AN: I would once again like to thank Lord Maximus for the help with this chapter.
Chapter 100
Yang, atop Simba's back, burst through a doorway, finding herself in a garage. She could hear the pounding of footsteps behind her, indicating that she was still being pursued.
"What now?" Simba asked, as the blonde hopped off his back.
"I don't know, I'm thinking," Yang said, taking a look around the garage, and seeing a workbench nearby. She spotted a familiar golden bracelet on top. "Oh, hell yeah," she said, walking up and slipping it on her left wrist. At least she was back to being fully-armed. She took a few steps deeper into the garage, and stopped, wide-eyed.
"What is it?" Simba asked, and Yang smirked. In front of her was a bright orange motorcycle.
"There you are, baby."
"So any idea where Yang is, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked anxiously.
"Well, sounds like she's in the mid-level of Mistral city if she was really taken captive by Midas Goult of all people," Qrow answered, picking up Harbinger. "He's long been suspected of being a vicious crime lord, but charges were never brought up against him, and witnesses to his crimes that were willing to speak up all went missing."
"So, he's another criminal like Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked.
"Actually no, he's very different from Torchwick," Qrow replied. "Torchwick preferred to operate as small-time with a small gang to avoid drawing attention. Midas started out as a punk who got smart and got himself a lot of friends with the skills and money to keep them from turning on him. Rumor has it that he's got Huntsmen training."
"So, he's stronger than the average crook," Cloud said, checking his sword. "We'll just be more careful around him."
"Alright," Ruby said, turning towards the door. "Let's go save my sister!"
"YEE-HAH!"
Yang was barreling down the Mistral Highway, which happened to be covered in streams of cars and trucks, all of them going at fifty miles per hour. Simba was able to keep up with Yang as she shot down the street. Looking over her shoulder, Yang saw a white limo chasing after them, and the gold plating told her it was Midas chasing her.
"We got company!" She called to Simba. "A few lanes behind us!"
"Got it!"
In the limo, Midas sat comfortably in the back, drinking expensive tequila with two muscle-bound body guards next to him.
Midas was enjoying the glass until the driver rolled down the window. "Excuse me, Mister Goult, but we're coming up on your guest."
Midas them reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll and dialed a number before speaking into it. "Send in the vans. We've got her."
As Yang and Simba made a turn, two large black trucks came out behind them, knocking cars and smaller trucks aside. They drove past Midas's limo and sandwiched the young Huntress and her lion friend. Then two military black Humvee's drove up behind the two. Yang looked around, seeing she and Simba were surrounded.
The driver in one Humvee said into his radio, "Sir, we've got them surrounded."
"You know what to do," Midas answered.
The driver smiled. "Yes sir."
The mercenaries in both armored vehicles manned the machine turrets on top, aimed at Yang and Simba and began to fire. Yang grunted as she felt her Aura blocking the bullets, while Simba let out a loud roar as he jumped up, landing on one of the black trucks. Turning around, Simba opened his mouth and let out a roar like no other that created beams of light that collided with the other truck and Humvees, blasting them off the street and causing them to crash.
"HOLY SHIT!" A mercenary sitting in the passenger seat on the last truck yelled as he looked at the rear view mirror and saw what happened.
"Sir, that lion took out the Humvees and one of the trucks!"
"WHAT?! HOW DOES A SINGLE LION PULL THAT OFF?!" Midas yelled in shock before picking up his scroll. "Release the Grimm we have left!"
"Yes sir!" the truck driver replied.
The back end of the final black truck's trailer opened up, and inside Yang could see a pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness before two Beowolves leaped out with a bloodcurdling roar.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Yang yelled as she swerved to avoid to avoid the two Grimm hitting her. "WHY DO THE BAD GUYS GET ALL THE GOOD STUFF?!"
Even as she dodged and was moving fast, the Beowolves ran after Yang, keeping up with high-speed chase. Simba snarled down at the two Grimm chasing Yang and let out a challenging roar. One of the Beowolves looked back and snarled before rushing past Yang, and leaped up at the top of the trailer, snarling at Simba, who snarled and growled back. The two shot forward, meeting each other in the middle.
Though the Beowolf was bigger, Simba was actually stronger as he slashed with his claws, standing on his hind legs as he pushed the Grimm back. He roared right in the face of the Beowolf, stunning it and then clawed at it, scratching it's mask-like face, which caused it to scream in pain.
Yang looked up with a proud smile. "Wow. He really is a lion king."
Deciding to help, she aimed and fired at the truck's tires, popping one of them and causing it to go out of control.
"Simba!" Yang shouted to her summon.
Feeling the truck losing control, Simba turned as the truck flipped and tumbled, flattening the Beowolf that Simba had been fighting that had no time to get away. Simba had leaped over Yang and landed right on top of Midas's limo, causing the limo to flip up and fly into the air, tumbling a few dozen feet and crashing into the remaining Beowolf as it continued chasing Yang. It tumbled several feet before coming to a complete stop. Yang hopped off her bike and slowly approached the limo with Simba coming up behind her, sniffing and then snarling.
The back door was then kicked open, and out stepped Midas in hi golden form, growling at Yang. "You worthless bitch! You think you can do this to me?! Destroy my forces and make me look like a fool?! I swear after I kill you and your pet… I'm going to hunt down your loved ones till the end of time!"
Midas pulled out a double-sided golden mace that was five feet long with a spiked ball at each end of the metal staff.
"Wait… Let's think about this. You kidnapped me, stole my bike, threatened to kill me to make me work for you, and you were going to use my bike and whatever else I made to hurt innocent people. I've seen your kind before. You kill, hurt and intimidate people to get what you want." Yang clenched her fists and Simba growled.
"You want to play it like that. Fine… Just to let you know, your bodies are going to be found floating down the river when I'm done with you."
Aqua's eyes widened in pure shock when she saw the armor and Keyblade. "It… It can't be."
"You…" the armor spoke back, its voice sounding exactly like Aqua.
"Aqua?" Weiss questioned, looking back and forth between her and the armor.
The armor shot forward, tackling Aqua and smashing her through one of the wooden fences surrounding the camp.
"What the-?!" Weiss yelled.
"Who is that?!" Winter asked as all the bandits in the camp rushed forward to the sound of crashing and wood splintering.
The armored woman stepped out of the wreak and took several steps as everyone stared at her. She tossed Aqua back into the camp, who landed roughly on the ground.
"Aqua!" Weiss rushed over to her and helped her up. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Aqua looked up at the armor.
"What's going on here?" a bandit shouted as several dozen members of the tribe ran over to protect their leader.
Raven looked back at Vernal, who ran up beside her leader with her weapons in her hand as she raised her hand to her fellow bandits. "Stand down!"
Aqua pulled herself back up and stared at the armor, who was staring back at her as it pointed its Keyblade at her. "At last… We've found you."
"Aqua?" Weiss glanced at her.
"Enough!" Vernal shouted as a bolt of lightning came down from the sky between Aqua and the armor.
"I wasn't expecting this," Raven said, glancing at Aqua. "Something you'd like to share, Aqua?"
Winter looked at Aqua as well. "You know her?"
Aqua looked at the armored woman. "That's my old armor and Keyblade, back before I met Ruby."
Weiss's eyes widened in shock, recalling what Aqua told her at Beacon. "Your armor?"
An aura of darkness surrounded the armor as it stepped forward. "We have come for you. Return to us."
"That darkness…" Aqua narrowed her eyes. "Xehanort."
The armored woman shot forward again, swinging its Keyblade, which clashed against Aqua's as she blocked. The force, however, was enough that it sent Aqua flying into the wooden log spiked fence, crashing through it and several trees on the other side.
"We will be one again!" The armor said as it walked in the direction of the crash to retrieve Aqua, but it stopped when it heard a crackle of lightning.
It raised its Keyblade above its head, creating a barrier that blocked the lightning that came down from above. Turning around, it saw Weiss, Winter, and Raven had all pulled out their weapons.
"Attack!" Raven commanded.
Three bandits with blunt weapons were the first to attack, but the armor knocked them down with little effort. Another bandit ran up behind it with a rifle that she used to shoot, but an invisible barrier blocked the bullets as it dashed forward and slashed through the bandit with its Keyblade. The female bandit fell to the ground and lied there unmoving. Two more thigs charged at it, but with a single swing its Keyblade knocked them back with large crunch sounds being heard.
The armor then raised its Keyblade to block a shot from Vernal. Before Vernal could shoot her again, the armor disappeared and then reappeared behind her, hitting her in the back with the blunt end of its Keyblade and knocking her down. As the fight went on, Aqua used her telekinesis to lift two tress that had nearly crushed her if not for her aura and the barrier she managed to put up.
She looked back up to see Raven and the armor fighting now, Raven's sword and the armor's Keyblade becoming blurs as they slashed and sparks flew as they matched each other blow-for-blow. Their fight was interrupted as Weiss dashed in, ready for battle. Only the armor simply used a barrier to block, and then used a Thundaga to blast her back.
"WEISS!" Winter shouted, infuriated by the armor attacking her sister.
Summoning a Time Dilation Glyph, Winter shot forward and was a blur as she dashed in and attacked the armor from all sides. Only the armor used a Magnega spell to Winter and then slammed her into the ground next to Weiss.
"Everyone duck!" Aqua shouted.
Using her telekinesis, she hurled the two tress she was holding at the armor, who spun around. The tress slammed into the armor, seemingly crushing it. Aqua ran back into the camp, watching the pile carefully as she checked Weiss and Winter over.
CRASH!
The tress holding the armor down were instantly blasted by a bolt of lightning and the armor stood back up, ready for battle.
"Great." Aqua raised her Keyblade to fight again, but Raven stepped in her way. "What are you doing?"
"No," Raven growled. "We can't keep fighting like this, or the camp will be covered in Grimm. We need to change the area of the battle."
"Any suggestions?" Aqua asked.
"About fifty meters from here, there's a clearing with dry, dead ground. We tried to set up a camp there once, but found there was a natural gas leak, along with a mine of fire Dust. Lure the fight over there," Raven instructed, pointing in the direction.
Aqua looked at Raven and nodded. "Fine, but if this armor is what I think it is, it'll take the four of us to beat it. So we'll lure it away, but you're going to help us stop it."
Raven narrowed her eyes. "You think you can order me around, little sister?"
"You don't have a choice. Not against this, and not against who sent it," Aqua replied, looking at Weiss and Winter. "Weiss, I'll need yours and your sister's glyphs to help me lure it out of here."
Winter and Weiss nodded, pointing both swords at the armor as it approached. A glyph appeared under it, launching it into mid-air. Another glyph appeared under Aqua, shooting her up at the armor as she activated her Spellweaver Style, blasting the armor in the direction Raven had pointed.
Aqua landed perfectly on the ground and looked at the trio. "Let's move. We only have a few seconds before it'll return."
Raven looked at Vernal. "You're in charge until I get back."
Vernal nodded as the four women wasted no time in dashing over to the landing sight.
Yang loaded her Ember Celica, her eyes flashing red. She shot forward, swinging the first punch, but Midas instantly swung his double-sided mace and knocked the first incoming punch out of the way as he charged at her. As the two blocked and attacked each other, Midas swung his weapon and knocked Yang into a concrete barrier. Yang instantly picked herself up and threw several punches, firing Dust-coated shells, but Midas blocked all of Yang's attacks.
Yang got it close and started savagely punching the crime lord several times until he caught Yang's last punch, and Yang could see Midas had turned himself into gold, protecting himself from her attacks. She quickly jumped back before was turned into gold next.
Midas chuckled as he swung his weapon at her, but this time Simba leaped in and caught the mace, actually stopping the swing. "What kind of lion is this?"
"The royal kind," Yang answered as she fired again.
Only Midas laughed as the bullets and shells were only leaving small dents and dark smoking marks on his form that instantly repaired themselves. Midas then shoved Simba back and brought his mace down on Yang's head, knocking her straight to the ground. As Midas hung over Yang and was about to smash Yang's head in, she rolled out of the way. Simba released a roar that stunned Midas long enough for Yang to grab him by the legs and swing him around after viciously slamming him into the ground several times.
"Simba!" Yang shouted as she let go, throwing Midas into his ruined limo.
Simba released another roar that sent Midas flying even faster into the limo and Yang fired a single explosive shell.
KABOOM!
Yang and Simba stood there, watching as the limo exploded, only to their utter annoyance to see the golden from of Midas step out of the fire with his mace still in hand.
"That was vexing." Midas growled at them, gritting his teeth under his golden face. Simba pounced at him, only for Midas to catch the lion and slam him into the ground. He held the lion under his foot as the mace turned into a golden rifle, and he aimed it at Simba's face.
"STUPID KITTY CAT! DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU STOOD A CHANCE AGAINST ME?! DID YOU?! IT DOESN"T MATTER WHAT TOYS OR ANIMALS OR SKILLS YOU HAVE! I WON AND I'M ON TOP BECAUSE MIDAS GOULT ALWAYS GETS WHAT HE WANTS!" Midas yelled. "AND WHAT I WANT IS YOU BOTH DEAD! After I kill you both, I'll keep the bike as a trophy."
"You want it?" Midas looked up, seeing Yang back on Bumblebee as she fired a shot that hit him in the face. "You can have it!"
Yang charged right at him on the bike, hitting him and knocking him off Simba. As Midas was on the ground, Bumblebee was parked right on his head, with Yang putting the front tire in high gear and leaving a nasty burn mark on Midas's gold face, while driving his head into the ground.
KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNCCCHHHHHH!
Yang finally stopped and pulled back, parking a few feet away before walking over to the injured Midas. The crime lord slowly started to pull himself up and spat out a golden tooth.
"Had enough?" Yang asked, ready to knock him out.
"Not… quite… yet." Midas growled as he aimed, and then grinned.
A snarl sound was heard and Yang and Simba spotted Grimm, more Beowolves approaching them, drawn by Midas's hatred.
"Damn it," Yang growled. "As if we didn't have enough on our plate."
"So, what is this thing?" Winter asked as the four women came upon the landing site.
Like Raven had said, it was barren and near lifeless, and the scent of highly volatile methane gas was present. The four women walked into the area, extremely cautious.
"Believe me, it's a very long story. All that you need to know right now is that it's dangerous and needs to be stopped," Aqua answered.
Winter threw a brief glare at Aqua but kept silent.
Aqua then stopped and held out her arm to the others. "Wait."
Aqua narrowed her eyes as she glanced behind her. Everyone readied themselves, but nothing happened for a few moments… and then Aqua saw a shine in the sky. "Get back!"
She raised her Keyblade, summoning a barrier as she stepped in front of them. The barrier blocked the incoming attack, which created a massive shockwave that knocked both back, pushing tress back and causing the ground below them to crack, releasing some gas. The armor landed on its feet, facing the four women as Aqua raised a hand and conjured a barrier around the entire area.
"Are you crazy?" Raven spun at Aqua. "You can't keep us boxed in with this and flammable gas and Dust underneath us!"
"Like you don't already have a plan to escape," Aqua retorted. "I know you have at least one link with someone back in your camp. Time it right and we can all escape at once if the gas goes off."
"And if we're not all together?" Raven questioned harshly.
"You just worry about staying alive, Raven," Aqua said, facing the armor. "And we'll come out of this together."
Weiss looked down at her dragon charm and found it pulsing. Maybe I can…
The armor dashed forward, slashing at Aqua first before blocking a slash from Winter. The four women went on the attack as the armor used its Keyblade and magical barriers to block incoming attacks and then fought back. The armor slashed at Aqua again as she blocked each and every slash until it slammed the hilt of its weapon in her face, causing her to stumble back. Just as it swung again, Weiss dashed in on her glyphs, jumping over it and using a black glyph to knock it back.
Raven shot forward while it was in mid-air, delivering a mighty slash that knocked it down. Only there was no slash marking and darkness pulsed around it as it stood back up. Winter summoned a large Beowolf that charged at it, slamming it into Aqua's barrier. However the armor stabbed the Beowolf through the chest, and it dissipated a second later. The armor then disappeared and reappeared behind Winter…
"Winter!" Weiss called out.
Just as it slashed at her, Winter jumped and somersaulted over it, stabbing at it in the back, only for a barrier to rebuff her. The armor turned around to stab her, but Weiss created a glyph underneath it that shot it into the air. She and Winter then used their glyphs to propel each other up and around the armor, slashing it back and forth before delivering a combo hit that sent it crashing down into the ground. Both Schnees landed perfectly on the ground as Aqua and Raven joined them and looked down at the crater.
There was a moment of silence…
And then the armor stood back up, glowing bright.
Aqua's eyes widened. "Everyone get back!"
The armor vanished, becoming a blur as it used Aqua's own Ghost Drive to attack. Winter and Weiss were the first to be hit, having no time to react, and Aqua and Raven were next. Only Aqua used a barrier to protect herself, reacting in time as she knew how fast she was when warping around the battlefield. The armor finished with a magical shockwave that knocked all the women down, but Aqua was the first to get back up and attack.
As she and the armor clashed, Weiss grunted as she looked up. That attack was strong and she had no way to defend against it.
This thing was literally magical and stronger than anything she had faced before.
The armor knocked Aqua down and was ready to stab her.
"NO!" Weiss shouted, and her dragon charm flashed bright.
There was a burst of flames around her as the shadow of a dragon appeared from behind, causing everyone to stop.
"Who dares summon me?" Came a deep voice from the smoke. "I… Am… Mushu!"
The smoke cleared to reveal a dragon… a small, serpentine, Mistralian dragon. Weiss gaped as everyone else, even the armor just stared.
"That's right, I know you heard of me! I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now who summoned me?" the dragon asked, looking around before looking at Weiss. "You?"
Weiss just stared, gobsmacked.
"Yeah, surprising huh? Take it all in! You're looking at the mighty guardian dragon!" The dragon puffed out his chest. "Oh yeah!"
He looked around again. "Now where in the worlds have you summoned me? Some back water woods? I was expecting at least a five-star hotel where I can get my century-long nap."
"Weiss, what is that?" Winter asked slowly.
Mushu stopped and looked at Winter. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I did the whole introductory speech and everything. I'm Mushu, guardian dragon!"
"But… you're so… small," Weiss slowly said. "This is what I almost died for?"
"Died for? And who are you calling small?!" Mushu shot up into Weiss's face. "I'm lethal and legendary! Now y'all better scram before I get my dragon dander up!"
The armor swung its Keyblade at Aqua, who rolled out of the way. The action caught Mushu's attention as he looked over. "Steaming chicken dumplings! You got Keyblade Wielders?!"
"You know about the Keyblade?" Weiss asked.
"Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together! You know, I helped the last Keyblade guy out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon!" Mushu said proudly. "Now I get why I'm here. Only a Keyblade Wielder would risk summoning the great Mushu for help!"
"Hey ladies!" Aqua called out as she blocked another slash. "Any chance I can get some help here?!"
"You got it!" Mushu saluted, jumping on Weiss's head. "I'll handle this! Mushu fire!"
From his mouth came a fire ball that hit the armor while it was distracted, but did little damage. The armor barely glanced as it went on the attack again.
"Great," Weiss sighed, seeing her summon might not be a lot of help.
"Ha! Expected that from someone with a Keyblade." Mushu then sniffed something. "What is that aroma? Smells heavenly."
Mushu then jumped off Weiss and started digging into the ground.
"Hey, what are you—" Weiss asked, but the dragon was already gone. "Doing?"
Aqua grunted as she stepped back, avoiding another slash from the armor. This was going nowhere fast as she and the others hadn't even made a dent in it. It's just like with Terra in the Graveyard… There's no one inside, but if I purge the armor of the darkness animating it, we'll have a chance. It's acting on some sort of tainted version of my own will.
"This is going nowhere," Raven said as she slashed the ground behind her, forming a portal.
"She left us!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Figures," Aqua muttered in frustration, turning back as the Tainted Will slowly approached. "Running away as usual, Raven?! Guess that's no surprise. Ozpin should have turned you into a chicken."
Now down to three, Aqua was beginning to consider dropping the barrier and fleeing with Winter and Weiss, when a portal appeared above them and Raven shouted from the other side. "You better take cover, cause even I don't know where the lightning will strike! Now, Vernal!"
Lightning? Why would- Oh, Raven, you didn't! Aqua's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen and she shot towards the Schnee sisters. "She's going to blast the entire place! Take cover!"
Just as she finished speaking, several bolts of lightning blasted from the portal, spreading out across the area. Aqua grabbed Weiss and pulled her down, conjuring another barrier to protect them both, but Winter wasn't close enough. The older Schnee quickly conjured a glyph to protect her as a lightning bolt came down.
"WINTER!" Weiss screamed out as her sister vanished in the blast.
The Tainted Will stopped and looked up as several lightning bolts fell towards it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The entire area was riddled with lightning for several moments before all was silent. Strangely, the lightning didn't set off the gas or the Fire Dust for some reason, but that was hardly relevant as Aqua dropped her barrier as and Weiss slowly got up. The entire was covered in dusty clouds and all was silent.
Weiss peeked her head up. "Winter? Winter, are you okay? Winter!"
There was only silence that caused fear to rise in Weiss.
Then a portal appeared near them, allowing Raven to step out as she looked at Aqua and Weiss. "I'm sorry, what was that? Something about me turning into a chicken?"
Aqua glared. "You—"
"BITCH!" Weiss suddenly shouted, surprising Aqua as she stood and brandished her Myrtenaster as she shot forward and thrust her weapon right at Raven, who partially unsheathed her sword to block. "YOU SAT BACK AND UNLEASHED THAT ATTACK WITH US RIGHT IN THE CENTER!"
Raven grunted as she shoved Weiss back. "I warned you to take cover. Not my fault you were slow."
Weiss growled and let loose several slashes and thrusts at Raven, who hastily blocked. "How dare you?! Slow?! You were the one who ran off with that portal of yours! You ran off where you'd be safe before doing that, you coward!"
Having enough, Raven swung her sword, knocking Myrtenaster out of Weiss's hand and held her sword at Weiss's throat. "You are very naïve for a Schnee. In battle there's no time to have second thoughts and there's no such thing as fair. You act fast or die."
Suddenly white Nevermores flew in, forcing Raven to step back as she batted them away.
"Raise your sword to my sister again…" Weiss spun around with a shocked face as Winter stepped out of one of the dust clouds, looking slightly dirty but otherwise fine. "And I will remove your head from its wretched body."
"Winter!" Weiss cried in happiness and relief. "You're alive!"
"Yes." Winter nodded, holding a small glyph in her hand. "I managed to block the lightning just in time, but I was dazed for a moment."
"Hmph." Raven sheathed her sword. "See, Big Sister is fine."
Winter and Weiss both glared at Raven just as Aqua appeared, holding her Keyblade at Raven's throat. "Good thing for you, they're both all right. If you ever pull a stunt like that on us again, I'll kill you myself."
"You're going to act like that after I won the fight?" Raven asked, sounding non-plussed even with Aqua's weapon held at her throat.
"Look again."
Raven turned and looked to see the smoke clear to reveal a barrier surrounding the Tainted Will, not even suffering a scratch. "What?"
"You just annoyed it." Aqua lowered her Keyblade as she faced their armored foe. "This isn't the type of opponent who is going down easy like a Grimm."
To demonstrate that claim, the Tainted Will aimed its Keyblade and unleased a Prism Rain spell on them. Aqua fired her own Prism Rain back, cancelling out most of the attack while the others dodged the incoming magical bolts. Winter summoned a Manticore and got on its back as it flew at the Tainted Will. Just as it was close enough, the Tainted Will slashed at the Manticore, turning it into white particles as Winter hopped over it and fired several shards at the Will's back.
A barrier blocked the shards and it spun around, firing what looked like bubbles that hit Winter before she could react, and sent her crashing to the ground. Raven and Aqua shot forward, their swords clashing with Tainted Will's.
Weiss rushed over to Winter to check her over. How can we stop this thing? There's no one inside the armor, it has no limits and it can't be hurt.
She looked down at the ground.
What happened with that summon?
Just as Raven's sword collided with the Tainted Will's Keyblade, a blast of magical energy knocked her back.
Did I do something wrong?
It was just Aqua and the Tainted Will now as they clashed.
"We will be one again!" It declared as it pushed Aqua back.
"Sorry but I won't be taking you back like this," Aqua retorted as she felt the Tainted Will's strength overpowering hers.
Was there something that made it different from how I usually summoning?
The Tainted Will grabbed Aqua by the neck and lifted her off the ground. Darkness pulsed along the armor as it slowly spread from its arm and around Aqua's neck, paralyzing her.
What should I do?! Weiss closed her eyes and let out a frustrated shout. "GET UP HERE YOU STUPID DRAGON!"
A massive eruption of red energy exploded near Aqua and her armor, forcing the Tainted Will to drop her.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Mushu shouted from the center of the blast.
Mushu crawled out of the ground with a Fire Dust shard in his mouth that he swallowed. His entire body was lit up in fire and he slowly started to grow.
"What the—" Weiss could only stare as the tiny dragon grew in size.
"Whatever these rocks are, they are delicious!" Mushu shouted as he chowed down on another Dust shard. "There was a whole boat's worth of them down there and they were spiiiiiiiiiicy!"
"It ate the Fire Dust?!" Winter and Weiss gasped.
Mushu grinned as he looked at the armor as it stood up. "I'm on fire now! Let's see you handle this! DRAGONBLAZE!"
From his mouth came a massive blast of fire that shot at the armor. The armor was engulfed by the blast and sent flying off into the distance. All through the attack, Mushu shrunk back down to his original size until it was over.
"Oh yeah!" Mushu let out a whoop and did a little dance. "Now they GOTTA admit I'm the best guardian of them all! They GOTTA!"
"Um, I see your summoning has improved, sister," Winter said, stunned at what Mushu had just pulled off.
"Uh, thank you?" Weiss said uncertainly. Mushu had initially seemed absolutely useless, but if he was actually capable of this kind of power, who was she to complain?
"I'm not entirely sure what just happened, but good job, Weiss," Aqua said, standing up.
"Well, what did you expect?" Mushu asked proudly. "I told you, I'm a mighty guardian dragon!"
Raven stomped angrily over the group and slashed her sword opening up a portal. "I want all of you out of her. Now."
"Oh, so now you're letting us go?" Aqua asked with a small smile. "What happened to being strong enough to handle anything?"
Raven glared at Aqua. "That was before I realized how much of a safety hazard you are, Aqua."
"I tried to warn you. I'm not responsible for your inability to listen," Aqua rebuked. "All the talk you made about the strong surviving and the weak dying. The sheer depths you go to convince yourself of such nonsense, but fail to live up to it when it matters most. It's pathetic."
"Just shut the fuck up for five minutes," Raven said. "You wanted to reunite with Yang, there it is. Get out."
"Well, that's awfully generous of you," Aqua said. "Before I go, I want to let you know that if I ever see your face again, you're going to wish I hadn't."
"Yeah, sure," Raven said. "You might want to hurry. Yang's gotten involved in something pretty big." Aqua's eyes widened.
"How big?"
"Ha!"
Just as Yang was about to punch another Beowolf into oblivion, it suddenly turned to gold. Yang grunted as her fist hit the now petrified Grimm, and stepped back as it fell forward on her, trapping her under its weight.
"HA! SEE THIS?!" Behind the golden Grimm was Midas, who had pushed it onto Yang. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL WHO STAND AGAINST MIDAS GOULT! ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE! NOW—"
A black bird suddenly flew in and transformed into Uncle Qrow, who kicked Midas in the face, knocking him back.
"Yang!"
Looking up, Yang was overjoyed to see Ruby standing over her as she and Nora tried to lift the Grimm off her body. "Ruby!"
Midas grunted as he blocked a slash from Uncle Qrow, swinging his mace down on him, but Uncle Qrow jumped back. Looking to see Yang being helped out form under the Grimm, Midas roared and charged forward, aiming to finish her off while he still had a chance. As Yang, Ruby and Nora prepared to face him, a red portal appeared behind them.
Qrow stopped, thinking they were in for more trouble from Raven of all people, but then someone unexpected stepped out. "…No way."
Just as Midas swung his mace, there was a flash of light, and suddenly Midas's weapon was cut in two by someone now standing between him and the girls. Ruby and Yang gasped, eyes widening in absolute shock and… joy.
It was a woman with familiar blue hair, dressed in a similar outfit as before, as the blade of light receded into the default form of the Master Keeper.
"…Mom!"
AN: God, this was fun! Mushu and Simba are great!
So, there's a hurricane heading to my part of the country, so hopefully everything will be fine.
Next time, we'll have the big reunion of the Branwen family, and we'll finally deal with Midas.
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!