Chapter 15 – Battle for the Summit's Claim – Pt. 3
Ren
Icarus' wings sliced through the snow as he flew over their heads, the sound of the afterburners in his jetpack echoed across the Summit as he dodged the grenades being fired up at him from Nora. Blinding pink explosions erupted around him as he dodged them, before diving directly down towards the three of them. The impact of his landing blasted them all backwards, his pupils were flushed with a glowing red light from his Semblance as it grew stronger and stronger.
He slashed Undying Hatred downward repeatedly at Li who backed up, deflecting each strike with his staff, before he rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding the sharp feathers of the wings as he spun around. Nora jumped forward and swung Magni up his mechanical jaw, fracturing parts of metal away from it, sparks erupted from within its glowing red lights, and he tumbled to the ground. His wings shielded his body as Nora threw Stormur Skeggox towards him, bouncing off the metal. Nora caught it as it rebounded back into her palm, she yelled defiantly as she jumped high in the air, her eyes lighting up pink as she channelled her power into her arms.
Suddenly Icarus blasted upwards towards her and grabbed Nora by the throat, the two of them hurtled through the sky together. Nora threw her fist into his face over and over again whilst Magni dangled from her wrist strap, using the Axe of Stormur Skeggox to hold onto him, hooking the blade onto the wing's armature. Icarus dove downwards, staring straight into her eyes with that hatred in them. His wings them opened, stopping their descent into a hover in front of the face of the mountain and he proceeded to fly directly towards the face of the mountain, and he smashed her face into the side of it.
Nora's pink aura flickered from that hard strike. "I came all this way to kill that old man… but now? Seeing you and his son? I think killing the two of you will be far more satisfying than cutting him down. I would love to watch that man rot away in his own grief." Icarus laughed cruelly, Nora gritted her teeth and her eyes started to shine brighter and brighter.
"Fuck… YOU!" She roared, and she blasted a powerful beam of energy directly into his chest, which forced him away from her. She noticed his aura flicker in that moment as well, a fiery amber colour as he was thrown backwards. But Nora also began to fall, she looked up with wide eyes, unable to stop herself.
Until she saw Ren, diving through the clouds and aiming one of the Stormflower Pistols towards her, firing the grappling hook towards her. She reached out and it wrapped around her wrist, he then fired it back up as well, digging it into the side of one of the old buildings up there. Ren immediately began retracting the cable that Nora was dangling from and she immediately wrapped her arms around him with relief. "Don't do that again…" Ren whimpered nervously, which made her chuckle.
"Well, I hardly planned on him grabbing me like that." She giggled. Ren looked up and his eyes widened.
"No… Dad… he can't handle Icarus on his own. We need to help him." Ren said as he started to send them both back up to the top.
"I think… I have an idea of how to beat Icarus." Nora revealed.
"How?" Ren asked her.
"Last time we had to take out one of his wings, but I don't think that is an option anymore. I've tried damaging them with my axe but the metal alloy it's made of is twice as strong. He'll kill us before we even make a dent… but I noticed something in how he uses them when he's grounded. He uses his arms to guide them." She explained, and Ren thought back.
"You're right… every single time he shields himself he always crosses his arms together or lifts one to move an individual wing." Ren agreed.
"I managed to do a hefty amount of damage to him just then, it made his aura flicker. If you can restrain him long enough, I could take out his aura in one shot." Nora explained, and Ren smirked.
"What would I do without you?" He chuckled.
"Oh, you'd be fine… just less stylish, though." She teased.
The two of them landed back on the surface of the Summit's Claim, looking ahead to see Icarus immediately going after Li once more. Li roared with rage as he slammed his staff down the side of his head, before slashing the sharp end of it up his chest. Icarus staggered backwards, before he lunged forward. The sclera in his eyes was now blackened and his pupils were glowing bright red. Red energy coursed through not only his Khopeshes but also the sharp feathers on his Mechanical Wings, and he cut across Li's aura hard and fast with all four weapons. The Old Warrior's aura flickered green for a few moments as Icarus repeatedly struck him, before swiping him off his feet and immediately slamming the curved blade down towards his face.
He was not saying a word anymore, just filled with an uncontrollable rage, reaching the very tipping point of his semblance. The only way to stop him now was to break his aura and end this berserk state that he was trapped in. Li held back the Khopesh as hard as he could with his staff, only for Ren to jump over Icarus and fired Stormflower down at him. As he landed behind the Archangel, he shot the blade forward and it wrapped around his arm and he yanked him backwards. Icarus staggered away from Li, but just as Ren went to make an attack, Icarus instantly booted him in the ribs.
The kick nearly knocked Ren off his feet, and he fell onto one knee as he slid backwards. Icarus roared ferally, launching one of his Undying Hatred Khopeshes towards him, but Ren rolled out of the way just in time. It dug into the ice, melting it from the sheer heat built up in it from the Fire and Electrical Dust Cannisters inside. Ren fired both his pistols at him, before he rushed forward and slashed the blades across his chest, only for Icarus to catch his forearm and yank him forward, directly into the feathers that slashed across his aura. Ren yelled in pain as he was thrown backwards, only to then be blown up by one of the grenades he threw towards him.
Ren tumbled across the ground and Icarus flew directly at him, hand reached out to grab him by the throat, until Nora slammed Stormur Skeggox downwards into his back, smashing him into the ground. She lifted her axe and just as Icarus went to attack her, she countered with Magni, nailing him up the chin. Nora helped him back up as Icarus took off once more, flying over them. He started to claw away at his head, it felt like he had bees buzzing around in his head and he let out a metallic scream of both rage and distress.
Li struggled to get back to his feet, his aura was most likely in the red at this point. Icarus flew downwards and Ren fired Stormflower up at the Archangel as he flew at him, then Ren fired his grappling hook and swung away from Undying Hatred's curved blades. Icarus banked around one of the spiring summits, and ren landed on the side of one of the old buildings, firing Stormflower at him as he came back for a second attack.
Ren then jumped and shot his grappling hook towards him, which wrapped around his leg and Ren dropped, pulling Icarus down with him. He roared with rage as he came crashing back down to the ground. Ren safely slid down and charged towards him. He cut and slashed his bladed pistols across his aura, but then he started moving his arms just as Nora stated, using the wings to block his attacks. He slashed the feathers at him, but Ren slid underneath his legs, and he fired both the grappling hooks onto his wrists.
He pulled back with all his might, straining. He gritted his teeth and Icarus roared with rage through his mechanical jaw. "Nora!"
"Gotcha!" Nora laughed, spinning Stormur Skeggox through her fingers and squeezing the trigger of Magni, channelling lightning through her muscles. Her scars lit up bright pink, and so did her eyes. She screamed with immense power as the raw energy funnelled directly into the head of her axe, and she held it with both hands and aimed it forward. A powerful beam of pink energy erupted from the axe and collided into Icarus' chest. He bellowed with rage and pain as his aura was eviscerated by the power of the Valkyrie's might.
His aura crackled then shattered into embers. Nora ceased and Icarus dropped to one knee, and he panted as his semblance finally came to an end. He looked up at Nora as she approached, axe in hand. Then he laughed. "You think you've won? Oh no, Huntress. This will not end… we will continue to fight and fight until there are none of you left." Icarus promised.
Nora held the blade of Stormur Skeggox to his neck, but he did not even flinch, he just stared right at her, not fearing death. "We're done hiding from your Queen. Why don't you fly off to tell her that?" Nora questioned, which made him laugh.
"Still unable to do whatever it takes? I thought you would have learned about the consequences of sparing your enemies… when you could have finished them." Icarus stated.
Li weakly approached as his aura slowly started to regenerate. Then Icarus' eyes glanced over to the battle between Ruby, Penny and Cinder against the Nuckelavee and the Praetorian Knight. "Uh oh… looks like they could use some help." Icarus chuckled, Nora turned, and her eyes widened as she saw the Praetorian Knight smashed Ruby across the face with its Sceptre, knocking her off the floor.
Icarus sinisterly chuckled once more. His wings suddenly extended, and he flew directly into Nora and knocked her off her feet, disappearing into the clouds once more. "Shit! Where'd he go?" Nora stammered.
"His aura's broken… he's gone to recover. But be ready for anything. He could simply be licking his wounds." Li warned, he then stared at the monster as it reared back and roared at Cinder.
The three of them stared at the monster, remembering it all too well.
"Time to make things right… for mom." Ren stated.
Cinder flew over the Nuckelavee as the Imp swung its long arm up towards her and grabbed onto her heel and smashed her from building to building, colliding into the Monastery's Pillars. It then roared as it threw her ahead, but she flipped through the air and blasted flames from her hands and feet, smirking as she launched herself right back at the monster. The Equine Grimm suddenly bucked and smashed both hooves into her face, knocking her out of the sky, and she crashed down onto the ground. Cinder groaned, pressing one hand against the new bruise on her head.
"Argh…" She groaned, suddenly feeling the hot breath of the Grimm over her shoulder. She turned and stared the beast directly in its glowing red eyes. "Oh fuck…" Cinder groaned, rolling her amber eye.
"Hello again." The calm voice of Li Ren spoke, and the snarling beast stopped and stared directly at him. He stood before the Nuckelavee, Staff in hand as it looked away from Cinder. The Imp stared right back, recognising his face immediately. He pointed to his blinded eyes, and then to his mechanical arm. "Remember these?"
The Nuckelavee slammed its hooves into the ground, and both the Horse and the Imp bellowed with fury at him. He did not move as the Nuckelavee charged towards him, because Nora swung Magni directly into the side of its head. The impact blew the snow from the roofs, and the huge beast crashed into one of the yurts, crushing it beneath its huge body. It writhed around on the ground, and Ren landed beside them, helping Cinder up to her feet. "Thanks for the help." Cinder said.
"Don't mention it… besides… we have a grudge with this one." Ren promised as he spun Stormflower through his fingers. Nora's eyes crackled and Li glared at it. He might have been blind, but he could still see it, he could recognise it even now. The Nuckelavee righted itself, scraping its hooves through the snowy ground, and the Imp tilted its head. "Help Ruby and Penny, Cinder… we'll handle this bastard."
Cinder nodded, and she took off and flew to help battle the Praetorian Knight. "Remember… this thing is no different than the two Nuckelavees we fought back at Beacon. Same strategy as before… circle it and take out the arms first. Then take out the Imp." Ren explained.
"I remember." Nora assured as she spun both her weapons through her fingers. The Nuckelavee roared and it charged towards them, grunting and panting aggressively.
It jumped and slammed both its front hooves down into the ground, just missing them as they avoided its strike. The Horse reared back and both halves of the beast cried out to the sky with undying rage. The Imp stretched one of its long arms forward, aimed directly at Li, but he rolled aside and sliced the sharpened end of his staff across the black muscle. Thick black smoke and blood poured out from the open wound, but it was not enough to take off the arms. The Kuroyurian Nuckelavee charged directly at Ren and the Horse bit down at where he was, but Ren rolled out of the way just in time, firing Stormflower back at it as he slid across the snow.
Nora circled the monster, so did Li and Ren, running around the overwhelmed created, unable to pick a target to attack. The Imp looked from target to target and shattered the ground right where Nora was running. She continuously fired grenades from Stormur Skeggox in its Grenade Launcher form, and they exploded against its huge body. It hardly even reacts to the explosions if anything they were just frustrating the monster. The Nuckelavee slams its huge hand down at Nora but she rolls ahead, and Ren runs around it as well, firing Stormflower repeatedly into the body. The Nuckelavee swings around and grapples onto the barrels of both guns, staring directly at him.
Li charged up behind the creature and drove his Staff directly into the Horse's rear leg, but it just grunted and turned its head. The Nuckelavee bucked and kicked him in the chest with both hooves. Li tumbled across the ground and groaned as he tried to get back up, his aura was still far too low to fight this creature. Icarus had done quite the number on him during their clash. But Nora shot up behind it, and with Stormur Skeggox transformed into its Axe form, she dug a deep gash into the same leg, opening up the flesh and causing a large plume of smoke to burst out from the glowing red innards.
That made the creature roar in pain, and it retreated, sliding across the snow, but still holding its ground. Ren and Nora paced around the creature whilst it did the same to them. It stared at Ren and it tilted its head curiously, and the Imp created a terrible roar as it extended its arms all the way, and spun around like it was a propellor, smacking him and Nora off their feet in one swing. The Imp hunched forward as the long arms retracted back to where they should normally be, and it held them over its chest as it started to transform.
The long-curved spines which protruded from its bad started to wobble as sickeningly loud cracking and crunching noises emerged from its body as it howled louder and louder. The spines grew larger from its back, and the ribcage split open. It continued to growl before throwing its head back and roaring so loud that the black webbing that connected its jaws together severed, and it created a shockwave from its ear-bleedingly loud roar.
On the opposite end of the fight, the Praetorian Knight was still easily holding its own, even against both Penny and Cinder. Ruby flew through the air in a flurry of rose petals, circling the Praetorian Knight as it refracted Penny's laser across the sky, the Android hovered around the Knight, constantly moving quickly. The laser cut across one of the peaks, causing a small rockslide down the face of the mountain. Penny descended fast and she launched Floating Array into its chest, locking them in place, and she slammed both her feet into the Knight's head. The blast of her thrusters broke apart some pieces of armour, and the Praetorian Knight snarled with rage as it spun the Sceptre around and slammed the blade down into the ground so hard that it created a powerful shockwave.
Penny used her swords to slow herself down, but the Praetorian Knight transformed into a swirling corkscrew of armour shards as it approached Penny. It reforged and its hand immediately grabbed Penny by the throat, and it pummelled her against the ground repeatedly. Penny cried out in pain, until Ruby came to the rescue and slashed Black Thorn across the Praetorian Knight's face.
The impact was followed by a horrific holler of pain from the Ancient Geist, and it turned directly at Ruby. It held out its hand and the telekinetic power it wielded ripped rock from the ground, and it threw the chunk of rock at her. The massive boulder exploded in front of her, but Ruby just dodged it. She slid across the ground and fired her Volcanic Pistols repeatedly at the monster. But it kept shattering its body, opening the plates apart to just have black smoke inside, and the bullets were having no affect whatsoever. Until Cinder blasted ice down upon the entity, creating huge spiking structures of ice within its body which were holding the plates together. The Praetorian Knight was even struggling to move in this position, Cinder perfectly cast her ice in the places where it needed to be free to move.
The Praetorian Knight violently broke through the ice and blasted a powerful beam of red energy up towards Cinder. She gasped and dropped down to the ground, landing beside Ruby and Penny. She opened her hand and formed her Obsidian Axe, staring the Knight down as it paced back and forth. "Relinquish the Lamp." The Praetorian Knight commanded.
"Lemme think about that… ah… no." Ruby sarcastically replied, which made Cinder groan and roll her eye.
"We've gotta take this son of a bitch down." Cinder stated as she stared it down, the Praetorian Knight glared right back at her.
The Praetorian Knight immediately fired another beam of red energy towards her, but Penny's Floating Array blocked the impact, absorbing the damage. Then the three of them charged towards the monster. Cinder threw her Axe directly at it, but the Knight smashed it apart with one swing of the Sceptre and proceeded to punch her across the cheek. But Cinder flew up into the air afterwards and summoned storms above her head, crackling lightning came crashing down into the Praetorian Knight, and it was thrown back by the attack. Ruby shot forward and cut through its arm with Black Thorn, and she landed behind it, shooting it in the back of its Head.
Cracks were indeed beginning to form inside of its head, meaning they were making progress on it, but it was still gonna take more than this to bring the Knight down. It's arm suddenly extended forward like the Nuckelavee, stretching forward with smoke and the pieces of metal were simply more spaced apart. It caught Ruby by the throat and pulled her closer and it immediately tried to take the Lamp from her hip. The curved blade of the sceptre tuck under the loop, but Penny punched it in the face as she blasted forward. "Get off her!" She yelled, but as the Praetorian Knight stumbled back, the Sceptre flicked upwards, and yanked the Relic of Knowledge directly off Ruby's Keychain, and it bounced down the steps.
Ruby hadn't even noticed yet.
Penny slammed herself into the Praetorian Knight, pinning it to the wall by the throat, she glared into its ghostly glowing red eyes, her teeth gritted together. But then the Praetorian Knight broke apart, and the cloud of floating pieces of metal passed straight through Penny and reforged behind her. It grabbed her by her long ginger hair, then it threw her down against the ground so hard the floor shattered. Cinder roared with fury as she blasted directly at it and buried her axe down into its shoulder, only narrowly missing its face, where she was aiming to hit it. The Praetorian Knight growled as it grabbed onto her arm and walked forward. Cinder flew backwards and smirked, using her magic to make the axe explode in a massive fireball.
The shoulder completely fragmented apart, causing the Praetorian to roar in pain, scorch marks burned across the side of the hidden Geist face within the armoured helmet. It twitched as it reconstructed its body, and they could see the glowing cracks begin to spread further and further across its back. Ruby fired shot after shot towards its face, but the Praetorian Knight blocked the bullets with its Sceptre, moving faster than light, before it ran forward, and snapped its neck back into position. It went to impale Ruby, but luckily, she rolled backwards, continuously shooting at it. Cinder floated around it and threw fireball after fireball at it, even blasting gusts of wind into its body as well to weaken its stance.
Ruby leapt ahead, and she drove her scythes into its shoulder, and she ripped off the arm in one hard strike, before flipping backwards and kicking the Geist up the jaw. The Praetorian Knight stumbled backwards, but then it turned to one of the old buildings and it held out its other hand, ripping off hundreds of tiles and it launched them towards Ruby. She gasped and flew through the air in a tornado of petals, but even at that speed she was unable to dodge them all. One of them hit her in the cheek and it threw her across the floor.
She looked in the reflection of the ice and she gasped, spotting the Praetorian Knight jumping high in the air above her and it was bringing the Sceptre down towards her head. She rolled aside just in time as it buried the Sceptre into the ground. Ruby immediately swung around and sliced her Scythes across the face of the creature. It roared in anger as the pain rushed through its body, but it then spun around and rested the Sceptre across its shoulders, aiming right at Ruby. It fired another bolt of energy which knocked Ruby backwards, and she hit one of the pieces of rubble from the battle.
On the other side, Ren, Nora and Li continued to battle the Nuckelavee. Li countered the incoming tentacle arm of the Imp, slashing through its hand with his Staff, yelling with rage at the monster as it jolted across the ground. It then thrusted the arm towards Ren and pinned him to the wall. He groaned in pain as the two-pronged fingers held him there, and he tried to pull free from its grasp. The Nuckelavee arched the other arm up, preparing to skewer him with its bent claws. Nora screamed as she leapt off one of the buildings and she slammed Stormur Skeggox down where the head of the Horse just was, only narrowly missing it.
She then threw it, and the thrusters on the back of the axe blasted, making it spin around. She threw it over and over, cutting through the flesh of the beast, and it even orbited around her, spinning like a sawblade. Multiple Beowulves tried to attack her whilst she threw it, but they were all cut apart by the axe. As it returned to her hand, she spun it through her fingers and channelled her semblance into that and Magni, jumping up in the air and slamming both down into the ground.
The pink explosion slammed the beast up against the wall and it roared in pain, releasing Ren, and he fell onto the small roof beside the beast. He pushed his hand through his long hair and groaned, turning to see what fell from his sheath…
… his father's Dagger.
Li rolled back and forth, despite his lack of sight he was easily evading the attacks of the titan, and he was even dealing a fair bit of damage to it. He ducked under its long arm and proceeded to punch the Horse across the jaw with his cybernetic fist. The Horse barked in pain, before snapping its bony jaws at him repeatedly.
Ren stood up and looked at Nora. "Nora! I have a plan to take out the Imp! Try to take out the Horse!" He called out and Nora smiled, nodding her head. She threw Magni into the side of the Horse's head and the impact caused it to stumble against the building that Ren is on. The Imp screeched as it's limp body crashed against the flat surface he was on. The sudden impact threw Ren back and he reached out and caught the Dagger before it could slide off the roof. "This better work!" He strained as he got back up, and Nora shot three Grenades into the horse which made it rear back and howl to the sky.
Ren sprinted towards the Imp and he jumped at it, yelling with vengeance as he grabbed onto the humanoid creature bound to the Horse. Before he grabbed it, the Imp was screeching and turned to stare at him. Ren held onto its curved horns on its head with one hand, and with the other, he unleashed a berserk scream as he drove the Knife into the throat of the Imp. It started to shriek in immense pain, a howl so loud that it was blowing his long hair back.
It began to writhe around erratically, and Ren was holding on for dear life, because the Horse was also beginning to buck wildly as well. Nora jumped forward with her Grenade Launcher, but the Horse clamped its jaws down onto both the arm and the Grenade Launcher. "Nora!" Li screamed, sensing her pain as she cried out, but her aura was keeping her safe.
Ren grappled onto its head as hard as he could, twisting it as the creature continued to fight him, and he started to saw away at its face, and the long arms started to smash through buildings as it panicked from the pain. Ren screamed with fury in the screeching monster's face as he got closer and closer to finishing it off.
"FOR MY MOTHER!" He roared, and he cut clean through its thin neck, silencing the Imp, and he was thrown from the back of the Horse. As soon as Nora saw Ren was safe from the Nuckelavee Horse, she gritted her teeth, and her finger found the trigger of the Grenade Launcher. She stared at the Horse's face and she scowled.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" She yelled, and fired, creating a huge pink explosion, and the entire skull of the Horse blew apart. The Horse recoiled backwards, and stumbled back and forth, with barely a full head left, gallons of black blood poured from what remained, and it collapsed to the ground with one last demonic groan.
Ren landed onto the ground, with the Imp's head still in his grasp, held by the curved horn. He looked at his father as he approached and they both smiled.
"For Kuroyuri… and for An…" Li proudly said, and Ren released the Imp's head, letting it crash to the floor, and it crumbled away into ashes and smoke. As did the corpse of the Horse, forming into nothing more but a tall pillar of thick black smoke.
He approached Nora and helped her up. "Are you okay?" He nervously asked her, she smiled though.
"I've always wanted to do that." She giggled, which just made him smile and he kissed her, embracing her in a warm hug.
At last… the Kuroyurian Nuckelavee was no more.
Ruby groaned and her hand felt where the Lamp should have been… and her eyes widened.
Where is it?
She frantically looked around whilst Penny and Cinder battled against the Praetorian Knight. And she spotted it, laid in the middle of the battlefield…
… next to Adam…
Yang
He slammed Wilt and Blush down against Gambol Shroud, she gasped and held it up when she heard the blade hum as it swung through the air. Sparks bounced away from the two sharp blades which collided together, and he smirked as he forced her down to one knee. "You're weaker than I remember… you really are a coward, aren't you? Constantly hiding, running away? It's all you do!" Adam laughed, but she gritted her teeth, and suddenly lit aflame. His eyes widened as her shadow exploded, and the shockwave threw him backwards. He tumbled across the ground, grunting as he drove his sword down into the ground to stop himself from sliding any further.
"I'm done running." Blake assured as she stood before him, her long black ribbon tied around her eyes gently fluttered in the wind. Yang and Taiyang stood with her, and the Blonde Brawler looked at her Former Partner.
"Blake?" Yang softly said.
"Don't worry about me. Let him focus on me, just take him down." Blake told them as she gripped her sword tighter.
"Oh crap." Taiyang gasped because he saw what Adam was staring at.
The Relic of Knowledge…
It was right next to Adam, within arm's reach, he could grab it right now and run. Why wasn't he?
Why won't he just take it, he could easily grab it right now and escape?
They watched him as he stared directly at it, then his grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, and a disturbing grin grew across his face. That was when his hair suddenly shone red and he roared, slashing Wilt and Blush towards them and firing an arc of red energy directly towards them. Yang immediately pushed Blake out of the way and Taiyang crossed his arms together, focusing his aura and taking the hit. He grunted as the impact sent him tumbling, and his aura flickered yellow. He growled with frustration as he immediately got back up, and saw Adam sprinting away from the Relic and right towards Blake.
Even after his punishment… he hadn't learned a thing…
He jumped towards Blake and she stared at where she heard him, only for Yang to appear between them and she caught the sword in her metal hand. She stared up at him with anger in her eyes, but they were not glowing red yet. She kept refusing to use her semblance, for fear of going too far once again. She pulled him down and proceeded to punch him in the side of the head so hard that it threw him away from Blake. Yang pumped her fists, which loaded Ember Celica and she fired at Adam repeatedly. "Get away from her!" Yang yelled, but Adam was just smirking maniacally as he blocked each bullet, absorbing the damage and running towards her once more.
Taiyang rushed forward but Adam slid to a stop, swinging around and roundhouse kicking him across the face with his hoof. Even with his aura up, that strike made him stumble a bit, even dazed him for a few moments. Adam cut down his back and fired his shotgun into his chest as Taiyang staggered ahead. He fell to the floor and growled, gritting his teeth. Yang stayed in front of Blake. "Yang! Stop trying to protect me!" Blake yelled, and she aimed shakily in his direction and fired the gun, but due to her having no real training in fighting blind, all her shots missed.
"I don't want you to get hurt! I failed you once and look what happened to you! I am not gonna do that again." Yang promised, and she blasted towards Adam. He smirked as she sheathed his sword and prepared to swing it across her arm like he did last time. But just as he swung the sword, she blasted up into the air, then blasted back down, slamming her metal fist down into the ground. The explosive impact launched Adam up into the air, and she caught him by his Grimm Leg, and smashed him into the ground.
As he got up, Yang punched him in the face, and then she stood over him. She threw punch after punch into his face and her eyes started to flicker red. He grunted from each punch that she sent, but he smirked as he saw her anger grow, then he grabbed onto her hair and pulled her down towards him. He smashed his head into hers, so hard her vision went blurry, and she stumbled away from him. He laughed and then cut across Yang's chest with one hard blow.
"The two of you are both the same. Both cowards who ran from their duty, who didn't have the steel to do whatever it took to get the job done. Nothing more than just two weak fools, playing at being heroes." Adam stated as he pointed the tip of his sword at Yang on the ground.
"Yeah? And what does that make you?" Yang questioned. "You're the one who joined a monster… and for what? To get back at someone who did nothing to you? Nothing except go her own way? Blake just wanted to live her life, and that was not what you wanted. You wanted her to be like you… and you could never accept she was different, could you? So who's the real coward here?" Yang questioned, Adam gritted his teeth with anger, and he went to cut her throat, but Gambol Shroud suddenly flew it and perfectly wrapped around his arm.
He gritted his teeth and stared at her; she was facing directly at him with gritted teeth. "That's enough!" She yelled, and she yanked him forward, giving Yang the opportunity to shoot upwards and punch the Bull Faunus up his chin. He barked in pain and crashed to one knee. Blake sprinted towards him and she jumped, kicking him in the side of the head with both feet and nailing the landing. She could hear his heartbeat, and it was going erratically fast. She drew her Katana and Sheath, proceeding to slice across his red aura repeatedly, spinning through the air, and then driving the sword down at him.
Adam raised Wilt and Blush, stopping her sword with his red blade, and then smirked, shooting her in the gut with the shotgun. She yelped in pain, blown backwards from the impact. She looked around desperately as she tried to listen for him, and she could hear the clopping of his hooves grow closer and closer. He cut down across her chest, and then shot at her head, but she vanished into an illusion. Every single time those things fooled him, and it always angered him every time he made the mistake.
Blake rushed forward, pirouetting and cutting diagonally on Adam, and she proceeded to flip backwards, kicking him up the jaw. As he stumbled, she threw her grappling hook and pulled herself forward, kicking him in the chest. He dropped and she rolled across the floor behind him, landing on both feet. Even blind, she could still fight, but even after that impressive display, she knew she was still not good enough.
Adam glared at her and his hair and clothes started to glow red, and he jumped up in the air with a berserk roar, and he drove the sword down into the ground, blasting red fire forward. She gasped as she heard it coming, and it collided directly into her. She stumbled, pushed back by the attack, and he sprinted at her once more, smashing the shotgun sheath down the top of her head, and slicing up her chest so hard it sent her up in the air. He threw his sword up at her and it spun like a saw blade, slicing her aura apart, and as it returned, he spun the sheath through his fingers and shot her.
As she crashed to the ground, her purple aura flickered once more, growing weaker and weaker. She groaned in pain as she tried to get back up, only to feel his cold Hoof press against her cheek. She cried out in pain as he leant down, staring at her. "It's a shame… I always liked your eyes. One of the only things about you that was true. But finally… I will get what I deserve." He said as he held the sword over her head, ready to kill her, until he looked forward and saw Yang gritting her teeth.
The snow began to melt and evaporate around her, her eyes flushed with red hatred and her blonde hair ignited. As the fire burned, the brown dye she hair in her hair completely burned away, revealing that beautiful gold once more. The flames did not go blue, she managed to hold that side of her semblance back… but it was enough. "I said… GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Yang roared; Adam chuckled.
"When will you learn?" Adam laughed, preparing to cut her down like last time, until his eyes widened.
Where's my sword?
He looked down and saw Blake was gone, with Wilt and Blush in her hand, and she threw it aside. His eyes widened even more, and Yang roared with fury as she blasted towards him. The ground exploded behind her and she arched her cybernetic fist all the way back and pummelled him across the jaw. The impact blew the snow off the rooftops, and his aura instantly burst, and his body was thrown multiple yards, sliding across the ice before coming to a stop.
Taiyang stood beside Yang as she panted, her aura pulsing and crackling, before it broke and ebbed away. Adam feebly got back up, seeing his sword on the floor and he ran to it, grabbing it, and Taiyang gritted his teeth, ready to put him down. Adam stared back, snarling with anger in his eyes.
"This isn't over! I will never stop until I get what I deserve!" Adam yelled as he took off running, unaware that Icarus saw every second of what just transpired.
Not just his cowardice… but the fact he still, even now, chose his personal vendetta over his objective.
Icarus was not about to forget that.
"Yang? Are you… argh… okay?" Blake stammered, looking around as she tried to find her voice.
"I'm okay." Yang softly assured, exhausted after using her semblance again after so long. She was shaking, but not from the cold.
"Hey… you controlled it. It's okay." Taiyang assured as he held her.
"Y…Yeah… I did…"
Blake approached and Yang smiled as he looked at her, she was smiling back but she looked worse for wear. "I, I think I'm gonna have to work on my fighting again."
"Considering your condition? You fought pretty damn well." Taiyang chuckled.
"I need to be better… I can't always rely on others to save me when I screw up." Blake said. Then Blake's ears flicked up, she could hear the whispers of the Relic of Knowledge… and people running to grab it. But there was something else… something much, much worse.
"Oh no…"
"What is it?" Taiyang asked her, the three of them turned and his eyes widened too. "Oh fuck…"
It was the Praetorian Knight.
It knew where the Relic was.
And it was headed straight for it.
Ensemble Battle
Oscar launched Thunderous Deception forward with a defiant yell, splattering the skull of a Beowulf against a wall with the hammer. He rolled to the side as Manticore blasted a fireball down towards him, and he shot the chain up towards the creature, causing it to wrap around its leg. The Manticore looked at him and roared, only for him to yank it down with all his might. As it came crashing down, he jumped up and swung the second chained hammer downwards as it was within range, crushing it against the ground.
He retracted his weapons and looked around, seeing Eryka, Winter and Weiss holding the front of the Gate together. Weiss spun Myrtenaster around as she conjured multiple Glyphs behind her, firing icicles like machine gun bullets towards the horde of Creeps that were bursting from the snow. They roared but were quickly vanquished by her attacks. She turned around and drove her sword into the ground, forming huge spikes of ice that impaled the Beowulves that jumped towards her. Their lifeless corpses crumbled into thin air, then Weiss kept her sword held up as the Grimm continued to charge up the path towards them.
She lifted her head as she heard Dulcis gliding overhead, but he was not alone. Harmony Gives Humble Mind was beside him, with many other huge Altum Eagles, all of which were helping defend their home. Harmony Gives Humble Mind screeched as she descended and grabbed a Sabyr with her razor-sharp talons, carrying the beast off. It then dropped off the edge of the mountain, disappearing into the clouds beneath.
Eryka aimed her Bow and released the string and whistled to Dulcis, and she fired her arrow. He descended and grabbed onto it with his talons, the arrowhead lit up and so did his magnificent aura. Massive golden flames erupted from within, taking the form of a Phoenix, he screeched across the sky as he soared over the Grimm, burning their bodies to ashes as he flew over. Other Summit's Claim Warriors did the same, firing similar arrows to their Bonded Eagles, and they had a very similar trick, Phoenixes flew everywhere, destroying every single Grimm in their path.
There was a reason none had brought down the Summit's Claim, the Altum Eagles truly were their greatest weapon.
Weiss turned and she ducked as an Ursa took a swipe at her, proceeded to stab it in the torso repeatedly with impressive speed, before casting glyphs that shot her right through the beast, killing it instantly. She turned to see Winter bouncing off her many Glyphs she also conjured, chopping up the Grimm within her path, leaving no trace of them behind her. She landed, sliding across the snow then held her sword forward, commanding hundreds of small Nevermores she summoned to tear the Grimm apart.
Weiss and Winter smiled and stood back-to-back, holding off the Grimm together.
Oscar smiled as he saw them together again, but he turned when he heard the footfalls of the Praetorian Knight. The Summit's Claim Warriors ran to the Lamp, around ten of them, and one picked it up. But they turned as they heard it approach the steps.
It held Ruby by the throat, she punched at its arm desperately to break free, but her efforts had no effect. Without even a second look, the Praetorian Knight threw Ruby across the floor, flickering her aura. It then forged its Sceptre and spun it through its fingers as it walked towards the Relic. The Ten Warriors charged at the entity to defend the Relic, but the Praetorian Knight was far beyond anything they had ever faced before. The first person jumped with their sword, only to be skewered by the Sceptre, and then it spun around on the spot, swinging its Sceptre to fast that the dead warrior was thrown far. It then proceeded to bring its fist down the top of one warrior's skull, ending his life instantly.
It blasted a beam of red magical energy from the tip of the Sceptre, cutting one warrior clean in two, then proceeding to behead the next, and grabbing another by the throat and crushing her windpipe with ease. Two brave men rushed it and swung their swords, only for it to expand, becoming nothing but smoke and plates too far apart to hit, and it formed behind them, driving the Sceptre through one's back, and sweeping the legs of the other. As he crashed down to the floor, it threw the dead warrior of the blade, and drove the Sceptre through the downed one's ribs.
With only four remaining, the Praetorian Knight caught the sword of one, snapping it in two, before lifting the warrior off the floor and grabbing her by the head, crushing her skull into the ground, and ripping the Sceptre from the dead body, throwing the huge weapon directly into the sternum of another woman, pinning her to the wall. The last defender of the Relic Holder fired his gun at the entity as it approached, holding out its hand to the Sceptre, which sent it flying right through his body, killing him instantly.
The last fired her gun over and over again at the Praetorian Knight as it walked towards her, only to be stabbed through the heart like the other, lifted high off the ground, and it blasted the red beam of magic through her body, killing her. It looked emotionlessly at the Relic, taking it from her hand as her corpse slumped off the blade. It turned to leave, only for the body to suddenly freeze in place.
It snarled with anger, feeling the polarity holding it still.
Pyrrha held out her hand, turning to everyone else. "Go! Now!" She yelled from the Monastery, holding the Broken Crocea Mors in her other hand. Still keeping the Non-Combatants and Children safe from the Grimm like she promised she wound. A Beowulf ran towards her, and whilst still holding the Praetorian Knight in place, she rammed the broken sword straight into its mouth, silencing it.
Ruby got up and she charged towards the Praetorian Knight, shooting forward in a flurry of Rose Petals, throwing herself at the Relic so hard its arm of floating metal shattered like glass. It recoiled to the side with a furious roar, eyes glowing bright red. That was when Penny fired her beam of Green Energy straight into its chest. It continued to walk forward despite the searing heat into its body, pushing it against the snow, melting it beneath its feet. Red Energy started to channel through its Sceptre into the blade and Penny gasped as she flew out of the way, just in time.
The Praetorian Knight fired at her and the beam carved straight through one of the roofs of the old buildings. Ruby held onto the Lamp, staying back whilst Nora charged forward. She threw Stormur Skeggox into the shoulder of the Knight then called it right back, then just as it returned to her palm, she jumped and flipped through the air, throwing Magni directly into its face. Plates of metal snapped off the Geist Face hidden within, and it growled with rage as they all continuously attacked it.
Ren swung through the air and planted both feet into the side of its head as well, then Cinder hovered above, and she formed razor sharp hail from the air and launched the storm down upon the entity. It spun its Sceptre through its fingers, breaking the icicles before they could even get close, before channelling more energy into the Sceptre, and it struck it down into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that knocked them all off their feet. It stared at Ruby and approached, only for Thunderous Deception to clatter into the back of its head.
It turned as Oscar walked forward, and he spun his two chained hammers around, building up the momentum. The Praetorian Knight charged forward, and the Bandit jumped upwards, smashing the hammer right up its jaw. The Praetorian Knight flew backwards, breaking apart and reforming just before hitting the ground. Oscar went to charge forward, but then the Praetorian Knight fired a quick blast from its Sceptre, knocking Oscar against a wall momentarily.
Cinder flew directly into the Knight's side and it barked with rage as she forced it against the building, her amber eye burning viciously as she stared it down. But the Praetorian Knight even started to overpower her and kicked her in the chest. Everyone rushed towards it to attack at once, but then all the pieces of floating metal started to vibrate. Ruby's eyes widened, remembering what the last one did, but it was too late to escape it now.
The entire body exploded, throwing chunks of metal into them all, so hard it dazed them. Ruby groaned as she watched all the armour return to the Geist floating within. It held its Sceptre tight and stared down at her, and just as it pointed the blade at her.
A Crossbow Bolt collided into its shoulder, and it flashed red.
The bolt exploded, shattering the shoulder and destroying the arm completely, it staggered to the left and Ruby turned in the direction the bolt came from. And she saw her… and she couldn't believe her eyes.
Robyn Hill.
She kept her arm raised, smirking as May, Fiona and Joanna stood by her side. "Alright girls, let show these bastards our teeth." She said with a confident smirk, and the four of them all charged into the fight. As its arm started to reconstruct itself, Joanna jumped towards it and threw her fist directly into the face of the Knight. It stumbled back and May slid between its legs, slamming her Crossbow Staff through its right kneecap, bringing it down. It fell to its knee but still continued to fight, grabbing Joanna as she went to punch it and throwing her away. May went invisible, winking just before she vanished, and its leg started to return.
The Sceptre and Arm grew back, and it immediately blocked Fiona's strike, staring her right in the eyes as she jumped for it. She flipped backwards, elegantly, and once she had a good shot, she fired her crossbow at its face, only being stopped by its Sceptre.
Outside the walls, Eryka charged ahead, and she dropped to the ground, sliding under a leaping Beowulf, and she drove her Shortsword – Slice 'N Dice – straight through its stomach, cutting it clean in two, and she then drew Constantine Damascus, firing three Arrows which killed three Sabyrs in one shot. She smirked as Dulcis circled around her, slashing his talons through the face of a Sabyr that was about to attack her from behind, and Eryka rolled aside to dodge the fireball from a Manticore that landed in front of her. She transformed the Bow into Shotgun Form, blowing its skull apart.
The Schnees were holding the line, and the Arma Gigas formed ahead of Weiss, charging forward and cutting down Grimm after Grimm. It looked up and threw its sword up towards a Nevermore, impaling it. Weiss ceased her Summon and spun around, driving the pointed sword through the eyeball of a Boarbatusk. Behind her, Winter continuously cut the Grimm apart with her dual swords, all the while her Glyphs were repeatedly acting like turrets, blasting fireballs down the path at the Grimm that were still coming.
But their numbers were thinning out.
The three of them were making short work of them, alongside the help of the Marksman on the Front Walls. Sashaa fired shot after shot, hitting every Grimm she spotted. She looked back at the Praetorian Knight within the walls.
By the looks of it, the Knight was the last thing standing inside.
And even with the surprise help of the Happy Huntresses, it was still putting up one hell of a fight.
Robyn jumped off the wall and fired another bolt towards the Knight, but it deflected it with the Sceptre. They charged towards one another, but she slammed her fan blades against its Sceptre, staggering it. She then jumped and kicked off its chest, allowing Cinder the chance to take its head off in one swing with her axe. The Knight turned and smashed Cinder out of the sky, sending her crashing into the snow. Ruby flew up into the air, firing her Volcanic Pistols down at the Knight, but each shot rebounded off the Sceptre. It then rested the Sceptre over its forearm and fired another beam towards Ruby, she gasped and dashed away, petals falling where she travelled.
Cinder immediately got back up, then she and Nora both went for the Knight, and Cinder blasted a column of ice from her hand, focusing it onto the arm that held the Sceptre. The ice spiked and held the plates together, then Nora hacked it off with a hard blow from Stormur Skeggox. As Nora landed, she then directed all the power of the axe into the head, firing it towards its face. But the Knight held out its hand, using that to keep itself protected. That was when Joanna returned with a defiant roar, swinging her Staff straight through its leg again, bringing it down to one knee. "Now! Break it apart before it can regenerate!" Ruby called out.
Oscar jumped over the Knight as it fell, launching the chained hammer down towards its other arm and he pulled back as hard as he could. The plates stretched out but the smoke that held it together was weakening. "Look out!" Ruby called out, slicing straight through the arm with both Black Thorn Scythes. Then as it fell, they saw the Polarity holding it in place again, Pyrrha gritted her teeth as she held it down.
"Now! Take it out!" Pyrrha called out, Ruby turned to Cinder and she nodded. Ruby flew to the Fall Maiden and as soon as Cinder had her, they both flew high up in the air, then Ruby blasted off Cinder. She dove down and spiralled towards the Praetorian Knight.
And with both Scythes, she drove them straight through the roaring Praetorian Knight's skull. The Knight unleashed one final howl of fury as the cracks in the possessed metal grow brighter and brighter, before the Geist Mask within shatters… and the black smoke vanishes with a bright red flash.
And finally… all the pieces of metal dropped to the ground.
Ruby landed before it's corpse as the smoke left, looking up with relief. "I think… that's the first one we've actually killed. The last one killed itself if I remember right." Ruby chuckled, she turned to see Pyrrha fall to one knee, pressing her hand to her head. "Pyrrha? Are you okay?"
"Yeah… just… tired. Holding that thing down was hard, it fought like hell." Pyrrha explained as she rubbed her tired eyes.
"Huh… so it is true…" Robyn said with disbelief as she stared at Pyrrha Nikos. "The Invincible Girl… guess your name really had some merit."
Pyrrha just looked away.
Ruby stood up with wide eyes. "Veronica?"
"Oh yeah… that… yeah, that's not my real name. Allow me to make it formal – my name is Robyn Hill. And these are my friends: Fiona, May and Joanna."
"Robyn Hill? I thought you were dead." Blake gasped as she walked over, Robyn couldn't help but gasp when she saw the state of her. Her eyes…
"Blake… I'm so sorry." Robyn sighed sadly.
"What are you doing here? How did you find us?" Ruby asked. Robyn turned her gaze to Penny who was looking at her with equal curiosity. She pointed at the Android.
"She is why we're here." Robyn stated, and Ruby immediately stood beside her, ready to protect her if she had to.
"Why?" Ruby harshly questioned.
"Because I know how to get that virus out of her, and how we can also take Killian down in the process." Robyn revealed.
That got their attention.
Ruby
After the Summit's Claim was secured, and an hour of catching up followed…
"Okay… so if we get Penny to her Dad in Vale… he could get the virus out of her?" Ruby asked now that Robyn had filled them in on everything.
"That's right, and then he can… basically hack the hack. He could use the virus to uncover the lost original footage from the Foundations of Sovereignty." Robyn explained. "The footage that was altered to pose all of you as the bad guys."
They were sat in the Hall of the Monastery; Amber was sat beside Cinder. Everything was calm now that the Grimm had fizzled out. Once the Praetorian Knight was killed, the Grimm ran with their commander dead.
One down… twelve more to go.
"And you plan to use that footage to show the world that Killian really did it? That… it was all a lie?" Yang asked her.
"Exactly. Now believe me, I know how the world works. It won't matter if I show this footage whilst Salem is still in command. This won't change anything, but if we can kill her first, kill all her followers? And then show it? We can prove to the world that the person they saw as their hero was actually only doing things for his own gain. It will turn them against what once was." Robyn explained.
"Or could start a war." Cinder added, Robyn glanced at her.
"I know you…" Robyn began. "You're Cinder Fall… the one who caused the Attack on Beacon."
"I don't do that kind of thing anymore."
"I gathered that; from the fact you were helping us out there."
Pyrrha was sat on a bean bag as the conversation continued, looking at the sword in her hands. She glanced up, seeing the Brother of Darkness stood in the doorway, staring directly at her. Despite lacking an actual face… he always seemed to send a cold chill down her spine.
Penny stood up. "Let's… stay on topic. How do you know my dad can get what Watts put in my head… out of me?"
"Pietro and Watts worked together, a very long time ago. Watts learned a lot of things from your old man, kiddo." May explained.
"If anyone knows how to undo what he did to you, and how to pick the Black Queen apart, it would be him. We just need to get you there." Robyn explained. But as she sat there, she felt her scroll vibrate, she stood up and pulled it out, revealing a message. "Hello…"
"What is it?" Joanna asked.
"Dutch…" She answered.
"Dutch? Killian's right-hand man?" Eryka questioned with wide eyes.
"Yes, but believe me he can be trusted. He saved our asses when Killian and the others slaughtered the U.G.R." Robyn assured.
"What's he got?" Fiona inquired.
"I dunno, he just wants us to meet, soon… damn… but he wants us to meet at Higanbana. We need to get Penny to Vale."
As they discussed their next course of action, Ruby started to think, closing her eyes and remembering some things. She looked at the Relic of Knowledge sat next to her… and she couldn't help but remember the vision. The castle.
"Vale…" She gasped.
"What?" Robyn asked, then Ruby stood up, turning to them all.
"Before the attack, we used the Relic of Knowledge. We asked Jinn where we could find the Relic of Creation. She showed us a Castle, and it was in Vale, I saw the ruins of Beacon in the vision. Wherever that castle is, it is somewhere in Vale." Ruby explained.
"What are you thinking?" Yang asked her sister.
"That we kill two birds with one stone. Go for the Relic and get Penny to Pietro on the way." Ruby stated.
"But we need to get the Black Queen Virus disassembled so we can find the footage, without that my plan is ruined." Robyn explained.
"Leave that to us. We will get our hands on it and try and get it to you somehow." Ruby explained.
"You can't all go; it'll be far too risky. Black Gallows are everywhere." Joanna stated.
"Especially in Vale." Pyrrha added.
"Then a team of four will go. Obviously, I will, and so will Penny." Ruby explained, Yang stood up, but Ruby held out her hand. "No…"
"What?" Yang gasped. "No I'm coming."
"I need you to stay here. We are gonna need allies, as many as we can find. While a small team goes for the Relic of Creation, we can keep Salem's eyes off you. She will want Jinn, and once we get Creation, I'm sure things will go south. We're gonna need backup." Ruby explained.
"I can go and talk to my mother; she has a large force… and she helped us last time." Eryka explained.
"You think Lavinia is still out there?" Winter asked.
"She's gotta be, right? My parents have all sorts of resources, the Black Gallows might have cranked down on all Crime Syndicates, but my mother is tough. The Vasillias Cartel wouldn't go down without a fight." Eryka explained.
"Their old base is near here, maybe you can find answers there." Li added.
"Sienna Khan and Ilia… they could also be out there somewhere. The Feral Ones weakened the White Fang, but I never heard their names on the news. They'd plaster that everywhere if they managed to kill Sienna." Blake explained.
"Miss Belladonna, I do not wish to sound rude, but you are in no state to go searching." Li explained, and Blake looked saddened.
"Li, c'mon." Yang sighed but he held up his hand.
"I have not finished, Miss Xiao Long." That silenced Yang. "If you are willing to learn, I can help you learn how to fight without your eyes."
"Huh?" Blake asked.
"If an old fart like me can still fight despite being blind… so can a spry young lady like yourself. And there are many things that you do not yet understand." He assured.
"I can help as well." Maria assured as she nodded her head.
"Take some time to strengthen your skills again, you are going to need it if you intend on finding the remnants of the White Fang."
"And while we get Penny to Vale, you meet up with Dutch. Get as much information as you can, if we can turn the public against Salem and Killian, then we need every bit of information as we can get." Ruby explained.
"Here I came here with a plan… and you somehow have a better one." Robyn chuckled. "I like you, Ruby. Always did see potential."
Ruby smiled.
"Then… if we are all doing that… then who goes with you?" Yang asked with concern.
Weiss still did not stand; it was clear that issues still were present after what happened in the Atlesian Wildlands.
That was when Pyrrha Nikos stood up… it genuinely surprised them to see her rise to the occasion. For so long she had been quiet and defeated. "It's about time I got off my ass." Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders. Then Cinder looked at Amber.
"Please be careful." Amber softly begged.
"Look who you're talking to." Cinder winked, then she stood up as well. The three of them all looked shocked by that one. "I know Salem and her methods better than any of you. And having a Maiden on your side is better than not having one at all."
Ruby stood there for a moment, and she chuckled. "Team C.P.P.R." Ruby said as she looked at the four of them. "Well this won't be awkward at all."
Ruby doesn't trust Cinder completely because of Beacon,
Cinder doesn't like Ruby for burning out her eye,
Cinder nearly killed Pyrrha,
Pyrrha killed Penny,
And Pyrrha is still mad at Ruby for what happened in the Atlesian Wildlands.
"Okay… we have our jobs. Salem is not gonna stop until she has all four Relics, and if that happens… well… none of this will matter. Salem's rule cannot continue, it is up to us to make things right. She thinks she can take this world from us, to paint us as the villains to the public, but she can't stop us for fighting what we believe in. One way or another, this ends with us… and we will make Salem pay for every single life that was lost. Every. Last one." Ruby assured and Pyrrha felt determination swell inside of her chest, and she nodded her head.
Fiona bumped Robyn's shoulder. "She's pretty good at that."
"I know right?" Robyn chuckled.
Ruby walked towards the door with the Relic of Knowledge hanging from her belt, but she felt Pyrrha's hand stop her. She turned and looked at her. "We're gonna need to take some time here. Prepare… it could take months until we're ready." Pyrrha explained.
"I know…"
"There's somewhere I need to go… I am not properly equipped for that kind of mission. And I am not strong as I used to be… I know where we can go to fix that problem." Pyrrha explained.
"Where?" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha thickly swallowed.
"Home. My home."
Author Note - And thus, Team C.P.P.R is formed! Been waiting to get this team together, they have such an interesting dynamic that I cannot wait to show
First of all, so sorry this took a while to come out. About a week and a half ago (when this was originally gonna be written) I fucked up my finger pretty bad which made it really painful to type so I took a break XD But is healed up now (probably gonna scar, so that's cool), so I hope that's forgivable XD
This was a great chapter to write, been killing me being unable to write it for so long. The Nuckelavee fight was so much fun to do, having Nora and Ren kill it at long last was really satisfying. Blake did pretty well against Adam considering she doesn't know how to fight blind XD Having Yang finally use her semblance again was awesome, especially since it burned the brown hair dye off as well. Classic Yang is back! And of course, the Praetorian Knight! Those things are so scary and badass, and to think Salem still has 12 more of the monsters and it took all of that to kill ONE.
But now they have their missions. There will be a small time skip soon, only a few months (hence Pyrrha mentioning it), it'll make sense when we get there.
And good news for Knights of Grimm readers! I hope to get the next Act started soon, so that will be very exciting :D
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - Homecoming
- Matt