Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 119 is here. Unfortunately I didn't find enough time to make it a double chapter, but I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless.
Thanks one more time for being here, supporting the story by following/ favoring/ reading it. You are awesome!
See you all next week in chapter 120. Until then, be well and have fun!
The avenue was silent as death- and equally morbid. Traces of ruin and decay, ever-present in this isolated part of town, were even stronger in the surrounding buildings and stores with the broken, bloody windows.
Velvet checked the overturned cars behind her for any traces of Grimm. She then searched out the perimeter and scouted far behind, her eyes reaching as far as Dawn Bridge Avenue stretched.
Besides lots of blood, traces of battle and a destroyed set of traffic signs and lights, there was nothing else of immediate importance. She turned around and stared ahead of her, where her friends were investigating.
Dawn Bridge was a long and wide one, made of concrete and earth dust and paved in asphalt. Tall pillars rose from Cowl Canyon below, forming a supportive system adorned by thick steel cables and arches.
Just behind it, visible as the bunny girl carefully walked up to the rest of her team stood Antares Observatory on top of the wooded hill; a round dome made of glass and steel, hosting high-tech astronomy equipment.
Among it was Belial Eye; Remnant's largest telescope proudly stood out from the half-open dome. It normally was a spectacular sight to behold; Velvet had caught glimpses of it during cases in the area on occasion.
Right now, however, it was anything but that. A massive pillar of green eldritch miasma shot up from Antares' open ceiling, as if shot by Belial Eye up to the sky, dispersing all over the dome.
Its powerful hue showered the area around Dawn Station in its wicked light, casting deceitful shadows at every corner. The uneasiness in her heart grew with every step she took "it is quiet" she said "too quiet."
"Yeah" Yang replied. Blake, back turned to not let them see her inhale a few more shots of Ren's incense, pointed forward to the uphill avenue.
The pulsing green light wasn't strong enough for them to get blinded, but the feeling of being exposed to it made her a lot uneasy "you would guess Grimm would have traced us here" she said while walking.
Weiss sent a worried look at her "you are rubbing your palm, sweetie" she noticed. Velvet stared at the blonde and only Blake kept looking forward as they got closer to the massive bridge.
"Yeah" the blonde forced a smile "it doesn't hurt me or itch though. I just feel uneasy" she replied "like something is gonna happen soon and it will be important" she clicked her tongue "can't explain it properly."
"No need to" their leader replied in a grim voice as she stopped moving the very moment they reached the bridge "I am not sure how or why it is happening but that premonition you are showing is impressive Yang."
Instead of an answer, though, the blonde stared at the same direction as her partner. So did Weiss and Velvet. They all opened their eyes in a show of recognition and then drew their weapons and got ready.
In the middle of the bridge, clad in a black kimono adorned with white flowers and with her oversized naginata at hand stood Cherry. Her face was brimming with anticipation and her eyes shone in happiness.
"Figures" Weiss, still reluctant towards the fox girl, span her canister to the lightning dust cartridge. Yang stared at Velvet who had conjured a very familiar mechanical bow. The faunus gently shook her shoulders.
The fox girl didn't move. She was a good distance away, so chances of them ambushing her were slim. She chose to fight us on a bridge again. This chick surely loves her high ground the brawler grumbled.
"Blake" she finally spoke. "I want to talk to her" she added, earning a furious glare from her fiancée. "I thought so" the yellow-eyed beauty sighed deeply "you are that kind of idiot after all, aren't you?"
"How do we know we can trust her?" Velvet said. "In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a massive slaughter; more than 10.000 people died inside this dome for us to act kind towards this woman."
"Don't misunderstand" Blake eased the brunette faunus. "We simply owe our lives to her Bun-bun" Yang continued from where her partner left "she has the right to be treated well before I drag her to prison."
"I have zero idea who is more impossible; you or that tuna lover who is going on with that crazy way of thinking" Weiss tenderly reprimanded. "If she tries anything funny, I am skewering her on spot" she noted.
Yang thanked them with a smile and walked forward, her teammates in tow. They carefully moved in the middle of the road, surrounded by the columns as they stepped on the bridge and moved closer to Cherry.
Tension rose with every step they took. The deep, jagged canyon under their feet with the usually timid river in its middle felt more menacing than ever. The solid concrete looked as if it could crumble any minute.
The pulsing lights, reaching them between the towering cables, sent thin shadows on the women. But even its alien presence felt pale when compared to the powerful magic aura that gathered around the fox girl.
"Ms. Schnee… Blake… Ms. Scarlatina" she respectfully bowed after she addressed each one of them. "Yang" Cherry solemnly nodded. "Thanks for returning my jacket" the blonde reluctantly greeted her.
"Thanks for lending it to me; it's good to see you all made it alive out of Cornfield and I am happy to see you again" the fox girl smiled brightly. To the others, it was extremely off-putting. Yang simply sighed deeply.
"I really wish I could say the same" she took a couple steps forward and stretched out her arms, showing the ruined and destroyed city around them "did you have any part in this, girl?" she was direct and on point.
"No" she closed her eyes and nodded "all preparations were carried out by Master Woodrock himself. I arrived yesterday from Lakkard, so I had no involvement in the construction of Erebus Dome" she explained.
So, she is working for Bistre Woodrock- the same bastard who was in Yugure and awakened this thing, feeding half the village to it. That son of a bitch is this honorable girl's master? How and why?
"Preparations?" Blake spat beneath her teeth. For some reason, all her body was twitching in excitement and her hand had a strange tendency to reach out to her backpack and grab- she stopped it, visibly confused.
"People died here" Velvet was unable to contain her anger. Weiss had a stern look on her face. "Do you know how many people were killed and fed to the Grimm for those preparations of your Master?" Yang asked.
The girl's shimmering green eyes opened wide. She grabbed the ever-present Leviathan talisman of hers with her thin, long fingers "I am fully aware of their demise and there is no one in Remnant who understands the value of one's life more than me" she firmly stated at her friend.
Bewildered gazes fell on the fox girl. "Are you messing with us?" the question came from Velvet, who was one step away from pulling the trigger. "Your people massacred tens of thousands of innocents!"
Yang's shout burst through the silence. Accompanied by heavy steps, it forced Cherry to take a defensive stance. Even with her lack of social skills and awareness, though, she could feel no malice from the blonde.
All she could see at the proud woman's expression was a mix of anger and sadness. Yang was visibly torn between wanting to cry and wanting to punch her. But Cherry didn't falter- she couldn't afford to right now.
"Live must be protected; the doctrine of the God of Light. Since He was the prevalent figure in Remnant's history, humanity got its moral code from Him and His teachings. But God of Darkness has a different one."
She let out her emotions flood her heart. Talking about her order in a place like this, against people who could genuinely stand up to her with their words and power… was elevating, uplifting… exalting even.
"We worship the absolute value of life on its own. Individual beings are irrelevant; their actions give them worth. Their lives gain value when used for the proper purpose- otherwise their souls rot into apraxia.
This is why I must complete this; those people are heroes whose lives were sacrificed for the sake of our God. It is my sacred duty to guide their spirits to the afterlife and make sure their death was not in vain."
"Do you hear yourself?" lilac orbs opened even wider in shock. "These people are individuals, with personality and hopes and dreams! They are not soul energy, not living fuel for you to use at your disposal!
You say they are all heroes because you sacrificed them in order to fully awaken Nyctos? Who are you guys to decide that for them? They have every right to live their lives, even if your Master deems it worthless!"
"I know it sounds strange!" Cherry took one more step closer. Yang did not flinch, but the others got ready to intercept in case of an attack.
"I know that people who rose under the Order of Light are not ready to accept the Doctrine of Death and Rebirth! But I am ready to lay my life down for my Gods… and if history deems me a villain for that, so be it!"
"This is not heroic… of villainous… this is senseless slaughter! This is all madness! YOU ARE FEEDING PEOPLE TO THE GRIMM! YOU ARE KILLING INNOCENTS TO WAKE UP MONSTERS WHO FEED ON HUMANITY! SAY WHAT YOU WANT- THERE IS NOTHING NOBLE IN THAT, YOU MORON!"
They were practically a couple meters away from each other, bodies all trembling from the tension and the anger. "There is… nothing noble… in that?" the fox girl whispered. Her lips were trembling. "My faith…"
"Something is weird" Blake blinked a couple times. For some reason, she felt a tinge of energy momentarily rise from the surroundings. "My faith… my reason to exist… my devotion… you call them senseless…"
"I didn't want to hurt you, girl" Yang tried control her anger. "I am sorry for messing with your feelings, but this is wrong. Killing innocent people is wrong! You are a better person than that- I have seen it and I know!"
"You know nothing of me" Cherry hung her head. "Master was right; I was a fool to think we can be friends… we are so different..." she raised her head, oozing with determination and power.
"Do you know what being friends with someone means?" Yang's eyes narrowed. "Sharing sorrow, sharing happiness… loving each other and wanting to stand side by side" Cherry replied.
"This is why you, who is showered in the light of humanity and me, who heralds death, can never be friends. My wishes, as a mortal, are merely whims standing in the way of my duty" she bit her trembling lips.
"You are wrong" the blonde shook her head. "Friends love and support each other, yes. But" she clenched her fists "to me, it is much more than that. Friends are also there to punch some sense to each other.
And, no matter what religious crap you spout, I think of you as a friend of mine. This is why I have to beat your pretty face up and have you take responsibility for everything you have done in the proper way. As your friend, above anything else, I am stopping you."
"Yang…" for a mere moment, the girl's composure broke. Weiss and Blake smiled and Velvet sighed, trying to hide the warmth the brawler's words brought in her chest. "You truly are- amazing" the fox girl smiled.
She jumped away and repositioned as soon as team BLWS moved into their formation "but I can't lose here! Even to you no, especially to you, I will protect the wishes of my Master and perform my duty!"
"Sorry about that- I really hoped I could have her understand" Yang said in a remorseful voice "but ended up wasting time again." "Shut up now; unless you think you can talk while taking her on" Weiss cut them off.
Blake, at the back of the formation next to Velvet, nodded in approval. "Weiss is right; for some reason I get a strange feeling from her. Don't even consider going easy on Cherry because we outnumber her."
"Yes!" they all replied and raised their weapons just before a powerful surge of energy pulsed from the center of the bridge, at the very place where their opponent stood, raking their bodies with primordial might.
-o—
The night before the operation.
SHU camp, behind the Shadow Border.
"That covers most of how I intend us to go about it" Blake finished her brief talk with her temporary team "but there is something I would like to address" she added, ignoring Yang's protest about needing a shower.
Velvet and Weiss nodded, paying full attention to their leader. "I think that Yang's jacket makes evident that we will fight against Cherry while our mission" she explained. "It's almost certain" the blonde added.
"Didn't you defeat her twice already?" Velvet asked. "We did, yes, but I think this time will be completely different" her fellow faunus replied "because I am sure that she was holding back against us in both fights."
"Is she seriously that strong?" Weiss blurted. "Yes" her leader replied "Grand Mother simply looked at us and had us at the edge of our ropes, but this girl took the monster head-on with her magic and survived."
"And that is enough to make her extremely dangerous" Velvet, having recently encountered Avyssos, nodded "but she couldn't be stronger that Salem, could she? She can't possibly be a match for all four of us."
"She is weaker than Salem that is true" Blake agreed "but there were so many things that helped us defeat Salem, like Ruby's gift and Ozpin's powers that we lack right now. I am sure we can defeat her yes, but I'm not so positive we can do it without risking someone getting seriously hurt."
"That reminds me; how in the heck Azure knocked her out?" Everyone turned around to look at Yang "his guards were practically a joke; Rubes and Weiss beat them with minimum effort, but he did capture her."
"Are we sure Azure was not good at combat?" Velvet asked. "Definitely not" the petite woman shot her down "he was, down to the very core of his soul, a scientist. There is no way he-" she stopped all of a sudden.
"Weiss?" Blake turned around and Yang shot up to see if something had happened to her beloved "is everything all right?" "Just give me a few minutes" she took out her scroll and started searching her photo logs.
"All in all, what we know about her is that ridiculous semblance" Yang went on with the planning "she is using it to both attack and defend at her leisure and even augments her own attacks with it- they hurt a lot."
"She will definitely open the battle with that, trying to exhaust us by overwhelming us with her attract and repel pulses, until we pass through. Until that point, our numbers will barely matter" Blake said.
"Besides exhausting her, I can't even think what else to do, though" the always cool voice of the bunny faunus noted "how can we possibly fight against an ability that manipulates everything in its domain?"
"Not everything" Weiss finally raised her eyes from her scroll and took a good look at her teammates "that's what I wanted to verify" as she said that, she showed them a picture she had taken from Azure's lab.
The image was the rotten body of a guard. He had a torn, half-melt face and a destroyed uniform. Weiss zoomed in his back- and Blake's eyes lit up in recognition.
-o—
Present time- Dawn Bridge
The very moment Cherry's graviton shockwave hit them Weiss flipped her hands and conjured an array of images below their feet. The black glyphs roared with energy, firmly holding team BLWS in their positions.
"She will go full force on us. Weiss; can you use your glyphs to hold us in position as you did with Yang the first time you fought her?" Blake had said the previous night.
Their bodies felt massive pressure, as a battle of sheer endurance broke between Cherry who steadily blasted them with her semblance and Weiss who calmly spread her glyphs in front of them to create a path.
"Of course I can! Who do you think you are talking to?" she obviously was trying to put on airs, but Blake knew her friend would give it her all.
"GO!" Screaming at the top of her lungs to not falter, Blake took a small step forward. The gravitation pushing her away was so intense that the faunus mustered all her strength to move, even with Weiss' support.
"Ah…" next to her, Yang did the exact same thing. Her body trembled as her muscles felt the shock permeate them, but she pushed even harder while gritting her teeth. She thanked God for Weiss and her semblance.
"As soon as Weiss pulls it through, Yang and I will try reach her. It's not going to be easy, but I trust my partner's stubbornness."
The power from Cherry's blast raked Blake's face. Even with Weiss' runes holding her in place and Yang covering for her ahead, the energy the fox woman emanated was unreal.
She heard a familiar laugh from behind her, coming from a purple-eyed replica. She chose to ignore it, even though she stopped for a brief moment. Just- this once- leave me alone! Let me fight on my own!
"For now" the reply was flat, emotionless and without any trace of irony or teasing. For reasons unknown, Blake felt a pang of sadness fill her very core as the presence faded away into nothingness.
"Keep moving! I can't do this on my own, kitten!" Yang's scream came from far ahead- when did she leave me that far behind? It made her burst into action again.
She had lost focus and allowed her body to become immobilized from gravitation. Shame on you, Belladonna!
After making sure her partner was keeping up with her, the blonde girl continued pushing forward. A few dozen meters separated her from the kimono-clad woman. All that was left was a final push!
"So basically, you two are entering a test of endurance against Cherry's semblance with Weiss supporting you" Velvet had summarized.
It was crude, simplistic and a colossal display of tenacity. It was exactly what Yang lived for. She grinned in satisfaction, hoping her friend turned enemy would see the determination filling her very soul.
And that she did. Through her shining, feral eyes that shone an even deeper green color from the pulsing pillar of magical energy behind them, Cherry saw their titanic attempt to reach her. How beautiful.
She smiled, returning Yang's expression at her. However, you should know at this point that I am not such an easy opponent, Yang and Blake!
Without breaking her concentration Cherry simply reversed her ability. All of a sudden, the huntresses found their bodies being pulled towards the shrine maiden. Weiss' glyphs broke under the strain.
"Of course she is not that stupid and her ability is not that easy to pass by. If we manage to advance on her, she will reverse the gravitation to pull us towards her, trying to impale Yang or me with her Naginata."
The ex-heiress turned around, only to see Velvet pull a long, thin case out from her bag. Focusing as much as she could, she activated another rune to keep the girl in place before she started being dragged away.
"And that is exactly when we will strike. Will you be able to take the shot, Velvet?"
The metal case fell down. Velvet's face hardened as she felt her hair and blood dragged away from her. The scar marring her face itched as the thin skin surrounding it stretched even tighter.
An arrow was revealed in her hands- a custom made arrow with a hollow thin head, crafted by Lumia specifically for the purpose of being shot by Buster Orion.
Trembling, she drew the string as her friends were being all dragged across the harsh pavement, their auras shaking in pain.
Calm, down. This is all part of the plan. She focused and conjured a small scope, adjusting it on top of her outstretched glove. Her mind screamed in pain, but there was no way she would fail this.
There was no way she would ever bear witness to seeing her friends die in front of her eyes again. She held her breath and released the arrow, the gravitational pull overcoming Weiss' glyph and dragging her as well.
"Wait a minute" Weiss said. "Won't she be able to easily deflect a single arrow away?" "This is why Velvet will aim at her feet, not her body."
Cherry saw the desperate attack. It was confusing, actually. Blake and Yang were focused on absorbing the impacts from being pulled to her by grabbing at cables; they hadn't even tried to fight back or shoot her.
On the other hand, Weiss had let herself be caught and only assisted the bunny girl. Only for said girl to let go by releasing one single arrow. There was not enough information to process or time to do so.
One thing was for sure, however. She had to absolutely avoid that arrow hitting her no matter what.
"She will foresee this. And that leaves her three options; jump away and stop her attack, let it hit or..."
Cherry swung at the arrow with Mandragora. The strike was so swift and precise she barely even acknowledged a need to. The sound of thin material collapse filled her ears- and then her eyes opened wide.
"Or break it. In which point, the components will be released as if she was hit by the arrow to begin with."
Thick, brown-yellow gas engulfed Cherry. All of a sudden, she realized it. She now knew what their plan had been all along.
But she was too late. Her eyes watered at once. Her body tensed and her lips chapped. Her nose started running. Redness spread all over her face. She started to violently cough, desperately gasping for breath.
She pushed her body and rolled away. Her lungs welcomed the fresh and needed air- wearing gas masks, Blake and Yang threw two grenades at her. The gas engulfed her again, this time dropping her on her knees.
"I don't like the idea of gassing her, guys" Yang remarked. "Me neither; but if it allows us to capture her without endangering any of us, I will not even question it for a second." Blake replied.
A few meters away from the small cloud, with her back in extreme agony and grateful of her kneecaps and vambraces' protection, Weiss let equally strained Velvet get her up to her feet.
As I thought, the fact that gas is much less affected by gravity gives her a distinct disadvantage; she needs more time to repel a substance that just spreads around.
And Vale Police Departments' knockout gas won't give her that time the pale girl thought, feeling slightly sorry for the fox girl, giving a gesture of approval to Yang and Blake as they removed their masks.
Lilac gazed at the gas cloud, her heart stinging at the sound of Cherry's frantic coughs and violent gasps for air. Sorry girl she got ready to grab the woman the moment the cloud dispersed.
But if you knew me well, you would know I don't have any honor when my friends' lives are at stake; you included. She took one step forward. It's over, Cherry.