Okay real talk people.
I've had this chapter done since uploading the last one, and I kept forgetting to upload it.
Please feel free to shame me in the reviews alongside your thoughts on the chapter.
The next chapter will (hopefully) be up sooner than this one, though unlike this one it's still being written.
Ren peeked around the debris they were using as cover. He held a hand up behind him, gesturing for everyone to wait. After a moment, they heard what sounded like a heavy door slam shut. Ren turned and bounced up into a standing position.
"Okay so two things," he held up a finger on each hand, "one is that they just went into a pretty dense looking door."
"And the other thing?" Pyrrha asked.
"It's the White Fang," Ren said bluntly.
"Well damn," Jaune mumbled, "can't get away from these guys, huh?"
"No kidding," Nora sighed, "what are they doing here?"
"It can't be anything good," Pyrrha looked towards Raven, who stood and grunted as she twisted her neck.
"No. It can't be. We'll have to see what it is ourselves," she moved, the four students following after her as they readied themselves.
Standing before the metal door, it was hard to see where it would lead. It was embedded in a dense concrete wall but what operation could they be hiding in these buildings? Especially since it wouldn't make sense to use a heavy door when you could see through most of the buildings via holes in the walls.
"Do I blow it open!?" Ren asked excitedly. Raven turned towards Nora.
"You've got that big ass hammer right?" Raven asked. Nora nodded slowly.
"Strike here," Raven made a score in the metal with her sword just beside the handle. The scratch wasn't deep, a testament to the doors' density.
Nora unfolded Mjolnhild and hefted it backwards before swinging it with incredible precision for someone wielding a giant hammer. It struck where Raven marked and the door bucked open, the handle flying off the door itself.
"Awwww. My way would've been more fun," Ren huffed.
"It also may have collapsed the wall and sealed us off from them," Pyrrha had a strained smile as she explained that to the ninja.
"Ugh, yes mom," Ren droned as they all swept into the door.
It was a staircase that led down, darkened and steep.
"Oh great, stairs," Ren groaned. They all tread lightly, careful not to make any noise. They didn't even use their scrolls to light the way, afraid that it'd alarm anyone at the bottom of the staircase that someone was coming down.
After a minute straight of walking down, the stairs ended, and beyond laid a massive cavern filled with yet another abandoned city. Before they could fully take it in, they were held at gunpoint by the two White Fang members they'd seen enter before them.
"Hey! Who the hell are you—!" the voice was silenced as Raven bashed him in the temple with the hilt of Omen. Jaune had already done the same with the other, his shield firmly rebounding off of their face, sending them toppling to the ground.
"Now that that's settled..." Nora looked back over the cavern.
"Why is there another city down here!?" Pyrrha yelled.
"It was a last ditch effort. When it was clear that Mountain Glenn wasn't the success that they thought it'd be, the people tried to move underground into the metro system. What they didn't know is that the council had planned already to seal the train tunnels leading into Vale central and they ended up turning this place into a giant grave," Raven said, striding towards the edge of the small landing the stairs ended on. Beyond they could see into the more open cavern.
"That's awful..." Nora mumbled.
"Listen, you can ask a teacher or a historian about this some other time. Now ain't the time for an after school lesson," Raven grunted. They quieted, and while they didn't voice it, they all agreed and came back to the matter at hand.
Moving along the underground streets wasn't too difficult. There weren't any Fang grunts patrolling the streets. It was likely they hadn't been expecting anyone to come out to Mountain Glenn, much less to look for them.
"Why would the Fang hide out down here?" Ren asked.
"Those tunnels leading to the city I mentioned are probably being used in some way. Quick access or something more, who knows. We aren't really here to worry about the why, our job now as hunters is to stop them before they can do anything," Raven checked the corner before tilting her head for them to advance.
They continued on, still never running into anyone else. When it became clear that they didn't have to sneak anymore, they started moving faster.
They stopped when they finally saw signs of life. Tents, crates, troops, even a train. This was where the White Fang had holes up. Moving low to the ground and finding cover, Raven turned to the students.
"Alright brats, aim to subdue but if push comes to shove it's your life above theirs," Raven stated bluntly, saying no more.
"Stellar pep talk," Ren drawled. Nora elbowed him but didn't dent his statement.
"What pep talk do you need? We're about to fight for our lives. That should be pep enough for you lot," Raven spun the cylinder on Omen once, letting it click into place. Pyrrha sighed and addressed her team herself.
"Okay guys, keep an eye on each other and stay safe. Call for help when you need it and don't take any unnecessary risks. Nobody's getting hurt on our first mission!" Pyrrha spoke confidently, meeting the eyes of each of her friends.
They all smiled, nodding and preparing to move. Pyrrha sighed, taking a breath and setting her features into a determined glare. She fought a giant robot! Albeit with a lot of help, but she still came out of it unscathed! She could do this too!
"Okay brats. Our target is that train. It looks like they've prepped it for transportation, and if we can stop that then we can keep them out of the city. Got it?" Raven stood, hand over her sword.
They stood behind her, weapons at the ready as they moved out of their cover. First mission and they were already fighting terrorists again. Go figure.
"Let's begin then," Raven moved swiftly, done with speaking for the foreseeable future. The time for words was done now.
It was time to fight.
It started quiet enough, with a single, non-explosive arrow puncturing a tank of dust used for fuel.
Then it exploded.
"Ren, I thought you said that wasn't an explosive one!" Pyrrha looked at him crossly. Ren pointed at the now scrambling White Fang and the surrounding fire and smoke.
"It wasn't!" he stomped a foot, "I just aimed for something that was explosive!"
Pyrrha shot Nora a look, and the girl nodded before grabbing Ren and throwing him into the fray.
"WORTH IT!" Ren shouted as he flew, before landing with both feet on the chest of an unfortunate grunt. He springboarded off of them, detaching Stormblossom and spinning with his arms out. On his way down he managed to catch two men, sending both of their heads whipping back.
Ren bent backwards, ducking under a sword as it passed overhead. He shot back up, headbutting the unfortunate attacker in the nose. They had aura, but it was small as it could be seen shattering away as he hit the floor unconscious.
Turning quickly he blocked another blade but took a few rounds to his aura from his unguarded flank. He tore his left arm away and slammed the hilt of his blade into the man's wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon. Ren swept his leg before turning and shooting towards the faunus behind him. They tried to land a few more shots, but Ren was swift, diving forward with his blades crossed in an X shape. He tackled the gunner to the ground and rolled off of them, coming up and kicking them in the head to keep them down.
"Heads up," Nora called, causing Ren to duck. A cluster of bodies flew overhead and he turned to see Nora dusting her hands.
"Save some for the rest of us!" Ren shook his fist at her. She rolled her eyes, turning and blocking the swipe of a sword with her bare hand.
The man looked between his sword and Nora's unimpressed face.
"Ah shit—" he was hit with a swift headbutt, which floored him immediately.
Nora rolled her shoulders before finally deciding to take out her weapon. Mjolnhild hit the floor with a deep rumble, causing small amounts of dirt and stone to rain down from the cave ceiling.
She moved forward far faster than anyone with a hammer as large as her own should've moved, lifting the heavy weapon above her head and leaping in an arc towards the center of the base.
She landed, making a crater as well as a small scale earthquake that rocked the surrounding area. Several grunts fell over while the ones that remained standing did so on shaky legs. Shaky from fear or the tremor, none could say.
Nora hefted her weapon up again, twisting her body to the side and letting the haft slide through her hands so that she was only holding it by the very end. With her hammer extended out, she kicked her leg off the ground, sending her spinning towards the back of the train.
The hurricane of blunt force trauma was unstoppable, and those who weren't batted away like wiffle balls ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. Nora stopped spinning, grasping her hammer in her normal stance again.
She turned to board the train, but was stopped when a small squadron of faunus flooded out and surrounded her.
"Stop human! We will shoot—"
Nora punched the faunus speaking in the face so hard that they flew backwards and became embedded in the side of the train car. The others opened fire immediately, but Nora didn't even seem to notice, rushing through their bullets with the promise of a bludgeoning pain when she reached them.
"Should we stop her?" Jaune asked, his and Pyrrha's shields held up in front of them as they crouched and advanced, forming a small but effective shield wall.
"She has a lot of pent up stress. I think it's good for her," Pyrrha noted, flinching back as a bullet shot past her ear.
"Careful Pyr, eyes forward," Jaune instructed. She laughed nervously, a little estranged with how easily he shrugged off such a close shot to the face.
"So when do we act?" he asked. She hummed, moving forward with him another meter.
"Here is good," she affirmed.
He nodded and stood from their crouched position. There were soldiers surrounding them, and he noted that most of them looked ready to kill.
"You gonna be okay on your own?" he asked. She shrugged and sent him an awkward smile.
"I'll live."
"Not too reassuring, huh?" he smiled back, bumping her side with his arm before facing his enemies head on. A majority of their force were hiding behind an armored truck. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of one of them on a mounted gun within the vehicle.
Nodding as he decided on how to move, Jaune dashed forward in a lance charge, surprising the soldiers who thought he'd take a slower approach. Bullets flew by and he checked his way through any poor soul foolish enough to try and stop him manually. He leapt once he picked up enough speed, coming down and swinging his lance in an overhead arc.
It crushed the car like a tin can and set the engine on fire, leaving the one operating the mounted turret to clamor out and fall from the truck in a heap. Jaune stood atop the destroyed hunk of metal now, watching as the Fang mobilized into a sloppy formation again.
Not giving them the time to regroup, he leapt off the now flaming car just as it exploded. Using his shield he swept his way through the center of the formation, crushing three faunus and spinning quickly with his lance extended. The long weapon took anyone around him off their feet and sent flying around.
Only a few stood before him now and they were all armed with firearms. They opened fire and he tucked behind his shield, anchoring himself in place.
As the sound of bullets pelting off his shield reached his ears, he turned briefly to check on his partner. Pyrrha was engaged with the smallest group of men, only four, and she was currently bashing one over the head with the flat side of her sword while using her smaller shield to block her face from any stray bullets. He smiled and shook his head. Simple but effective, it was very much her style.
"Leave Ted alone! He's got kids at home man!" one of Pyrrha's four attackers cried, hands on his head as he watched her beat Ted with her sword essentially taking the form of a metal bat at the moment.
"They're next!" Pyrrha shouted, hurling her shield at the man who'd pleaded with her. Not expecting her ire to turn on him, he promptly caught the shield with his teeth and collapsed backwards.
Maybe I should talk to Pyrrha about better ways of coping stress, Jaune listed internally, saving that conversation for later. At the moment, as long as she was handling herself well enough her methods were of little importance. Shaking his head he returned himself to his own fight, still pinned down by gunfire. Activating the dust in his shield, he slammed his fist into the inside face and sent out a small pulse of gravity dust with a loud clang.
The wave surged forth only a short distance, but the effect was immediate. Everything directly in front of him dropped, and the Fang that were encroaching found it hard to move. He stood and charged forth once more, swinging his lance in wide sweeping motions. Everyone caught by the side of the weapon flew back and crumpled. Even with their weight increased from the gravity dust, he was still able to send them a considerable distance.
Raven watched as the team fought, moving in and out of the fight as she approached the train. They worked well together, though she could spot obvious weaknesses. Still, she was pleasantly surprised at their overall skill. Even the redhead was getting the job done in her own simplistic way. Of course...
"ARGH! MY BALLS!"
"Ren! Why do you always aim for people's privates!?" Nora groaned, already aware of who had struck the literal low blow without having to look.
"It's an effective strategy! Every man and woman has a built in weak point!" Ren shouted back.
"Have some honor!" Nora grunted, slamming two soldiers' heads together and knocking them out.
"Honor!? They're trying to kill us!" Ren argued as he spun and kicked another man in the crotch. This one didn't even cry out, simply passing out from the pain and falling over.
Raven sighed. They were effective fighters for sure, but Brothers above were they insane.
She couldn't dwell on this thought too much longer as she nearly lost her footing. Grabbing the rail of the caboose, she watched the train lurch and start to move forward. She swore and turned back to team PAVL.
"Brats! Change of plans! Get your sorry asses on this train now!" she called.
Ren was already running, jumping and springboarding off of some unfortunate moose faunus's antlers. He landed gracefully next to her and bowed with a flourish. Nora simply climbed on, being the closest to the train when it started moving. Ren smiled widely and she sagged. Somehow, he was enjoying himself.
Jaune sprinted after the train, grabbing Pyrrha as he flew past her. She yelped when he leapt, landing and placing her daintily as if he didn't just jump four yards horizontally. She nodded her thanks and they turned to Raven.
"I have no idea what they plan on doing with this damn thing, but I doubt they're taking a fresh batch of bread into town. We'll move from above and get to the engine of the train so we can hit the brakes on this big bitch," Raven commanded, ascending to the roof of the caboose. They followed her and started making their way towards the front of the train.
"We've got more big ass robots," Ren notified, pointing ahead. Indeed, there was a train cart exclusively filled with warsuits. Warsuits that were currently being activated and turning in their direction.
"Okay change of plans again. I'll stay up here, you four go through the train. We don't have time to get rid of all of these and I don't need any of you kids getting flung off a speeding train in the middle of goddamn nowhere," without waiting for their agreement Raven tore forward with Omen in hand. She leapt and stabbed directly into the cockpit of the first paladin. She heard a scream from inside but the paladin kept moving so she assumed she didn't hit anything vital.
She stood and ripped her sword out, earning another cry of pain. She slammed her foot through the hole she'd made in the cockpit and felt something relatively hard on her sole. The paladin halted and she figured she'd knocked them out one way or another.
She continued like that, and team PAVL watched for only a moment before remembering they were supposed to be moving. Sparing the hurricane of steel that was Raven Branwen one last glance, they closed the hatch to the train cart and started moving through the train.
"You think she'll be okay?" Ren asked.
"You saw her take down that first one, I'm sure that she's got it handled," Nora assured the ninja. Ren nodded and they opened the next door and moved into the cart ahead. This continued with no resistance, and they were beginning to grow weary.
This trend continued, and while the tension didn't evaporate, it became easier to deal with. Still they couldn't help but feel like the trains were too empty. Had all of the troops really been in the initial attack they had staged? If so didn't that mean that whoever started the train had just left half their men back in Mountain Glenn?
"Do you think they're all up top trying to stop Raven?" Ren wondered aloud, trying to dispel the uneasiness.
"Perhaps, but this still feels too..." Nora grimaced as she trailed off.
"Easy?" Jaune finished. Nora sighed.
"I was trying not to jinx it," she smirked lightly. They all laughed a little, but it was more to ease the tension than anything. They opened the next door and once again there was no sign of anyone. They started to move through the cart.
Only they should've realized that just because it didn't look like there was anyone in the cart, it didn't mean that the cart was empty. It was a lapse of awareness on their part, one that was easy to capitalize on.
By the time Ren felt his senses screaming at him to move, it was too late for him to dodge.
"AAARGH!" he cried, feeling his entire body shake as an immense pain blossomed from his back.
"REN!" Nora shouted, turning and running back to him. His eyes rolled back and he fell forward. She was able to catch him but the wisps of smoke stemming from him were bad news. So was the metal lash that retracted from his back quickly, a new wound in his lower left back that was a little darker than the rest of him, clearly seared by the weapon that shocked him.
"You humans always are great at underestimating your superiors," a voice spat at them, the team looking around.
Unable to see anyone, they remained on guard. They looked around, Nora holding Ren close while Jaune and Pyrrha held their shields at the ready.
"Where'd they go?" Pyrrha whispered, turning towards the blonde.
Jaune saw a slight twitch of movement whale Pyrrha looked at him and without any moment to spare he slammed his shield behind her. The metal whip glanced off his shield and retracted back to its owner. She clicked her teeth and decided that her approach had been ruined now.
They watched as a girl appeared before them. Her skin changed from grey to a normal color, as if she had been a part of the wall the whole time. Her features were almost human, but upon closer inspection the blemishes on her face and arms looked almost like scales.
"Sorry Nora," Jaune grit his teeth, "I guess I really did jinx it."
Jaune and Pyrrha readied themselves to fight, but a hand landed on both their shoulders.
"Go," was all Nora said, her eyes fixed on the faunus who had attacked them.
"But we can't just leave you alone!" Pyrrha argued. Jaune however nodded, bumping Pyrrha's side and lifting Ren onto his shoulder.
"I'll make sure he's okay. Promise," Jaune told the ginger. She only nodded once, rigidly as she continued glaring down their attacker.
Pyrrha looked torn, but one look at Nora's conviction filled eyes and Ren's unconscious body was enough to sway her. She squeezed Nora's hand and ran towards the next cart with Jaune. The same whip shot towards them but Pyrrha covered Jaunes back with her shield before getting through the door and slamming it shut.
It was silent in the cart then. Just the two girls facing off.
"Your name," Nora commanded quietly, cutting through the silence.
"You humans and your 'honorable fighting spirit' or whatever you call it. What makes you think I'll give you my name?" the girl asked, flicking her head to send her long ponytail over her shoulder.
"I want the coroner to know who they're looking at when I throw your mangled corpse at their feet," Nora walked forward slowly, no falter in her steps.
"You're all bark, human. You'll go no further than this," the faunus said, readying her sword whip again. Nora made no move to dodge. She rolled her eyes at the ginger's lack of action.
"Arrogant aren't we? You saw what happened to your boyfriend, didn't you?"
"Your legs."
"What?" the faunus asked, a little surprised at the statement.
"First I'm going to break your legs. It's what Ren would've wanted," Nora stated calmly.
"Of course you will, I'm sure you—"
"Then," Nora didn't let the girl finish, "I'm going to rip that ponytail off like a cheap lawnmower cable."
"Enough of your petty threats. We're done here," the girl whipped her sword at Nora, the tip digging into her shoulder. The faunus smirked. Was her aura that small? Or was she really all talk? It didn't matter, really, certainly not to her.
"Your eyes are next," she continued, ignoring the weapon protruding from her body, "On the off chance I decide to let you live, I'll make it so you'll never be able to see a world where your kind is accepted, even if it does happen."
"What was that you scum!?" the faunus screamed. Her arrogance was one thing, but now she was saying that she'd pity her!? Not only that, but that she'd go as far to prevent her from actually being able to see a free world!? That was it! She flicked the switch and electricity surged forth, coursing through the length of her weapon and into the ginger.
She would watch her as her brain fried!
She would make sure her last moments were pure pain!
She would... she would...
"And finally," Nora never stopped her even pace, her muscles glowing as electricity entered her body, "I'll break you in half like the stick of a girl you are."
Nora now stood only a few feet away.
"You get one more free move, by the way," Nora told her quietly, glaring her down.
For a moment, all was silent but for the crackle of electricity. The faunus stared at Nora aghast. What was this girl!? She felt her body shiver on its own, and even with her brain screaming at her not to do so, she instinctively, out of pure fear, took a step backwards.
"That's your third move," Nora whispered, as electricity entered her eyes, granting them an ethereal glow.
The silence reigned again. The electricity from the faunus's weapon finally gave out, leaving only the girls heavy, frightened breathing.
It was then, on that day that Ilia Amitola learned an important lesson.
Lightning was powerful...
Nora surged forth, a more threatening force of nature than a hurricane at that moment. It would be the last thing that Ilia saw in her life.
Nora didn't even bother with her weapon. With the amount of electricity running through her right now, she didn't even need it. She moved faster than the eye could detect, and when she was upon Ilia with her arm cocked back, she didn't even bother holding back the snarl that came out.
The sound Nora's fist made as it struck the smaller girl was that of a thunderclap, only imagine standing inside the cloud when the thunder actually happened and then you'd have a better picture of what Ilia's ears were going through.
She cried as she flew back, smashing through a stack of crates and even after those slowed her momentum she still left a dent in the side of the train.
She tried to move but with her head spinning and her ears ringing, all she managed was to keep herself from throwing up then and there.
She looked up to see Nora staring down at her, eyes still sparking with untold rage and power. Yes, Ilia knew that lightning was a true force of nature.
But while lightning was indeed powerful, the strongest of lighting was always followed by the mightiest thunder.
And Nora was thunder incarnate.
A crackling could be heard in her ears, but it wasn't from electricity this time. No, this was the small earpiece that she had. It must have been damaged when the ginger had sent her careening through the air like a cannonball.
"...—et... Off—...r—treat!" the voice she knew so well, even through the static said.
Ilia coughed and rolled to the side, avoiding a heavy stomp that left a hole in the flooring of the train. She could see the rails beneath her now.
"We'll... Have to finish this... some other time," Ilia hacked, realizing she had little place to be making threats after witnessing Nora's power.
Nora didn't look ready to let her leave, but before she could do anything, the girl jumped back, changing color as she did. By the time she landed it was hard to make out her form. Nora growled as she started losing track of her. The door that they had entered the cart through had been left open, and she had to cut her losses, knowing the girl would escape.
"I'll find you," Nora said through gritted teeth, not caring if she could hear her or not, "and next time, I'm bringing your body back with me."
Ilia was standing just outside the cart, ready to jump off the train. She shivered, as she knew now that the girl wasn't kidding when she said that. But as she leapt and rolled, she couldn't help but thank her luck that she managed to escape.
As the train continued barreling down the tunnel, a truck pulled up next to her.
"There you are," a familiar voice chimed, "get in. Things are going as planned. We'll be able to get into the city easily."
Ilia nodded, climbing into the truck and taking a deep breath. She'd have some time to recover, even if it was only a little.
"Prepare yourselves brothers and sisters!" the voice chanted into a walkie talkie, "we move onto phase two! Notify our ranks outside the walls!"
An affirmative was called back and she tossed the walkie talkie aside. She stared ahead as the truck continued driving, taking a turn towards an emergency tunnel exit to the outside.
"Tonight," she said, gaining Ilia and the other Fang members' attention, "we take Vale!"
The truck cheered, and Ilia, despite her pain, cheered with them. This was the power of the faunus, of the White Fang! And they would reign supreme this day!
Jaune ignored the rumbling of the train, more focused on flooding aura into Ren. Pyrrha stood guard, making sure they were safe.
"He's still alive, and with his aura he might have a chance to recover as well," Jaune stood, holding Ren in his arms.
"But we need to get out of here first for that, right?" Pyrrha followed up. Jaune nodded slowly but still managed to send a smile her way.
"But I have faith that you'll guide us out of this in one pice," he told her. She clenched her fist, looking at Ren's unconscious form as her eyes narrowed.
"No more injuries," she stated.
"No more injuries," he agreed.
They remained there for a little longer. The mission was no doubt important but they couldn't just carry Ren into more potential danger, so they were stuck waiting for a chance to move.
The door from the cart behind them opened and Nora stepped in. She was completely unwounded, and yet, she looked very upset. Her shoulders were tense and her fists were clenched.
"Nora!" Pyrrha ran towards her, "What the hell happened!?"
"The bitch didn't give me her name, that's what happened," Nora growled, treading towards Jaune and Ren. She looked at Jaune expectantly and the blonde smiled.
"He's alive and if we can get him somewhere more suitable, he'll probably be okay too," Jaune told her. She nodded, incredibly grateful for Jaune's semblance at that moment. He handed the ninja to her and she gently lowered herself to the floor with him.
"Jaune and I will keep going," Pyrrha said suddenly, causing her two conscious teammates to look at her, "you stay and keep Ren safe, and we'll get this train stopped as fast as possible."
Nora looked like she wanted to help for a moment, but then looked at the longtime friend in her arms. She pulled him just a little closer, and nodded. Pyrrha turned to jaune, who was already moving towards the next cart.
"Onwards and upwards as they say," he quipped.
"And who says that exactly?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh you know... they do," he answered lamely. She laughed and the two continued forward.
Once again the carts were empty as they moved, only now they remained alert. Each cart they cleared made the tension just a little thicker. After what felt like an hour of moving through these carts, but was in reality only about ten minutes, they finally reached the engine door.
"The leader of this operation is probably in there," Pyrrha stared at the door.
"Then we'll just have to stop them, won't we?" Jaune readied his shield in case whoever was inside was waiting for them.
Nodding, Pyrrha stood back, allowing Jaune to enter first given his greater reaction time. He took a single step back before stepping in with his shield and going through the door.
They both filed in and readied themselves to engage whoever was driving.
Only there was nobody in the engine cart.
"Uh," Jaune looked around, making double sure there wasn't another faunus who could cloak themselves, "there's... Definitely nobody here."
"Apparently there was," Pyrrha walked over to the front of the engine, pointing out the obvious sign.
A stone statue in the shape of a girl with cat ears was left holding the handle. Whoever was here left this strange figure to keep the train going, but didn't intend on sticking around.
"Check the lever too," Jaune got her attention. She looked down and noticed that the lever had been filed down and looked weak now.
"This is bizarre," Jaune stated the obvious.
"No kidding," Pyrrha tapped the statue, flinching back as if it would move. When it didn't, she tried pushing it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Is this dust?" Pyrrha asked, struggling to move the statue.
"Looks like it. And it's lodged on the controls too," Jaune tried to move it too. It was sturdy, but he could likely shatter it with some force.
"I'll go get Nora. Now that we know we're alone in here it's better if we're all together," Pyrrha stated, moving for the door.
Only for Raven to enter with Nora behind her.
"Gah!" Pyrrha stumbled back, "I thought you were fighting off all the robots!"
"I was," Raven raised an eyebrow at the statue that Jaune stood next to, "but they all left."
"I beg your pardon?" Jaune looked over at the woman. She shook her head and shrugged.
"I took down a few, and the rest jumped ship. I wasn't gonna jump off to fight them so I came down and found these two a few carts back," Raven sent a thumb towards Nora, who had Ren in her arms bridal style.
"Huh," Pyrrha thought that was strange too, but couldn't figure out why the White Fang would just abandon ship like that.
"Also every cart has a bomb attached to it," Raven stated offhandedly.
"WHAT!?" Jaune and Pyrrha shouted.
"I tried to remove it but there were a lot of wires and I didn't want to blow us all up so I left it. It's armed but there's no timer. Like that for all of them," the older woman rubbed her temples.
"We could try disconnecting the carts," Nora suggested, but Raven shook her head.
"That'll flood the tunnels with grimm, and in the event that that happens, when we stop this train we'll be stuck here with them," and she really didn't need to be stuck in this tunnel any longer than they already had been.
"But then wouldn't we be stuck in the tunnel with what's essentially a giant bomb?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"I have a way to handle getting out of these tunnels, okay?" Raven bit back. The blonde raised his hands in surrender and she looked back at the stone figure.
"What's with the weird art?" Raven walked over and kicked the statue. It didn't move but she still gave it a few nudges to try and dislodge it.
"It was here when we got here. It was the only thing here, actually," Pyrrha explained.
"Great. Well let's destroy the thing and stop this moving bomb," Raven commanded.
"How?" Jaune asked, "wouldn't we risk breaking the lever too?"
Raven hummed. He wasn't wrong. Whoever did this was smart enough to know that anyone who broke the statue ran the risk of taking the only way to stop the train with them. Not only that, but something seemed... Off about the controls she was looking at.
"What on Remnant...?" she looked at the various lights adorning the front of the engine.
"What? What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked nervously.
"What are all these controls for? And are they... Remote controlled?" Raven couldn't find any manual controls, excluding the lever held by the statue.
"What kind of train is this?" Nora asked.
"I'm not a locomotive person, so I can't really say," Raven tried looking out the front of the train but couldn't see much.
Suddenly the cart started to rumble and they all had to brace themselves. There was a loud whirring sound coming from the front of the train, and various lights that were previously off lit up.
One light, green and bright, illuminated a small word that had been engraved above it. It was too dim in the engine room to notice before, but now the word was clear.
Drill status.
"Shit," Raven swore, turning back and trying to move the statue.
"What? What's going on?" Jaune asked.
"This is a mining train. That means there's a big ass drill on the front and it just turned on," Raven grunted, using the hilt of Omen to try and chip away the hands of the statue.
The three conscious members of team PAVL gasped and looked around at one another. If someone turned the drill on, then did that mean...
"We must be nearing the city," Nora realized, stating the fact aloud.
"My thoughts exactly. Help me get rid of this thing now!" Raven barked.
"Whoever did this planned for something like this to happen and set us up to be stuck here!" Jaune winced. It made sense really. The statue, the weakened lever.
"And that means they gave the other Fang the call to get off the train," Nora added. That's why the paladins had all retreated. That's why that girl who attacked Ren had retreated.
"Shit!" Raven tore Omen out, readying herself.
"What's our plan now?" Pyrrha asked. Raven growled.
"We're getting off this damn train. If we can't stop it, we can at least avoid dying," she swung down, opening a portal.
"Move! Just jump through!" she ordered. They did as they were told, not willing to die in a fiery train explosion.
They all landed in a heap, except for Raven, who stepped through last and closed the portal.
"Ah, Raven," Ozpin greeted, sitting at his desk in his office, "I hope all is well?"
"No Ozpin," Raven was already moving towards the elevator, "all is about to be as unwell as possible."
"What do you—"
"There's a train that's been turned into a bomb currently about to drill it's way through the middle of Vale. That sound good to you?" Raven glared at him.
To Ozpin's credit, there was only a very brief moment of silence.
"I'll notify James at once," he said, turning to his console.
"I'm headed to the scene now. Get the kid a bed, he's wounded," Raven gestured very briefly to Ren.
"I'll let the staff know immediately. Team PAVL, you performed excellently, please head to the medical ward and check in. We'll see to Mr. Ren's recovery as quickly as possible," he assured.
"But what about the train!? The bombs!? The White Fang!?" Pyrrha asked, incredibly confused by this sudden change of pace. They were just on a train and now they were in Ozpin's office! What had happened!?
"I will have all available students and hunters in Vale as soon as I can get through to General Ironwood, but you have an injured teammate that needs assistance first," he said simply but firmly.
Jaune gripped Pyrrha's shoulder and nudged her towards the door. She grumbled but allowed herself to leave, knowing that Ozpin was right and they needed to get Ren situated first.
Team PAVL moved hurriedly through the halls, not even stopping when the off student asked what had happened or if they were supposed to be out of the school. When they arrived at the infirmary, they were met with two members of Beacon nursing staff. They had Nora place him on a bed and he was taken into a room to be checked and given any necessary painkillers. Team PAVL was ushered away, the nurses telling them that they'd receive a call when they could come check on him.
As they sat in the waiting room they reflected that everything felt very... Unsatisfying.
Their mission felt as if it was cut short, it felt like they'd accomplished nothing and that danger was still on the way, and worst of all, one of them had ended up injured. The knowledge that he'd be okay was a small victory, and one they were all grateful for, but it felt hollow. Pyrrha said as much.
"I agree," Jaune sighed, an irritated look on his face, "it feels so... Abrupt. Like we just had to give up in an instant."
"Not to mention there's still a bomb about to drill it's way into Vale central," Nora still looked the most upset, and neither Pyrrha nor Jaune could blame her.
And so that just left them sitting here. Defeated, unsatisfied, and just generally upset. They sat with that air uncomfortably, before the sound of people rushing their way could be heard.
"Yang?" Pyrrha asked, looking up.
"You guys are here! What the hell happened!?" Yang rushed to stand among them, looking around. The rest of her team arrived shortly after.
"We heard some people talking about how you guys were back already, and we had to check for ourselves," Ruby explained after. Jaune looked at them in confusion.
"Weren't you guys supposed to leave at noon yesterday?" the champion asked.
"There was something about repairs needed for the bullhead and we had to wait another day," Adam grunted, "It's just as well, what happened out there?"
"We failed," Nora grumbled out simply. That caused them to look around awkwardly.
"We..." Pyrrha tried to find a better way to frame it but gave up with a deep sigh and a sad look, "Yeah... We pretty much failed."
"Details, woman," Whitley stated, with his usual brand of politeness.
Pyrrha and Jaune explained the situation, Nora in no mood to speak. Team YSTR listened, Yang and Ruby being more audible with their reactions than Adam and Whitley. By the end, the somber mood extended to their friends as well.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Whitley said sincerely.
"It's our fault in the end," Jaune stood, tired of sitting and growing restless.
"You guys should eat something," Adam suggested, "you've been through a lot and your energy is low."
It had been this way when he was in the Fang. After a raid, successful or not, people would be tired or— if the mission was a failure— defeated and lost. A warm meal went a long way at raising spirits.
Speaking of the Fang, Adam was on edge now. Any moment they'd likely be called into action if there really was a bomb speeding into the city. Not only that, but the faunus who had hurt Ren sounded a lot like Ilia, and there was only one person in the White Fang he knew that could leave a perfect replica of themself behind.
If that were the case, and she was making a move on the city, then his reunion with Blake might be a lot sooner than he expected. Or wanted.
"Adam is right," Pyrrha stood as well, "Nora, will you join us?"
"I'm going to stay," Nora had her eyes closed and was leaning against the chair of the waiting room, "I want to be here if the nurses say it's okay to go in."
"We understand," Jaune laid a hand on her shoulder. She sent him a thankful look and they told her to let them know if she wanted anything or if they could see Ren to let them know.
Team YSTR plus two now left the waiting room and walked to the dining hall in silence. Yang wished she could say something to lighten the mood, but this seemed like one of those situations where it was better to let people think for a bit. Ruby seemed to notice this and sent her sister a warm smile and a thumbs up. That made the blonde stand a little taller.
They entered and grabbed food. For a little bit neither Pyrrha or Jaune ate much, more poking and picking at the food. Once they seemed to settle down more however they practically tore into their food. Team YSTR took this as a sign that they were feeling slightly better and ate their food with lighter hearts.
"Yang, a question, if you wouldn't mind," Pyrrha asked abruptly, startling the girl.
"Oh, uh, fire away!" Yang said, happy to break the silence and try to talk away the tension.
"Your mother... She seems strangely... Invested in my person," Pyrrha said. Yang blinked, not expecting to have heard that and thus having no response.
"I'm... Sorry about that?" she tried. Pyrrha laughed slightly, earning an internal cheer from Yang at easing her mood.
"It's not something to apologize for, it was just unexpected. I was wondering if this was a habit of hers," Pyrrha clarified.
"Not that I know of. My mom's always been a bit off the deep end," Yang shrugged.
"She didn't seem that bad," Jaune interjected.
"Oh, she's relatively harmless," Yang waved off, "I know she'd never do anything weird behind our backs or something!"
Raven flew through the window and landed, kicking the door she had remembered who she was looking for having come out of before.
"Wh-what's going on here!?" Cinder cried, covering herself with a towel, her hair dripping with water.
"White Fang, train, bomb," Raven spat, skipping formalities and not giving the other woman a chance to dress herself.
"What!?" Cinder hissed, momentarily forgetting her embarrassment at what she'd just heard.
"I don't know what this plan of yours was, but the Fang plans on drilling a train through the city and then blowing it up," Raven tossed the woman a dress off the cabinet next to the door. Cinder caught it and blinked.
"That... Wasn't our plan at all..." she mumbled. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Then they had been planning to betray you quite early," Raven turned, slamming the door shut. She waited a minute and it reopened, cinder now dressed, her hair messier than normal.
Emerald and Mercury stood by the door, seemingly ready for Cinder to give them orders of some kind. Cinder hummed, bringing a scroll to her ear.
"Roman? I'll assume you're there. The White Fang are about to bomb the city. I have a favor to ask of you," she spoke in a rush. After a moment she heard distant shouting from Neo asking what it was she wanted.
"I need you in the city getting people to safety. You don't have to stick your necks out too far, but at least get people out of the blast radius," Cinder ordered. Raven was growing restless waiting.
"What will I be doing?" Cinder repeated. She looked to Raven quickly, before bringing her attention away.
"I'll be retrieving something that belongs to me."
Raven resisted the urge to hiss, gripping the hilt of Omen instead. Was she really going to try and get into Beacon now?
Cinder gave out a few more orders before hanging up. When she did she turned to Mercury and Emerald. The two stood straighter and awaited her words.
"You two, get out there and do the same. Minimize casualties. We want Ozpin here in Vale with as many huntsmen as possible, but we need to make sure that once he's down here he stays down here. Do not engage, but do what you must to keep his attention away from returning to the academy," Cinder paced as she explained. The two nodded and departed, rushing to get to work before anything exploded.
"And you're getting through Beacon, how?" Raven probed. Cinder sent her a sly look, and Raven's glare intensified.
"No."
"I'm asking as a friend."
"No offense friend but I hope you know that I have no clue where Ozpin is keeping the maidens powers which— by the way— are likely bugged in some way. Not to mention the entire Atlesian military floating above our heads," Raven barked.
"This will be our only opportunity. Ozpin will take no chances after this, thinking that it's my own or Salem's doing. The security will only expand and our window will disappear," cinder retorted.
"You realize how bad this could go, don't you?" Raven stared heatedly at her. Cinder grit her teeth, throwing her hands up.
"I'm playing things by ear at the moment! I didn't expect the White Fang to take their fear mongering this seriously!" Cinder growled.
The two held a staring match, intent on keeping it going as long as it took to make the other back down. That is, until everything shook.
The sound was loud, even from where they were. The dust could be seen rising from the window, and there were even a few buildings that came down as well. The damage didn't seem to stop, likely a byproduct of the drill keeping the train moving forward.
By the time the sound of the train literally cutting through Vale stopped, the sound of panicking people and building toppling was still ongoing. But this wasn't even the worst of it. As bad as it was, and as deep as the train had made it through the city, it had stopped. And for a moment that made it seem like things would be okay.
That's when it all went down.
If the sound of the train digging its way through Vale was loud, then the sound of the entirety of the train combusting in what was most likely a culmination of all the dust stolen by the White Fang was deafening. The sight was worse, the light brightening the afternoon sky and illuminating the city. The force of the explosion rocked the city, and the wind that pushed its way out sent some small trees crashing and any poor souls flying.
Even Raven and Cinder had to steady themselves, and when they were finally able to look out the window without squinting, the sight was ghastly.
Fire and smoke filled the city, and with the size of the explosion and the length of the train, it was soon to start spreading. This was no controlled explosion. This was the intended effect. Nothing to hold it back, nothing to keep it from setting off other explosions. The crates that had lined the train had likely all been filled with dust, only adding more carnage to the blast.
"By the brothers..." Cinder gaped as she stared, "This... This is just horrendous!"
"This is unforgivable," Raven seethed, "We cannot allow this to go unpunished!"
More screaming had their attention, as well as the shaking outside. While the explosion had indeed been large and was definitely spreading now, it shouldn't have reached where they were yet. So what had people running over here?
The answer was immediate when a small brigade of Atlesian paladins rounded the corner, the same paladins that had been on the train and Raven now realized were filing into the city. They moved through cars and didn't even seem to notice the civilians as they wrecked the street.
"Raven," Cinder spoke quietly but resolutely, "I need to get those powers."
"You're still on that!? Look outside! Are you so daft that you can't see the big problem here!?" Raven raged.
"Oh I see it," Cinder glared out the window, "and that's just the issue. If we see it. Ozpin sees it. And if that old fool sees it..."
Raven sucked in a breath as she realized what Cinder was saying. She wasn't just referring to Ozpin beefing up security. That would only matter if there was still a city to protect. And in order to keep destruction of this magnitude under control, there were only a few things she could imagine doing the trick.
"Surely... The general will be able to handle it," Raven tried, not wanting this to be the necessary outcome.
"The military will do nothing more than destroy more of the city in collateral. Ozpin will push for the maiden powers to be passed on. I am positive of it," Cinder growled.
"Shit," Raven cursed as she tried to tear her eyes away from the chaos outside.
"If I get those powers, I can help save this city, and then I'll be gone from Vale for a long, long time," Cinder pressed.
Raven grit her teeth so hard she feared she'd need to see a dentist afterwards. There weren't a lot of alternatives. The White Fang had planned this well. There simply was no easy way to solve the situation with the Fang now flooding the city without more destruction being wrought. And the matter of the giant line of fire cutting Vale in half? They'd need something supernatural to simply put that out.
"GRAH!" Raven flipped the table in the room before stomping over to Cinder and grabbing her by the collar. She brought her in close and the words had to be forced out of her mouth.
"Fine. We'll get you those powers. Now let's move already!" Raven swore as she and Cinder leapt from the window and began their dash through the city.
"Any ideas on how to get to Beacon through all of this!?" Raven asked as they ducked through random gunfire. The Fang weren't even aiming for people. They wanted Vale gone. They wanted to prove a point. Lives weren't enough, they needed to topple a kingdom if they wanted the world to know they were to be truly feared.
"I've got a few! Roman has a personal bullhead I asked him to put aside for me! We need to reach the docks first before we can fly back towards Beacon!" Cinder danced between the hail of gunfire.
"Hopefully Jimmy doesn't shoot us down!" Raven turned the corner, noting the amount of people that were running away hadn't thinned. There were still masses of people fleeing.
"Well we could always take a portal there!" Cinder suggested sarcastically.
"And risk people seeing me sneak you into the school? As if," Raven clicked her tongue.
Looks like they'd be doing things the hard way.
"Besides, there's no saying if we'll be shot down! They may just assume we're getting out of the city!" Cinder tried to make the situation seem better.
That wasn't as ridiculous a notion as it sounded. With all of this going on, it made sense if they had people flying out of the city. Maybe they'd be able to slip under the radar after all.
They rounded yet another corner when another explosion rocked the street and they had to duck behind a fallen wall to avoid a stream of bullets.
"What the hell!?" they looked to the sky, only to see bullheads coming into the city from the opposite direction the train had come from.
"They've caught the city in a pincer," Cinder noted grimly, "Fang flooding in from a fiery tunnel on land in one direction, and more coming from the sky in the other."
"The odds of getting shot down just skyrocketed," Raven didn't flinch as a stray bullet whizzed past her face.
"Indeed. I'd say it's about on par with the portal in terms of danger now," Cinder mused.
"Still a no. We'll have to go around the wall to avoid the Atlesian fleet's attention. They'll be too focused on the Fang in and entering the city that we should be able to go around the walls at the cost of taking more time," Raven stuck with their current plan. She didn't need Yang or Ruby, or worse, Ozpin seeing her work with this woman.
"Then we need to move faster because Atlas is about to return fire," Cinder pointed. Raven followed and watched the guns and cannons on the battleships above start moving. This was ignoring the fact that the White Fang bullheads were already attacking the fleet too.
"Wonderful," Raven bemoaned, taking off towards the docks once again. They needed to move fast if they wanted to try and keep the city from burning down completely.
Today would go down in Remnant's history forever. The day that Vale became a total warzone.
Gasp, a cliffhanger! In my story!?
Yup, you'll have to wait until next time to see more. I did say things would change a lot more in this story.
A few things I guess I'll clarify (provided anyone is actually reading these authors notes).
Ilia paralyzing Ren isn't too far out of the ballpark considering she did the same to Sun.
I feel like this outcome works well for this story. Trying to write the Vytal Tournament would just seem too cookie cutter for this. I wanted some real wanton destruction and by George I'll have it!
We'll see more of... Well everyone soon enough, I promise.
As a little behind the scenes, I was originally going to have Nora actually kill Ilia in this chapter, but decided against it happening this early. I've got more to do with them both so it'll wait for now.
No omake today, it would break the suspension of disbelief. I should have more time to write soon, so thank you for bearing with me!
Be healthy, stay safe, and have a wonderful time!
