*Scratches neck nervously* I apologize for the late update. I am home now and have started my externship this week. It went well and I helped with a C-section to newborn puppies. There are no words that can describe what I felt holding a newborn puppy.
Anyway on to something you guys probably care more about. There was a lot of mental debate about this chapter. I went back and watched the battle of Beacon and I sat there for the most part not knowing if I wanted to go into full detail about the fall of Beacon or touch on certain parts that are important to this story line; but we'll see where this chapter leads.
New Divide
The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed:
Alongside time exists fate, the bearer of cruelty.
-Nyx Avatar from Persona 3
They grudgingly walked away from Raven. She had firmly refused to open up the portal that would lead them back to Beacon. It wasn't until she had used Vernal to threaten them with an eerie semblance that they hadn't even seem before, that they had backed off.
No one spoke or even made eye contact with any of the bandits until one news video on a scroll caught their eyes. Peering over a bandit's shoulder they couldn't contain their shock. The video showed several kinds of Grimm: Goliaths, Ursai, Nevermores, Boarbatusks, and Beowolves running across Mountain Glenn towards the school. Overlaid was the voice of the newscaster, "Despite Atlas reinforcements, local authorities are still calling on any available Huntsmen to aid in suppressing the spike in Grimm activity."
"This is shit." Yang spat out as she stormed away, "Shit!" She called back over, but Raven and Vernal were already in the tent.
"Come on Yang." Blake growled out trying to lead her partner over to their area.
"Get off of me!" She yelled and ripped her arm away from the cat faunus, "I can walk myself."
Blake flinched at Yang's tone, "Easy Yang. It isn't her fault." Pyrrha said softly.
"Did I say I blame her? No? Okay then." Yang retorted back her tone hard as she sat down on a log, "I blame Ruby! I blame her for leaving us here! After all that shit she spat out and arguing with us for wanting to leave and she has the nerve to abandon us?!"
"It is frustrating yes." Jaune said trying to sound reasonable, "But getting angry at us isn't going to solve anything."
Yang's red eyes aimed at him and he gulped but stood his ground, "Again did I say I was angry at you guys? No? Okay!"
"Not okay. Nothing about this is okay!" Weiss yelled, "You are pissed and taking it out on us."
"Really Ice Queen?! I didn't see you putting up much of a fight!" She yelled back and stood up furiously.
Weiss let out a growl and stood up to meet Yang's gaze. Ren sighed and Nora pulled her scroll out. Pyrrha shook her head and started to tune the arguing out as she looked at Nora who had tapped in a search for the tournament. Blake, Jaune, and Weiss were trying to talk to Yang, and Yang was more or less yelling and taking her frustration out on her friends. Eyes were widening in shock at the results, "Guys." Ren called over looking at the arguing group.
"She is my sister!" Yang.
"You practically disowned her!" Weiss.
"She shouldn't have left us but-" Jaune.
"Your mother is the one who screwed us!" Blake.
"GUYS!" Nora yelled.
"WHAT?!" They yelled.
"Look." Ren said softly handing the scroll to Pyrrha who showed it to them, "This was uploaded twenty minutes ago."
Now there was a sickening feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they watched the scene unfold. The broadcast in Beacon had come back on suddenly and it was clear that the situation was far worse than they had ever believed. The broadcast depicted crowds of spectators fleeing the stadium in a blind panic, "Ladies and gentleman please. There is no need for panic." They hear a voice that was not Port nor Oobleck. Suddenly the camera switches views and they see a giant Nevermore attacking the arena's domed force field, giving a series of deafening screeches as it claws and pecks at the defense with its beak.
"Ironwood." Weiss gasped as Ruby's warning came back to them, 'The Atlas military will turn on the people they were supposed to be protecting.'
"Oh this is terrible." Pyrrha said as she covered her mouth with her hands.
Jaune shook his head and the camera switched angles once more. This time they watch as a squadron of Atlesian Knights shoot down hordes of Grimm, as citizens are running away and the hunters and their fellow students are trying to fend off the dark creatures. Suddenly the Knights stop as their visors and LEDs turn a dark crimson, "What is happening to them?" Nora asks.
Her questioned is answered as the Knights turn around, started aiming their guns at the students and hunters, who were not paying total attention until the sudden realization came too late. They robots open fired, "Anyway we can convince your mother now to let us go and help?" Blake asked as she avoided looking at her teams' horrified faces.
Yang doesn't respond to Blake's inquiry other than to say, "Where the hell is Ruby?"
-Snoopykid-
Ruby was standing in Ozpin's office with the headmaster himself, Glynda Goodwitch, and her father. Raven's portal had opened right inside as Oz had been about to send the two into the fray. No one moved a muscle for a beat and Tai threw himself on his daughter, "Ruby thank goodness." Pulling away he looked right at her, "Where-"
"Yang and the others are with Raven." He narrowed his eyes at her, "Now is not the time Dad. I'll explain more later when this is over, I promise."
He was about to retort when Ozpin cut him off, "She is right. Now is not the time. You and Glynda need to get down there and help-"
There is a sudden tremor that pulses around them. Tai grabs onto Ruby as Goodwitch and Ozpin grip his desk, "What the hell was that?" Tai demands.
"No…" Glynda gasps out and looks at Oz.
Ozpin rapidly types on his keyboard and they all witness the battles on three video feeds, one showing some buildings, the middle showing a group of Atlas soldiers struggling against a Deathstalker on Beacon's main avenue, and the last showing civilians stuck on a rooftop waving for help while an Ursa slowly crawls up the side of the building. He rapidly types on the keyboard and the three screens vanish and only one major one comes up.
It shows a mountain violently shaking and crumbling, as various body parts of a monstrous-looking Grimm are revealed, "Damn it. I tried to stop this." Ruby says pulling away from her stunned father as the video showed the mountain completely break apart, releasing a titanic Wyvern.
"Ruby?" Tai asked, "What-?"
"I gave you everything you needed to stop this." Ruby said angrily as she faced the headmaster. She scoffs, "I don't know why I came back." The Wyvern roared and they watch as it flies over the abandoned Mountain Glenn, heading towards Beacon. As it flies, it exudes a black, tar-like substance which drops to the ground in the city of Vale and spawns various Grimm.
Ozpin shakes his head, "What must we do? Is there a way we can win?"
Glynda is just as stunned as Tai as they look between the girl and the headmaster, "Roman Torchwick is dead, so most likely Neo is the one who is in one of the aircraft carriers and implanted the virus to Ironwood's soldiers. Find her, you find the virus." Ruby said relenting, knowing that getting angry about this now wouldn't do anyone any good.
Ozpin nodded and before he could say anything else, his door busted open and Qrow came running in, "Hey what-Ruby." He gasped out looking at the reaper.
Ruby gave him a quick hug, "Fly to the carriers. Find a woman with white, pink, and brown hair. Her name is Neapolitan, she implanted a virus. Destroy the carrier and the robots will shut down." Qrow looks at her confused and is about to ask her something when she yelled and pushed him to get out, "Go!"
He looks at her and at Ozpin who just nods. Qrow swallows and takes off running, "Dad and Glynda go help in the city. There are other problems aside from Grimm and Atlas viral infected soldiers. The White Fang should be arriving any minute. If you find a man named Adam Taurus be extremely careful."
Goodwitch looked at her and then at Tai, "You heard her." Ozpin said urgently, "There is no time to argue. Go." They just nodded and Tai gave her one last hug before running out of the office.
"You told them about me. That is why they didn't question me about this." Ruby stated slowly as she looked out the window to her destroyed school area after a moment of very brief silence.
"Yes after we got off the phone and you confirmed my suspicions. Not everything, just hinted that I made a mistake about your motivations and you were in a similar predicament like I am. Glynda understood of course, your father doesn't really understand but there was no time for me to go into great depth. Now what must we do?"
Together they noticed that the Wyvern was getting closer. The massive Grimm excreting more of the black substance, which drops to the ground and spawns more Grimm near the base of the CCT. Ozpin grips his cane as Ruby sighs, "I do not know if there is anything we can do other than try and stop Cinder from getting the Fall Maiden's powers. I can try to use my silver eyes but-"
"You were hoping to keep them hidden from her for a bit longer?" Ozpin asked.
Ruby nodded, "And amongst other things. However it doesn't seem like we have a choice."
"There is always a choice." With that he led her out of the office, "I would know." Ruby didn't know if she was supposed to hear that, but regardless she did and she heard the underlying dark tone that came with it.
Together they made their way across the school, fighting and dodging the dark creatures of Grimm and minor rogue Atlas robots. Ruby winced as she noticed out of the corner of her eye she saw her father go flying when an Ursa swiped its mighty claw at him. Growling darkly, she made a move to go help him, but Ozpin stopped her with his cane, "We can't. There isn't much time, the CCT must not fall. Glynda's got him." Sure enough Ruby saw the purple power of Goodwitch's telekinesis, and sighed a bit in relief as it appeared that her father was alight. She gave one last look and continued to follow Ozpin towards the tower.
All around her, she could see that despite their best efforts, the hunters and her fellow former classmates were losing the battle. The Grimm were becoming too numerous, and the Atlas paladins were wearing them down. It was very clear that their semblance was almost non-existent, and yet they still kept trying to fight. Cardin was leading his team and when she looked further down the main strip, she saw Sun leading his team as well; trying to give the remaining citizens a chance to flee to safety. Ruby wished it didn't have to be this way. In fact it didn't have to if only she had stayed and given the proper warning that was well deserved.
"You mustn't blame this on yourself." Ozpin said as he looked back after blasting a robot away from their path towards the tower, "I can sense it on you."
Ruby growled and sprung ahead of the man and in one swoop decapitated a Beowolf that had jumped right toward them, "I am finding that a bit difficult to understand how this could not be my fault. I knew this would happen. I lived through this once and I am about to do it again."
There was a shot that rang out and they sprung apart and saw another swarm of atlas robots and paladins coming towards them. Slowly they regrouped themselves and backed away. There was a mighty roar that was heard echoing around them. Looking up they see the Wyvern coming ever closer and then there is a loud explosion. Ruby sees two specs fly off a spiraling aircraft carrier and it was coming towards their vicinity, "LOOK OUT!" She uses her semblance that she had been trying desperately to conserve and grabs her headmaster to get them away. No sooner had she done that the aircraft exploded just a few hundred yards from where they stood but the impact caused debris to fly up and blast the robots and the Grimm away.
Once the aircraft was destroyed the Atlas robots and paladins visors turned dark and they all had shut down. Ruby came out of her semblance in front of the tower and looked around, "Qrow did it."
Ozpin fixed his glasses and straightened out his jacket, "Yes it would seem that he did. Ms. Rose I would appreciate a warning next time you do that."
"I said 'look out'." Ruby stated shrugging, "But in all fairness I don't think you or Oscar…mainly Oscar didn't care for the speed anyway."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, "Oscar?"
Ruby opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again only to close it and then sighed, "Uhm…"
"Never mind, there is no time for this we have to go protect Amber." Ozpin relented and he turned to go into the building, "Ruby since Ms. Nikos isn't here you will have another choice to make."
"Wait what?" Ruby asked stunned, "You are asking-"
"Yes. Will you be the new Fall Maiden?" Ruby stares at him wide eyed.
-Snoopykid-
Yang was storming back over to her mother's tent, "Ok she has already denied us, what makes you think she will relent this time?" Nora asked as she struggled to keep pace with Yang's long strides.
They had just watched the fall of the Atlas robots after an explosion from one of (according to Weiss) Ironwoods airships; however it was already too late for those that suffered a gruesome fate; and Yang wasn't going to sit by as her sister was in that fray. Somehow the camera was still rolling and broadcasting the atrocities that were occurring at their school. Blake was especially horrified as they witnessed Adam Taurus and his followers on the Bulkheads and releasing more Grimm and panic into the area. There were no other reports so there was no telling how many wounded, casualties, or missing there were, but one thing was clear and that was that Yang had to get to Ruby, no matter what, "Because I will be the one negotiating."
"Sure because you did so well the last time." Weiss responded with a bite in her tone, "She isn't going to help us. Ruby had made that clear in the beginning."
"She is right." Ren said in his soft tone, "Ruby had been on spot with a lot of things, including your mother's attitude towards…us…" He left the sentence hanging, but Yang picked up on what he had originally wanted to say: 'towards you'.
Yang clutched her fists, "I don't care. I want to be with Ruby that is all that matters to me right now. We have to get to Beacon."
"Despite Ruby wanting us to get to Haven?" Jaune asked, "Look okay we get it. We want to be with Ruby too. She shouldn't have left, but-"
"We are a team." Blake said softly and then in a stronger tone she says, "I need to get to Beacon too. Adam is my responsibility and what he and the Fang are doing…I need to face him."
That was another problem, her partner's obsession with the White Fang. Unfortunately Yang couldn't begin to make herself think about her partner at the moment. Seeing all those people, civilian and hunters alike falling at the hands of the overwhelming Grimm and the Atlas military, and wondering if Ruby may be one of them…she couldn't bear it. Not saying another word, she stormed over to the tent in front of her, "Mom! We have to talk now!"
There was no response, "MOM!"
"Your mother is not here." They turned and saw Vernal coming towards them.
"What? Where did she go?" Yang demanded, "I need to talk to her about getting to Beacon. I am not taking no for an answer."
"Clearly." Vernal scoffed and crossed her arms as a few bandits flanked her just in case a fight broke out, "Raven left to go to Beacon. She left about a few minutes ago."
There was a beat of silence, "Sorry?" Pyrrha questioned since Yang and the others were processing Vernal's words.
"You heard correctly. Raven is at Beacon. Something about doing one more favor so she could collect later, I do not know. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted." Then Vernal smirked, "I would thank her when she comes back if I were you, she didn't seem too pleased or all that willing. Now go back to your area before you cause another scene because right not now no one is in the mood for anymore drama." Looking around they saw the bandits glaring harshly at them.
"I didn't know you cared about Beacon all that much." Weiss commented softly picking up on the meaning of her words.
Vernal still had her arms crossed and rolled her eyes, "We are bandits, not barbarians. This doesn't just affect one area, this affects all of Remnant. From on everything has changed, so if I were you, I'd leave at first light if you were to have any hope in getting to Haven quickly before things really hit."
Sensing this as a dismissal, Yang shook her head and led them away, "I do not understand, why did she go and leave us here?" Pyrrha asked, "She has no business in Beacon."
"Sure she does." Yang muttered and pulled her scroll out, making her own search for the broadcast. Watching a few scenes something catches her eye and she pauses it, "Business number one." She shows them the scroll, "Our dad."
"Wait that is your dad?" Blake asked her face paling drastically.
Noticing this, Yang feels a ball in her stomach, "Yes. He is the blonde haired guy fighting alongside Qrow. Why what's wrong?"
Blake takes Yang's scroll and zooms in on the scene and then hands it back to her, "That guy they are fighting…that is Adam."
"I take it that is not a good thing?" Nora asked slowly looking over Weiss's shoulder as they again looked at Blake.
"No it most certainly is not."
