Chapter 23 – The Children of Salem

Ruby

The beach was so peaceful…

Seagulls cried out as the soared across the gorgeous blue sky, and the waves gently lapped across the sand. But then the sand began to rumble, and the Grave Dust erupted from the surface of the beach.

Watts held out his hands and smiled as the rings glowed brighter, and the Grave Dust cloud swirled around him, like a massive shoal of fish, or a flock of birds. It rippled in their air, then formed into many blades, and he launched them directly at Ruby. Her silver eyes widened, and she crossed Black Thorn together, taking the hit, pushing her across the ground. The Grave Dust Blades shattered as soon as they made impact, but they immediately returned back to their dust forms and returned to Watts.

Ruby groaned, pushing herself back up, but Tyrian sprinted towards her and slashed the Queen's Servants repeatedly at her. He laughed maniacally, swinging around and smacking his long Cybernetic Tail across her face. Ruby tumbled through the sand, and Tyrian shot forward, but she stopped his pincer blades with her scythes, staring right into his mad yellow eyes.

"Get. OFF!" She yelled as she threw Tyrian backwards with all her might, then she spiralled her Scythes through her fingers as they collapsed back down into their Volcanic Pistol Forms. She fired shot after shot at him, but Tyrian was so fast, effortlessly dodging and deflecting the bullets headed his way. Then he laughed maniacally as he rushed towards her once more, kicking her in the face with both boots. He landed on his curved tail, which he used to propel himself towards her, but Ruby dashed aside, giving him nothing but a cloud of rose petals to cut through.

He landed and snarled, gritting his teeth hard as he looked around for her. Ruby rushed forward and hooked him by the throat and smashed his head down into the ground. The Silver Eyed Warrior dragged him across the ground before smashing his head against a stone. The rock exploded and he tumbled forward, dragging his hands into the ground. Yet despite the punishment he was sent through, he just grinned and ran right back at her.

Every strike you would make, Tyrian Callows would simply return it twice as hard and fast. He slashed repeatedly at Ruby, hitting faster than she can block or even counter. Then he roundhouse kicked her across the cheek, and as she was thrown by his strike, suddenly Hazel's massive fist collided into her. Ruby cried out in immense pain as she crashed against the ground. Tyrian jumped onto her back, softly laughing as he reached down to the Relic of Knowledge dangling from her belt. "I'll just be taking that."

"No!" Ruby yelled with anger, he turned as his yellow eyes widened, and Penny came flying towards him.

"Get off her!" Penny screamed, smashing directly into the Serial Killer. She grabbed him by his long ponytail and threw him into one of the nearby white rocks. It cracked upon contact, and Penny saw the Relic fall into the sand. She immediately approached it and picked it up, turning to Ruby who was back on her feet. Ruby spun around, dodging Hazel's fist and slashing across his face.

She rushed forward and Penny threw the Lamp to her, and Ruby caught it. She immediately clipped it back onto her belt. They both gasped as they saw the Grave Dust causing Watts to levitate off the ground, his hands held out with an evil smirk on his face.

"Try as you might, you cannot stop us from taking what belongs to our Queen. That Relic will be ours, soon enough." Watts assured as the tornado of steel grey dust swirled beneath him.

"It will never help you." Ruby snarled back.

"Not yet…" Watts responded with a smirk. "… but it will."

Cinder glared at Hazel and gritted her teeth as she formed her Obsidian Axe in her hand whilst Pyrrha kept her eyes on Watts. Penny turned as she heard the rocketing roar of Icarus' wings as he flew towards them.

Ruby turned her gaze to Tyrian after hearing his maniacal laugh. "I'll handle Tyrian. Penny, go for Icarus, Cinder's got Hazel, Pyrrha take Watts." Ruby commanded, that old team leader sense returning at the snap of her fingers. Everyone went to face their opponents, and Ruby stared directly at Tyrian as he stared her down.

The two sprinted directly at one another, and Tyrian slashed the Queen's Servants at her hard and fast. Ruby deflected the attack, swiftly sliding aside and cutting across his chest with Black Thorn. Ruby shot forward and spun through the air, and Tyrian blocked the blur of red with his blades, standing his ground despite how hard the attack was. Just as Ruby went to slash at him again, his Scorpion Tail lunged forward and wrapped around her throat.

Tyrian threw her across the beach, but she drove one Sickle down into the ground to slow herself down, and with the other she transformed it into its Volcanic Pistol form, firing a Fire Dust round directly at him. He gasped, his yellow eyes widened, and he immediately rolled aside from the burning projectile. His heart began to pound and nothing, but rage filled his heart, feeling fear… it was like a poison for him.

He charged straight at Ruby and fired both his machine guns at her, Ruby rolled aside, but he kept coming at her. His eyes glowed bright purple and he swung his hands towards her, trying to break her aura in one strike. His power only lasted for a few seconds before it deactivated, but for a man who was as fast and lethal as him? Those seconds were all he would need, but Ruby backed up, dodging his hands as he tried to grab her. Ruby dashed back and fired her pistol at him.

The burning bullet impacted his brown trench coat, setting it alight. He screamed with terror and cartwheeled, flipping through the air as he loosed the coat from his body. The fire quickly consumed the coat, burning up into ash, and he stared straight at Ruby with gritted teeth. With his scars all over his chest on show, he rushed her once again. Ruby fired at him, but his Cybernetic tail batted the shells aside.

He rolled forward and grabbed Ruby by the throat, lifting her off the ground with ease and throwing her down against the floor. Her big silver eyes widened as she crawled backwards, Tyrian started howling with fury as he started stabbing down at her relentlessly with his huge mechanical tail. The sand kicked up over and over from the huge barb of his stinger puncturing the beach.

Ruby kicked him in the chest, then rolled backwards to get away from his savage rampage of stabs. But as soon as she was back on her feet, Tyrian was already right on her. He hacked and slashed across her chest, before swinging around and kicking her across the face, before lunging his tail forward and wrapping it around her wrist. He then jumped over her, flipping through the air and landing with ease, sending Ruby flying overhead and crashing back down against the ground.

She groaned, then Tyrian pressed his boot against the back of her neck, forcing her head into the sand. "I am going to make you regret ever standing against your queen." Tyrian hissed, then Ruby scowled and gritted her teeth.

"You talk way too much." Ruby replied, spinning her Volcanic Pistol around and firing it into his leg. The impact did very little damage to his aura but was just enough to make him stumble. Ruby suddenly vanished, surprising the killer, only for the cyclone of Rose Petals to form behind him, and she erupted through the cloud and punched him across the face. She slid across the ground then threw Black Thorn towards him. It slashed across him then came flying right back into her hand. He yelled with rage as he brought both blades down upon Ruby.

She stopped his blades with Black Thorn, then swiped her leg across his, and he tumbled across the ground. She jumped and twisted her body through the air, swinging her boot down into his chest, so hard it smashed him down into the ground with immense force. Tyrian grunted as he crashed into the ground, but he coiled his tail and bounced back up, kicking Ruby in the face with both boots.

Ruby tumbled back but landed her feet onto one of the white rocks on the beach and launched forward, digging her Scythes against the Queen's Servants, holding Tyrian back. She twisted him around and caused him to fall forward, then Ruby flipped backwards, kicking him up the jaw after performing a perfectly elegant backflip. Ruby landed back down on the sand as Tyrian landed away from her as well.

His eyes never left the Relic of Knowledge dangling from her hip, and he smirked sadistically.

"Gods… I can't wait to wipe that grin off your face one day." Ruby assured, he giggled maniacally at her.

"So long as my Queen's reign survives… I will always be smiling!" He laughed; Ruby smirked back at him.

"Well… I guess I know where to start then." She replied, narrowing her Silver Eyes.

Tyrian growled, then he charged towards her once again, and she transformed into her Petal Form, and they both clashed together.

Pyrrha

Watts descended before Pyrrha who kept Ira Red and Crocea Mortem held tight, watching the Dark Scientist walk calmly. The two circled one another, Pyrrha had already spotted his Engraved Revolver as he walked, and the massive cloud of Grave Dust was always around him, pulsing like it was alive.

"Pyrrha Nikos… of the Nikolaos family. Correct?" He asked her, she watched his every move as she circled him the other way.

"That's correct." Pyrrha responded.

"I have done my research on your family, for generations you have trained your children to become warriors. Ever since you are strong enough to hold a weapon, you are trained to fight." Watts explained.

"Whatever your point is… please get to it already." Pyrrha sighed, not even noticing the Brother of Darkness walking with her as the two shared their discussion.

"Have you ever wondered? Who you would be if your family had not partaken in such a grim way of raising their children? Who would you be now? Do you wish that things could have gone differently?" Watts inquired as he looked at her.

"Do not listen to his words, laced with poison to cripple your heart." The Brother of Darkness warned.

"I have many regrets in my life… the things we did six years ago… not being able to save Jaune? Running up to the tower to stop Cinder and making Jaune believe that our time together was meaningless? I am haunted by my mistakes… but the way I was raised? It is the reason I found Jaune, the reason I found the family I have today. So no, that is never something I regret." Pyrrha explained, which made Watts smirked.

"Would you subject your own child or children to such a similar upbringing?" Watts inquired, that caused her to stop.

Children? I… I hadn't even thought about that… not since Jaune…

Would I?

Would I train them the way I was trained? The way all Nikos children were trained?

Would I even… want to have children… if they weren't his?

She gripped her swords tighter and pointed them at him, glaring sternly at the Doctor. "Enough of your games, Watts. You are not getting the Relic of Knowledge… I won't let you." Pyrrha stated, he smirked sinisterly as the Grave Dust started to swirl faster and faster around him.

"It is entertaining to me that you actually believe you even have a choice in the matter." He stated, before suddenly holding out his arms. This created a single but powerful blast from the Dust that blew Pyrrha back. She drove Crocea Mortem into the ground and watched as he levitated.

It was like he had become a Maiden, but simply from technology. He then fired his pistol down at her, over and over again. Pyrrha backed up, slashing her swords and cutting the bullets down before they even got close. Deafeningly loud metallic ringing sounds rebounded from her weapons as she retreated back from him. But she then stood her ground, and her emerald eyes glared at him, and she gritted her teeth.

NO! I'M DONE RUNNING!

He descended before her, then held his hand forward, and his eyes seemed to glow. She noticed he had also designed some kind of technological pair of contact lenses that illuminated whenever he used them. She gasped as the Grave Dust transformed into the body of a Grimm – mimicking a Sphinx. It screeched at her and charged towards her, blasting a ball of Grave Dust towards her.

She cut straight through it, but felt the nanites start eating into her aura, forcing her to dust them off her body. She kept charging towards the copied Grimm as it roared at her, it swung around and swiped its tail at her. But just as it hit her, Watts jumped through. He punched Pyrrha across the face and fired his pistol at her again. She yelled with anger and slammed the blade of Ira Red down towards his arm, but he pushed that very arm upwards, activating a Hardlight Dust shield on his forearm. It stopped her sword dead, then he thrusted the other hand forward, sending a spare pillar of Grave Dust crashing into her chest.

Pyrrha tumbled and growled with anger as she stared at him, her polarity was useless against the Grave Dust. It was not made from a magnetic material, meaning she was already at a massive disadvantage against them. Watts had made it that way for all the Children of Salem. Icarus' Wings and weapons were constructed from Non-Ferrous Metals and Tyrian's weapons were also modified in such a way.

In fact… it was only Adam who refused such upgrades.

Watts aimed his Revolver at her and fired multiple shots, launching an ice round into the blade of Ira Red, creating a heavy block of ice that weighed it down. Pyrrha gasped as she stared at her fallen weapon then stared back at Watts. The Sphinx flew towards her, but she knew this was no real Grimm, just a copy of one. She spun Crocea Mortem through her fingers and just as it reached her, she slashed straight through its head. The entire beast shattered around her, turning into a cloud of Grave Dust.

But that cloud swirled back around Watts who held his hand forward, forming the dust into hardened pillars. Sometimes it was even the simplest of shapes that were the most dangerous. Pyrrha stomped down on the ice and rolled aside and cut one of these pillars down. She sprinted towards Watts, then threw Ira Red towards him.

His Grave Dust deflected the sword, but she rammed the blade towards him. He gasped and rolled backwards, rapid firing his Revolver at Pyrrha. She blocked and deflected the incoming bullets, every single one, and she entered her Invincible Girl mindset. She called Ira Red back to her, Watts turned and was smacked in the side of the head by the blade, breaking his stance and focus. His Grave Dust fell around him, meaning that all it took was a brief distraction for his connection to the dust to weaken.

Pyrrha always knew how to seize an opportunity, and she took it. She smashed her knee up into Watts' chest, knocking the wind out of him. She went on a rampage, punching him down the side of the head which knocked him onto one knee. She then slashed up his head to knock him back, then proceeded to swiftly hack and slash at his body at incredible speeds with both swords. She jumped and twisted around, striking diagonally across him. His green aura flickered, already being weakened by her onslaught. Pyrrha combined her two swords together, transforming them into her Rifle.

She aimed it at him and fired multiple shots, but he blocked them with his Hardlight Dust Shield, the blue wrist protector shimmered as the bullets hit. Then his irises glowed once more, and the Grave Dust rose off the sand and formed into a massive hand. Pyrrha gasped as it came crashing down towards her, but she rolled aside just in time. The impact however still created a powerful shockwave which threw her into one of the white rocks. She groaned in pain, dazed from the sudden impact. She felt his cold dark voice in the back of her mind.

"GET UP!" The Brother of Darkness barked, but it was Light who appeared.

"Rise up, Young One. You have the strength to see this through." The Brother of Light assured, she saw him stood there this time, instead of his younger crueller brother. The massive Hand came swinging at her once more, but Pyrrha raised her hand, and her eyes glowed purple. The impact stopped the hand dead, and Watts' eyes widened with disbelief. She then yelled with fury as she drove her swords down into the ground.

She clenched her hands into fists, and her shadow became that of the Brother of Darkness, and she yelled with rage. "SUCCUMB TO EXTINCTION!" The Brother of Darkness roared, and Pyrrha created an almighty explosion of dark magic. The blast completely destroyed the Grave Dust Hand, causing the dust to return to Watts.

Pyrrha fell to one knee, feeling blood drip from her nose after doing that. She felt the hot red liquid fall upon her hand, then stared back at Watts who was walking towards her. He aimed his Revolver at her and began to fire, but she swiftly called Ira Red and Crocea Mortem back into her hands, deflecting all the bullets that flew her way.

I'm getting stronger… I didn't pass out this time… that's nice.

Pyrrha sprinted at Watts and jumped towards him, bringing both swords downwards, but every time she slashed at him, he brought up more pieces of hardened Grave Dust to take the hits for her. And every chance he had, he fired his Revolver at her, she recoiled back as one bullet hit her in the shoulder, then he thrusted forward and punched her in the face. She stumbled back, and then was hit in the chest by one of his Grave Dust Pillars. She drove Ira Red into the ground, staring at him as he held his arms out and smirked sinisterly.

The dust tunnelled through the ground then erupted out before her, taking the form of just the huge stingers of Deathstalkers. They repeatedly stabbed at her, but she cut them down all the same. Pyrrha threw Crocea Mortem forward, he batted it aside but charged across the sand, and slingshot it around her body with Polarity. It came back even faster, and Watts gasped as it went straight through his shield of Grave Dust, sending him tumbling across the sand.

His Green Aura crackled as Pyrrha caught it and slammed both blades down against his throat. She glared at him with gritted teeth, and he chuckled sinisterly at her.

"Well… well… what are we gonna do now?" He asked, that was when she noticed all the Grave Dust tunnelling its way towards Ruby.

Towards the Relic of Knowledge.

She went to cut his throat, but he still smirked. "You can kill me… but it won't be fast enough."

They both stared at each other, and Pyrrha found herself at a stalemate.

Penny

Whilst the others battled, Penny clashed against Icarus in the sky.

She soared over the beach, slashing her swords at Icarus as he flew straight at her, and he slammed Undying Hatred against her Grave Dust replicas of Floating Array. He glared straight at her with his red eyes, breathing mechanically through his cybernetic jaw. He kicked her in the chest then fired a grenade from his wrist. The high explosive came erupting into her gut and she yelped, plummeting back down towards the ground like a meteorite.

Sand erupted around her, covering her fluffy hair. She groaned as she shook it off, until she heard the crackling rocket growing louder and louder. She turned and rolled out of the way just in time as Icarus landed and drove his Khopesh down into the ground where her head just was. His huge metal wings splayed out and he immediately slashed them across her body. Penny staggered back from the attack, then her floating swords forged from the same Dust created by Watts blocked the incoming sharpened feathers.

Icarus roared with fury with every swing he took at her, then Penny launched her swords towards him, slicing him across side of the face. He yelled with anger as it broke his defence. He immediately swung around, throwing the burning Undying Hatred at her. Red energy, searing with heat, trailed from behind the blade as it came flying her way. She swiftly crossed her swords together in a rotating pattern to block the incoming weapon. Though the force of the impact broke them to pieces, and Icarus blasted towards her.

He grabbed her by the throat and flew across the beach, then over the sea. He threw her down into the water. She sunk deep and struggled to move, but she gritted her teeth then stared back up at him. Her green eyes glowed as she targeted him, then her thrusters activated. Bubbles formed behind her as she flew through the murky deep, then rocketed out through the blue surface towards the Fallen Angel. She immediately punched him in the jaw, so hard it broke one of his Protein Canisters.

That alone caused him to fall to the ground, his wings opened to slow his descent. Air hissed from where she punched him that hard, and he fiddled with his bandolier of Protein Canisters to replace the one that was just destroyed. It brought him immense pain, pain that was already beginning to unleash his Blind Rage Semblance. His pupils and irises started to glow red, and his sclera started to turn black from the rage.

Even after he replaced it, he was already going berserk.

Penny landed and immediately started to spin her swords around, and channelled huge amounts of energy into the centre. Then she fired the powerful green laser at him, but he raised one of his mechanical wings to stop the impact of her laser. Though the power of her blast pushed him through the soft sand.

The sand started to melt into glass from how hot her laser was. He rolled aside and blasted towards her and slashed across her body. The jetpack built into his Wings belched flames as he banked around, and Penny tumbled across the ground. She formed Crocea Mors in her hand, remembering exactly how it looked. And in her other hand, the Dust switched to Magnhild.

Icarus howled with fury, scratching wildly at his own head from this uncontrollable rage that was brewing in him. He shot forward, darting from side to side to avoid Penny's smaller sentries that fired smaller lasers at him. He spun through the air and drove his Khopeshes down into the ground with all his might. The impact created a hot blast that pushed Penny back, and he charged towards her. He lunged the mechanical wing forward, sharp bladed feathers extended and narrowly missed her as she dodged him, then countered by smashing Magnhild into his face.

Icarus crashed into the sand, tumbling through it, but he then threw one of his Khopeshes towards her. It collided into her chest, bouncing off and returning back into his hand. Red lightning crackled across his blades as he charged towards her, kicking her in the chest and slashing his wings and blades at her. She blocked them as best she could, and rammed Crocea Mors towards him. He caught onto the simple sword with his curved blade, twisting and rolling across her back, breaking the Grave Dust Replica with ease. He then smashed Undying Hatred against her back so hard it knocked her across the floor.

He snarled at her, eyes wildly staring at her, dark deep panting breaths came through from his cybernetic jaw. Penny flicked her hair from her green eyes, and Icarus immediately went after her again, and slashed across her face, and went for a second just as fast attack. But she swung around with all her might and uppercutted him. The punch was so hard it blew him off course. His thrusters screeched as he darted across the sky, but he opened his wings wide, then fired multiple grenades down towards her.

They all exploded, and Penny cried out as she was thrown through the air. Her aura began to flicker, it was not broken yet, but it was on the way. She crashed across the ground and groaned in pain. Icarus landed behind her and grabbed Penny by her long hair, dragging her across the ground. "Get off me!" Penny yelled.

"Nothing more… than a shadow… a PUPPET… OF A REAL GIRL!" Icarus roared as he took her towards the broken remains of the Hover Sail that Watts destroyed. There was a piece of destroyed metal protruding from the vehicle, and he grabbed her head and forced her face down towards it. Penny swiftly formed Floating Array and drove them into the ground and pushed her hands against the surface, keeping her eye away from the spike as best she could.

She tensed as it got closer and closer to her. "Nobody will mourn you. Nobody will remember you! Your existence is completely meaningless!" Icarus yelled, but then Penny saw Tyrian punching Ruby across the face and wrapping his mechanical tail around her throat and throwing her into a tree so hard the entire trunk collapsed.

Penny gritted her teeth with anger, then began to fight back more than ever, pushing back against Icarus' hand. She forced him all the way back, then swung her head back into his face, and swung every single blade of Floating Array around and they all smashed into the side of his head. They all shattered and crumbled to dust upon impact, but the strike knocked Icarus across the ground.

As he got back up, the furious Penny fired an almighty beam of energy towards him, burning across his aura. He stumbled back a few steps, then crossed his wings together to take the heat. Penny sent the rest of her blast into him, then she shot forward, slashing Floating Array across his wings. Sparks flew from the impact, then she jumped up and blasted her boot thruster into the side of his head.

The flames burned across his mask, and he roared in anger as he stumbled across the sand. Icarus swung around as Penny went to hit him again, close lining her with his wing. She crashed down into the sand, and he stomped at her head. She rolled aside and blasted through the sand to get away from him. She rose up into the air, before shooting back down towards him and punching him in the head. He crashed straight through one of the naturally formed mounds of sand. The sand exploded everywhere, and he tumbled towards the water.

Penny landed and slid towards him and aimed all her swords at him. "Stand down." Penny commanded, but Icarus slowly got back up, staring at her. His semblance was still activated, causing the veins around his eyes to be pushing against the skin, and he was sweating. "Don't let this become something worse."

Icarus chuckled sinisterly as he rose up to his feet, turning to see Pyrrha leaving Watts' body to help Ruby.

"You can never win… you are all far too predictable." He said, Penny turned when she saw who he was looking at. Icarus shot forward and grabbed Penny by the head and smashed her down against the ground so hard her swords shattered. He flew towards Watts and threw her towards him.

Penny slid across the sand, groaning as it fell from her head. "Well, well… what do we have here?" Watts chuckled; Penny looked up slowly with fearful eyes as Watts crouched down before her.

"Hello again." He smiled.

"No… please…" Penny begged, staring at the golden rings on his fingers. Watts needn't say anything else, he just smirked at her.

Cinder

Cinder stared him down, the man who once taught her how to swim, and how to fish… but that was all so long ago.

"Hello again, Hazel." Cinder said to him.

"Cinder." Hazel softly responded as he looked at her. "Just leave all of this behind, Cinder… why are you even helping them?"

"Someone has to try." Cinder stated.

"I once believed in that… but not anymore. Salem's rule is the only way Remnant survives." Hazel stated.

"Do you seriously believe that? Really?" Cinder questioned. "You saw what she did to the Revolutionaries… she slaughtered them all. You really think a woman who does that is what is best for Remnant?"

The two began to circle each other.

"And the U.G.R were better? Having towns, and Academies, wiped out so then they can hold onto their power? Having things like the Inhumane Necessity put in place to hit reset when things start going out of hand for them?" Hazel questioned.

"Yeah… and how did Salem launch her great leadership? With the Inhumane Necessity. Neither side were right, but both are just as bad as each other." Cinder explained. "And this is not a world I want Amber to grow up in, I want her to feel safe. To be happy."

"And under Salem's reign she can be… once we have weathered the storm." Hazel said.

Gods… he really is just another zealot for her now, isn't he?

Cinder sighed and shook her head. "And how many more have to die for her to weather the storm?" Cinder questioned.

"When did you ever care about the deaths of people?" Hazel scoffed.

"I don't – the world could burn all around me and Amber if it had do, and I wouldn't do a damn thing to stop it. But the truth is… that Amber will burn too unless I help stop your almighty Queen." Cinder explained, spinning her Obsidian Axe through her fingers, coughing slightly as her chest started to burn again.

"I didn't want it to go this way, Cinder." Hazel stated.

"You chose your side a long time ago, Hazel… and now I have chosen mine." Cinder replied, glaring at him as her amber eye ignited. Hazel growled, then reached into his pouches and revealed multiple Dust Crystals. He drove them into his arms, both Electrical and Fire, and his veins lit up alongside his eyes. He unleashed a haunting roar of fury as he felt the painful power of all that energy coursing through his body. His muscles hardened and he glared right at her.

"Then you've chosen death!" Hazel roared.

He jumped towards Cinder and smashed both fists down into the ground, creating a powerful blast of both fire and lightning. The shockwave threw Cinder across the air, but flames erupted from under her feet and in her hand. She flew towards Hazel and drove her Axe into his shoulder, smashing him down into the ground. His wound healed swiftly, and she immediately went to behead him with the Obsidian Axe, but he stopped the blade with his massive hand, crushing the head of it with shocking ease.

Hazel then punched Cinder in the chest, the impact of which threw her high in the air. She held out her hands and closed her eye as the sky darkened, and she brought forks of lightning down upon Hazel. He sprinted and rolled away from the incoming bolts that burned the land around him, and he swung his fists, shooting fireballs and lightning bolts towards her. He then drove Earth Dust Crystals into his arms as well, hardening his skin into a form of armour.

He then punched his fist into the ground, using the blast of fire to throw himself up towards Cinder. He formed a spear of magma and smouldering rock in his hands and threw it towards Cinder. She gasped and dropped from the sky, but it still exploded against her chest. She came crashing down to the ground, but Hazel still landed on top of her. Cinder crawled away as fast as she could as the berserk Hazel Rainart began to brutally pound the ground with his fists. The surface of the ground exploded with every single impact his fists made with the beach, burning everything around him.

Hazel caught her by the heel and threw Cinder through one of the Salt Stacks, causing it to collapse in her wake. She tumbled and dragged her hands into the sand, melting it into glass. Hazel sprinted like a monster through the cloud of salt at Cinder, and she flew towards him. She caught his fists as he swung at her, and then twisted around, uppercutting him. He was thrown back and then she formed a huge spear of ice that she threw into his chest. He grunted in pain as it impaled him, but still had very little effect on his body.

It caused him to slide across the glass, then Cinder dove down, smashing both fists into the glass so hard that it shattered, and with one powerful summoned gale, she threw the shards directly at him. He raised his arms, using his new rocky armour to his advantage, shielding himself from her attacks. Cinder shot forward and threw another Obsidian Axe towards his arms, the impact broke his defence, giving her the chance to grab him by the jaw and pummel him down into the ground.

Cinder threw punch after punch into his face, breaking chunks of rock clean off his face, splattering some blood across the ground. Yet nothing seemed to harm him, he caught her fists and threw her down into the ground, before punching her in the chest with lightning channelled into his fist. Cinder yelped, crackling with electricity as she bounced across the sand. She formed her axe and drove it into the sand to stop herself from going too far.

She raised her hands with gritted teeth, sending a tidal wave towards Hazel, and turning it all to stone. She then ducked and kicked him into the frozen wave as he jumped at her. As soon as he crashed into the frozen tidal wave, the entire thing came crashing down over him. The huge collapse sent water sloshing over, but he still erupted out of there, smashing both his fists down into the ground.

Huge pillars of rock erupted from the ground, even some spikes with magma glowing through the cracks. Cinder grunted, knocked backwards by the formations he created, and Hazel sprinted towards her, punching her in the face so hard she flew into another Salt Stack. She took off once more, hovering around the collapsing Salt Stack as she fired a beam of fire from her hands towards Hazel. He crossed his arms over as he took the fire in strides from her.

He rolled aside as a huge chunk of salt crashed down beside him, then he punched his hand into one of the chunks of raw salt and launched it towards Cinder with ease. She dodged it with equal ease. She held up her hand and ripped the leaves from trees with wind, and then froze them solid, essentially turning them into bullets, and launched them all at lethal speeds towards him.

Hazel stomped the ground, causing a large barrier of rock to form in front of him, blocking all the sharp leaves from hitting him. Once all were gone, Hazel erupted through the rock, tackling Cinder out of the air and crashing back down into the ground.

Cinder pushed him away with her boot, rolling backwards and forming her Obsidian Axe, ramming it down into his neck. He fell to one knee but growled with fury, ripping it out from the wound, despite all the blood, and throwing it aside. He kicked her in the chest and watched as his wound started to heal immediately, and he cauterised it with the fire he ignited in his hand thanks to the Fire Dust.

Cinder panted, coughing again, and turned when she saw Ruby and Pyrrha. She held her chest then stared back at Hazel who stared right back at her.

Ruby

She slashed across Tyrian's face, knocking him backwards, but he looped his tail around one of the Palm Trees, throwing himself right back at her. He grabbed onto Ruby and smashed her against the ground with heavy force. Ruby grunted as he pinned her there, then the Grave Dust that Watts sent towards her grew closer and closer.

Tyrian's Cybernetic Scorpion Tail loomed over Ruby as he giggled sadistically, until out of nowhere, Pyrrha tackled Tyrian. She tumbled with him and threw him against the same tree he used to his advantage. Pyrrha immediately spun around and blocked the incoming blow from Watts' Grave Dust. "Pyrrha… thanks." Ruby panted. "Where's Penny?"

"I don't know, she…" Pyrrha gasped, seeing Icarus throwing her before Watts. Ruby's eyes widened with fear.

"Oh no… PENNY!" Ruby screamed with fear, sprinting towards her. Tyrian lifted his head and grinned maniacally as he took cover, Hazel did as well, crossing his arms over. Cinder raised her brow with confusion and saw them all running to Penny. Cinder took off to help them, all of them began to converge around Penny, then Icarus closed his wings around his body, and Watts smirked as he formed a Grave Dust barrier around himself.

Cinder was not blind to them…

What the hell are they preparing for?

But before Watts vanished, they all saw he had his hand up, and his Golden Rings were all shining blue. Then they saw that Penny, was stood completely still, like she was frozen. She turned and gasped as she reached out for Ruby. "NO! GET AWAY!" She screamed with terror.

If she could cry… there would be tears…

That's when it happened.

Her green eyes went red, and the Black Queen Virus was back in control. Suddenly a powerful blast knocked them all on the ground. "Penny! It's me! It's Ruby!" She cried out desperately, then her internals started to glow a bright green as she panted desperately.

Penny unleashed a deafening scream, throwing her arms out as she shrieked to the sky. Then a massive green blast formed within her, slowly destroying everything around her.

"Penny!" Pyrrha screamed.

"It's too late… the Black Queen has full control. Ironwood's Ultimate Weapon is being deployed!" Ruby called out as the blast grew larger and larger. Cinder threw herself in front of them and created a barrier of ice, pulling the waves to her and using the ice to protect them from Penny.

The Android cried out as the blast devoured everything around her, reducing the trees, the birds, the crabs – everything – to ashes.

And before they could even react…

… the ice wave exploded and was destroyed as well.

And everything went black.

Watts

Once it was over, Watts lowered is Grave Dust barrier, stepping out. The once gorgeous white beach was now reduced to black ash, all the flora had been burnt to a crisp, and silence lapped the waves. Tyrian emerged from where he hid from the blast, and Hazel lowered his scorched arms, the rock armour crumbled from his skin. Icarus also lowered his scorched wings, steaming with smoke.

He turned as the Gyrfalcon banked around the destroyed Salt Stacks towards their location, carefully landing nearby. Watts approached the collapsed body of Penny Polendina, crouching down next to her. "Is she alive?" Hazel asked.

"Alive? She's a machine… just wiring. I can reboot her." Watts corrected, then he turned to the rest of Team C.P.P.R, all of them on the ground, some with burns on their bodies. He approached them and scanned them. "They are all still breathing, looks like Cinder's heroic act saved their lives." Watts stated, crouching down and reaching for the Relic…

… but something was wrong.

He couldn't detach it; in fact, he couldn't even move the thing. "What the hell?" Watts questioned, Hazel then went to give it a go, but even he could not move the Relic at all. It just stayed exactly where it was on Ruby's hip.

"But… I held it." Tyrian softly said, Icarus tilted his head.

"Was it always glowing like that?" He asked, they all observed the Lamp, and he was right – it was glowing brighter than it usually would.

That's when Watts figured it out.

"Jinn…" Watts growled. "This is her… Salem always said Jinn was particular with whom it answered questions. It's why we need Choice, so she has to do it. Looks like she can even choose who can carry her as well." He sighed, shaking his head.

Emerald and Mercury both walked out of the Gyrfalcon with wide eyes at the destruction. "Did… she do this?" Emerald asked, gesturing to Penny.

"Yes, Ironwood wanted Penny to be designed as a secret Super Weapon. Against Salem or the Grimm… I simply activated it." Watts explained. "One more secret dear old James hid from his people."

Watts stared at their bodies, and he sighed. "Damn it… never easy. Take them, we will bring them to Salem directly." Watts explained.

"We can't." Emerald revealed, he turned and stared at them.

"Why not?" Watts questioned.

"The Gyrfalcon took a heavy hit, and it's low on fuel. We need to repair and refuel." Emerald explained. "We won't make it back to Evernight in the state she's in."

Tyrian growled with anger and kicked the ash covered sand. "WHY CAN'T ANYTHING GO SMOOTHLY?" He barked.

"Quiet. They're right. We have enough fuel left for a small trip. We'll take them to the Safehouse near Vale. It has everything we need. Who knows… maybe we can get some answers from them." Watts stated as he stared at their unconscious bodies.

He stared at Jinn.

"You will give me what I desire… that is for certain."

Author Note - Damn it Watts!

Always one step ahead, and now Team Copper are captured. Poor Penny, basically a walking nuclear weapon, and Watts can just activate that whenever the hell he wants. But thank god for Jinn's loyalty to Ruby, otherwise Salem would have the Relic of Knowledge right now.

And they cannot lose Jinn.

If you couldn't tell, this was a fun chapter to write, a fun challenge. But all these characters are so much fun to write in combat, Watts with the Grave Dust is always interesting, Tyrian is batshit, Icarus is Badass and Hazel is awesome. Combine that with the unique fighting styles of Team C.P.P.R, then you have one hell of a fun challenge to play around with.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Matt