Chapter 48 – Out of Time
Marrow
Clover lunged for Marrow without hesitation, swinging his Fishing Line towards him and wrapping it around his arm. The Ace Ops Leader yelled with fury, aggressively reeling him closer and punching Marrow in the face with his Horseshoe. Marrow grunted, rolling across the floor, but swiftly drawing Fetch and firing at Clover as he walked towards him. Fiona swung towards Clover until the blade of an Obsidian Glaive extended, transforming into a bladed lasso and wrapping around her forearm. She grunted but the Obsidian Glaive swung her around, tossing her up against the ceiling of the Bridge, crashing down against the floor.
The other Obsidian Glaive shot towards Vine, but he caught the Sceptre with his Aura Extended hand, stopping the blade in its tracks. He jumped and spun through the air before slamming both boots against the Glaive's chest, sending him crashing into some of the Operators, forcing them out of their seats.
Clover charged towards Marrow, deflecting the bullets by spinning the line of his fishing rod with great speed, activating the Hardlight Dust particles inside of the line. Every single time it rotated, it left a trail of Hardlight Dust in its path, creating a weak barrier that could deflect bullets away. Marrow relentlessly fired at him, until Clover suddenly slashed the hook across Marrow's chest, then flipped forward, smashing his heel downwards at his head. Only narrowly missing, as he rolled backwards once again.
Fetch transformed in his grasp into its Boomerang Blade form and he launched it towards the Mad Huntsman, slicing across his blue aura. Clover grunted and ducked down, aiming his pistol at him. He fired multiple shots at Marrow, but he sprinted, dodging the incoming bullets as best as he could. Clover charged forward once again and tackled him to the floor, punching him hard in the face. "Goddamn traitor! I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Clover snarled.
Marrow gritted his teeth and kicked him in the chest, rolling backwards and sliding his weapon into his hand, firing a few more bursts at him. He continued to back up away from Clover, who continued to follow him. "You're right. You should have… and now you're gonna pay the price." Marrow stated.
Clover scoffed.
"Am I? I'm the Leader of the Ace Ops! THE BEST OF THE BEST!" Clover roared. "You don't stand a chance."
"Confidence is quiet… pity that you're not." Marrow challenged. Clover roared, eyes wide with hatred as he threw his Horseshoe towards Marrow again, but this time he deflected it, and jumped towards him, smashing the blade of Fetch down the side of Clover's face, making him stagger backwards. Clover swung his Fishing Pole forward, wrapping it around his arms, before sprinting towards Marrow and rolling across his back, and throwing Marrow ahead of him towards the doors.
The doors broke open, and he tumbled down the metal stairs, now deafened by the howl of the massive Drive Core in the centre of the Dreadnaught that the Bridge was very close to. He rolled down the stairs and turned to see the cycling core flowing with powerful reserves of dust energy. Clover jumped overhead, landing on the catwalk behind him, spinning his Horseshoe around his finger with a smirk.
"This is where you die, dog." Clover growled.
"Man, shut the hell up." Marrow sighed, sprinting towards Clover with fury.
Back in the bridge, Fiona spiralled her Staff through her fingers to deflect the incoming bullets from the Corrupted Huntsman. She laughed through the helmet, which distorted her voice, aiming the cybernetically attached gun to her arm. She fired more bullets at her, but Fiona swiftly fired at the Obsidian Glaive, but she deflected the incoming bullet before jumping back onto the smoother floor above the Operators.
She spun her Crossbow Staff back and forth, firing bolt after bolt at the Glaive until she sprinted towards her. She slashed her sword across Fiona's chest before kicking her against the window. Fiona gasped when she looked down to see the height of the ship, and how far they would fall if this window broke. The Obsidian Glaive activated her boot thrusters, flying towards Fiona and punching her in the face, cracking the glass.
Fiona suddenly grabbed the soldier by her long locks of black hair and yanked her towards her, smashing her head against hers. The Glaive staggered backwards, swinging around with the Extendable Sword, sending it forward and slashing across her Staff. Fiona jumped off the window and cut across the Glaive's shoulder, landing behind her and firing a couple more bolts at her. The Obsidian Glaive rolled aside, firing more bullets at her.
Fiona yelped in pain as one bullet clipped her side, and then the sword wrapped around her throat, pulling her towards the hand of the Obsidian Glaive. She caught Fiona by the face and threw her against the floor with substantial force, pulling the blade tighter and tighter as it constricted and sliced into her throat, suffocating her. Fiona gasped desperately for air, reaching out for one of the chairs and absorbing it into her aura. The Obsidian Glaive raised her brow in confusion, until Fiona flicked her hand towards her and formed it once again, launching the chair directly into the Obsidian Glaive's face.
She barked in pain as she staggered back, releasing Fiona, who gasped for air, letting it flood back into her lungs. She stumbled back onto her feet, staring at the Obsidian Glaive who glared back at her, spinning her sword through her fingers. Fiona sprinted first, and they continued to clash.
On the other side of the Bridge, Vine swung across the room, whilst the Obsidian Glaive spiralled his Sceptre through his fingers and rested it over his arm, channelling powerful Fire Dust energy into the tip of the blade, firing a focused beam of magma towards the Android. The beam clipped his side, and he grunted, crashing across the floor. As he got up, the Corrupted Huntsman suddenly swung his boot upwards, into Vine's nose, and smashed him into the wall with significant force.
He grunted and caught the blade with his hands, pushing it into the wall, and smashing his head into the Glaive's. The Huntsman suddenly sprouted a pair of Bat Wings from his back, hidden behind the amour, which opened and yanked the Sceptre from the wall. He roared with fury as he slashed the weapon at his face, but Vine rolled out of the way and threw his Shiruken into the back of his leg.
The Obsidian Glaive smashed through one of the tables, stabbing the Sceptre into the ground, blasting more flames from the tip which Vine dodged effortlessly. His Shiruken spun across the air before returning to his hand. The Obsidian Glaive shot forward, using the thrusters in his shoulders to fly towards Vine and swinging the Sceptre directly at him, but he rolled aside and extended his arms, grappling onto his wings and lifting him into the air and smashing him from one wall and tossing him into the air.
The Wings of the Glaive splayed outwards, and then he launched down towards him, ramming the Sceptre into the ground, pumping Fire Dust into the floor, shattering the black metal floor to pieces around him.
Vine flipped backwards to avoid the sharp chunks of debris and kept his fists raised.
In the Drive Core, Marrow fired multiple shots before transforming Fetch into blade mode, deflecting incoming bullets from Clover as he walked towards him. He immediately threw his Boomerang Blade towards Clover, but he batted it aside with significant force, firing his pistol again at Marrow.
Marrow jumped to catch Fetch when it returned to him, only for the Fishing Pole to wrap around his throat and smash him against the floor. "NO!" Marrow screamed as he reached out for the weapon as it bounced off the wall and down into the darkness of the large room.
"Everyone get moving!" Technicians screamed as they fled from the core whilst Clover aimed his pistol at his head. Marrow suddenly jumped and flipped backwards, kicking the gun from his hand and sending it flying away, and just as Clover swung the line of his Fishing Pole towards him, he caught it and wrapped the line around his arm. As Clover yanked him forward, Marrow punched him across the face, ripping the weapon from his hands and snapping it over his knee.
"What a stupid fucking weapon!" Marrow scoffed, throwing it aside. Clover gritted his teeth and smashed his Horseshoe across Marrow's cheek, then kicked him in the chest, staggering the skilled warrior. He immediately threw it at Marrow, but he ducked, letting it fall off the edge.
Leaving them both equally matched.
Clover rolled his neck, cracking it before raising his fists in Marrow's direction, and Marrow did the same, keeping his eyes on Clover, knowing he definitely was still a threat when it came to Hand-To-Hand combat.
Especially with that Good Luck Charm of his…
… He just needed to beat Clover first.
The two stood beside the massive Drive Core as it cycled energy back and forth, massive plates of metal floating around it from the Gravitational Energy built up inside of it.
One of them was not walking away from this fight.
That was a certainty.
Ruby
Watts hovered in the air as his Grave Dust Cloud carried his thin frame, firing his revolver down at Ruby. She darted across the area in a burst of rose petals, firing Black Thorn up at him, but he raised his Hardlight Dust Bracer, deflecting the incoming bullets, before forming a pair of massive hammers above his head and blasting towards her. He smashed them both into the black sand, only narrowly missing Ruby, but the shock wave of the impact still sent her bouncing across the floor.
She stabbed one of her Scythes into the ground, twisting herself around with the velocity, and throwing herself towards Watts again. He formed a pair of huge tentacle like arms which crossed together, catching Ruby's weapons, staring her dead in the eyes with a sadistic smirk. Ruby fired her pistols through the Grave Dust and flipped away from him, landing with her two guns aimed at him. He swiftly drew on her, firing an ice projectile from his gun, which froze over her hand and pinned her to the wall.
He pointed at her and the cloud of Grave Dust swirled towards her like a cyclone above to infect her body, just as it did to Killian. But as it grew closer, Penny suddenly blasted a powerful beam of green energy towards him. Watts grunted as the beam crashed into his side and made him roll across the floor, aiming his revolver at her, firing multiple electrical rounds at her. As the bullets hit her, they conducted into her mechanical body, making her shriek in agony. The Grave Dust trailed away from Ruby and returned to its master, forming an enormous bow and drawing it back, firing an enormous arrow laced with Gravity Dust in the tip.
Penny's eyes widened as the arrow flew towards her, creating a powerful pulse upon impact and throwing her off the edge. As she felt gravity tug her off the edge, she activated her thrusters, blasting them from her feet, staring back at him. She launched herself towards Watts and flew straight past him, slashing Floating Array across his legs, knocking him off his feet. As he fell, Ruby jumped and slammed her two scythes towards his neck, but he kicked her in the chest before she could do it.
Watts rolled backwards, back onto his feet and struck the hammer of his revolver relentlessly at the two, firing explosive fire dust bullets at the two, smashing them against the purple crystals as the bullets detonated against their chests. Ruby held her chest and turned to Penny, who was pushing her knee into the sand to get back up. Watts walked towards them and he held out his hands, the ten golden rings glowing as the Grave Dust swirled behind him and formed into the King Wyvern, which attacked Beacon Academy.
"Look out!" Ruby yelled, dashing to Penny and carrying her out of the way. The Wyvern blasted a cloud of fire dust from its jaws, igniting into a cloud of flames which burned across the snow. It quickly disappeared and returned to the cloud of dust, levitating Watts into the air. He laughed sinisterly as he hovered above the two of them.
"There is nothing you can do to possibly stop me now!" Watts laughed, forging machines which floated above him, firing endlessly down at the couple, the grave dust bullets shattering upon contact and returning to reload them. "My power is only limited by my imagination! And as you can see, I can imagine a great deal." Watts guffawed.
"Gods, this guy's ego is off the charts!" Ruby scoffed, spinning Black Thorn through her fingers. The Dust swirled like a tornado beneath his feet, still shooting at them. "We need to divide his attention. We'll never even get close to him like this." Ruby looked around, desperate to find some sort of advantage, then her eyes widened when she spotted one of the damaged crystals, it was knocked down but was directed right above where Watts had positioned himself.
She smiled. "I got it. Keep his attention on you. I'll run up that crystal and knock him down, okay?" Ruby asked her.
Penny nodded. "You got it."
Ruby affectionately kissed her, then smiled before Penny flew out from cover, launching two of her Grave Dust Swords towards him. He formed another sword and deflected the two swords, firing the machine guns at her. She spiralled Floating Array with great speed to block the bullets from getting anywhere near her. She stared at the monster, who brought her so much pain over the years with anger in her bright green eyes. He continued to fire at her, before he suddenly formed a huge spear laced with Fire Dust and launched it towards her.
Penny flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the javelin and flying into the air, transforming her swords into cannons and firing green bolts of energy back at him, whilst the spear detonated into a fireball beneath her. His machine guns shattered, and the dust formed shields, blocking each of the incoming shots, whilst also forming another pair of swords as he prepared to fly towards her.
Until Ruby suddenly jumped off the top of the crystal above him and tackled him off the dust, crashing into the ground with immense force. The impact blew black sand all around them, and Ruby slashed across his face with her Scythe before hooking the other underneath his jaw and flinging him into the air, and Penny blasted all her turrets at once into his chest. Watts grunted, his green aura flickering and his body smashing against one of the other crystals.
Ruby sprinted at him and kicked him in the side, and as he stood up, he swung his fist towards her face, only for Ruby to raise her arm and redirect him. She smashed her knee into his gut and grabbed him by the hair, throwing him into the rocks. He grunted, but pivoted, firing his gun at her, but only narrowly missing her head, the bullet whizzing through her hair. She went to attack him once again, but his Grave Dust returned, and blasted out spikes of hardened particles, knocking her back.
Watts stood tall, cracking his neck, before holding his arms out and swinging them down, forming multiple projectiles as the dust formed a Storm-Like Cloud above the two of them. The blades all came crashing down, splitting the area off into four slices, separating Ruby and Penny from one another.
Ruby relentlessly shot at him, but he suddenly extended his arm with Grave Dust, solidifying the dust around her arm and yanking her towards him. As she flew forward, he shot her in the chest with a Gravity Bullet, blasting her into the blades, slicing her aura apart. She yelped in pain, grabbing her leg where she felt one blade cut deeply when her aura was weakened. Luckily, it had already healed, but the fact she was feeling her potential injuries now meant one thing.
Her aura was running low.
Penny flew into the air and dove, smashing her fists into the ground so hard that the shock wave blew the Grave Dust apart momentarily, and then she launched her swords towards Watts. He rolled aside, but one of them cut into his coat and pinned him to the wall. He growled as he tore himself free from the sword and quickly reloaded his revolver with fresh bullets.
He laughed and held his hands out. "How my blood boils!" He laughed, suddenly forming a massive Dragon-Like hand on top of his own, and he jumped high in the air, using the thrusters in his boots to increase his head, and he slammed the hand down where Penny just was, like he was trying to swat a fly. "Come! Face me, Penny Polendina! Fight for your Artificial Humanity!"
Penny blasted into the air and fired another beam at him, but he raised his arm and formed a Grave Dust Barrier laced with Hardlight Dust, refracting the beam across the sky and carving clean through one of the crystals, sending it crashing down into the dunes of sand behind them. He turned to see Ruby launching herself towards him from behind, but he suddenly threw his arms out with a defiant roar, channelling all the Grave Dust together and creating a powerful explosion of hardened chunks of dust. They slashed across Ruby's body and knocked Penny out of the air.
Ruby pushed herself back up, only for Watts to kick her in the face and onto her back. Her eyes widened as he jumped into the air and created an enormous hammer, slamming it down towards her. She gasped and rolled out of the way as fast as she could, only narrowly missing it, but just as she got back up, the same hammer transformed into another massive hand, which grabbed her.
She screamed with frustration as he lifted her high above his head and threw her towards the ground, but Penny caught her just in time. After swiftly placing her gently on the floor, Penny soared overhead, dodging the rocks thrown and bullets fired at her by Watts. She banked across the sky, charging up her turrets again, firing down at Watts as often as she could. He slammed the massive Dust Hand into the dirt, ripping a black rock from it and throwing it towards her, and shooting an explosive bullet into it.
The combo caused the rock to detonate and throw sharp shards of rock into her, tossing her out of the air and crashing against the floor. Ruby threw Black Thorn towards him from behind, slashing across his shoulder, and as he turned around, Ruby vaulted across one of the rocks, kicking him in the chest with both feet. He rolled backwards after the attack, and landed on both feet, throwing forged blades at her, but she dodged them, firing Black Thorn at him whilst picking the other Scythe back up.
Penny suddenly appeared behind him, launching multiple swords his way, before twirling around in a full spin and cutting all the blades across his back, making him stagger towards Ruby who jumped forward and spun forward like a saw blade, slashing Black Thorn across his body. As she landed, she fired both Volcanic Pistols at the exact same time into his chest, and as he staggered back, Penny fired a powerful projectile of green energy into Watts, throwing him backwards.
He formed an enormous sword and drove it into the ground to slow himself down, staring ahead at them. "His aura must be nearing the red. We need to keep this up!" Ruby said.
"So are ours, Ruby. We can't be hasty." Penny advised, which convinced Ruby to check her scroll.
And Penny was right. They were nearly beyond the amber level of aura left.
"Crap…" Ruby panted, wiping the sweat from her brow. But she rolled her shoulder and stood tall beside Penny, whilst Watts also stood tall, staring at them. He smirked sinisterly as the Grave Dust continued to howl behind him. Penny walked towards Watts with her swords slowly rotating behind her.
"Enough of this, Watts. This whole thing is over. Salem's rule… is over. You will not get what it is that you desire." Penny warned.
"You're right, Miss Polendina. Salem's time is up, but after she is gone, this world needs a new ruler. Someone wise who will know exactly what it needs… and with that Relic, every single question I will ever have will be answered." Watts explained. "I have been waiting… so very long… for this day to finally come."
Ruby smirked.
This guy loves the sound of his own voice…
… might as well feed that ego of his then.
"Tell me this then, Watts. How are you gonna kill Salem? Because we all know that what you did only slowed her down. She will be back soon. Maybe she is only seconds away from regenerating. How are you gonna kill her with the Relic of Destruction and rule Remnant when she's gone? Y'know… since the Relic kills whoever uses it?" Ruby asked, but he smirked.
"We already have the means to solve such a question. With the Relic of Choice, I will force one of you to do it for me." He stated, pointing at her.
"Wow… really showing how much of a brave man you are, huh? Would rather sacrifice someone else entirely to do the dirty work for you? How fitting… for a man who just runs away all the time." Ruby scoffed, shaking her head.
"Cowardice you say?" Watts chuckled, the Grave Dust swirling faster and faster around him. "Perhaps… but to build the perfect world, sacrifices must be made."
"The only people who brag about how many sacrifices they've had to bear are the ones who have never risked their own life. People like you… like Killian… will never change." Ruby stated, keeping her Volcanic Pistols aimed at him.
He narrowed his arms and formed a constant protective barrier of Grave Dust around him, further proving her point.
"No matter what it takes… I will become the Ruler of Remnant. And nobody is going to take that away from me." Watts snarled.
Ruby scoffed.
No amount of power was ever going to be enough for you, was it?
You will just keep taking… and taking… and taking…
… until there is nothing left.
Ren
Atop the Tower…
Ren and Li stood side by side whilst Icarus flew directly at them, roaring with rage as he slashed Undying Hatred at them both, digging his feet into the floor so hard that sparks flew behind him. He only narrowly missed them as well, as Ren ducked and Li rolled out of the way. His old Father – whilst Blind – turned and drew his bow, still able to sense Icarus' dark aura, and fired the arrow at him, nailing the shot.
Icarus grunted and snarled savagely, throwing one of the Khopeshes at him, hitting him in the chest and knocking him backwards. He rolled across the floor, but just before he could fall off the edge of the tower, Ren gasped and shot his grappling hook to his father's hand and caught him, pulling tight to save him from what would have been his death. As Li got back on his feet, Ren turned as Icarus suddenly smashed his metal wing into his face, smashing him against one of the damaged pillars.
Ren grunted, then Icarus launched towards him and slashed his Khopesh up his chest, breaking the pillar and sending the massive chunks of debris plummeting off the edge. Ren rolled towards the edge only for Icarus to kick him over it, plummeting. "REN!" Li screamed, but as Icarus turned, suddenly his grappling hook shot up and wrapped around his leg, dragging him off the tower with him.
Icarus roared as he fell with Ren, tackling him and opening his huge wings. Ren punched at his mechanical jaw extremely hard, whilst Icarus circled around the tower, flying even higher above it. Li drew his bow and exhaled calmly, waiting for the right moment. Icarus smashed his head into Ren's and that nearly made Ren slide off from his grip, and then Icarus kicked him in the chest, sending him plummeting towards the tower.
Suddenly Li fired, launching an arrow with nailed Icarus in the jaw, making him roar with rage as the arrow broke one of his protein canisters. He fell but swiftly replaced it as the other fell, hissing from the contained pressure being broken. His wings opened, and he slowed his descent, whilst Ren used his grappling hook to do that, swinging around the tower and sliding back on there, driving both of Stormflower's Blades into the floor to secure himself.
Icarus' landing made the entire tower shake, but he glared at them with wildly hateful eyes, like an animal who had just spotted his prey. He snarled, his voice metallic and unnatural through his cybernetic jaw. He suddenly leapt towards them and fired off his rockets in the wings, launching towards Ren and slashing across the floor, throwing sparks across the ground, before firing grenades from his bracers.
Ren jumped and rolled out of the way of them, and roundhouse kicking one grenade back at Icarus. The Fallen Archangel's eyes widened as it detonated against his chest, the shock wave launching him off the tower, and as he spun through the air, his metal wings opened, flying around the tower once again. As he circled them, Li shot arrow after arrow at him in an attempt to try and take him down, but he was dodging them all as he circled them.
He suddenly connected Undying Hatred together into a Double-Ended Khopesh and dove in between them, spiralling it around his shoulders, smashing Ren off his feet and slamming it onto Li's cane. The sudden weight of his strike slammed Li down to one knee, but he pushed him away, smashing the handle of his staff across Icarus' face. As Icarus spun around, he scraped Undying Hatred across the floor and slashed at Li.
Li deflected it with his Staff, then punched Icarus in the face with his Cybernetic Fist. As Icarus rolled back, he clicked in the trigger, igniting the curved blade and slashing it at him, throwing arcs of fire towards him. Li flipped backwards, firing three arrows at him, two of them missing but one hitting Icarus in the shoulder, making him recoil backwards, directly into Ren, who jumped onto his shoulders and wrapped his legs around his neck. Ren yelled with fury, directing all his bodyweight downwards to smash Icarus into the floor.
Ren rolled across the floor, turning to fire both his Machine Pistols at Icarus. He raised his metal wing, blocking the bullets and firing another grenade at Li. The Old Warrior smacked the grenade aside, causing it to explode nearby, lighting up the intense arena. As they both rushed towards Icarus, he extended his wings and spun around, his razor sharp metal feathers slicing across their aura protected bodies.
He spun Undying Hatred through his fingers and smashed it into the ground, blasting fire dust out and forcing them away. His eyes glowed more and more red as his Blind Rage semblance set in, growling more and more like a feral animal. As Ren fired one of his grappling hooks towards him, it wrapped around Icarus' free arm, and he retracted himself towards his foe. Icarus suddenly pulled away and lunged towards Ren with the Khopesh, hooking it on his shoulder, and with the wrapped arm, he punched his fist into Ren's chest, firing a round into his aura from the bracer. He yelled in pain, his pink aura flickering from that deadly attack.
Icarus suddenly hooked the Khopesh under his chin and swung Ren over his shoulder and against the floor with an almighty crash, stamping on his back with vicious force. Ren gasped, winded from that deadly attack, but Li immediately came to his son's aid with a single and very hard punch from his metal arm. Icarus rolled away, and the slack from Stormflower's grappling hook loosened, retracting back to the gun.
Li shot arrows at Icarus, which he deflected effortlessly with Undying Hatred, and finally detached them again and tossed one of them towards Li. The Old Warrior ducked, only just missing it, but Icarus activated the Gravitational Connection the two weapons had, calling it back to his hand and cutting across Li's back, staggering him towards Icarus. The Fallen Archangel spun and smacked his wing directly into his face, sending Li tumbling backwards with a groan.
Ren stumbled back to his feet, catching his breath and aiming his two pistols at Icarus, shooting at the side of his head. Icarus hardly even reacted from the impact of the bullets thanks to his aura, just becoming an annoyance. He turned and slashed at Ren, but this time Ren scraped his blades across Undying Hatred, and jumped, kicking Icarus across the jaw.
He staggered away from Ren, then jumped high in the air, descending with a cataclysmic strike into the floor, shattering the ground and throwing huge chunks of debris his way. Ren jumped and spun through the air, dodging all the chunks of debris, and as he landed, he slashed across Icarus' metal jaw. He snarled savagely as he grabbed at his mouth, glaring at Ren with a bright red glow in his eyes before he blasted forward and slashed his wings across his body, then catching him by the throat and smashing him against the floor with all his might.
"I am going to make you suffer, so that your father can finally understand how it feels to lose everything!" He yelled with anger, raising him off the floor and slowly tightening his grip. Ren's eyes widened with wild anger and he kicked Icarus in the chest with both feet, pulling himself free from his grasp and flipping backwards. He spun across the floor and launched one of the Stormflower Pistols at him, slicing across the jaw once again.
Icarus yelled in anger and pain as the impact brought him immense pain once again, staggering backwards. As Icarus stood there, his hands twitched and sweat beaded on his skin.
Eyes widening wildly and growling so savagely that he no longer sounded like a human being anymore. "I am going… to take… everything… from you…" He snarled, turning to stare at Ren and Li.
They both stared back at him. "Oh, crap…" Ren stammered, seeing his glowing red eyes.
"I will take away your son… I will slaughter your daughter-in-law… and your unborn grandchild… and when the world ends, I will make you listen to everyone you swore to protect be torn limb from limb." Icarus growled, gripping Undying Hatred tightly. "And when they are all gone? Only then… will I finally kill you." Icarus snarled.
Icarus grabbed at his head and suddenly roared to the sky as his eyes shone bright red, growling and pressing one hand against the floor, his metal wings and feathers splayed out. Ren raised Stormflower and Li spun his staff through his fingers, exhaling calmly.
Time was up.
Blind Rage had been activated.
Blake
Blake and Yang rolled aside as Adam slammed to the ground, driving Wilt and Blush into the ground, creating an explosion of red flames in the process. He rolled backwards, red energy trailing from his body with his semblance evolved to its most advanced form.
He snarled and jumped towards Blake, slashing the sword at her, but she deflected the incoming blow with Gambol Shroud, and vanished as he cut through one of her shadows, throwing her Grappling Hook at him, wrapping it around his throat. She dropped and yanked him backwards, roundhouse kicking him across the face, and making him stumble directly into Yang's titanium fist.
He grunted in pain, and Yang relentlessly punched him across the face, then threw five fast and hard punches into his torso, before twisting around and performing a lethal uppercut. The punch made a shock wave and tossed him into the air, allowing her to shoot at him as he flew across the sky with Ember Celica. But as the shells hit him, he turned in the air and slashed his sword at Yang, launching powerful arcs of raw red energy at her, and swung again, sending a second before descending and slamming his sword down. The second arc hit Yang in the chest, and as his sword punctured the stone floor, a powerful explosion of red energy erupted in the ground, shattering the ground and throwing Yang into the air.
He roared with anger, kicking her in the stomach just before she hit the floor with his hoofed foot. He turned to see Blake swinging towards him, but he deflected her incoming sword with his, and slashed again at her shadow. She flipped backwards, firing her pistol at him, but he moved like a red blur, blocking every incoming bullet, before thrusting towards her. She jumped away and smashed her sheath across the side of his head, but as she flipped through the air, he fired his shotgun sheath at her, knocking her out of the air.
He sheathed Wilt and Blush and suddenly swung vertically towards the floor, sending a massive wave of red energy at Blake. She only narrowly dodged it as the energy cut a burning scar across the floor. She threw her Grappling Hook towards him and threw herself at him, and cast a burning shadow which exploded in his face. The explosion launched him backwards, but he suddenly jumped into the air with his sword arm pulled back.
He launched towards her and suddenly black and red shadows of himself came jumping forward, viciously slashing at the air where she was. She tried to dodge and deflect their attacks, but they were so aggressive that they whittled away at her aura. One by one they cut her apart, and finally he lunged towards her, ramming his sword into the floor where she was. He focused his aura and slashed at the air without even moving, surrounding his body with red trails of hi sword.
Blake yelled in pain, her purple aura already flickering into the amber from the onslaught he just unleashed on her. Adam glared at Blake savagely, red light trailing from his burned eye, but he turned as Yang suddenly blasted towards him from behind, smashing her fist into the red blade of Wilt and Blush. He stared back at her, before kicking off her and jumping onto one of the pillars that held Evernight up. As he jumped from one to the other, he launched another arc of red energy from his sword before he leapt towards them, slashing horizontally. He hit them both at the same time as red flames trailed from his sword.
"You abandoned me… FOR A HUMAN?" He roared at Blake, firing his shotgun at her, and raising the red sword above his head and slamming it down at her.
"She is more than you could have ever been!" Blake yelled, jumping into the air and firing Gambol Shroud at him, whilst Yang relentlessly launched missiles at him. He deflected one and cut the other one down with a hard forward slash. He held Wilt and Blush in both hands and thrusted towards her, only for Yang to smartly stamp on the blade, and punch him in the side of the head before he could retaliate. He rolled across the floor, then jumped and slashed at her as he moved away from her. She raised her metal arm to block the incoming hit, keeping her fists raised, watching his every move. He kept the sword in its sheath, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Come on, you son of a bitch… SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Yang yelled, and that was exactly what he did. He blasted off the ground and slammed the sword into the floor, creating a line of exploding red flames erupting from the floor towards her. She raised her arms and the impact of the blade pushed her back, but he jumped at her again and dug the sword into her metal arm, forcing her onto one knee.
The sword cut deep into the yellow painted metal, and she gritted her teeth, staring back up at him. Yang swung her arms upwards into Adam's face, knocking him backwards a few steps. She kicked him in the knee to drop him down and punched him in the face with significant force, pumping her shotguns before firing them relentlessly at him, leaving spent casings behind. He deflected a couple and grinned as his black and red shadows morphed his body and they followed his every step, sprinting around her swiftly.
Suddenly, they all attacked at the same time, slashing at her body and kicking her in the back. She fell to the floor and rolled aside just as he stabbed at her head. Blake jumped overhead and threw her Grappling Hook around his neck, pulling him away from Yang and towards her. She slashed her sheath across his face and cut diagonally across his aura protected body. As she pulled her sword back, she fired multiple shots of ice laced bullets at him, freezing his body in certain areas, mainly aiming for his arm to weigh the blade down.
As his arm dropped, his teeth gritted, turning to see Yang punch him in the face, then grabbing the bull by the horns and thrusting his face into her knee. Suddenly the sword ignited with more red flames, making them course up his arm and making his veins glow red, melting the ice and freeing him. He roared, swinging around with the fire behind him and driving the sword down into the floor.
The attack created a vast cloud of red sword slashes, damaging their aura at the same time. Then that same raw power channelled through the blade into an explosion in the floor, throwing him into the air, flipping backwards and throwing another arc of red energy at them both. The explosion weakened them both, but they both dodged the incoming arc, but as they stood there, they saw him stab his sword into a pillar.
He jumped and slashed through the stalactites, sending them crashing down around them. The two of them sprinted away and dodged the incoming stalactites and purple crystals. As Blake avoided the falling rocks and crystal, he suddenly came crashing down like a meteor in front of her, slamming his sword against hers, grinding it against Gambol Shroud. He stared directly at her with rage, teeth gritted.
He suddenly kicked her in the chest, only for her to have been a shadow, and she appeared above him, wrapping her Grappling Hook once again around his throat, pulling him backwards and directly under Yang as she jumped, blasting down with a single and very powerful punch into his face.
As he dropped, Yang returned to Blake's side.
"You okay?" Yang asked.
"Still breathing, you?" Blake replied.
"Yeah… barely. He's really throwing everything he has at us." Yang stammered, her hand quivering.
"I know… but we can beat him. We just need to be smart." Blake assured, smiling at her girlfriend. But as they stood there, Adam stood back up, pressing the blade of his sword against the ground, snarling savagely at them.
They both prepared for this battle to continue, raising their weapons and catching their breath.
And then, Adam sprinted towards them again, just as they rushed him, blades clashing.
Salem
Reformed White Fang and Vasillias Cartel advanced, shooting at the Grimm to secure the area where Watts, Ruby and Penny just were… but as they stood there, they saw the black smoke. Her severed body now reattached, and they could hear the unnerving growl of Salem as she slowly stood back up.
"Arthur…" she snarled.
Her back was arched, hair down and no longer in the Spider-Like Style anymore. Her bones snapped back into position and she stared at the soldiers who were aiming at her.
"OPEN FIRE!" One of the soldiers yelled, and the many soldiers all fired their machine guns at her. Bullets cut clean through her body, yet she did not even try to dodge them as bullets punctured through her head, heart and other vital organs, splattering blood everywhere.
They kept shooting until their guns were out of ammo, just clicking.
Salem cracked her neck, bullet wounds healing within seconds, still staring at them with a kind smile.
Suddenly she appeared over the shoulder of a shoulder, seductively whispering in his ear.
"My turn…"
The soldiers panicked when they heard her there, yet she had not even moved, eyes glowing red with a sinister smirk. She opened her hands, forming balls of raw magic, eyes igniting with the Maiden Powers.
The time Watts gave them was up.
Salem was back on the battlefield.
Author Note - She's back again, those poor soldiers are screwed
This was a fun one, all the fights were so enjoyable to do. Still think my favourite is either Watts or Adam. Watts is so fun to write due to how much he can do with the Grave Dust, making him really creative to write. Whereas Adam is just a powerhouse and I love writing him at max power like this. So the two of them for this chapter are tied for my favourite fights XD
Icarus was fun as well, loved the whole like, ticking timer they're on before his semblance gets activated and he goes berserk like that. And Marrow at the start was fun to write against Clover. It's all on their shoulders right now, they need to take down the Black Gallows as fast as they can before their time really is up.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt