Chapter 45 – Power and Knowledge
Marrow
The Bullhead roared across the sky above the raging war beneath them.
Fiona was sitting in one of the seats, tapping her foot on the ground whilst holding her weapon close to her chest, sweat beading from her pores. Marrow's heart was racing just like Fiona's, whereas Vine was calm as always, focused on what needed to be done as he flew the Bullhead towards one hangar of the Dreadnaught.
Marrow held the data chip in his hand, a chip that was going to single-handedly take down the Black Gallows… and many people were going to die the second that the virus contained in this chip was inserted. It just made him more and more nervous. It was like he was carrying a nuclear bomb in his fingers.
"I know you're nervous, but remember – all we have to do is get onto the bridge and upload it. Once we do that, we have to run as fast as we can if we are going to escape the Dreadnaught." Vine explained.
"It will definitely destroy the Shadow of Broken Promises?" Fiona asked.
"The virus is designed to attack the key systems of the ship, and it will infect the main core, causing it to go critical and eventually explode. But before that, every piece of Black Gallows technology will be eradicated." Vine explained, not flinching as he said the words.
"What about you?" Marrow asked.
"I have disconnected myself from their servers, that's the only reason they have not taken control of me yet." Vine answered, which gave Marrow some relief.
Not much.
But it was enough.
"Don't worry, I've got my eye on you as well." Dutch's voice appeared in their comm links. "Once you give me a secure connection to the Shadow of Broken Promises from a terminal, I can guide you."
"Alright… let's do this." Fiona sighed.
Suddenly they felt the air rupture, and it caused the stability of the Bullhead to rattle, more and more, and Vine grunted as a shell exploded extremely near them. "They've spotted us! Expect heavy resistance from the forces still aboard!" Vine called out, and it was like their fear was snatched away, and all they felt now was determination to bring this thing down.
He flew directly towards the Hangar. The systems were charging back up so the Hardlight Barrier could stop them from getting inside, but Vine punched it with everything this Bullhead had, flying faster than one usually should. "Brace for impact!" Vine ordered, and the Bullhead shot through the doors before the Hardlight Shields came up, just in time.
The Bullhead slammed against the ground, crushing a Trojan Droid beneath it and smashing through the crates of ammunition and other resources. One crate was thrown forward, splattering a Black Gallows soldier underneath it, and the Bullhead slid across the ground to a halt.
"The Shadow of Broken Promises has been boarded! Eliminate the Interlopers!" A Black Gallows soldier commanded through the speakers of the ship. Marrow grabbed the sliding door, yanking it open, and he jumped out, firing Fetch at the Raven Talons, who were getting in position. The bullets punctured through the armour plating, killing him in a few seconds and spraying blood across the floor. Marrow rolled across the floor and ducked behind one of the landed Wasps.
Fiona and Vine followed, jumping out of the Bullhead and immediately joining the fight. Vine swung through the air, using his elongated Aura-Bound arms to throw himself into the air, grappling onto rafters above them. He spun through the air, dodging incoming bullets and throwing Thorn into the air.
The throwing star spun across the hangar, slicing through the arm of an Onyx Consul, cutting the hand clean off. The soldier grunted as the cybernetic hand fell from his wrist, rolling backwards as Vine landed in front of him. The Sniper drew his electrified baton, swinging it at Vine, but he ducked under it, punching the Marksman in the gut, before grabbing him by the chin and flipping him over his shoulder and against the ground, knocking him unconscious.
Vine grabbed the Sniper Rifle and fired down at the soldiers, which were firing at Marrow and Fiona.
Fiona sprinted, and she spiralled her Staff through her fingers, before firing multiple bolts from the crossbows, impaling one soldier's hand to the wall, giving Marrow the opportunity to shoot him in the head and finish him off. Vine continued to nail each soldier in the head, until the doors opened beneath and an Ebony Sabre emerged, immediately shooting missiles towards the platform he stood on top of. Vine dropped the gun and jumped off just as the missiles tore the nest apart, and he swung through the air, using the hanging Wasps as cover from the Heavy Trooper's machine guns.
He rolled across the ground and extended the aura from his arms, grabbing two smaller crates and flinging them towards the Ebony Sabre, who sprinted towards him, blasting the thrusters in the shoulder blades of the mechanical suit to move even faster. The Sabre extended an electrified blade, slashing it towards Vine, only narrowly missing, but Vine slingshot himself into the air, before slingshotting a second time, slamming both feet into the side of the Sabre's head.
The Ebony Sabre stumbled, only to spin around and immediately open fire with the machine guns, some bullets scraping across his aura protected body. He grunted, thrown across the ground, then having to keep his head down as another Black Gallows Wasp detached from the ceiling after another pilot got in, and blasted away through the Hanger Door, joining the battle outside.
The downdraft from its powerful afterburners nearly knocked Vine off his feet, but the Ebony Sabre was unaffected, and the machine guns folded back into the armour plating, before a new weapon extended, charging up the dust reserves. The Sabre fired a powerful beam of red energy towards Vine, only narrowly missing and cleaving a thick metal crate in half with ease, and then he activated a large Hardlight Riot Shield.
The Ebony Sabre rushed him, smashing Vine against the wall with the shield and extending a blade from the other arm, driving it towards his shaved head. Vine rolled aside and slashed Thorn across the back of his neck, sparks flying out, and he growled in rage. The Ebony Sabre blasted high in the air, firing off an entire swarm of missiles down towards him. Vine slid across the floor and flung a missile from a container at the soldier.
It exploded upon impact, severely damaging the armour. The bulky soldier crashed against the ground, but continued to fire at him with the machine gun. Vine pulled a piece of metal close with his elongated arms, blocking the bullets and sprinting directly at the soldier. He threw it at the Ebony Sabre's head, smashing the helmet, and finally finishing the soldier off by grabbing the head of the soldier and smashing him down into the floor so hard it killed him.
Marrow rolled out from cover, throwing Fetch through the air after transforming it into its Boomerang Blade form. It spun across the Hangar, slicing through the guns of two Raven Talons, leaving them defenceless, and then he charged towards them. He slashed down the chest of one and kicked another across the face. One of the Talons fired an Electrified Cable towards him, but he jumped and flipped through the air, before throwing Fetch into his chest, impaling him against the ground. He ripped the blade from the corpse of the Soldier and spun around as Sable Guard emerged from the doors.
He sprayed across them, quickly dispatching the less armoured Security Guards, killing them all in a single spray. Marrow swiftly reloaded, and he kept running forward towards the ladder, which headed up towards a small operations centre for the Hangar. "I'm near a Terminal, lemme connect you!" Marrow said to Dutch, sprinting to and plugging his scroll into the Black Gallows Mainframe.
Suddenly, a blade slammed down at his fingers, only narrowly missing him. He rolled backwards, only to get blown across the floor by the explosive shell fired by the soldier's mechanical arm. He stared ahead, seeing the Obsidian Glaive approach.
The Former Huntsman turned monster yelled, spinning his Sceptre through his fingers and having a multi-function cybernetic arm replacing the one he lost. In fact, judging by the state of his body? He was more machine than human now, and he blasted a cloud of fire from his arm at Marrow. He stayed back, firing Fetch at the Obsidian Glaive, but he deflected the incoming bullets with his Sceptre before firing another explosive shell from the secondary firearm built into the cybernetics.
Marrow sprinted towards the Obsidian Glaive, but the Huntsman suddenly launched the Sceptre towards him, but he slid across the ground, only narrowly dodging the weapon as it stabbed into the wall behind him. Marrow jumped and transformed Fetch into Melee-Form, slicing down the armour plating, but the Glaive grabbed him by the throat and swung him against the wall, denting the wall.
The Obsidian Glaive slammed him down against the ground and stamped on his throat, staring down at him with glowing red cybernetic eyes. The Huntsman aimed the cannon at his face, but Marrow kicked him in the leg, making him collapse to one knee, and his face falling into his fist. The Glaive staggered back and just as the Huntsman went to shoot him again, Marrow snapped his fingers.
"STAY!" He yelled, voice echoing down the hall.
The Obsidian Glaive froze, and Marrow took the opportunity, slicing across his body and shooting him in the chest. The combined attack launched the soldier against the wall, then he grabbed the Sceptre and jumped, spinning through the air and throwing it back at the Obsidian Glaive. "YOU DROPPED THIS!" Marrow bellowed, throwing the spear into the Huntsman's chest so hard it broke the little aura the broken warrior had left, going straight through and smashing through the window.
The Huntsman roared as he plummeted out the other side, crashing against the ground with a heavy thud.
Marrow panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I'm in!" Dutch's voice granted him great relief, and he yanked the Scroll from the terminal.
Fiona rushed past and kicked a Shadow Dagger in the face, making her stumble across the floor, before smashing her head against the ground with the Crossbow Staff she held. The Shadow Dagger darted across the floor before leaping towards her with the extended blades in the bracers, slashing at her relentlessly. Fiona backed up, blocking each blade, throwing sparks around with every strike that she made.
The Shadow Dagger jumped and slashed downwards, but Fiona rolled away and fired a bolt directly at the soldier, who deflected the incoming projectile before darting forward again. But Fiona charged forward and slid across the ground, swiping the Shadow Dagger off her feet and driving the spear into her back, killing her instantly. As she turned, she saw a large squad of Raven Talons rushing towards her, but she smirked.
She still had another trick up her sleeve.
"CATCH!" she yelled, spinning and activating her semblance, suddenly launching a destroyed Vasillias Cartel Tank that she absorbed earlier into the soldiers. The tank crushed and killed them all, and finally the area was secured. She panted and looked around, seeing Vine walk over alongside Marrow, sliding down the ladder to join them.
"Alright, Dutch… where should we go? You can see where they have soldiers placed, right?" He asked.
"Correct, I can guide you directly to the Bridge with as little resistance as possible… wait…"
"What?" Marrow asked.
"Shiiiit, you've got a Paladin coming through the door to your left. And that's the way you need to go." Dutch explained, making Marrow roll his eyes.
"Of course there is." The enormous doors opened, revealing the massive Paladin emerging armed to the teeth with many weapons, staring them down. The three of them prepared for combat, and the Paladin immediately opened fire on them. Bullets and missiles flew their way, and they scattered.
Vine swung through the air whilst Marrow fired Fetch at the massive mechanical suit of armour. It sprayed hundreds of thousands of bullets at them from the multiple machine guns it had mounted. The thing was a walking war engine, shooting missiles into the air, one of them nailing Vine and blowing him out of the air, crashing through the window of one of the observation rooms for the Hangar. Fiona sprinted towards it and slashed across the back of its leg to try to take out the pistons, but it spun around and smashed her across the room and threw some crates with its arm.
It jumped across the Hangar, landing in front of Marrow, but he slashed across the visor of the Paladin, then rolled away as it stamped at where he was standing. Vine grabbed boxes of dust crystals for ammunition manufacturing and fuel, throwing them down at the Paladin relentlessly. They exploded in fire, ice and lightning formations, leaving scarring across the armour.
He jumped and swung overhead, throwing Thorn down at it, cutting through the barrel of one of its guns just as it fired. The gun exploded and blew off chunks of armour plating, stumbling the machine a little. As it turned, Fiona fired an explosive bolt from her Staff into the visor, temporarily impairing its vision and knocking it back a few steps, but soon it could see again.
Marrow looked around, knowing they needed something bigger to bring this thing down, and he spotted there was still one more Wasp connected to the ceiling of the Hangar. "Vine! If we can bring that Wasp down on it, it should be enough! We'll get it in position!" Marrow called, sliding across a crate and shooting at another one of the guns, which continued to fire at him. The bullets shredded the ground behind him, but he saw Vine launching himself towards the Wasp and into position with Thorn ready to throw.
Marrow rolled aside as it fired more missiles at him, destroying the floor behind him. Marrow rolled ahead and spun on the spot, throwing Fetch into its arm. The blade dug deep into the joint, then he charged towards it, jumping across crates and over the wreck of the Cartel Tank towards the Paladin. He grabbed onto Fetch and dangled on the side of it, pulling as hard as he could, before ripping clean through the joint.
The entire arm broke off and sparks flew from the stump, whilst Fiona slid across the floor, spinning her Staff around her shoulders, firing bolt after bolt at it, blowing the explosive projectiles up with every hit she landed. Armour plating broke off, but it suddenly swung around and smashed Marrow into the wall so hard that his blue aura flickered. He groaned in pain and stared at the huge Paladin as it fired at Fiona.
She ran to his aid, luring the Paladin into position.
It was directly underneath the Wasp now. Marrow gritted his teeth and snapped his fingers. "STAY!" He yelled, freezing the Paladin in motion.
"Vine! NOW!" Fiona called up, and he threw his Throwing Star straight through the gravity connector, disrupting the connection and sending the Wasp plummeting down on top of the Paladin, crushing it. They watched the Paladin carefully, noticing it didn't explode, but it wasn't moving either.
The cockpit suddenly opened, and the pilot stumbled out, drawing his pistol on the two of them, until Vine suddenly slammed down on top of him, punching him in the back of the head so hard it knocked him unconscious.
"Nice." Marrow chuckled, panting with relief.
"Alright, through that… oh come on." Fiona sighed.
"What?" Marrow asked, expecting more soldiers, but the door that Dutch said they needed to go through was now sealed. "Shit… Dutch, the door is locked." Marrow explained.
"Damn it, try to find a way to open it, it's your best shot." Dutch explained.
"Crap, that could take ages to find." Marrow sighed, only for Marrow to stare at the Wasp, and he approached it and looked in the direction the nose of it was facing. It needed a bit of pushing, but it was almost facing the door, and after doing a quick scan, he found the afterburners were still functional.
"I have an idea, but I need all of your help. There's some forklifts over there. Use them and I'll drag it. We can point this at the door. Then I'll turn on the thrusters and open it a faster way." Vine answered.
Fiona chuckled. "Robyn would have loved that."
Fiona and Marrow ran to the Forklifts and turned them on, driving over to the Wasp landed on top of the Paladin and they pushed it with all the force the vehicles had, whilst Marrow extended his arms and pulled as hard as he could. The metal groaned and creaked, but it slowly moved into position, scraping across the floor before pointing directly at the door they needed to go through.
"There. Now stand back." Vine said, as he extended a cable from his wrist and plugged it into the cockpit.
"You know this really ruins the element of surprise, right?" Marrow asked, but that made Vine chuckle.
"I doubt they'll ever expect a Wasp to smash through the ship and out the other side." Vine stated, which both Fiona and Marrow shrugged in agreement.
"Fair enough."
Once activated, Vine retracted the cable and jumped away from the Wasp. The thrusters roared to life, and the Wasp shot away from them, exploding and smashing straight through the doors, and just as he predicted, going all the way through that side of the ship. Alarms blared across the entire Dreadnaught, and they now had a path through to where they needed to go.
Not following the direct tunnel of fire left in the wake of the Wasp, of course.
"Let's keep moving." Vine said.
"Remind me never to ask you to fix my car." Fiona commented.
Ruby
She stood beside Penny as Watts stared at them, with the slowly regenerating body of Salem forming behind them, with a large cyclone of black smoke forming. Watts had bought them some time by attacking Salem like that, but they knew they had to take him down as well.
Watts was too dangerous to leave alive.
"Your confidence has taken you far further than I initially expected, I admit. But this is where your story ends, Ruby Rose." Watts stated as he walked around, staring at her. "I always assumed you would just be one more weed of the Silver Eyed Bloodline to rip out. I was more than happy to leave it to Valravn. Yet here you are… time after time you have surprised me."
"What? You want an autograph?" Ruby scoffed as she kept him in her sights, knowing he was by far one of the most unpredictable and dangerous of the Children of Salem.
"A tempting offer, truly." He said as he gripped his wrist, flexing his fingers, and his ten rings glowed blue. "But there is one thing I have always known you were predictable for…"
"And what's that?" Ruby asked.
"Affection." He said, and he suddenly held out his hand towards Penny, his rings glowing. "Your love for the Android will always be your downfall… because I will always have control over her. For she is nothing more than a tool… a weapon to be used. A fact you have always been blind to." Watts stated.
But Penny chuckled, shaking her head. That really surprised him.
"Seems like you're wrong again, Arthur." She snarled, blasting towards him, completely unaffected by his hacking attempt. His eyes widened, and she punched him in the fact with all her might, sending him flying and tumbling across the rocks and sand. He formed a Grave Dust Sword in his hand to slow himself down, and Penny landed with Ruby dashing to her side, Black Thorn firmly in her grasp.
"My, my… eating my own words… Pietro, correct? Seems the old man finally learned a few tricks I did after I left him behind." Watts chuckled.
"Something like that… and a little more." Ruby replied with a smirk, always enjoying whenever she could shut Watts up.
"Well… colour me impressed once more. And in truth, I am glad." And there it is again, that smug expression that Ruby hated. "I was hoping to make this personal."
She couldn't tell if he was genuinely impressed or annoyed and just trying to hide that fact. But she couldn't ponder that curious thought for long, because suddenly from Evernight she heard the sound of what was like a machine gun firing, but it wasn't. It was at least twenty replicas of the Beacon Weapon Lockers shooting up from the Castle and soaring towards his location.
Ruby and Penny retreated as they all came crashing down, all surrounding Watts. He smirked and held out his arms as they all landed… then they saw the pods open, and they were filled to the brim with Grave Dust.
"I have improved the usage of Grave Dust to the point where it's only limitations now are in the imagination of the one who wields it. And my imagination? Oh, it can go extremely far, I assure you." He said, and all the Grave Dust swirled around him, creating the largest cloud of the stuff they had ever seen, allowing him to create anything, and it levitated him into the air.
"Oh… shit…" Ruby stammered.
"So… come Ruby Rose, and through me… discover the end of this journey you have set for yourself." Watts stated, forming a massive pair of Grave Dust arms, and he swung his fist into the ground. Grave Dust pumped into the ash and blasted huge spikes from beneath them. Ruby grunted, thrown high in the air by the impact, and being blasted out of the sky by another blade that he shot towards her. It stabbed through her cloak and pinned her to the wall. She grabbed onto it, straining, trying to crush the dust back into powder form.
Penny stared up at him and flew into the air, blasting a powerful beam of green energy towards him, but Watts formed a protective shield of dust, which deflected her beam away. He blasted towards her and grabbed her by the face with his actual hand, smashing her against the ground. The Grave Dust formed into eight limbs. The bottom four kept him in the air like the legs of a spider, whilst the other four floated behind his back, acting like giant tentacles.
He slammed one of the Grave Dust tentacles down towards her, and she only narrowly dodged it, but he wrapped it around her leg and swung her over his head and smashed her against the rocks. She grunted in pain and then he coiled the tentacle around her body, slowly crushing her. He held her closer, staring at her face. "Finally… able to lay the abomination that Pietro made to rest." He said, pointing his Ornate Revolver against her head, about to pull the trigger.
Ruby roared, launching herself into his back and tackling him, breaking the formations of Dust that he made and sliding through the sand with him. Watts rolled through the sand, suddenly being punched in the face by Ruby, and then she grabbed him by the top of his head and swung him down into her knee before slashing across his body with Black Thorn. He grunted, but spun around, shooting at her three times, hitting her with each shot, with the Revolver, then snapping his fingers.
To their shock, they saw the Grave Dust form into Valravn and Jackdaw Branwen.
Ruby gasped, her silver eyes widening in terror when she saw that nightmarishly familiar silhouette staring her down.
Valravn…
Valravn…
Valravn…
Even in death she could still feel the effect he had, hear the whispers. The Grave Dust forms of the Branwens shot towards the two of them, Jackdaw to Penny and Valravn at Ruby.
Watts paced back and forth as the Grave Dust swirled in the sky above them, and he chuckled menacingly. "Look at what we are capable of with the power of the gods in our hands! There is nothing you can do that will stop me now." He chuckled.
Ruby rolled aside as Valravn launched towards her, swinging his Double-Ended Scythe at her relentlessly. She backed up, deflecting the incoming blows as fast as she could, shooting her Volcanic Pistols at him, but they were just going through a body made of dust. It reconstructed itself every single time she made any damage. Valravn jumped and spun his Scythe across his shoulders before kicking her in the chest and against the ground.
"Face it, Miss Rose. You're nothing more than an ant nipping at the toes of a god!" Watts laughed, his ego manifested in full now. Valravn pressed her against the ground with his Grave Dust versions of his mechanical legs, staring down at her. Ruby shrieked as she tried to get free, but even with her fighting Jackdaw in the background, Penny heard her screaming.
She turned, only to be slashed across the chest by his familiar 3-D Printed Feather Blades, jumping away and firing his machine guns at her. She spun Floating Array around, blocking the incoming bullets and fatal feathers, and immediately flew towards Valravn. The Grave Dust Ghost turned and lifted Ruby off the floor with his metal leg and tossed her into Penny. She smacked against her and the two tumbled across the sand.
Jackdaw landed and grabbed Penny by the back of the head, smashing her face against the floor, before throwing her into the air and firing his machine guns at her. She regained her senses and dodged the incoming gunfire, then turned to Watts, remembering what Ruby just did.
"We're focusing on the wrong things…" Penny remembered. She immediately fired a powerful beam across the sand, blasting across Jackdaw and into Valravn, saving Ruby. She laid on the floor, shaking in fear of him, but Penny turned and immediately flew towards Watts.
The Doctor stared at her and smirked, firing his gun at her, rolling out of the way. Ruby looked up at the body of Valravn, which crumbled away, the Grave Dust being sucked back to Watts. She shuddered, then shook her head, snapping back to reality.
Penny slashed her blades across Watts' body, but he rolled away from her and fired a Gravity Bullet into her chest, sending her flying backwards, but as she slid across the ground, she blasted the thrusters in her boots and hands, staring back at him with anger and she slammed into her enemy, grabbing him by the throat and smashing him against the ground.
"YOU MESSED WITH MY HEAD!" she roared, smashing him again.
"TRIED TO MAKE ME KILL THE WOMAN I LOVE!" slammed him once again.
"TURNED ME INTO A MONSTER!"
Watts held out his hands as she grabbed his collar, and suddenly, long Grave Dust tentacles formed in thin air and wrapped around her arms, lifting her off the ground. "Oh, no… Ironwood and your Father were the ones you made you a monster. I simply helped you use your abilities to your full potential." Watts stated, and the tentacles pulled her arms apart, making her scream in great pain.
Before he could pull her arms from their sockets, Ruby shot up into the air, slashing through both tentacles, freeing Penny, and immediately slammed both blades down at him with all her might.
He jumped away from her, spinning his revolver through his fingers. "You will never lay a finger on her again." Ruby stated.
"Incorrect, my dear. The machine you have formed such a charming attachment to is far too great an asset to lose. I will eradicate whatever personality matrixes are in that little head of hers and make her… more pliable for my needs. After I deal with you." Watts snarled.
"Give it your best shot, you son of a bitch." Ruby snarled, with Penny beside her.
The massive storm of Grave Dust swirled behind him, ready to make whatever he desires, smirking sinisterly at them.
All the while, Ruby kept Jinn close, who was glowing more than usual.
Pyrrha
As Jaune tackled her, the two plummeted off the edge of the cliff together, and she kicked at his chest, pushing him away from her. As they both fell, Jaune swung his sword at her and aimed his Shield Cannon at her, firing a powerful shot which hit her in the chest. She smashed against the cliff wall and fell into the sand.
She groaned in pain, pushing herself off the ground and seeing her aura was getting weaker and weaker. She didn't know how much she had left in her, but she heard someone else land near her, and Cinder helped her back up. "You alright?" Cinder asked.
"Yeah… just tackled by my resurrected boyfriend and thrown off a cliff. The usual." Pyrrha sarcastically answered, making Cinder chuckle. But then both their attentions were drawn as they saw Jaune stood there, sword in hand, and just staring at them both. His eyes glowed bright purple, an all too familiar purple.
Pyrrha walked out, Ira Red and Crocea Mortem in her grasp. "Jaune… please… it's me." Pyrrha attempted, but there was nothing there. He could clearly remember who she was. Had Jaune's memories, but the boy he was? This was not him, just stealing his memories.
"How about Thaddeus Rex?" Cinder asked him, Obsidian Axe in hand, and that made him turn his head. "Yeah… we figured it out. She used you, didn't she? Did some truly fucked up shit with your soul when Haytham gave you up to her? And used you to merge with Jaune? Because that boy was far too stubborn to just betray this redhead like this." Cinder said, looking at Pyrrha, then back at the Salem Knight. "Just like how Ozpin is merging with Oscar… you merged with him… is that about right?"
Jaune still didn't say a word, but judging by the fact he was listening? And it made sense?
She was definitely right.
Seems like more of Raven rubbed off on her than she expected.
The three were in a standoff, glaring at each other, hearing the battle beginning above between Ruby, Penny, and Watts.
Jaune was unaware that Watts had just betrayed Salem, his Queen, as well.
"Please don't make me do this…" Pyrrha begged.
Jaune gripped his sword tighter, eyes glowing bright purple. "My oath is to my queen… not to a meagre failure like yourself." He snarled. Even though she knew it was more Thaddeus than Jaune in there, it still hurt to hear his words saying that towards her.
"I see your charm hasn't changed." Cinder scoffed. She held her Obsidian Axe tighter, eye burning more and more, waiting for Jaune to make the first move as the sand blew in the air between them.
The booms and echoes of gunfire from the war nearby… the conflict on the top of the cliff against Watts…
And finally…
Jaune aimed his cannon at Cinder and blasted her in the chest, blowing her against the wall, and despite how much she loved Jaune, Pyrrha sprinted towards him. She jumped and yelled in anguish, driving both swords downwards and scraping across his armour plating. She swung again, but he deflected them one handed, before raising his shield above his head as she went for his head with Crocea Mortem. He pointed the cannon at her and fired, but she rolled aside, throwing Ira Red into the back of his leg.
She sprinted towards him on one knee but he shot her with the cannon, and turned to see Cinder roaring towards him and driving her axe into his neck with all her might. Black blood squirted from his throat but she ripped it out and went for a second hit, but he caught the axe in his hand and crushed it before kicking her in the chest. Cinder fell against the floor, rolling aside as Jaune slammed the enormous blade of his sword down towards where her head just was, only narrowly missing.
Glass formed around her body, melting the sand all around her, and she formed her Obsidian Bow, firing an explosive arrow at him. He raised his shield, blocking the detonating arrow, and he channelled the flames into the barrel of the cannon of his shield, and ran the flames down the blade of his sword. The sword ignited, and he swung at her relentlessly, leaving trails of smoke and embers behind her with every hard motion.
Cinder backed up, before blasting up into the air above him, hovering and shooting her bow at him, firing three arrows around him which all detonated in a huge explosion, throwing him into the air, and she then formed a massive storm cloud above her, which hammered down a huge bolt of lightning into his chest. The bolt exploded and blew him against the rocks. He growled as he got back up, turning as Cinder fired a beam of ice at him.
He raised his shield, blocking it from hitting him, then Pyrrha slashed across the back of his leg with Crocea Mortem and ripped Ira Red from where she had thrown it. She jumped and stabbed both her swords in his back. He snarled and fired up at Cinder, missing, but she had to stop shooting him with her ice. He reached back to Pyrrha and threw her over his shoulder and against the floor. She bounced off the ground, then Jaune slashed up her chest and grabbed her by the ponytail, smashing her face against the ground.
Jaune swiftly turned as Cinder flew directly towards him, punching him in the face and arcing around the canyon they were fighting in. As he tumbled backwards from her punch, he immediately aimed the Shield at her, firing three shots at her extremely fast, and all three hit, blowing her out of the air.
Jaune smirked sinisterly as he saw her fall to the floor, struggling to get up and coughing up blood from her sickness. Pyrrha suddenly appeared and flipped backwards, kicking up his jaw, before sliding between his legs and slicing through the heel. He roared in pain and fell forward. She jumped and pulled her swords up under his chin, pulling him backwards. He roared with rage as he struggled to grapple onto her to fight back, but she kicked off his back and connected the two swords, firing her rifle down at him, before jumping away as he fired at her.
She spun Ira Red and Crocea Mortem through her fingers, glaring at Jaune. He circled her slowly, spinning his lethal sword through his fingers, watching her every move. She knew it was hopeless fighting him. No matter how much damage she did to him, it would never keep him down for long.
The only way she could feasibly see defeating him… was perhaps by killing Salem.
Jaune charged towards her, and slammed his shield into the ground, firing multiple times and causing tremendous explosions all around them. Pyrrha jumped, and rolled out of the path of the coming ruptures, and through one of the explosions, he thrusted towards her, going for the skewering attack. She only just avoided it, then slashed across his chest, jumping forward in a flip with both swords, slamming them down his chest and leaving two deep gashes across the armour.
She rolled across the floor and threw one of her swords into his shoulder, then yanked him forward with polarity, latching onto the sword, and she jumped towards him, smashing her armoured knee up his chin.
She ripped the sword from his shoulder and stared him down, with Cinder also standing tall, ready to fight more, despite her strength slowly fading more and more.
Jaune stared at them both, rolling his shoulder and snarling.
Ren
The infiltrators sprinted inside of the halls of Evernight, all looking around to try to find any sign of the people they lost. "Gods, this place is enormous. Where do we even start to look for them?" Yang panted.
Blake thought to herself and she looked around, seeing that they had two paths that they could take, one that went up the stairs towards the upper levels… and one that went further into the castle from where they were right now. "Okay… we split up." Blake said.
"Are we sure that's a good move?" Oscar asked.
"It's our best option. Like Yang said, the castle is massive. We'll have a better chance at finding them if we cover more ground. Whoever finds them lets the other team know, and we get them the hell out of here." Blake explained. Eryka nodded her head in agreement.
Her brother was nearly the only thing she had left after losing Dulcis.
She couldn't lose him, too.
They all came to an agreement on this plan, despite how nerve-wracking it was.
"Nora, Oscar, my father and I will go up the stairs." Ren said.
"Yang, Weiss, Eryka and Winter will follow me. We'll head deeper in." Blake agreed.
"Be safe." Nora begged them.
"You too." Blake said back, and the two teams split up. Ren's group ran up the stairs, past the windows where the battle raged more and more, and even bigger Grimm were spawning from the Tar Pits.
The fact they still hadn't seen a single Praetorian Knight yet was also making them extremely nervous.
And they knew that the Children of Salem were in here, waiting for them. They ran into a large room together, finding the old statues of Salem's Knights, including the ominous Deacon, which Oscar stared at. But they kept on moving forward, looking around. They walked up the steps and approached the doors, and pushed them open, not knowing that the cells and a disturbing blood trail lead to a different spot to their left.
They opened the heavy doors… finding the Throne Room.
Oscar stared at the throne, shuddering, knowing that this was once the home of Ozma and Salem, and that this very Throne Room was where her controlling and terrified father used to sit. Now repurposed for her needs.
All the seats were empty, and they all looked around, but knew this was the wrong place. "Come on, we should keep searching." Ren said, but he saw Oscar stood by her throne, resting his hand on it. Ren walked back in and stood at the foot of the table. "Oscar?"
"Sorry… it just… feels very familiar." He said it took them a moment to remember that he had Ozma's memories. Li stood at the ready, but he turned his head, sensing something, but before he could say anything.
The windows shattered, and Ren turned to see Icarus blasting towards him, slamming both his feet into Ren's chest and smashing him across the ground. He immediately slashed his Khopeshes at Li, only narrowly missing as the Fallen Angel rolled out of the way, spinning his Staff through his fingers and with his old Bow over his shoulder, ready to use it again.
"SHIT!" Nora screamed, and Oscar swiftly drew Thunderous Deception and the Long Memory.
"Behind you!" He yelled to Nora and Ren. They turned and gasped to see Hazel, seemingly appearing from thin air, slamming the doors shut and locking them.
"Our Queen will accomplish her mission. Nobody's getting in… and nobody's getting out." Hazel stated with gritted teeth and a scowl.
Icarus snarled through his artificial jaw, mechanical wings of razor sharp feathers splayed out widely, Undying Hatred tightly in his grasp. Hazel reached into his pockets, pulling out different Dust Crystals, lightning to begin with, but he had all the elements tucked away in there.
Ren spun Stormflower through his fingers, Nora channelled pink lightning through her veins. Oscar stood on the table with both weapons at the ready and Li slammed his staff against the ground.
Ready for battle.
Blake
The team charged through the halls of Evernight, but as they ran through, Eryka stopped them. Her eyes widened and blood ran cold.
"What is it?" Blake asked.
It was the blood trail that the others didn't notice. "Blood… a lot of it." Eryka answered, but then they heard something disturbing. Screaming… and crying…
But Blake immediately recognised one of the screams.
"SUN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and she sprinted toward the screaming. They all stayed close, following the blood trail. And they found a large room, the same room where Cinder used to train. A large room which once again had all the statues of the knights inside. But this time the skylight of the Shattered Moon was flipped, making it pitch black in here now.
"NEPTUNE?" Weiss called out.
"NEP!" Eryka screamed.
"SUN? SCARLET? SAGE?" Yang also yelled.
"RUSSEL? DOVE? SKY?" Winter joined in. They all looked around desperately for them all, but in the pitch black, they could not see a thing.
Until a light flashed on in the centre of the room.
Winter cautiously approached the shining light with Weiss, and they both crouched down in front of it.
Realising it was a scroll.
They could not make out what was on the recording, the sound was disturbingly distorted, all they could make out was… red… blood red. And the horrific screaming, like being slowly butchered alive…
Weiss gasped, looking at her hand…
Covered in fresh blood…
Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, and they heard an unnerving giggle all around them. "So sad…" Tyrian giggled. They could hear the sound of him running all around them. But he was not alone.
"All of this effort… for nothing." Adam chuckled sinisterly, making the hairs on Blake and Yang stand on end.
"There's nothing left…" Tyrian whispered in Blake's ear, making her slash at the air in fear. "… you will scream too." He assured.
The shrieking on the scroll grew in intensity, and for a brief moment they saw Adam draw Wilt and Blush, making the markings of his cloak and hair glow bright red, scraping the sword across the ground.
"And sooooon… you'll meet your eeeeeeend." Tyrian sang as the screaming amalgamated into a garbled, crackling white noise, but more terrifying was the sound of Tyrian crawling across the ceiling like a spider.
Before they heard him land in front of them.
His eyes glowed purple, and behind them Adam drew Wilt and Blush, glowing red.
"Your destiny. Ends. Now." Tyrian hissed, extending the Queen's Servants, before laughing maniacally and sprinting towards them.
Author Note - God that bit was terrifying and I loved it XD
I love writing Tyrian as the deranged and unpredictable Serial Killer that he is, makes him so damn terrifying. But Blake's team definitely are in a hard time, the only person here who may have an advantage is Blake with her blindness, since the dark has no effect. But Tyrian AND Adam at the same time? This is gonna be one hard fight.
And what the hell has he done...
Marrow, Fiona and Vine are one step closer to taking down the Black Gallows once and for all, they just need to get that Virus uploaded to their network. Loved writing the action there, especially with the Paladin. I rarely get to write Paladins, I keep forgetting that they are a thing in RWBY XD
Nuts and Dolts Vs Watts - that fight was awesome, love the Grave Dust since I can basically have Watts do whatever the hell he wants with the stuff, makes him such a dangerous enemy to have. But having Penny finally get to beat the hell out of him for all the pain he put her through for the past 10 years? From being sliced apart because of Pyrrha all the way to being hacked?
Yeah that was satisfying as hell XD
And Pyrrha and Cinder VS Jaune. I love how brutal Cinder is XD Goes for the kill every time without hesitation. Also writing Pyrrha Vs Salem Knight Jaune is always so sad, but as Cinder said. This is more Thaddeus Rex than Jaune, and just like Ozpin and Oscar's merging, the same has happened here. Just more of the evil side than poor Jaune, just has his memories really.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt