Echo, Ahsoka, March and Alice watched the two of them spar while Zwei panted happily by a low stool with two white towels on top it. The Corgi's head changed angles, oscillating to the sounds of grunts and contact, abruptly holding his head straight and made a noise of surprise until he was picked up by Kix for a better look.
Tai stood alone and moved forward with his own roundhouse kick, only for Yang to join both her hands atop the other to block Tai's landing foot. With a loud cry, she pushed it up and back, only for her father to regain his footing while his daughter waited for his landing, before using her robotic arm and knocked him back with a single hit.
Holding onto his right bicep, Tai slid through the dirt with his feet flat on the ground until he came to a stop. "Whoa, that thing packs a punch!" Tai complimented.
"It's certainly quite powerful." Ahsoka agreed, just as Zwei leapt out of Kix's arms and into her arms.
"We've been at this for weeks. I get it, you all wanna make sure I can still fight. I think I'm doing just fine." Yang stated, bumping her own fists.
"You're close." Tai corrected, standing upright and no longer holding his arm. He walked around his daughter assessing her progress.
"Oh, really?" Yang questioned.
"You're still of balance." Tai observed.
"What?! No, I'm not!" Yang protested before she lifted her robotic arm and looked at it with a smile. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised. I thought it would be just this huge weight, but it feels… natural. They did a great job with thing, so did March and his sister with the weapons." She admitted.
Her distraction allowed her father to deliver a left hook to her face and her upper body reared back both from the impact and surprise. She readied herself to block her father's right hook and used the momentum from the turn to deliver an elbow jab. Tai kept on grinning the entire time as he blocked the jab and dodged the kicks that followed through. Deciding to switch things up, Yang switched to punches but Tai was aware of what she planned on doing and pulled her robotic arm forward, positioning Yang into a position where she had to rely on one leg for balance. "I wasn't talking about your actual balance." He corrected, sweeping her forward leg and sending her to the ground.
"Wow. Didn't know your old man was that good." March stated in complete surprise.
"I'm not that old, you know." Tai said in his defense before he walked over to Zwei who had leapt out of Ahsoka's arms and brought one of the towels to his master. "Although, that could use some work too, Yang." He added, taking the towel from the Corgi which he gave a rub on the head.
Yang took a deep breath from her spot on the ground before she asked what her father meant. At the mention of her fights in the Vytal Festival, Tai pointed out that she was predictable, stubborn and a little boneheaded, all of which were true, but the biggest point he made was that in every single fight, she used her semblance to win every fight after the qualifiers. Yang countered that it wasn't any different from anyone else using their semblance.
"Maybe because not everyone's semblance is basically an erupting volcano." Kix pointed out.
"Thanks, Kix." Tai said to the clone. "I am serious though. Once you take damage, you can dish it back twice as hard, but that doesn't make you invincible. It's great when you're in a bind, but what happens if you miss? What happens if they're stronger? What then? Now you're just weak and tired! You've always been one to burn brighter than everyone else, whether it was with your smile, or, well, I remember your first haircut." Tai explained. "But you gotta keep your emotions in check. Keep a level head and think before you act. Your Semblance is a great fallback, but you can't let yourself rely on it. It won't always save you." He added.
"Your fathers right." Ahsoka said in agreement. "You can't always rely on your semblance. You must think and adapt to whatever situation you are thrown into. If you can't adapt, it might cost you your life."
"Obviously. You definitely have your mom's stubbornness." Tai said with sadness in his voice as he faced one of the nearby trees, instead of his daughter and the others.
"Oh, so now we can talk about her?" Yang questioned.
"Well, as I have been informed, you're an adult now, remember?" Tai reminded his daughter. "Don't be sorry. Raven was great in so many ways – her strength, her ambition, her dedication to whatever cause she thought was worth fighting for. I'm proud of how much of her I see in you. But I'm glad I don't see all of her in you." He added.
"Something tells me that's a good thing." Alice hypothesized.
"Yang's mother was… a complicated woman. Like everybody, she had her faults, but those faults are what tore our team apart. And, it did a real number on our family. You both act like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it." he began, pointing at Zwei. "That strength is all that matters in a fight. But if you just take a second look, then maybe you see there's a way around as well." He added, pulling his daughter up and suggested one more fight before dinner.
Back in her makeshift practice area of her room, Weiss held her rapier at the ready before she stepped back and twirled as a stream of blue-white lighting came from the tip of her sword. On the close of her twirl, the former Schnee heiress held her weapon aloft before striking the tip on the floor. A summoning glyph appeared beneath her as the sword of the Arma Gigas slowly began to emerge. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the power of her summoning which caused a small wind to blow around the hair around her face. "Most impressive, sister."
Weiss turned to see Whitley propped against the frame of her open door, resulting in the sword shattering and disappearing while the glyph faded away shortly afterwards. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disrupt your concentration. I was just impressed by how far you've progressed in several days." Whitley praised.
"Thank you." Weiss told her younger brother.
"I'm sure you're aware, but father asked me to keep an eye on you since you are 'grounded for embarrassing the family' as he puts it. Well, I take no pleasure in having to spy on my big sister, but I figured I'd at least see your progress. Father's taking me to town to introduce me to some of his business partners. I'd thought I'd see if you wanted me to pick up anything since you're… well, since stuck here." He explained to his sister.
"I always seemed to remember that you were always jealous of me and Winter, because of our abilities. You always hated us for it, tell me the truth Whitley, what caused you to change?" Weiss asked.
"I was hoping you'd finally ask about that." Whitley remarked and walked into Weiss room, taking a seat on Weiss's bed. "Well, it all started four years ago. Father took me down to Mantle to 'distribute' some much needed 'charity' to the people of city below us. I hated it and saw those people beneath me, I thought that I was above them, because I was born in Atlas and into the Schnee name. But as I looked around the city, I could tell that many people held our family in contempt." He began, remembering that day all too well.
"Well, as you can imagine I wandered into the wrong part of the city and found myself face to face with some rather despicable individuals who I assumed at the time were going to kill me or ransom me back to father. I thought my life was about to come to an end, when much to my surprise someone from Mantle stepped in and saved my life, although I did get hit by a stray bullet. I was in so much pain, that the man who saved me brought me to their home, treated my wounds and offered me some food. I was adamant at first, believing the food was poisoned but it wasn't until I got to know them that I began to see things in a different light. After that, father came for me and had that person arrested believing they were the ones who attacked and abducted me, but after talking with the police and telling them the truth, they let them go." He continued.
"What happened to man who saved you?" Weiss asked.
Whitley sighed. "That's the sad part. Several weeks after the incident, I heard that person was murdered by the same people who tried to abduct me. I wanted to at the very least thank them properly, but after their death, I decided to spend more time in Mantle and help the people of the city. All without Father even knowing, I've even seen the marks left by the Fox." He went on.
Weiss had heard of the Fox, a vigilante who had been targeting the corrupt people of Atlas and the crime in Mantle, ending up in Ironwoods crosshairs for some reason. Arthur and Artoria had clashed with the Fox once or twice when they spotted him dealing justice to several drug dealers in Mantle and from both fights, it was clear that he was doing what Ironwood had failed to do, protect the people of Mantle and bring the corrupt of Atlas to justice. He never killed anyone even if they were a murderer. Despite their intentions, a lot of people in both Atlas and Mantle weren't pleased with his efforts.
"I used to find it barbaric, that it was beneath people like me. Like Father. What could a single Huntsman possibly do that an army cannot? That's why we have one, even if it is run by a fool. But after spending much time in Atlas, I've learned that there are some things that an Army cannot do, things that Huntsman and Huntresses can only do." The younger Schnee finished. "Besides, it's not like I haven't made any connections down in Mantle."
"Connections?" Weiss asked.
"I assume you heard that Robyn Hill and her Huntresses were at Beacon, fighting against the Empire along with three mercenaries. Well, I was the one who hired them to go to Vale and assist in the defense of the Kingdom. I had a feeling something was wrong, so I went ahead and paid for the ship that transported their planes to the kingdom. It was the right thing to do." He answered.
"That was you?" Weiss said in shock.
"They needed all the help they could get and, in a way, I was also ensuring you would survive." He finished with a smile on his face. "Family is more important than any amount of money one can have. We have plenty of it, but money can't by happiness or family. Mother is always drinking, Father is always working and putting the company ahead of his family for his own gain and Winter is in the military, going along with Ironwoods foolish moves. You and I, we have to look out for one another. It's what family does." He answered, feeling his scroll vibrate in his pocket.
Looking to his mobile device, he saw that it was from their father telling him it was time to go. "Well, it seems that Father is summoning me. I really don't want to go meet his business partners, but one must keep up appearances, for father." Whitley said with annoyance. As he turned to leave, he stopped just short of the door and turned around. "Just out of curiosity, what is your plan for leaving this mansion? Father said he would have the staff ensure you stay in your room, but how are you going to escape?" he asked.
"I'll think of something." Weiss remarked before she lowered Myrtenaster and resumed her summoning position. Whitley watched as the glyph appears and his sister looked to the portrait of the Arma Gigas on the wall. She repeated the same twirl and stab causing the glyph to glow brightly and spin faster. The books in the bookcase shook on the wall, including one tome in particular that was decorated with floral relief that fell off the shelf and opened on the floor. The window burst outward as the room is consumed in a bright light that abates, forcing Weiss and Whitley to cover their eyes with their arms.
"Miss Schnee! Are you alright?!" Klein said with urgency as he rushed into Weiss's room with Arthur, Hevy and Hardcase behind him. Both they and Whitley's eyes widened in amazement as a result of Weiss's successful summon of an Arma Gigas.
"Woah! That's something you don't see every day." Hevy stated bluntly, while Arthur smiled at Weiss's success.
"Yes." Weiss assured them as the Arma Gigas got down on one knee and bowed to Weiss. "Whitley, Klein, I need a favor." She asked them as she looked out the window. Both of them nodded determinedly.
Back under the moonlit night of Menagerie, Blake leapt from palm tree to palm tree after the mysterious White Fang member. Both of them continued to jump from tree to tree until the masked individual came to a stop and looked at Blake, both of whom were on different trees. A noise from above made the spy gasp as Sun appeared from above and dropped down on them. "Gotcha!" Sun shouted only for the spy to leap out of his way while he landed on a branch as Blake ran after them, followed by Zett and Rose from below them. "Hey wait up!"
"Don't let her out of your sight!" Blake shouted to the others as they continued to chase after the spy. Neither they nor the spy noticed that above them in the treetops, the same person that Ghira had talked to several days ago was following them.
The spy soon emerged from the trees and landed onto a roof before they continued to run across the buildings, with Blake still on their tail. Sliding under some arching pipes, the spy stopped and turned around, pulling out their weapon which appeared to be a whip and sliced the pipe releasing some steam in an attempt to stop Blake. The attempt failed and Blake moved right underneath the pipes and through the steam. "Why are you watching me?" Blake demanded.
The spy smiled and lowered their weapon as Sun landed on the roof behind her, causing her to turn around while Rose and Zett joined the monkey Faunus. "Surrender and we can discuss this peacefully. We do not need to fight." Zett told the spy, readying his lightsaber just in case.
"Give it up! I'm not above hitting a girl, you-" Sun began only to be cut off when the spy's whip came at him, which he failed to avoid. Blake took advantage of the spies distraction to kick the scroll they were holding out of their hands. The spy was surprised but was able to avoid Blake's next attack and countered with a kick of her own in and attempted to retrieve the Scroll, only for Sun to tackle her. "Grab the Scroll! Seems someone think's it's important!" Sun shouted to the others.
"Get off!" the spy shouted and headbutted Sun, cracking off a part of the mask covering their left eye and tried to race Blake to the Scroll, only for the first one to be Rose while a total of four Sun clones tackle her from behind.
"Quit staring and grab it!" Sun shouted to Blake who was quick to grab the Scroll while Sun who was struggling to maintain his semblance finally gave out and fell to his knee's, resulting in the clones disappearing from atop the girl who got back to her feet and aimed her weapon at Blake, who Sun was quick to warn. Blake turned and raised the Scroll in her hand while the Rose drew her revolvers and aimed them at the spy, whose mask began to crumble, finally revealing their face to them.
"Ilia?" Blake said in surprise.
"Wait, you know her?! But she doesn't even look like a f – aagh!" Sun questioned as he got back to his feet only to be cut off when Ilia struck him in the shoulder with an electric hit who cried out and fell from the roof.
"Sun!" Blake cried.
"That's a cheap shot!" Rose snarled in disgust.
"Give me the Scroll." Ilia demanded.
"No." Blake responded.
"What's on that Scroll that's so important that you'd spy on the chieftain!?" Rose demanded.
Ilia said nothing to Rose but kept her eyes fixated on Blake, her skin changing color once again. "You shouldn't have come back. You're in danger." She said to Blake before she created a rush of dust with her weapon and made her escape, but not before taking a sad glance at Blake.
Blake briefly acknowledged Ilia's disappearing act before she rushed over to Sun. Said monkey Faunus was lying on his back, bleeding from the wound that Ilia caused which Blake was quick to cover with her own hands before she shouted for help.
Her shouts were heard, but not by anyone who was coming to help. From the tree's, roughly three-dozen BX-series commando droids, painted in the same color of the White Fang uniforms and sporting the mark of said terrorist group walked towards the group with their blasters and vibro-sword at the ready. "Eliminate all witnesses." The lead droid instructed to his comrades who cocked their blasters and were about to fire when all of a sudden, something leapt from the tree top and cleaved one of the droids in two.
Blake looked up in awe as standing before her with their swords at the ready and a pair of pistols holstered to their side, was none other than her sensei. "Master Hanzo!" She exclaimed.
"Master Hanzo?" Rose questioned.
"Perhaps we can discuss this at a later time. We need to deal with the threat in front of us. Rose, help Blake get Sun back to her home. I'll deal with the droids with the help Hanzo. Three swords are better than one." Zett stated as he walked casually forwards and ignited his lightsaber while Hanzo drew his second sword which transformed into a submachine gun with a reflex sight and extended magazine. "I'll take the left; you take the right. Does that work with you?"
Hanzo only nodded before he dashed forwards towards the droids with Zett following close behind. The Commando Droids were quick to open fire at the two swordsmen. Zett blocked blaster fire from the three front most droids before he slashed them across the chest. Reaching out with the force, Zett grabbed the destroyed droid components and hurled them towards six more droids, which he then cut down with his blue blade.
A pair of commando droids opened up with their blasters and forced Zett onto the defensive. Compared to the fall of the Jedi temple when he was only ten years old, Zett was far more effective with his defensive skills and sent the blaster fire back towards the droids. One of the commando droids, a captain lunged at him with their vibro-sword, but Zett quickly countered the attack and turned the droid into scrap metal. "Really wish I had some ranged support." He said to himself.
As if his words were heard, blaster fire from behind him slammed into several droids causing Zett to turn around as Jesse and Fives rushed towards the droids, firing their carbines at the enemy units and gunning a few of them down. "I was wondering when the two of you were." He joked to the ARC Troopers.
"Sorry we're late, commander. But we thought we spotted a member of the White Fang. Turns out we were wrong, but it looks like we found them." Fives said to the Padawan, ducking down to avoid a blaster bolt to the helmet. "I really hate these clankers." He remarked.
"You know what I hate about these scrap heads? The fact that they care wear our armor and mimic our voices. Really burns me up." Jesse said in agreement, using the butt of his carbine to knock down one droid before delivering a headshot right to its cranium. "How did these things get on the island?"
"I've got two guesses and both of them are probably right." Zett replied, slashing another two commando droids to scrap metal.
Hanzo brought his sword down onto one of the droids before he sprayed another group of them with bullets from his submachine gun. Four droids were riddled with bullets while another four opened up on the masked man, who rolled out of the way and switched his other sword into its gun mode and fired both weapons at the droids. More droids fell to the ground before Hanzo sheathed his swords and drew his pistols that quickly transformed into a pair of Sai's.
Dashing towards the last few droids, he used a series of quick and powerful thrusts that turned the droids into nothing but spare parts. However, one droid was still intact and was about to fire at him when it suddenly fell apart, neatly in half.
"That takes care of the droids. Let's get back to Blake, Sun took a nasty hit and he's hurt badly." Zett said to the two ARC Troopers who headed back to the Belladonna house while Hanzo nodded to the young Jedi before disappearing into the night. He knew that seeing Blake meant that she was afraid, and she would come to him for help in the future.
Back in Anima, Team RNJR, Galen, Qrow, Boba and the clones continued their trek through the landscape of Anima. "Anyone got an idea on how much further we have to go?" Wrecker asked.
"Without the map, there's no way of knowing. But I feel like we're close to something." Ren answered, causing Wrecker to groan in annoyance. It didn't take them long to reach a fork in the road with a signpost, indicating that they were coming in the direction from Higanbana. Kuchinashi and Mistral were to the right, while on the left the crossed-out name of Kuroyuri.
"Hey, hey! Mistal! We're on the right path!" Nora pointed out.
"We might be on the right path, but we're still miles away from the city." Qrow pointed out. "We got two ways to go. Over the mountains or through Kuroyuri. I'd suggest we go through Kuroyuri, we can stop there for the night and stock up on supplies."
"That village was destroyed years ago. The mountain path will take too long." Ren answered sternly, something that Galen, Hunter, Rex and Boba picked up right on the spot. Ruby tried to protest that they could maybe at the very least find some supplies, but Ren was dead set on going through the remains of the village, something that Jaune was concerned about greatly.
"We can split up. Ren and I can cut through the mountains while the rest of your go through the village. We don't have time to be safe! If we make it to Mistral, we'll bring back help! If we don't, at least we'll have a better view of the land! Up there, we can see if there's anything else we need to avoid or how much further we have to get to Mistral!" Nora exclaimed. The group looked towards one another and knew that Nora made a valid point.
"Hunter, take your team and Boba with Ren and Nora. Head up the mountains and see how close we are to Mistral. The rest of us will head through Kuroyuri and see if we can find some transportation. Trigger told me that a lot of Mistral Self Defense Forces were sent into the settlement, but never came back. Hopefully, we might be able to find some wheels. Keep in constant contact with each other and be on your guard." Galen added.
Both groups headed into the directions of the mountains and village, but before he followed after them, Rex took notice of a large footprint, the same one he saw in Shion weeks ago. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He said to himself.
And finished. Once again, much more different than the actual canon and now you know who Blake's sensei is and what their name is. Originally, I was going to name them Snake Eyes like the GI Joe ninja but decided to change it to the name of Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, though his current attire and weapons are that of Snake Eyes. Think of it as his cover when he's out in public.
The Bad Batch, Boba, Ren and Nora are headed up the mountains while Ruby, Jaune, Galen, Rex, Fordo, Cody, Alpha and Qrow are heading to Kuroyuri. We all know what's lying in wait in that village.
Yang is starting to return to her old self and Weiss is planning her escape with the help of Klein and Whitley, who has mentioned someone called the 'Fox'. Lot of questions, I am sure you all have, but answers you will get, as the story continues.
Oh yeah, I also got Far Cry 6 and three Dead Rising Games recently. Going to be playing those when I'm not writing, so until next time please read and review.