Split


Yang stared down her substantially shorter opponent. They were barely two feet away from each other now.

Neo smirked and changed the colors of her eyes from strawberry-pink to chocolate-brown with every blink.

Yang went over what she knew: this 'Neo' chick was fast enough to make a fool out of her sister and Penny, and the latter Yang knew was a literal killing machine in combat. Unfortunately, according to her sister, Neo hadn't so much as thrown a single punch besides jabbing her once, so just what she could do on the attack, Yang didn't know.

But she didn't need to know about her offensive abilities. Yang had all she needed to know from that smirk on her face.

Neo cocked her head to one side, impatience flickering in her eyes.

She was cocky. Overconfident. Just like Torchwick. No different than any other one of Junior's thugs she beat down. Still, Yang thought, she might as well test the waters.

Yang smirked back. In the blink of an eye, she brought up her guard and sent a punch at Neo's face. In a fraction of that time, she was left curling over and backing up from Neo spearing her up under her ribs with her bare hand.

Neo winked and changed the color of her eyes yet again.

She growled, but she still had the reach advantage! Yang kept her distance and fired off a rapid series of jabs and crosses. Neo dodged each one. She swung low to catch her off guard. Neo swayed her hips to evade them. She fired at the ground to disturb her balance. Neo twirled around each with ease. Yang faked left and kicked at her right. Neo, without so much as sparing her fist a glance, swung her parasol down to block her and opened it to leave her stumbling. A sharp stiletto heel to the same spot she'd struck once already knocked Yang over.

Alright.

So maybe this girl did have a reason to be cocky.

Neo suddenly crashed down on her stomach with both heels before flipping over her.

This did not make Yang any happier about the situation.

Neo leaned over her and grinned. Yang fired up at her smug face to force her to back off, rolled herself back and fired Ember Celica to send her flying feet-first at her opponent. The short criminal simply twirled around her attempt. Heat rose off of Yang as she walked backwards, watching Neo soundlessly giggle at her.

She'd give her something to laugh about!

Neo gave Yang all the distance she needed, even backing up herself while Yang edged closer to the door back. Her short, annoying, cocky opponent peered over with a curious look in her eye, reached out her hand, and beckoned her forward.

"Bring it," she mouthed.

Yang's eye twitched. With a roar, she gathered up all her aura and whatever scraps of her Semblance she could muster from the few blows and launched herself at Neo at the speed of a cannonball. Neo, aiming her parasol up with her point aimed at her, no doubt expected a wild haymaker that would've left her open.

If her eyes widening and turning white meant anything, she clearly didn't expect Yang to lean back, jut her legs out and drop kick her. Only a turn and timely open of her parasol let her deflect the brunt of the blow, but her wrist was yanked off in an awkward position, weapon nearly torn from her hands in the impact. She was knocked off-balance.

It was exactly what Yang was waiting for.

With a wild grin, Yang flipped herself up to her feet and launched herself forward yet again, this time into a blistering flurry of punches and kicks. Neo was finally on the back foot, blocking constantly with her closed parasol, unable to regain her precious footing. Kicks aimed at her legs and blasts from her gauntlets made sure of that. She might not have been punching her smug face in just yet, but she could taste that moment getting closer and closer. Neo wasn't attacking. She was entirely on the defensive.

She might've even been burning through her aura, but a pint-sized brat like her probably wouldn't take more than a couple punches to really take down. Yang was doing this. She was winning.

Neo clumsily shoved her back with her parasol and paused to catch her breath. That pause was all Yang needed: she threw everything she had into one kick to the face.

Both Neo and the air around her shattered like glass, and the next thing Yang knew, her other leg was hooked from behind by Neo's parasol and, still mid-kick, she didn't stand a chance when she was yanked, sent spiraling in the air, and kicked off into the crates of Dust and weaponry lining the walls.

Oh, right.

Semblance.


"Ruby!" Penny called out in the distance and turned to race to Ruby's side as Mercury loomed over her. A second Paladin crashing down in front of her instead left her trapped between two powerful machines. Though Penny was powerful, two Paladins—even prototypes—would need everything she had. A rescue was all but impossible. There was no one who could separate Ruby and Mercury, now.

"Mercury," Ruby hissed, a hand over her pained nose as she steadied herself on the rumbling roof of the train. She felt heat rising, but at least it wasn't bleeding.

"Woah, bit of deja vu here," he replied, hands shoved into his pockets. "But hey, you held on to your gun, this time. Look at you, learning something!"

Hearing him be so casual at a time like this sent a spike of anger through Ruby's heart. "I don't get it! Why are you doing this!"

Mercury shrugged. "Eh, what can I say? Cinder pays well."

"It's... it's just about money?" Ruby could understand wanting to fight for what they thought was right, she could understand having some grand goal or even wanting to be on the winning side. It didn't make them not villains, but to go through all of this, to put so many people at risk just for money? The spike of anger twisted itself and, with a battle cry, Ruby darted over the short distance and twirled her scythe. Mercury was quick. That became apparent from the moment he casually stepped and weaved between her first strikes.

Ruby kept up the pressure, twirling and lashing with Crescent Rose until every attack flowed into the next like water. Mercury dodged each and every last one and, what frustrated Ruby most was that he never even took his hands from his pockets. The shaft finally struck home on Mercury's collar, her blade right behind his torso. Mercury snapped a kick into her face faster than she could even see, sending her sprawling once more. Her head was laying off the side of the car's roof.

Gunfire sounded off beside her, and she brought her scythe up just in time to block Mercury's stomp. Her arms shuddered from the pressure.

"That can't be all! No one's that evil!"

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me." He pressed down harder.

Ruby saw the gun barrels in Mercury's boot. At any time, he could've fired, even to just distract her with the flash, but he refused. He was toying with her.

"Is it Cinder?"

Mercury rolled his eyes, but his smirk faded. "Just give it up. Truth is, I don't care about a single thing that's going on here, as long as she's happy."

He fired and Ruby burst into rose petals. Without missing a beat, Mercury twisted and launched a kick behind him. Ruby stared with wide eyes as her attempt to strike from behind only met Mercury's leg. She fired to give herself some distance, but Mercury was on her in a heartbeat. She had to rely on her Semblance just to keep up, rose petals flying left and right as she parried and evaded Mercury's kicks.

Unlike him, however, her defense was nowhere near as perfect, and strikes caught her just enough to whittle her aura down. Any time she'd swing for him, he'd only leap back, shoot himself forward and redouble his efforts. Mercury leapt forward with an axe kick powerful enough to dent the car it took a Paladin to scratch. He was open! Ruby twirled, brought her scythe screaming towards Mercury's head, and bolted around him in a flurry of rose petals. She appeared behind him, poised to catch him completely off-guard.

He wasn't there.

"Too slow!" His knee flew into her stomach from beside her, the gunshot-assisted force only doubling the pain that sent her flying. The world became little more than a sickening whirl before she managed to recover three cars down. Ruby's aura pulsated red from the damage. Her head throbbed and stomach ached. Ruby folded Crescent Rose back to its rifle form, hoping to at least put the distance to her advantage.

She looked up just in time to see Mercury flipping towards her. Ruby barely brought her gun up in time to block him and the force of both his boots striking, let alone the blast that followed, was enough to send her tumbling down another car. Mercury was on a class of his own. Even toying around, he was beating her worse than Adam or Pyrrha ever had.

There was a brief lull in the fighting. He'd stopped his assault. Ruby pushed herself up to her knees and looked down at the car ahead.

He was on his Scroll.

In the middle of a fight, in the middle of what could be the worst attack on Vale ever, Mercury was on his Scroll, strolling across the cars towards her like nothing was wrong. It was at that exact moment that Ruby realized that Mercury wasn't lying: he genuinely didn't care about this. He didn't care about Vale. He didn't care about the White Fang. He didn't care about who would die. He didn't care about where he was. What he was doing. Anything except for maybe money and Cinder.

He was genuinely, absolutely evil.

Ruby loaded a gravity Dust magazine, the most expensive one she had. As she rose up, she grew all too aware of the ruby-red glow surrounding her scythe. She didn't care.

There was a villain to vanquish.


"Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's a problem, but we've got it covered," Mercury tried to explain to Cinder. He swore he could feel the heat even through his Scroll. He could see the brat starting to get up out of the corner of his eye, but he made nothing of it: that kid had a long way to go before she'd be a threat. She was too soft.

Cinder sighed, her voice hazy and crackling even with their network purpose-made for this. "Fine. If Merlot has already escaped and the train is as close as you believe, get out as soon as possible. If you can at least get back to Vale, you can establish a stronger alibi."

"Sounds like a plan. I was getting tired of this joint, anyway." In the distance, the girl had finally gotten to her feet. She looked angry, like a tough kitten whose food got taken from it. "Uh-oh, Lil Red's mad. I'll call you—" Mercury leaned back just in time to watch the scythe go flying past where his head was. He spun and kicked in return, but the moment his foot made contact, she vanished.

He spun around and jumped back. Crescent Rose's tip scraped against the roof where he once was, and Mercury slammed his boot down onto the side of its blade. Another feint to attack him from behind? Typical. Mercury pressed down harder, keeping her from dragging it away.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to interrupt someone when they're on their Scroll?" He snapped his Scroll shut. The widening of her eyes and flare of anger and shock across her expression was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Ooh, mommy issues? Save that one for later.

Mercury let go just as Ruby fired Crescent Rose to tear it from his grip. He had to admit, it was fun toying around with her in a sadistic kind of way, but he had to make this quick. Cinder gave her orders.

When Ruby cried out and shot off towards him in what she must've thought was another clever feint, Mercury rolled his eyes and waited until she swung to grab Crescent Rose by the blade. The girl was tough, but not enough to budge him.

It was here, as he tried to drag her into a vicious kick, that Mercury noticed two problems. The first: his hand was hurting. Mercury was no stranger to pain, which let him hold on with ease, but there was no denying that it hurt like a bitch. He hadn't taken so much as a scratch, but this much pain was getting through his aura?

The second problem kept him from focusing on it: Ruby Rose disappeared. He had a solid grip on her weapon, yet his hand now clenched around nothing. She didn't shoot. She didn't pull away. She and her weapon just... disappeared into a storm of rose petals that blew past him. Mercury grimaced and swept the petals from his face. Then, he noticed the scythe blade coiling around his midsection.

Ah.

She'd moved through him.

This, Mercury thought, wasn't going to be a good day.


Ruby pulled. She gathered her aura, her Semblance, her frustration and her anger and pulled. The villain tried to keep himself standing, so she pulled the trigger. When she felt the weight behind her crumple and heard Mercury cursing, Ruby did what she did best: run.

Firing faster and faster, she dragged Mercury across the train, dashing towards its end and feeling her glowing blade sink just a little deeper with each shot. Mercury's shouts of agitation and protest began to grow more panicked, no doubt from the end of the train coming closer and closer, and realizing Crescent Rose was slipping through his aura without breaking it. Ruby knew this was wrong, what being able to use 'aura penetration' so freely implied, but he needed to be stopped. He was a villain. The enemy. The sooner he was gone, the sooner she could save people.

It was what she had to do.

She didn't realize she was out of ammunition until the third click of her empty gun. Feeling Mercury begin to struggle, she shouted, twisted and slammed him down against the roof. Both screeched to a halt near the very end of the cart. Mercury bounced off of the roof and tried to flip back onto his feet only to grunt and fall to one knee, panting and clutching his stomach. A deep wound traced its way across his now-torn jacket, staining it crimson even as his aura stitched it back together.

Ruby wanted to say that she was strong. She wanted to say that she was standing proud over the vile foe, but that just wasn't the case: she was hunched over like Mercury, sucking in great gulps of the stagnant air as if it were the first of her life. She'd channeled everything she had left into that sprint, and she didn't have that much left to give in the first place. Still, Ruby managed to force herself upright.

"Had enough?!" she shouted and began stalking forward. Her aura flickered and cracked away around her.

Mercury looked up and, for a moment, Ruby thought she saw respect in his eyes.

Then, he scoffed. "I'm... I'm just gettin' started." For a moment, fear gripped Ruby's heart: was he really able to keep fighting? Then, she noticed something: when she stepped forward, Mercury took a shaky step back. He was bluffing. Caught up in that brief wind of confidence, Ruby barely noticed Mercury glancing over his shoulder.

The hordes of Grimm behind them had gathered to the point where it was like a black miasma racing for the train, visible only as embers and flashes of sea-green shifting in the dark, heard only as the cries of the damned. Ruby's eyes widened: Mercury was getting too close to the edge. Maybe it was seeing him weak, maybe it was just not having the aura to go on, but just like that, that instinctual light inside her simple soul banished the darkness that threatened to claim her thoughts.

"Wait!" she called out and jogged forward. A mistake.

Mercury stumbled backwards, and his foot finally found nothing but air. Ruby threw the last bit of her strength into a last rush, but Mercury had already fallen from the edge of the train. She reached out in a last, desperate attempt to catch him. Ruby thought she saw Mercury reach back.

But it was too late, and he was gone into the black mist.


Almond had wasted no time in his assault, bringing his chainsaw down with both hands with power and fury Adam hadn't seen before. His former lieutenant had always surpassed him in sheer strength, yes, but they were at least comparable when he had left. Yet, every time he brought Wilt up, it was slammed back down by Almond, and every parry was getting harder to make.

It was after one of those parries that Adam flipped Blush up and fired at his mask. Almond didn't budge. With a swat of his chainsaw, he sent Adam stumbling back. Adam narrowed his eyes: the streaks of crimson traveling to his mask with each breath were more and more clear. He didn't even look winded, even after so much combat.

"You found your Semblance," he realized.

Almond rumbled with a chuckle. "It took you so long to notice? It's good to know you thought I was truly was so strong."

Adam snorted. "Strong enough to know that there's no reason you should still be working with Cinder."

His humor faded. "With her, we at least have options. We can survive and prosper, more than you can give us from Beacon!" He roared and with speed he would've expected from Ruby or Weiss, he leaped at Adam. Caught off-guard, he took the full brunt of the chainsaw to the side and shouted out in pain. Slammed into a stack of crates from the force, the contact with the chainsaw was brief, but, it was enough to gouge out a heavy chunk of his aura in a single blow.

Instinct brought his sword from his sheath, just in time to block another strike. Sparks flew from the point of contact. Adam's aura flared up in a desperate attempt to hold Almond off. The constant jolt and vibration running through his arm from the chainsaw bouncing and rattling off of his sword sent pain through his muscles. That blasted rumble of Almond's weapon wasn't making it any easier to think, either. The bins he was forced up against began to crack from the strain. Thunder rang in his ears, yet he couldn't place the source.

He could never win a contest of pure strength with his former lieutenant, not like this. He felt the Dust magazines burning a hole in his pocket, but ignored it: he wouldn't stoop that low. Adam's eyes darted around the car before another rumble of thunder and strange flickers of black and red brought his attention beside him. The flickers were nowhere to be seen, but what was there was the crate that Almond had torn through trying to kill Weiss. It was trickling out prismatic streams of powder.

Now, that Dust, Adam thought, he could bring himself to use. Wriggling out just enough to spin out of the way of Almond's strike, Adam rolled beside the Dust crates and watched as Almond—who had only damaged the crate while attacking Weiss—cleanly ripped through the ones Adam was just against, spilling ruined armaments. One step brought Almond back in range, and with a spin, he whipped his saw at Adam, who ducked beneath it. Finally, he took the offensive, his blade only a flash as it slashed against Almond's saw and armor alike time and time again.

"Enough games!" Almond deflected the incoming blows, one by one. "I know you're stronger than that!" He pressed forward until Adam had his back up to the crate Weiss was once forced against. Once more, he was left with Wilt as the only thing between him and Almond's chainsaw.

Adam smirked. "What can I say? You were always the muscle." He leaped to the side in a blur. "But I was always the brain."

The momentum brought Almond's saw right into the crate full of volatile Dust. The resulting explosion sent him skidding to the door and filled the train car with smoke that quickly flooded out of the gaping hole left in the side of it. Almond was left against the opposite wall, smoke still coiling off of him and some of his armor plates missing off of his arms. Half of his mask had broken away. The roar of the chainsaw had finally stopped.

"Tell me, Almond: you never worked with humans before, let alone these criminals and cretins. What brought you so low? What does she have over you!"

Almond budged at Adam's words. Slowly, he began to rise, yet, did not answer.

"Tell me, Edward!" Adam shouted. "Why are you working with Cinder!"

The air tasted of blood. Almond stirred.

"You know why: she returned. She struck down your men and demanded we fold. Assist her or die, and we couldn't fight." His chainsaw hung lazily in one arm. Every breath drew in that crimson mist now, leaving a constant haze around him, like blood in water. "And I had no choice but to let that human have her way because you abandoned us!" And then Almond was in front of him, having cut the distance in only a single step. Adam brought Wilt halfway out of its sheath to block, but was still launched out of the hole he'd created.

The train cars whipped past Adam as he was flung towards the wall of the tunnel, but, a pulse of aura strengthening his legs let him leap back on top of it. Adam dropped to one knee, panting. In the middle of a frantic battle, watching Ruby and Penny try and battle their way through Paladins so far up, was not the most calm place to catch his breath, but he'd manage.

His aura flickered, but remained steady. By his estimates, he had maybe only half of it left. Damnit! He was running out of options. He couldn't keep up a battle of attrition like this: not while Almond's Semblance was making him so much more powerful. He could use his own Semblance, of course, but...

Adam clicked open his blade. A red glow tried to wrap around it, yet faltered each time. He brushed a hand through his hair and scowled at his own weakness: he couldn't even gather the killing intent against his former comrade to bring his aura penetration to bear. Adam didn't know if he'd be able to bring his Semblance's full power against him either, and at this rate, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to block enough of Almond's blows to gather this much power again. The Schnee Dust magazine was not an option—

His thoughts were abruptly cut off by the shrieking of metal. Adam rolled to the side just in time to see Captain Almond's saw slice through the roof, right where he was once standing. Adam kept his hand on his hilt, slowly turning to keep as much in his sight as possible. He whirled as the saw tore through a piece of the roof behind him. Then, another slash tore the hatch ahead from its hinges.

Silence.

"You can't run again!" The ground beneath him exploded into shrapnel as Almond came whirling out from below like the metal was little more than paper. Adam fell onto his back atop the next car, and Almond was in front of him already. He didn't have the time to roll to his feet before the chainsaw was flying down towards his head again.

"You can't abandon the White Fang!" Almond roared as Adam raised Wilt up and grunted from the impact.

"You can't abandon me!" Another strike drove the air from his lungs even when blocked.

"You can't kill me!" His aura flared from the strain of the third attack.

"I raised you after Altebrucke! I brought you into the White Fang! I made you who! You! Are!" Almond's blows were not aimed: with a single hand, he just brought his chainsaw down upon Adam's blade again and again. Steel groaned beneath them both.

"I will lead the faunus again," Adam hissed under the rain of blows. "We both can, Almond!"

Almond raised his saw, but it did not come back down.

Adam took a moment to catch his breath. "We were going too far! We forgot our power came from our strength, not their fear. We can change that, Almond: we can still have our revolution, but by carving our own way! By ourselves!" He slowly rose to his feet, arms trembling and numb as he sheathed Wilt.

Slowly, Almond lowered his saw. Every labored breath brought more of that crimson mist to him, now like ribbons trailing from the combat further ahead to his maw like blood in water.

"Without Torchwick. Without Cinder." Adam took a wary step forward. "Join me. It won't be the same, I'll admit that, but we will give the faunus their time in the light. Those two will suffer for what they've done to us." He offered his hand out to Almond. "Trust me."

Captain Almond's shoulders began to slump, his head turned down and the single, hazel eye visible through his broken mask focusing on the dented roof. Suddenly, he shouted in frustration and gripped at his mask, curling inwards on himself. Adam, at first, thought it was out of a conflicted mind and prepared to crush those last threads of resistance, but his eyes soon found the true cause: the streams of red that had never faded. No, they only pulsed brighter, and he could see the thin, misty tendrils connecting to those in the battle ahead brightening each time someone was struck. Almond growled and thrashed in place, aura flaring and coiling around him.

By the time Adam had realized it, it was too late: Almond's Semblance was too immature. It was going out of control. The captain went slack, and Adam's instincts roared at him to run. He turned his gaze onto Adam, a lone eye little more than a black orb and the edge of an inhuman, jagged, tooth-filled scowl visible through his cracked mask.

"Never again."

Adam was slammed through the weakened ceiling before he could even think.


Two. Yang had managed to land two solid hits on Neo. In return, that cheating little midget had been taking her apart, piece by little piece. Yang couldn't count the number of hits she'd taken, but what she did know what she wasn't even at half-empty, yet: Neo had just been that intent on making this as agitating and painful as possible. She forced Neo to start using her Semblance, sure, but that didn't mean a damn thing when she couldn't use her own!

A solid swing at Neo's midsection left the air shattering once more, and Yang had to resist not screaming in pure rage as she was kicked into another cart and sent skidding across the floor on her back. Neo was too fast. It was easier trying to catch Ruby when she was hyped up on sugar. She was way better against fighters of her style: brute force! Strength! Something she could get hit by and, y'know, actually use her Semblance on.

A black blur blasted through the ceiling and smashed into the floor next to her hard enough to bend it. The White Fang's leader loomed above and erupted into vicious, jeering laughter. Neo skipped through the door, spinning her parasol in one hand.

Yang stared up at the ceiling, still on her back. "Hey, Adam?"

Adam groaned from beside her.

"Switch?"

"... Switch."