Chapter 51 – The Hanging
Blake
Adam sprinted across the ground towards Blake and Yang, stabbing Wilt and Blush into the ground. Red flames erupted, and he scraped it through the rock as he continued to run forward, before slashing ahead and launching burning chunks of shrapnel towards them. Blake vanished whilst Yang crossed her arms together, shielding herself from the incoming burning projectiles.
As Yang lifted her gaze, Adam slammed his sword against her arm, glaring directly into her eyes with gritted teeth, and suddenly a ball of red energy formed between them, and it detonated. The explosion cause Yang's yellow aura to flicker and he flipped through the air, spinning and swinging his sword at her, firing arcs of powerful red energy at her, which cut across the stone and left glowing red fissures in their wake.
Yang rolled to the side, then blasted Ember Celica into the floor, riding the recoil to send her flipping backwards, but Adam suddenly came crashing down, ramming his sword into the floor. A storm of slashing formed around him, only narrowly missing Blake when she went for an ambush attack. She jumped away and fired her pistol at him, which he swiftly deflected with his red blade, and sheathed his sword once again, before suddenly unsheathing it, firing a massive and explosive red arc of energy towards her, shattering the rocks between them.
Blake was thrown across the area, crashing against the floor and rolling to a stop, turning and gasping as Adam jumped towards her, burning his blade into the ground where her head just was. The heat from his sword melted the rock, turning it to lava, and as she got up, he swung upwards, throwing the magma in her direction. She flipped away and her shadow was swallowed by the magma, but just as she landed, he fired his shotgun into her chest, flickering her purple aura.
He sprinted towards her and went to stamp on her head with his hooved foot, only for Yang to tackle him to the ground, smashing her cybernetic fist into his face, relentlessly, with glowing red eyes. As she pummelled his face, he caught her hand and chuckled sinisterly, smirking at her. "Is that all you've got?" He barked, kicking her in the gut with both feet. She flew into one of the massive pillars that held the upper section of the castle above the dark pits of Grimm beneath.
Yang crashed to the floor and nearly fell off the edge, only being saved by her hand digging into the rocks. She swung herself back up and cocked Ember Celica, firing missiles towards him.
He sheathed his sword and suddenly moved like a red blur, slashing faster than the light could keep up with, cutting all the missiles apart before they could even reach him. He launched towards her, but Blake wrapped her grappling hook around his throat and pulled him away from her, allowing Yang to blast towards him, smashing her fist across his jaw from the side. He grunted, but spun around and swung his Shotgun Scabbard at her. Yang raised her metal arm, blocking the blow and fired into his chest, pushing him towards Blake who jumped away, leaving a Fire Dust Shadow behind.
It detonated and Adam grunted as it threw him into the air, and Yang rocketed herself up towards him, grabbing onto his legs and flipping him over her shoulder and throwing him back into the ground. The impact was so hard that now his aura was flickering, too. He grunted, pushing his sword into the ground and glaring back at Yang and Blake.
Blake wasted no time, reloading Gambol Shroud and firing it at him, before grabbing onto the ribbon of her blade and swinging it further ahead, the blade slashing across Adam's body, and she flipped towards him, smashing her scabbard down onto his head and also bringing her foot downwards as well. He nearly collapsed from that combo of attacks, but Blake swiftly drop kicked him away.
He drove his sword into the ground, staring back at the couple with his blinded eye glowing bright red, just like his smouldering hair and clothes. But then he closed his eyes, and he bowed his head, both his hands rested upon the pommel of his sword.
Yang looked at Blake, confused as to what was happening.
"I… will not be bested… not by you… not by either of you…" Adam snarled, then they noticed the red flames crackling around his body, his grip on the sword tightened. "I will never… be defeated… BY EITHER OF YOU COWARDS!" Adam bellowed, suddenly glaring at them, and now both of his eyes were flushed with glowing red light. He suddenly shot towards them, and four black and red shadows of himself shot towards them, slashing and exploding into red flames, all of them screaming with malformed voices of his pain.
Blake deflected one, but the other slashed across her, tossing her across the floor, whilst Yang punched one of them away, and took the explosion of the other to the chest. She yelped in pain, and looked up to see Adam suddenly rushing towards Blake, kicking the sword from her hand. The blade clattered off the edge and fell into the rocks below. He grabbed onto her throat and lifted her off the ground, his red sword firmly in the other hand.
"This… is justice… for what you did to me, my love." Adam snarled, raising his sword towards her heart. But Yang's eyes burned red and she roared with rage.
"ADAAAAM!" she yelled, getting his attention, and she punched her fist into the ground, ripping a chunk of rock from beneath her and throwing it towards him. Adam chucked Blake aside and swung downwards, cleaving the rock in two just as it came towards him, but through the dust Yang threw herself towards him, and punched him in the face. He ducked and dodged her many attacks.
But he kicked her, and she slid across the floor, then sheathed his sword, grinning maniacally. Everything went black and red as he slightly drew it, bleeding with red light. "YANG!" Blake shrieked, knowing what was coming from that unmistakable sound.
But Yang scowled back at him, and he swung Moonslice towards her, creating a massive explosive beam of red energy towards her. But Yang raised her cybernetic arm and took the brunt of the attack. The heat melted the yellow pain away, and scorch marks burnt across the metal plates, twisting and bending the steel. Yang gritted her teeth as she held it back, digging her boots into the ground, taking the full attack.
The red blast ceased, and Adam stared at her, panting, eyes trailing with red energy. But Yang stood tall, lowering her heavily damaged arm, smoking and sparking, with a deep blackened gash in the cybernetics.
"Is… that all you've got?" Yang challenged, panting as well.
Adam gritted his teeth, growling like a savage beast, until suddenly the sky lit up, and within a few moments, the ground shook… the entire castle of Evernight above them came crashing down.
Pyrrha
Thaddeus growled, his eyes piercing with a dark purple glow, and he sprinted towards Pyrrha, jumping into the air, flipping overhead and firing three cannon shells from his shield down at Pyrrha. She rushed away from the explosive rounds that came her way, then she ripped chunks of metallic shrapnel from the sand, left behind by the destruction of this massive war raging all around them, and she launched them from the sand with her polarity into him.
Thaddeus grunted, hit in the gut and the shoulder by two of the chunks, tumbling across the sand, but he ripped them out with ease, not even flinching. He sprinted towards Pyrrha and charged up his shield cannon, firing a fully automatic spray of shells towards her, blowing the dunes apart. She slid down what remained of the one she was standing on, then jumped towards him, slashing Ira Red and Crocea Mortem down his chest.
Sparks flew from the impact, but he punched her in the face, then swung around with his enormous sword, only narrowly missing her when she dropped onto her knees and leant all the way back. She stabbed Crocea Mortem into his knee and as he collapsed, she jumped, and smashed her sharpened knee plate up his chin, and as she landed, she grabbed the Salem Knight by the head and smashed his face into the same piece of armour.
He growled with rage, black blood leaking from his face, then he smirked sadistically, suddenly on all fours and jumping towards her with his sword still in his grasp. The sudden switch from a Knightly Warrior to a Feral Beast caught her off guard, and he slammed the sword into the ground at her feet, before scraping the blade through snow and stone, and slashed up her chest.
Pyrrha grunted in pain, crashing back into the sand, having to roll aside as he stamped into the black sand where her head just was. She connected both swords together and fired the transformed rifle at him. But he raised his shield, blocking each hit, then suddenly thrusted towards her, which she countered by stamping on his sword. He fell forward but released the sword and punched Pyrrha up the face, before grabbing her by the throat and throwing her into the air, but just as he went to shoot her out of the sky, Cinder launched a spear of lightning into his side.
The impact created a deafening crack, and the explosion blew off chunks of his armour plating, golden electricity coursing across his body.
Thaddeus snarled savagely, turning to see Cinder hovering above him, before coming crashing down with a burning Obsidian Hammer, the impact creating an explosion which launched magma all over the surrounding area. He raised his shield, then pirouette slashed towards Cinder with his huge sword, slamming the tip of the blade into the ground, then smashing his shield across her face. She grunted and staggered back, coughing more and more as her body continued to weaken from Noctis Putrida.
Thaddeus kicked her in the chest, and she fell to the floor, coughing up blood again. "Fuck…" Cinder choked.
Thaddeus chuckled as he walked towards her, shaking his head. "To think that once people feared you… and you gave all that up for a child. Such a fate… to die so slowly… is deserved for such a weak soul." Thaddeus stated, grabbing his sword with both hands and going to bring it down onto her head.
Cinder scowled, eye burning hotter, and spitting her blood into Thaddeus' eyes, temporarily blinding him. She blasted into the air and punched him directly in the face, throwing him off balance, and then she formed her Obsidian Axe and drove the blade into his neck and shoulder, forcing him down to one knee. Thaddeus growled in anger as Cinder stared back at his purple eyes.
"You should keep quiet more often… you keep making mistakes." Cinder warned, forming a fireball in her hand and blasting it into his face. Thaddeus roared with rage and pain, and she ripped her axe from his neck and spun around, throwing the axe directly into his head, making him stumble backwards. The axe cracked upon impact, and he dropped to his knees. Pyrrha stared at the sight of Jaune's body with that axe in her head, and it still hurt to see… but knowing that it was Thaddeus eased that pain.
What they didn't expect was for him to start laughing, and to suddenly grab the axe in his skull, and crush it with ease. "When will you understand? I cannot be slain… not by any mortal means…" Thaddeus stated, as dark purple smoke trailed from his split skull, black blood flooding into the wound and reconstructing his head. His eyes shone bright purple, and he held the sword in both hands, staring them both down.
"The dark magic… his immortality spell is still in effect." Pyrrha remembered having a flashback to when he murdered his wife to become immortal… in his selfish and mad pursuit of power.
Thaddeus suddenly jumped into the air and he swung his sword so hard and fast at Cinder that it fired arcs of wind towards her, knocking her into the dunes. Pyrrha sprinted up the rocks and jumped towards Thaddeus, slashing across his side with her dual swords. Black blood squirted from his side, but he deflected her next swing, gripping the massive blade with one hand, and punching her in the face with the top of the shield.
Pyrrha rolled backwards, then she threw Ira Ren into his chest, then yanked him towards her with her polarity and jumped at him, slashing straight through his throat with Crocea Mortem. And still… nothing.
No reaction to the black blood bursting from his neck.
He just stared at her and fired his cannon at her, which she only narrowly dodged, then Cinder flew high above him, raining fire from the sky at him. The flames burned across the snow and into his chest, which he blocked with his shield. Pyrrha fired her rifle at him before disconnecting the blades from each other and slashed them relentlessly, flipping backwards and throwing one of them towards his head.
He dodged it and rolled across the floor, before jumping high in the air and plunging his sword into the ground where she was standing. He roared like a wild beast as he charged the cannon of his shield up, then smashed the barrel into the ground, and fired relentlessly, creating tremendous explosions that pushed both the Fall Maiden and Invincible Girl away from him.
"I have seen his memories… of your pitiful life together… of how you abandoned him, despite all your teachings." Thaddeus chuckled as he stared at Pyrrha, turning to deflect the swords of Cinder with his. "All for the dreams of destiny… to die a meaningless death."
Pyrrha scowled, tightening her grip on her swords. He suddenly spun around and roundhouse kicked Cinder into the rocks, and pointed his sword at Pyrrha. "Tell me… Invincible Girl of the Nikolaos Bloodline…"
She spun her swords through her fingers. "Look upon what remains of him… were your efforts worth it?"
Pyrrha scowled. "I'm still proud of him… I always will be. He is better than you could have ever dreamed of being. Look at you… you're not even human anymore… no better than the Grimm." Pyrrha stated, making Thaddeus laugh.
"I? I have become more than your meagre mind could ever imagine… I am power and war… incarnate. I… cannot… ever… die." Thaddeus laughed, eyes glowing bright gold. "So continue your meaningless actions… nothing you can ever do will ever cut me down."
"Not unless we kill Salem… then nothing can tie you to this world." Pyrrha stated.
"And what of your beloved? Would you truly cut him down?" He asked.
Pyrrha paused.
Tears welled in her eyes for a few moments, but she hardened herself, tightening her grip on her swords. "Jaune… is gone… I finally understand that now. The least I can do is make sure that you cannot use his body, and cannot hurt anyone, ever again." Pyrrha stated.
Thaddeus chuckled.
"You may try… and you will fail." Thaddeus stated, keeping his sword pointed at her, gripping it with both hands now.
Pyrrha spun her swords through her fingers with Cinder beside her until a blinding flash of light shone across the sky.
And a smile formed on her face.
Lavinia
Lavinia knew this was a losing fight… but she had to buy them time, to keep her people alive as best she could.
Remember… the safety precaution
Her hand touched her hidden holster.
Salem levitated into the air, massive draconic wings covered with black feathers, coursing with red lightning, and as she floated into the air, rocks and sand levitated with her, manipulating gravity itself with the raw magical power she possessed. The rocks floated around her, and suddenly she came flying towards Lavinia, launching the debris she carried with her at the Winter Maiden.
Lavinia flew into the air to escape the explosive attack, which decimated the dunes and the crystals, but even in her swift escape, chunks of rock and crystal still slashed across her body. She crashed into the ground and groaned, looking ahead to see Salem jumping towards her with a massive hammer conjured out of thin air, bringing it down towards her. The hammer shattered the rocks and blasted the dunes apart, and as Lavinia rolled aside, Salem spun on the spot, launching swords from her other hand and swiping the heavy hammer around, clipping Lavinia and sending her tumbling across the sand.
Lavinia coughed up the sand that she accidentally swallowed on the way across, turning to see Salem stood upon the dunes, red lightning crackling around her arms. Lavinia's blue eyes ignited, refusing to back down from the Dark Queen, and she flew into the air, forming a powerful icy tornado, and she launched hundreds of huge icicles towards Salem. Salem blasted a wall of fire towards her, melting the icicles before they could even reach, but Lavinia smirked and redirected the cyclone into a beam of frost.
She fired it from her hands, yelling with fury, and the beam punctured through the flames, hitting Salem directly in the chest. Shards of ice punctured into her body and she crashed across the dunes, driving her hand into the sand to slow herself down. Salem stood tall as Lavinia hovered into the sky, and brought down a massive storm of tornadoes into the desert, all of which were launching shards of ice across the domain of darkness.
Salem walked up the dune whilst the ice tornadoes destroyed the area, launching wreckages of trucks and tanks towards Salem. A tank came flying towards the Queen but she batted it aside like a fly with the back of her hand, shattering it like glass, when she suddenly blasted towards Lavinia, and stretched out one of her arms, claws sharpened, and going straight for her face.
Lavinia dropped beneath her, shooting a beam of ice into her side. Salem spun through the air, flinging lightning back at her. The two battled between two Cryo Tornadoes, throwing different elements back at each other, from fire to lightning to ice. Lavinia pulled back, and she held out her hand, forcing the ice together into a ball, before blasting wind into it, causing it to explode like a shotgun, shooting razor-sharp blades of ice into Salem's body.
One of them punctured through Salem's eye and came out the back of her head, yet it hardly even affected her. She ripped the blade out and formed an enormous pair of wings, and then a large sack formed beneath her throat, and she breathed a cloud of fire towards Lavinia.
She grunted, knocked out of the sky, whilst Salem held out her arms and howled to the sky, commanding the elements to serve her, absorbing the surrounding tornadoes, and consuming the power, transforming it into magical energy. She held her hands together as purple light flowed between her fingertips, and then she opened them, throwing hundreds of magical projectiles towards Lavinia.
They exploded whenever they touched anything, and the explosions looked like she was seeing the night sky, creating a cloud of stars that turned everything to ashes. Lavinia formed an enormous bow forged from ice in her hands and fired three explosive magical bolts towards Salem, which exploded against her chest, but Salem flew towards her anyway, forming a spear of darkness and swung directly at her, sliding across the dunes.
Her massive black wings arched behind her back, and as she swung her spear at Lavinia once again, her wings also slashed at the Fully Realised Maiden as well. Lavinia flew back and raised the roots behind her, which lunged towards Salem, but she cut them down with ease, before throwing the spear directly at the Maiden. She gasped and flipped backwards, only narrowly avoiding it, but as she landed, the spear formed a Salem Eye on the ground, detonating in an enormous explosion.
Lavinia screamed in pain, her blue aura flickering once again, sending her down into the red already. She crashed against the floor, and Salem laughed sinisterly. "Your aura supply is running low, Winter Maiden… you've not much time left. How much longer do you think you can continue this clash?" Salem asked.
Lavinia turned, seeing her soldiers continuing to fight on her behalf, fending off the Black Gallows relentlessly. She scoffed, shaking her head, staring back at her with eyes raging with blue flames. "As long as I have to. It doesn't matter if I die… you've already lost." Lavinia promised.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Salem tutted, shaking her head. "How many times do you think I've heard those words uttered?"
"Plenty… but this time it will be true." Lavinia promised.
"Promises, promises…"
Lavinia suddenly jumped into the air, flying high, before sending bolts of blue lightning crashing down towards the ground. The bolts spread the electricity across the ground and towards Salem, but she also jumped into the air, blasting fire from her hand towards Lavinia. But the Winter Maiden formed a shield of ice to deflect the flames away from her. She then formed a spear of ice and launched it towards Salem, impaling her through the sternum.
As Salem fell, Lavinia flew towards her and formed a huge hammer of ice, smashing it into the spike in Salem's chest, pinning her to the ground. Lavinia held her hands to the sky, and brought a colossal storm of lightning down upon Salem, creating a huge electrical explosion upon contact, blowing the black sand away from them, revealing the crystals and rock beneath the dunes.
Her hair stood on end from the static energy that lingered in the air, and she knew it wasn't enough to kill her, only hoped it was enough to buy them more time. But as the smoke cleared, Salem emerged, most of her body burnt away, revealing mostly skeletal features. Half of her face was gone and parts of her body were burnt out completely. But the black tar flowed through her body, reconstructed her body bit by bit, forming the flesh and skin.
Within seconds… her body was fully reconstructed, as if that devastating move had never happened. Staring up at the Winter Maiden with a smirk. "Is that all you have to offer?" Salem asked. Lavinia stared down at her with shock. To see her reconstruct herself that fast… after how much power she just had to use?
It was always an unfair fight from the start.
Salem rocketed towards her, punching Lavinia in the face so hard it created a shockwave. Then they both came crashing down into the ground, smashing her head against the floor. Salem threw her into the air and as she came falling back down, she sprouted a huge draconic tail and slammed it into Lavinia's chest, before grabbing her by the hair and punching her in the stomach with a combination of fire.
Lavinia crashed against one of the crystals, coughing up blood, and watching as her blue aura crumbled away. She stared at Salem and snarled, still able to use some of her powers, launching blades of ice at Salem as she approached, but Salem formed a blade in her hand as she just took the hits. Lavinia roared with rage and formed an axe, burying it into Salem's neck, only for Salem to grab her by the throat, and drive the sword straight through Lavinia's chest.
It all went silent, and Lavinia gasped.
She stumbled back, and Salem released her throat, holding her shoulder with the blade still impaled in her. She walked the Winter Maiden back with a soft expression, sitting her on the broken crystal. "You fought well, Lavinia… truly. You have learned how to use your powers incredibly well at such a young age. It's admirable… but it was all for naught." Salem stated, sighing, raising her hand towards Lavinia's face to take the power like she did for the Spring and Summer Maidens.
"Try to stay very still… it will all be over soon." Salem promised, but Lavinia still had fight… and used the last amount of magic she could muster, and blasted Salem away with a furious roar. Salem crashed against one of the crystals with a grunt, and Lavinia stood tall despite the fatal wound.
And she laughed.
"I know… I could never beat you…" she wheezed weakly, and Salem stared at her with gritted teeth.
Lavinia softly smiled back at her. "… but she will."
She reached down to her hidden holster behind her coat and drew her personal pistol she always had on her… a precaution… just in case…
And she pressed the barrel against her temple.
Salem's eyes widened, and she blasted towards Lavinia with fury.
But as Lavinia closed her eyes… she only thought of one thing.
The day Eryka was born.
Eryka
The last thing she remembered was being in pain and Winter tending to her whilst Weiss was fighting Tyrian, and Weiss was losing…
… but suddenly all she saw was a white plain. Nothing around her at all. She stood there and constantly looked around in confusion. "Winter?" She called out, then she heard a soft laugh amidst the silence.
"I never told you how beautiful you've grown up to be, did I?" Lavinia asked, and Eryka furrowed her brow with confusion.
"M-Mom?" Eryka stammered. "What is this?"
Lavinia smiled softly at her and she walked towards her. "I guess I finally met my match… made quite the blunder." Lavinia chuckled.
"Mom? What are you talking about?" Eryka asked, her voice trembling.
"I'm sorry, my sweet child… but now you must inherit the power I have been protecting for so long." Lavinia explained, holding out her hand. It took Eryka a few seconds to realise, but when it did, her eyes widened, and tears welled in her eyes.
"No… no… no, not you too. Please, not you too." Eryka trembled.
Lavinia smiled. "I tried to buy us all some time… keep Salem busy… but she's too powerful. But you… and everyone else? When the Black Gallows are gone, you can destroy her once and for all. I know you can." Lavinia assured, holding her hands, but Eryka felt sick to her stomach, and fell to her knees.
First Dulcis…
Then Neptune?
And now Mom?
"No… I can't… I can't be given this power mom, I'm not strong enough. I never have been… I never unlocked my semblance. How am I supposed to use this power on my own?" Eryka questioned, which made Lavinia smile.
"Oh, my dear… you'll never be alone." Lavinia promised, crouching down. "I will always be with you… just like Dulcis… and just like Neptune. We're always a part of you." Lavinia promised, pressing her hand to Eryka's heart.
"I'm not as strong as you…"
Lavinia chuckled, smiling.
"No… you're stronger. You always have been." Lavinia promised with a loving smile. "And despite… all the problems we had? I've always been so proud of you." Lavinia promised, standing Eryka back up. She wiped the tears away from Eryka's cheeks and held her hands.
She lowered her head as she sniffled.
"So go on… get out there…" Lavinia said, and Eryka looked at her mother. "… and you kick that bastard's ass into the fucking ground." Lavinia smirked, making Eryka smile back, nodding her head.
"I will… I promise… he will pay for what he took from us." Eryka promised. "I love you, mom."
Lavinia smiled… relieved… to finally hear those words.
And the last thing Eryka ever saw of her mother was her smile and wink.
The white domain faded away, and the first thing she saw after being reborn was a shocked Winter. Tyrian grabbed Weiss and threw her across the floor, her bruised body sliding past Eryka. Eryka sat upright and clenched her hands into fists, hanging her head.
Tyrian cackled manically, staring her down. "And so you've finally accepted the truth… that you cannot win! And that you're going to die… screaming… just like your brother." Tyrian snarled viciously.
Eryka tightened her fists, and she stood tall.
"No…" Eryka snarled, suddenly levitating into the air, Winter and Weiss' eyes widening in disbelief.
Even Tyrian was taken aback, stepping back a step with wide eyes. "… the only one screaming here tonight… is gonna be you." Eryka promised, blue embers forming into Dulcis' wings, and her eyes opened sharply, glowing blue with plasma flames bursting from them.
"Impossible…" Tyrian gasped, fearful of her now.
Eryka felt the memories of her mother in her body, and the muscle memory remained, and she thrusted her arms forward, blasting a powerful beam of icy magic towards Tyrian, hitting him directly in the chest and smashing him against the wall. She hovered above him with rage in her eyes and slammed down before him as he stumbled back to his feet.
Tyrian roared and sprinted towards her, only for Eryka to swing her fist into the side of his face, channelling magical energy into the fist which blasted him through one of the pillars and shattering what remained of his purple aura. He growled in agony, turning to see Weiss and Winter stood beside her.
Eryka lifted her hand, and suddenly roots burst from the ground and wrapped around his arms and legs, holding him above the floor and anchoring him to the wall, completely helpless.
Tyrian screamed with rage as he tried to break himself free.
Eryka glared at Tyrian, her fists still clenched as she walked towards him. Winter and Weiss looked at each other, realising what must have happened to Lavinia… but they asked no questions yet.
Instead… they focused their attention on the monster who took away those they loved.
Tyrian struggled for a few more moments, but then he just began to laugh, cackling at his predicament, staring down at the trio who stood before him. Weiss looked at the floor, at Myrtenaster, kicking it up off the floor and into her hand.
"You… and you're friends… believe you have won, don't you?" Tyrian chuckled, shaking his head at them. "But this? This is only the beginning… the beginning… of the end." He promised.
Weiss reached into her pocket and grabbed a vial of fire dust, staring at it before looking up at him. He stared down at her and smirked, still filled with madness.
"You… have already lost."
Weiss scowled back at him, popping the cork and lining the blade with fire dust, forming the glyph behind her.
"No. You have."
Marrow
Marrow and Clover stared each other down in the Drive Core of the Shadow of Broken Promises.
They were so close to finishing the Black Gallows off once and for all.
All that stood in their way now was Clover Ebi, and the remaining Obsidian Glaives.
Clover roared and sprinted towards Marrow, and tackled the younger Huntsman to the ground, both without their weapons, having to do this the old-fashioned way. Clover smashed his fist into Marrow's face relentlessly, but Marrow kicked him away, causing Clover to crash against the railing, allowing Marrow to roll backwards onto his feet. Clover roared and punched at Marrow once again, but he ducked under his fist and punched Clover in the chest three times before kicking him against the railing.
Marrow jumped and swung his fist towards his face, but Clover suddenly caught him by his arm and flipped him over his shoulder, throwing him against the metal floor, and stamping on his chest, before punching down at his face again. Marrow rolled aside, holding his chest and ducking under his kick and throwing a hard punch up Clover's face. Clover smashed against the railing and snarled, grabbing a wrench and smacking it across Marrow's face, then throwing it into his back.
Marrow screamed in agony, nearly collapsing from that attack, which Clover swiftly got behind him and grabbed him by his hair, forcing him towards the railing that overlooked the drive core of swirling gravity dust.
Clover grinned maniacally the closer Marrow got to the core.
Back on the bridge, Vine and Fiona continued to clash against the two Obsidian Glaives who ambushed them. Vine swung across the room and launched himself towards the Glaive, who was flying in the air, firing beams of energy from his Sceptre, only narrowly missing. He swung forward and slammed both his feet into the Obsidian Glaive's chest, causing him to smash his back against the window of the bridge.
Vine landed and grappled onto one of the chairs, flinging it towards the Ex-Huntsman, but he rolled out of the way, slashing the tip of the sceptre across his chest, then flying in the air, bringing the sharp weapon down into the ground where he was standing, shattering the floor. Vine rolled away and launched his shiruken towards the Obsidian Glaive, who deflected it with the Sceptre, and swiftly spun the weapon through his fingers before firing another bolt at him.
But Vine saw an opportunity, spotting the cracked glass, and he stretched out his arms and grappled onto the walls and slingshot himself towards the Glaive, smashing both feet into his chest.
The Glaive roared as the glass shattered, and as he opened his wings, the thruster of the Shadow of Broken Promises sucked him inside, straight into the thruster, screaming before being ripped apart by the engine. The engine belched flames and exploded, sending flames across the wing, causing the entire ship to shake.
Fiona rolled aside as the Obsidian Glaive she battled against continued to slash her extendable sword at her, and she rolled across the floor and spun her Crossbow Staff around her shoulders, aiming it back at the Huntress, firing an arrow at her. She deflected the incoming arrow before rushing towards her and smashing the bladed end of her staff down the top of the Huntress' head.
The Obsidian Glaive dropped to one knee, then Fiona swung around and slashed the blade across the side of the Glaive's head, smashing the helmet off her head. She growled, with a shaved head and covered in scars. The Huntress swiftly slashed her sword at Fiona, wrapping it around her arm and retracting the blade, jumping towards the Faunus to roundhouse kick her.
Fiona dropped and let the Huntress pass, and Vine kicked her towards Fiona, who regrettably stabbed her bladed staff straight through the Huntress' back, killing her swiftly. She pulled the blade from her back and hung her head, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry…" she shakily stammered, but Vine touched her shoulder.
"There was no other way." He reassured.
Fiona nodded, then looked around with concern. "Wait… Marrow! We need to find him!"
Marrow continued to struggle against Clover, who was pushing his head closer and closer towards the spiralling core of metal and gravity dust. Immense pieces of metal shielding swung closer and closer to his head, and Clover's grin grew larger and larger the closer the Huntsman's head got.
But Marrow gritted his teeth in anger and reached to his collar and pulled him down at the perfect moment, causing a chunk of metal to smash against the top of his head, shattering his blue aura instantly. Clover staggered back, groaning as his skull was cracked open, blood rushing down the side of his head.
Marrow wasted no time, grabbing Clover by the throat and staring directly into his eyes with hate.
"Send Killian my regards!" He yelled, turning and throwing Clover directly into the Drive Core. Clover let out one last howl before being instantly silenced. His body broke apart and his blood mixed in with the gravity dust, causing the drive core to become unstable, ripping itself apart. Marrow nearly collapsed, but Fiona grabbed onto him, pulling him away from the core.
"By the gods… you okay?" She gasped.
"I got him… that twisted bastard… I got him…" He stammered.
"Yeah… you did." Fiona said with a smile, giving him a warm hug.
Vine looked around, and he patted Marrow on the shoulder. "We haven't got much time. We need to upload the virus." Vine reminded.
"Yeah… c'mon… time to finish this." Marrow stumbled back to his feet and the three of them sprinted back into the ruined bridge, and approached the central control system. He pulled the chip out and stared at it for a few seconds.
By doing this…
… we rid the world of its military…
… and kill a lot of people…
… but the Black Gallows needs to die.
It was a hard choice, but he swallowed his inner regret, and plugged in the chip, and he saw a message pop up.
INITIATE PROGRAMME – THE HANGING?
"Heh… Pietro really wanted to be symbolic, huh?" Marrow chuckled, then he moved the cursor over ok.
The second he hit the button, the virus instantly infected the entire Black Gallows system, showing the Black Queen symbol on every single screen. All the weapons started sparking, the armour and all technology linked to the network destroyed itself. Just as Pietro designed it to. They looked outside and saw Wasps and other Airships come crashing down.
The lights in the Shadow of Broken Promises flickered, and they knew they needed to rush back to the Bullhead.
They sprinted as fast as they could through the ship, hearing the soldiers screaming, ones who had cybernetics in their head were suffering agonizing deaths as their brains burned from the inside out, whilst others could no longer walk or their armour simply stopped working for them.
Ebony Sabre Exo Suits deactivated, ejecting the soldiers and leaving them helpless. But they had to keep moving. The Black Gallows were monsters, and they had to fall.
They rushed to the hangar and saw the Bullhead directly ahead of them. Marrow and Fiona sprinted towards it, but Marrow felt that Vine wasn't close behind. He stopped and turned to see Vine stood still.
"Vine! C'mon!" He yelled, but Vine remained still.
"I'm sorry, Marrow… but I cannot." Vine answered, raising his head and opening his eyes, which now had the Black Queen virus glowing in his optics.
His eyes widened.
"I am a Black Gallows creation, remember? So I too must be destroyed with the rest of them." Vine stated.
"No… no, we can cut you off from the network! We can find a way!" Marrow stammered, desperately trying to save the only friend he had in the Black Gallows.
"There's no time! My mission was to ensure that Remnant survives… only by ensuring that there is nothing left of the Black Gallows and their technology can we be sure that the threat can be erased forever." Vine explained. "And besides… this was my choice. And as a creation of the Black Gallows… allow me to complete my mission… to the end." Vine requested, holding his hands behind his back.
Fiona reached to Marrow, grabbing his hand as the Shadow of Broken Promises started to lose its altitude. "Marrow! We have to hurry!" Fiona yelled.
"VINE!" He screamed.
"Get out of here, Marrow! Save yourself! Build something better! Live… a good life." Vine begged, smiling at him. The doors on the Bullhead closed and Marrow watched as Fiona flew them out of there.
Vine stood tall as explosions erupted behind him, as the many Airships in the hanger crashed and their fuel cells detonated behind him, and the flames from the drive core detonating flooded in behind him. He closed his eyes and held his head high, ready for the end.
Marrow screamed with anguish from the Bullhead, as the centre of the Shadow of Broken Promises ruptured in an enormous ball of fire, breaking the Dreadnaught in half, and sending the front half crashing towards Evernight.
The time of the Black Gallows… had finally ended.
The Hanging
In Evernight, Nora stood her ground, staring Hazel down with Stormur Skeggox in her grasp, glaring at him and protecting Oscar with her life. Hazel roared with unending rage, all his elements of dust lodged in his body activating at once.
The Shadow of Broken Promises came closer and closer to crashing into the side of Evernight, where below Adam, Yang and Blake were battling.
Tyrian, bound by the roots, stared at Weiss as she thrusted Myrtenaster forward, and shot four projectiles of fire towards him, all four fireballs swirling around one another as they drew closer and closer towards him. Tyrian's smirk faded away, and his madness was replaced with absolute fear.
Nora sprinted towards Hazel, who was jumping towards her with his fist pulled back, charging up with lightning dust, only for Nora to roar and slice her axe straight through his arm, charged up with her pink lightning. Hazel howled in agony, staggering past her and blood splashing across the side of her arm.
Tyrian's howls of agony and terror echoed as the fireballs impacted in the centre of his chest, spreading flames all across his body.
Down in the dunes, Salem stared at the lifeless body of Lavinia Vasillias, the gun still in her hand and blood leaking from her head. She closed her hand into a fist with anger, but then she stared at the sky as the Shadow of Broken Promises slowly came crashing down, and all around her, Wasps and the other Dreadnaughts came crashing down, and she gritted her teeth in anger, knowing the Black Gallows were finished.
Joanna and May aimed their weapons at Harriet and Elm, who felt their armour deactivate and weapons power down, and all the soldiers were left completely defenceless. Leaving them all no choice but to surrender.
Watts' finger pressed against the trigger of his revolver, still pushed against Ruby's head, both her and Penny restrained by Grave Dust, but suddenly the dust dropped lifelessly to the floor. Ruby and Penny dropped to their knees and stared at Watts, who turned to see the burning wreckage of the Shadow of Broken Promises come crashing towards Evernight.
"No…" He gasped.
Ruby seized her opportunity, and she grabbed Black Thorn, and just as Watts turned to shoot, she slashed straight through his wrist. He roared in agony, blood bursting from the stump and his only weapon falling to the floor. She transformed her scythes into their Volcanic Pistol forms, staring Watts down with hate in her silver eyes.
Tyrian shrieked in immense agony as the roots burned away and he fell to the floor, desperately trying to bat away the flames, but nothing he did would save him from his greatest fear.
Suddenly the Shadow of Broken Promises crashed into Evernight, completely collapsing half of the structure, and Tyrian screamed as that part of the amphitheatre shattered, and he plummeted into the smoke and burning metal. Eryka grabbed Winter and Weiss and she flew up into the air, escaping the castle as it came crashing down around them.
Li and Ren held on for dear life and Icarus dug his Khopesh into the ground to steady himself on the weakening tower as the burning Dreadnaught crashed into the ground beneath them, creating an enormous inferno beneath them.
Beneath the castle, Adam, Blake and Yang fled, and jumped away as the castle came crashing down above them, falling with the rubble, disappearing into the dust.
Watts grabbed onto his arm, staring at Ruby as she aimed her Volcanic Pistols at him, and fired, shooting a bullet straight through his chest. But she did not stop there, firing again and again, hitting him in the shoulder and many times in his chest, whilst Penny started rotating, Floating Array behind her, charging up the green laser. Every single bullet fired pushed Watts closer to the edge of the cliff.
As Evernight collapsed around her, Nora continued to battle against Hazel, ducking under his electrified metal prosthetic leg as he swung at her, still protecting Oscar with her life. Hazel roared like a savage monster, his humanity gone, and leaving only a beast to be put down for his own sake. He swung towards Nora, and she blasted the thrusters on the back of her axe, and yelled with fury, cutting straight through Hazel's neck, decapitating the monster Ozpin created.
His body collapsed to the ground, and his head crashed against the floor. His suffering finally ended.
Ruby kept her guns aimed at Watts, but stepped aside, as Penny aimed Floating Array at him, and she fired, burning a hole straight through Watts' chest, and the beam erupted out his spine. Watts' body was thrown over the edge by the impact, and he plummeted down the cliff, cracking his skull against a rock, flipping backwards and snapping his spine as he landed on a sharp rock beneath.
Penny lowered Floating Array with anger in her eyes… and relief.
She was finally free.
Dutch watched from the Dreadnaughts, watching as the Black Gallows came crashing down, and he closed his eyes.
It's over…
… the Black Gallows… Killian's legacy…
… it's finally over.
Author Note - The Black Gallows have finally met their end, at the cause of their own arrogance and technology
Been waiting to do this chapter for so long, and god was it a bloodthirsty one XD. Poor Lavinia and Vine, both gave their lives for others, and Lavinia's farewell to Eryka was so sad. I just wanna give Eryka a hug the poor girl has lost so much in this Act.
But we also have had many villains get what they deserve. Clover, Tyrian, Watts and Hazel... loved Watts' death to Penny and Ruby, especially having Penny deal the final blow after everything he did to her. And having Tyrian being set on fire by Weiss that was very satisfying to write. Hopefully Hazel can rest easy now, sad that the only way to kill him is such a violent way, but Nora did what she had to do.
And Clover 100% deserved that after all the abuse he gave Marrow.
Quite the eventful chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - Bloodlust's End
- Matt