AN: Great news, guys! This fic now has a Tv Tropes page! The page name is listed as "Aquas Mission" instead of "RWBY: Aqua's Mission", and I'm not sure how to fix it, but now I need you all to go in and fill it up!
I'm looking forward to seeing what you all put!
With that said, onwards!
Chapter 109
Ruby spun her Keyblade in front of her, blocking bullets fired at her by Emerald.
"Why did you have to show up?!" Emerald yelled.
"I'm a Huntress!" Ruby answered. "Of course I was going to come here! We have a duty to stop Salem!"
"No! I meant at Beacon! If you weren't there… If it weren't for those eyes of yours… CINDER WOULDN"T BE LIKE THIS!"
Emerald switched her weapons back into their sickle configuration, and charged at her. Ruby quickly brought her Keyblade up to block the onslaught of attacks. With a swing, she knocked Emerald's weapons aside, and used her Semblance to zip past her several times, slashing each time until a final hit knocked Emerald back.
"I didn't use my eyes on purpose!" Ruby said. "And if I'd been able to, I never would have let you take her back to Salem! I killed her last parasite, but you just made things worse for her! I thought you were friends with her! Or was that a lie, too?!"
"I love her!" Emerald roared.
"If you really loved her, you'd help her break free! Not keep her enslaved!" Ruby argued. "Help us! We can save her!"
"If she's not with Salem, then I lose her!" Emerald said. "Especially after…" Emerald looked down sadly, confusing Ruby. The green-haired girl shook her head. "I won't let you take her from me!"
"If you won't help me save her, then stay out of my way!" Ruby said, taking up a combat stance. Emerald glared at her, and then suddenly several Emeralds surrounded Ruby in a circle.
One by one, each Emerald struck her, Ruby doing her best to block them. But something was weird.
It only sometimes felt like she was actually being hit.
Was Emerald using illusions to try to trip her up?
In that case, Ruby thought she knew how to sniff out the real Emerald.
The Emerald clones had surrounded her again, and were about to charge at her.
"Dumbo!" Ruby shouted, and her elephant companion materialized in midair, and landed on one of the Emeralds, pinning her to the ground and making the illusions disappear. "Thanks, boy!" she said, prompting Dumbo to trumpet happily. Ruby pointed her Keyblade at Emerald. "Vine-ra!" she shouted, and vines sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around Emerald, holding her in place.
"Hey!" Emerald yelled, trying to get free. "What the hell?! Let me go!"
"I told you to stay out of my way," Ruby said, turning to walk away. She suddenly saw an image of Yang, covered in blood and reaching out a hand weakly towards Ruby.
"Please, help me," Yang pleaded. Ruby's eyes narrowed, and she turned around to look back at Emerald, who was staring at her intently.
Ruby marched back over to Emerald and looked down at her. "I'm trying to save the girl I love. Are you going to stop getting in my way?"
"Fuck you," Emerald growled. Ruby sighed, and pointed her Keyblade at her again.
"Sleep," she said, and Emerald's eyes widened in anger, before fluttering closed, and her head slumped forward.
Ruby stood up, and looked over at her mother fighting Cinder. She was about to rejoin her, but a scream suddenly caught her attention. She looked over and saw Ren clutching his hand and Sephiroth standing over him, before Weiss jumped in to protect him.
She quickly looked between the two fights, before narrowing her eyes at Sephiroth and jumping on Dumbo's back.
"You know, I'd really hate to mess up that pretty face of yours, Yang," Mercury said, putting up his fists and bouncing around on his heels.
"I see someone already did that to you," Yang countered, gesturing at the burn scars on his face. Mercury scowled.
"I have Cinder to thank for this," he said, surprising Yang.
"Really?"
"Yup, she was super pissed that I humiliated you like that. But don't worry. I paid her back for it."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Yang asked.
"It's the best part about that parasite of hers," he said with a smirk. "I can beat on her as much as I want to, and not only does she just stand there and take it, she asks me for more! I gotta tell you, Cinder has been real great for relieving some stress. It's really starting to make me wonder what else I can make her do…"
Yang's eyes turned red. "Simba, sic 'im."
With a roar, her lion companion materialized in front of her, tackling a stunned Mercury to the ground.
"What the fuck?!" the silver-haired douche nugget yelled, trying to hold back Simba as he snapped his jaws at him.
"Go for the throat!" Yang yelled, cocking Ember Celica and walking towards Mercury. "I got his balls."
"Get off me, you stupid cat!" Mercury yelled, getting his foot underneath Simba and firing the shotgun in his boot to launch Simba off of him. Yang quickly ran up and aimed a punch straight for his crotch, but he quickly spun around, swinging his legs wildly to kick at her several times along the way. Yang blocked them, and Mercury placed his hand on the ground and used it to lift himself up. He spun around a few more times to kick at her, before jumping up and placing both feet against her chest, kicking off of her and doing a backflip to put some distance between them. Yang skid backwards, ending up next to Simba.
"I take it you have a history with him?" Simba said.
"Yeah, I do," Yang answered. "He was my boyfriend for a while. Back during the Vytal Tournament, I decided to have sex with him. He filmed it, and shared the video with everyone."
"So, he's scum, then," Simba said.
"Pretty much."
"Did that lion just talk?" Mercury asked.
"Oh, he can do more than that," Yang said with a proud smirk on her face. Mercury scowled and charged, using his boots to launch himself through the air. Simba reared up and roared, stunning Mercury and making him go limp in midair. Yang caught him with her fist, driving Ember Celica into his stomach and firing off a shell, sending him flying backwards.
He flipped in midair, firing two white missiles at her from his boots. Simba jumped in front of her and swiped his claws, deflecting the missiles and knocking them into a nearby wall. Yang fired her own shots at Mercury, who curled up into a ball to tank the hits, shredding up his pant legs in the process. Metal limbs were revealed underneath them.
Yang didn't spare it a second thought.
Simba charged at Yang's ex, his body covered in an almost fiery energy. He jumped into the air, and rammed into Mercury at mach speed. Mercury slammed into the ground, and Simba landed on top of him, using his front paws to rapidly claw at his face, his neck, everywhere he could. Mercury frantically tried to keep the claws away using his arms, until the lion finally bit down hard on the boy's neck, making him scream.
Mercury thrashed around, but Simba refused to give up. Yang knew it was only a matter of time before Mercury's Aura gave out, and Simba would rip his throat out.
Mercury finally managed to get his feet underneath Simba's body, and launched him off again like before. He desperately tried to crawl away, coughing and gripping his throat. Yang approached him, and Mercury turned around to try and kick her. She caught his leg, leaving a certain area of his body wide open. He seemed to realize this, too, as is eyes widened in fear.
Yang's eyes burned a bright red, and her hair ignited.
"Wait, wait—" Mercury tried to beg, but Yang punched down with a Semblance-fueled punch into his most sensitive area. He screamed, and the impact left a crater in the floor where he had been laying. Yang, still holding onto his leg, used it to throw his across the room, and he slammed into a wall, falling limply to the floor.
Yang spat on the floor in his general direction.
"Asshole," she said, before a scream caught her attention. She saw Ren clutching his hand, with Sephiroth standing over him. "Alright, pretty boy," she said. "Let's see how tough you really are."
The sound of Ren screaming caught Nora's attention. She quickly looked over, and saw Sephiroth standing over him, as he was clutching his hand in pain. "Ren!" she called out, but suddenly Lionheart was knocked down the stairs, colliding with the large man she and Jaune were fighting against. Oscar slowly followed him down the stairs, gripping Ozpin's cane in his hands. The large man picked Lionheart up off the floor by his collar.
"You're letting that boy make a fool of you," the large man said.
"That's not just a boy!" Lionheart said desperately. "It's Ozpin." The large man's eyes widened. "He's already reincarnated!"
The large man dropped Lionheart, who scurried away quickly, and looked intently at Oscar. "Ozpin?" Oscar looked nervous at seeing the look in his eyes. "OZPIN!"
"Huh?" Oscar asked, surprised at the man's sudden turn.
"You thought you could hide from ME?!" The man ripped off his coat, and grabbed a pair of lightning Dust crystals from the pouches on his legs. "You'll pay for what you did! You'll die over and over again!" He suddenly stabbed the Dust crystals directly into his arms, causing his blood vessels to bulge and turn yellow. He roared, and Oscar nervously held up his cane.
Nora looked quickly between Ren and Oscar, both in deep trouble, both fighting opponents that clearly outmatched them.
But there was only one of her.
"I'll help Ren!" Jaune said, turning around and heading towards Sephiroth. "You help Oscar!"
"Thanks!" she called, before rushing at the large man and slamming her hammer against the side of his head, making him stumble. She took up a defensive stance in front of Oscar, holding her hammer tightly.
"Out of the way, girl," the large man said, his voice suddenly deeper and distorted. "Ozpin is going to get what's coming to him."
"I don't care about Ozpin!" Nora declared. "Just keep your hands off my boyfriend!"
"N-Nora…" Oscar said gratefully, a blush adorning his cheeks.
"If you won't get out of the way, I can't be held responsible for what happens to you."
"Heal!" Ruby's voice suddenly called, and Ren felt the pain in his hand subside as the wound from his finger being severed magically closed itself. Sephiroth rolled his eyes, and held out his right hand, stopping a charging elephant in it's charge, the suddenly stop throwing Ruby from off Dumbo's back. She quickly used her Semblance to recover, zooming back down to the ground.
"That's not going to work a second time," Sephiroth said, almost sounding disappointed. He effortlessly threw the elephant across the room, and turned around at slash at Yang, who had jumped up behind him. She quickly fired one of her gauntlets down to flip herself and dodge the attack, and Sephiroth swung his sword at the charging Simba, the lion catching the sword in his teeth. Weiss charged at him with a glyph, and Sephiroth turned and threw Simba at her, knocking the former heiress to the ground. With a yell, Jaune jumped into the air, his sword held in both hands. Except it was bigger than usual, and his shield was nowhere to be seen. Sephiroth quickly swung his sword up to deflect Jaune's attack, and then quickly turned to deflect several magical swords launched at him by Cloud. The group took up positions around Sephiroth, the members of Team RWBY joined by their animal summons.
"You okay, Ren?" Jaune asked. After a second, Ren flexed the hand that was now missing a finger. It didn't hurt anymore, so he nodded.
Sephiroth took a look at the animals the girls had summoned. "None of those, please," he said, raising his right hand and snapping his fingers. The animals suddenly disappeared, surprising the girls.
"Simba?!" Yang called out.
"What did you do?" Ruby asked.
"Just making sure there are no unwelcome guests," Sephiroth said. He smirked, before he ducked under a sword swipe from Qrow.
"I have to pay you back for my shoulder, jackass," Qrow said, transforming his sword into a scythe.
"You're certainly welcome to try," Sephiroth said.
Oscar dove out of the way of Hazel's fist as it slammed into the ground.
"Oscar," Ozpin's voice scolded.
"No!" Oscar said, jumping out of the way of another attack.
"Oscar!"
"I told you, no!"
Nora swung her hammer at Hazel, who took the hit and backhanded her away. The large man then punched Oscar hard, knocking him back into a pillar.
"Please, let me take over!" Ozpin pleaded. "I can handle him!"
"You told me I needed to fight for myself!" Oscar argued, standing back up. "So I will."
"This is not your fight!"
"What does that mean? Why is he so upset with us?" Oscar asked.
"He didn't tell you my tale, did he, boy?" Hazel asked, slowly walking towards Oscar. "I thought you looked familiar, to think that evil was inside you when our paths first crossed. Your blood won't be on my hands. It'll be on his."
Nora quickly ran up in between Oscar and Hazel, her hammer raised defensively.
"What was he talking about?" Oscar asked.
"Tell him, Ozpin!" Hazel shouted. "Tell him how you KILLED HER!"
"Her?"
"Gretchen Rainart was Hazel's sister," Ozpin explained. "Despite her brother's wishes, she enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a Huntress and tragically lost her life on a training mission. Hazel… holds me responsible. Please, let me fight. I know Hazel. He's wounded in a way that cannot be healed."
"You know now!" Hazel yelled, approaching Oscar and Nora. "You can forgive me for what I'm about to do."
"Did she know?" Oscar asked, making Hazel stop. "Did she know the risk of being a Huntress?"
"She was only a child! She wasn't ready!"
"She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself!"
"Um, who are we talking about?" Nora asked.
"His sister," Oscar said. "She was a student at Beacon, and died on a training mission. That's why he hates Oz so much."
Nora looked up at Hazel incredulously. "Seriously?" she asked. "That's it? You do realize everyone in this room has lost someone to the Grimm, right? You don't see any of us joining up with their leader!"
"You understand nothing," Hazel growled.
"Just look at what you're all doing to Cinder!" Nora yelled. "At least your sister had a choice!"
"Enough!" Hazel roared. "I will do whatever it takes to make him pay for what he did!"
"I don't think talking's going to work with him," Oscar said.
"Looks like it," Nora agreed, and the two teens took combat stances.
"I'm sorry," Ozpin said.
"What?" Oscar asked, before his eyes glowed briefly and he fell to the ground. By the time he stood back up, he was watching from inside his own head. Hazel grew even more enraged at the sight of him.
"I hope you don't mind, Miss Valkyrie, but I need to borrow your 'boyfriend' for a few minutes."
"As long as you give him back," she said.
"OOOZZZZPIIIIIIIN!" Hazel screamed.
Weiss stabbed her sword into the ground, creating a white glyph on the floor. Several white Neoshadows poured out of it, rushing to tackle Sephiroth.
"You can summon Heartless now?" Yang asked.
"Yeah," Weiss answered.
"Bitchin'," Yang said, before charging at Sephiroth. In a burst of energy, the Heartless were sent flying, and Yang jumped up and delivered a right hook to his face, sending his head jerking to the side. "Ha! Gotcha!" She celebrated. Sephiroth turned back to look at her with an unamused expression. "Uh…" Yang said nervously, before Sephiroth brought his sword down. Yang brought her gauntlets up to block the attack, and Ruby and Qrow used the opportunity to flank him on both side with their weapons in scythe form. With a flap of his wings, Sephiroth flew up into the air, causing their attacks to miss. A white robed figure flew up after him, swiping it's claws, but Sephiroth simply swung his sword at the creature, slicing it in two and making it disappear.
Ren fired his pistols up at Sephiroth, the silver-haired man, twirling his sword to deflect them. While he was pre-occupied with the bullets, Cloud jumped up and swung his sword down, slamming it into Sephiroth, and sending him back down to the ground. He landed on his feet, but Weiss launched herself forwards, her sword held out in front of her. Sephiroth looked up at her…
…Just in time for her rapier to impale him.
But instead of screaming in pain, or collapsing, or dying, or anything that one would expect someone who had just been stabbed to do, Sephiroth instead look at her, smirked, grabbed the wrist of the hand holding her sword, and raised his own.
Qrow quickly ran up and blocked the swing of Sephiroth's sword mere inches from Weiss's neck. Ruby quickly ran up with her Semblance, grabbed Weiss, and zipped her away from him, launching a fire spell behind her. The fireball impacted Sephiroth, and while the smoke still filled the air, Qrow was launched backwards and Weiss's rapier was thrown like a javelin straight at the two girls.
Jaune quickly jumped in front of them, using his shield to stop the thrown sword. Cloud quickly charged at Sephiroth and launched a barrage of attacks against him. Sephiroth matched him blow-for-blow, until an explosive blast from Yang hit him in the back.
The silver-haired man growled in frustration, before using his wing to fly backwards, putting some distance between himself and the others.
"I grow tired of all these distractions," he said, raising his right hand, which began to glow. "What say we do something about them?"
A massive fire ball suddenly sprouted out of his hand, floating slowly in the air above him. He pointed at the group, and smaller fireballs broke off and started flying towards the group.
"Ruby! With me!" Aqua's voice suddenly called, the Keyblade Master appearing in the middle of the group with her weapon raised. Ruby quickly joined in, the two of them conjuring a barrier to protect the group from the raining fire. After a few seconds, Sephiroth launched himself towards the barrier, slicing right through it, and swung his sword at Aqua. She pressed her Keyblade up against his sword.
"Another Keyblade Wielder," he said. "I don't believe we've met."
"I'm Aqua," she said through grit teeth.
"Sephiroth."
"I gathered that."
Aqua spared a brief glance, and it was exactly as she had feared.
Cinder was gone, Raven and Vernal with her. A passageway under the staircase had opened.
They were headed for the Vault.
When Aqua disengaged from Cinder to stop Sephiroth's attack, the Fall Maiden moved to chase after her, until Raven grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Let's go," Raven said. "While they're distracted, we can take the Relic."
"…Understood," Cinder said, using her Semblance to make her weapon dissipate. Cinder turned to the statue in the courtyard, Raven and Vernal following her.
"Leo!" Raven called. "Open the Vault!"
The cowardly headmaster approached them, putting a small pocket watch into an indent in the statue, causing it to lower, revealing an elevator. Cinder looked over to Leonardo.
"Lady Salem wants Ruby brought in alive," she said, before stepping onto the platform, the elevator descending once all three women were on board.
Vernal fidgeted nervously in the elevator, before Raven noticed the weird number floating over her head. It said 2.
"What's that?" Raven asked, gesturing to the number.
"Don't know," Vernal said. "The heiress did something."
"Is there a problem?" Cinder asked, her voice monotone as always.
"No," Raven said. "Let's just get this over with."
As the elevator continued its descent, they could see the Vault. It was a massive cavern with a large tree with glowing orange flowers. A large wooden door stood at the base of the tree, and the entire thing stood suspended on a natural stone bridge formation.
Vernal stepped off the elevator and approached the Vault.
Cinder and Raven followed her.
The number ticked down to 1.
Ozpin, in Oscar's body, dodged several attacks from Hazel, before the large man punched one of the pillars. Leonardo tried to fire at Ozpin using his weapon, but Nora fired a grenade at him to stop him.
"Stay away from him, old man," she growled before changing her weapon back into its hammer form and charging at the traitorous headmaster.
Hazel tried to slam his fists into the ground, but Ozpin jumped around his several times, striking with his cane repeatedly as he did so, before using Hazel like a springboard and jumping away. Hazel charged at him again, his fist glowing with electricity, but Ozpin kicked off the wall and hit Hazel in the face, before jabbing him in the chest several times. Finally, he rolled underneath Hazel, hitting him in the back of the knees and sending him to the floor. He raised his cane to finish the giant off, but Hazel roared and slammed his fists into the ground, creating an electrified shockwave that knocked Ozpin back.
"Oscar!" Nora called out in concern.
Aqua used her magic to create a small explosion in her palm to knock Sephiroth back, and took a step towards him before Cloud held his arm out in front of her.
"Go," he said. "Cinder and Raven are going for the Relic. We can't let Salem get her hands on it. We'll handle Sephiroth."
"Are you sure?" Aqua asked.
"Go free Cinder, Mom!" Ruby said.
"Yeah, we got this!" Yang agreed.
"…Okay," Aqua finally said, dismissing her Keyblade and running towards the elevator.
Raven walked behind Cinder, making sure the Fall Maiden was in between her and Vernal as her protégé approached the Vault.
The plan was simple: wait until Vernal was about to open the door, kill Cinder while her back was turned, take the relic while her brother, her sister-in-law and those stupid kids were still fighting Salem's minions, and use a portal to go back to the tribe.
As Vernal approached the door, a large symbol began glowing on the floor, the entire chamber illuminating. The flowers on the trees suddenly blossomed, many of them losing their petals, which began falling.
It really was a gorgeous sight. Raven just wished she could have time to enjoy it.
"So how does this work?" Vernal asked.
"The Spring Maiden must place her hand on the door," Cinder explained. "Then it will open."
"Got it," Vernal said, continuing her trek towards the door. Raven slowly reached her hand towards her sword, preparing for the moment when they would strike Cinder.
The number above Vernal's head ticked down to 0.
And with a pained scream, Vernal suddenly fell to the floor, unmoving.
"Vernal?" Raven asked. There was no reply. "Vernal?!" She rushed to her side, rolling Vernal over onto her back. Cold, expressionless eyes stared up at nothing.
"What is happening?" Cinder asked. Raven put her finger up to Vernal's neck to check a pulse.
There wasn't one.
"She's dead…" Raven said quietly.
"I did not see her powers leave her body," Cinder said, and Raven's eyes widened.
Red flames burst from them, and she turned around and launched a fireball at Cinder. The fall Maiden quickly conjured up a sword and slashed at the magical attack, before thrusting her left arm towards her.
The arm tore through her glove and stretched, revealing that her left arm had been replaced by one that belonged on a Grimm. Before Raven could react, the Grimm arm wrapped around her neck, and she could feel her power being drained.
"You attempted to trick us," Cinder said. "You were the Spring Maiden the entire time. I must now take your power and retrieve the Relic myself."
Suddenly, a slash rang through the air, and a blue-haired woman used her Keyblade to cut the Grimm arm in half. Raven fell to her knees, coughing. Cinder recoiled as the Grimm arm slowly, and apparently painfully, regenerated.
"You really are pathetic, Raven," Aqua said, standing over her. "For all your talk of the tribe being your real family, you were still using one of them as a decoy to save your own skin."
"You can judge me later," Raven said, standing up and drawing her sword. "Are you going to help me kill her?"
"No, I'm going to save her," Aqua said. "And then, you're going to walk away, and I never see you again."
"That's not going to happen," Raven said. "I need that Relic, and if I can rob Salem of her Maiden, all the better."
"Then you leave me with no other choice," Aqua said, taking up a combat position between Raven and Cinder, making sure to keep both of them on her line of sight. "If I have to fight both of you, I will." Her body began to glow.
"I think you're going to have to, little sister" Raven said, her eyes bursting into flames. Cinder's sole right eye did the same.
After a few seconds, all three women charged.
AN: God, writing those fight scenes with Sephiroth is unbelievably hard, since it's like 7-on-1.
So, last chapter, Weiss hit Vernal with a Doom Spell, that ticks down to zero and then instantly kills whoever is inflicted by it. Since this Cinder wouldn't try to steal the Fall Maiden's powers, I needed another way for Raven to be forced to reveal herself as the Spring Maiden, and this came to mind as the perfect way to accomplish that.
And God damn is Hazel's motivation just the dumbest thing ever. I decided to have Nora call him out on how stupid it is, but even I couldn't think of a way to have him justify himself, so I just had him say "Shut up! You don't understand me! Wah!"
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!