Holy hell am I sorry for the delay with this one. No real excuse; just kinda lost passion and interest for a bit. But I am determined to leave nothing undone and I shan't. Rest assured this story isn't over until I say so.
I offer this crazy long chapter as an apology. Please accept it.
Let's get to it, shall we?
Fire. The first thing that the students of Beacon all noticed after the explosion was the blast of fire that had erupted from the city just moments ago. The sound had reached them from all the way in the academy, and it had been what initially garnered their attention towards the city.
Nobody could speak, stunned into silence at the scene. Vale, which seemed so safe from any extreme danger, had just been set on fire.
This was the most wide scale attack that any of them had ever been alive to see. No doubt that the insane amounts of panic and fear would also bring Grimm into the city. The students stood stock still, unsure of what to do in most cases, and too caught off guard to even think in others.
"Vale..." Yang just stared, mouth ajar at the city. Was this really the attack that team PAVL had tried to stop? She shuddered. Apparently they'd only gotten off the train due to her mother's semblance, but who's to say they'd be able to retreat from the blast radius if they'd been forced to stay on or around the train?
"We need to get to the loading bay," Adam was the first to break from his trance, though he looked stricken with an ailment of some kind, his face pale and a sheen of sweat building on his head. As if repeating what Adam had said, the intercom sprung to life at that moment.
"All available students and faculty to the loading zone now! I repeat, all students and staff report to the loading zone!" Glynda Goodwitch shouted through the school. Still most students didn't move, too stunned to do so.
"You all go ahead!" Pyrrha told them as she stood, "I need to tell Nora!"
Jaune grabbed her arm before she ran off.
"I'm sticking with you. If we all go down separately we could get lost in the mess," he said calmly.
"But you—"
"Will get there soon, after we get our teammate," he said firmly. She stared, but relented and the two ran off to get Nora.
"Hey! The rest of you!" Yang's boisterous voice called to the dining hall, "Are we hunters or are we goldfish!? No offense, Terence."
A small faunus boy with orange scales and fins sent her a thumbs up.
"Let's move people!" Yang called again. That seemed to snap them into motion. If not for her spirit then at least her shouting broke their surprise.
Yang turned to her team and nodded. With that they all took off, feet pounding through the school as they all made their way to the landing zone. Students could be seen filing in through the halls with them, spurred into action as well.
The bullheads were loading up, staff around the docks were directing people to the next available ships, doing their best to keep things organized and fast. Team YSTR arrived, looking around for a free ship.
"Whitley!" a voice called from a prepping ship. They all turned to see Weiss leaning out of the open door, having called for her brother. The five ran over and boarded the ship, nodding a quick greeting to Penny, Neon, and Flynt who were already within the bullhead.
"What the hell happened!?" Neon shouted when they all situated themselves.
"The White Fang drove a mining train through the middle of Vale and ignited it with a series of remote explosives. That's what Pyrrha and Jaune told us at least," Yang explained, garnering horrified looks from the four Atlesian students.
"I can only assume that this doesn't just end with an explosion," Adam stared out towards Vale with a dark expression on his face, "something of this magnitude has layers to it."
"You think they'll start flooding into the city?" Ruby sounded worried, likely her desire to protect people going haywire.
"If they aren't, I can think of an interested party that will," Adam growled. Nobody needed to say it, they understood. Something like this would have people scared for their lives, not to mention anyone actually caught in the blast radius and what they'd likely be feeling. All those emotions would draw Grimm like a moth to a flame.
"We need to move already," Weiss banged the cockpit door.
The pilot took the queue for what it was, flicking switches and pulling back on the control stick as the bullhead began ascending. Once they were out of the docking area, the vehicle kicked, jetting forward as they took off towards Vale.
They were all silent, waiting and checking over their gear as they waited for the word to drop. The tension was high and the atmosphere heavy. Even Penny with her normally high optimism seemed unable to find a positive in their situation. For all of them, this was the first time in their lives someone had made an attack on an entire kingdom. The fight against the paladins seemed like nothing in comparison to the carnage of such a massive explosion.
So lost in the tension were they, none of them noticed the bullets that punctured the hull of the ship until they were nearly taken apart by them.
"Son of a bitch!" Neon cried as they all got low.
"We've got hostile airships on us!" the pilot shouted from the cockpit. Briefly, they all watched a bullhead speed in front of their ship, banking around their left. None of them missed the insignia spray painted onto the sides.
"We're over the city but we're too high!" the pilot flicked more switches before taking evasive action, the bullhead leaning right and descending.
They held on as gravity shifted in their quick fall. At the pilot's word they all braced themselves as the ship leveled out again, lower than before but still far above Vale. More bullets could be heard flying past, and more bullheads could be seen flying past them. They watched as they engaged others in the sky, the familiar ships from Beacon and the sleek ships of Atlas mixing together as the Fang chased down everything.
And as if to add insult to injury, there was still more if the loud, grating screech was any indication.
"Nevermore!" the pilot called, the ship dropping again as it veered just past the large bird Grimm. They all felt the beast's underbelly glance off the side of their transit, and had to hold onto the handles in the ship to keep from falling onto one another.
The Grimm had started arriving in the city, and it seemed like the White Fang were taking the opportunity to run amok while the Atlas military had to stretch their attention thin.
"We need to get to the city now!" Yang barked.
"We're still too high! If you don't get shot out of the air you'll be swept up by Grimm instead!" the pilot grunted, still avoiding gunfire and now the occasional giant bird.
Yang would've argued further but the chance to do so was taken as a feather pierced the cockpit and sent the ship careening down.
"Nevermind! Fuckin' jump for it!" the pilot shouted, grabbing a parachute and slamming the emergency door release.
The doors flew off and they all leapt, lest they be crushed in the crash. They flew down, doing everything in their power to slow their descent while also remaining mobile so as not to be taken out of the air.
A loud screech notified them of the nevermore coming their way, and they all did their best to get into a position to deal with it. The bird bore down on them as it's mouth opened in another cry.
Luckily, the bird was shredded by a stream of gunfire before it reached them.
Unluckily, the beast was just collateral, as the bullets continued to fly, now directed at them as the White Fang gunship rounded on them.
"We're gonna die before we hit the ground!" Whitley hissed.
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby angled herself, aiming down the sights of Savage Rose and lining the shot up with the encroaching bullhead.
She held her breath, ignoring the stinging winds and the air pressure changing. The crosshairs lined up, one eye closed, the other narrowed. She let her finger press lightly on the trigger, waiting for the perfect moment.
The ship dipped slightly as it adjusted to continue firing on them. At that moment her weapon barked and she flew backwards. She did her best to right herself, now much further away from her team and friends. The sight of the Fang ship smoking and diving allowed her a small sigh of relief as her shot had hit home.
Looking down, she could see the full damage of the explosion. A massive crater of fire bisected a good third of the city and she couldn't tell what had been the initial blast or what had been the results of the spreading fire. Either way, she had landed on one side, and everyone else had landed on the other.
She would have to regroup with the rest at a different time. As it was, they were now low enough that trying to get back to them while in the air would have her run the risk of eating the side of an office building. Or burning to death. Neither one sounded too pleasant.
Firing a few more rounds off, she slowed herself before unfurling her scythe and catching a fire escape. Swinging around, she flipped before landing in a crouch, her scope coming to her eye as she secured the area around her.
Aside from the few crashed cars, the street was empty. It looked like all the civilians in the area had cleared out. If there were any White Fang or Grimm in the city, they were here. She brought her scroll up quickly, bringing up the comms line for her team.
"Guys? I landed in the city and I'm in a quiet zone. What's the word over there?" she asked.
Gunshots were her answer, and she could hear them as much through her scroll as she could echoing throughout the ravaged city.
"We landed in the shit Ruby!" Yang shouted. She could faintly hear Adam in the background, likely tearing his way through whatever it was or whoever it was they were fighting.
"I'll make my way around the city. Don't worry about moving, I'll catch up!"
"I know you will sis. Stay safe, keep us posted," Yang replied before storing her scroll and cocking Ashen Celica. She flew forward, fire spraying behind her as she let her fist bury itself in the head of a small beowolf.
"Where'd Ruby land?" Whitley asked, glyphs lined up as he let loose a wide line of bullets towards the approaching crowd of Grimm. The Grimm numbers on the ground were small right now, but they were visibly growing the longer they looked around.
"Other side of the blast zone. She's gonna run around and meet up with us as we fight our way through the city," Yang said, a stream of fire joining Whitley's barrage, incinerating any Grimm that got past his bullets. Adam landed behind them, flicking his blade before slamming it in its sheath.
"What's our plan then?" Adam grunted, staying limber and ready for another fight.
"You start making your way around and meet her halfway," Yang blinked and shook her head, "well, as halfway as you can get before Ruby gets to you. We'll follow behind and clean up anything that slips past you."
Adam nodded and took off, checking his scroll for Ruby's location and noting the way she was currently traveling. Plotting his path to her he ran a little faster, confident that Yang and Whitely would be behind him later.
"We'll fight the opposite way and cover more ground," Flynt called to Yang as he burned a creep with his trumpet and fire dust, "stay safe you guys!"
"Speak for yourself!" Yang smirked, following after Adam with Whitley in tow.
"You heard him, onwards!" the two younger hunters heard Weiss call as the remaining four started fighting in the other direction.
They had to continually check what path Adam was taking, making sure that they weren't losing him. They noted the odd dissolving Grimm body and knew they were on the right path. Every now and then the odd Grimm would try and get in their way but the two partners dealt with them swiftly.
For the most part, things seemed to be going smoothly.
Then the wall to the building next to them exploded outwards as a paladin crashed through it and nearly flattened them.
"Shit," Yang grit her teeth.
"Shit indeed," Whitely spun the cylinder to his revolver and made sure it was fully loaded.
With a kick to the ground they both flew backwards, letting loose probing fire that glanced off of the mech. The paladin advanced through the stream of fire that Yang released, bullets streaming from the mounted turret on the shoulder. The partners split in opposite directions, Whitley pelting the joints with bullets of ice while Yang continued trying to melt the machine with a steady flame.
The paladin swung it's clawed arm around, catching Yang and sending her flying through a nearby street side window. Swearing as his partner temporarily disappeared from view, Whitley loaded a purple round and took aim at the joint connecting the legs to the body of the paladin.
With aim born through constant target practice with Weiss, the bullet struck the center joint with a loud thud, sending the mech sprawling backwards as the gravity round struck true. With as much as the paladin weighed, the use of gravity dust was noticeable as it struggled to remain standing.
Yang leapt out of the window she came through and landed in a crouch, blinking as she witnessed the machine stumbling. For a moment it almost regained its footing.
But before it could right itself a black glyph formed above it and it sunk into the concrete, the sound of metal straining grating their ears.
"Any... Moment... Yang..." Whitley growled through his teeth, concentrating on keeping the glyph active on something so large.
Yang didn't need to be told twice. Throwing her arms back, two streams of fire erupted from her gauntlets and she shot forward like a blonde missile. Her fist impacted the cockpit, shattering the glass and leaving a very surprised and increasingly terrified faunus staring up at her.
Yang didn't wait for them to plead their innocence or beg for forgiveness. Instead, a swift hook to the temple not only rendered them unconscious, but sent them tumbling out of the paladin and to the street. The machine teetered before toppling the opposite direction, landing with a loud thud. Yang leapt off as it fell and jogged back to Whitley who was looking at his scroll.
"We're far behind Adam now," Whitley told her, showing her where the bull was compared to them.
"Damn that man is fast," Yang grunted.
"Let us hurry after him then. Brothers know how many more Grimm or Fang we'll encounter, not to mention how anyone will deal with the raging inferno that's slowly consuming the city," he took off again mid sentence, Yang running by his side.
The two did their best to follow after Adam, taking down the few errant Grimm that stumbled into them. They didn't come across anymore White Fang, but if being shot at from the air and the paladin they'd fought was any indication, the chance of seeing them again today was high. Yang silently prayed that Ruby and Adam would make contact soon. That would at least assuage that part of her mind.
Whitely noted a few things as they tried to catch up with Adam. One was that it seemed that anyone who was able to had already fled to designated evacuation zones. This of course didn't spare the partners from witnessing far too many corpses, and wasn't that a grisly sight trying to tell if they'd been killed by the train, the explosion, the Grimm, or even the White Fang themselves. The other thing Whitley noted was far less serious.
"How... The hell... Can you keep... Running!" Whitley wheezed, now trying to keep up with both Yang and the far along Adam.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Yang shouted back as they rounded the corner, evading a flaming tree as it fell.
"What... About... Two apples?" the boy snarked.
"Do you even fear God?" Yang asked incredulously.
The conversation was cut short when Yang's scroll suddenly alerted them with a harsh ding. Yang stopped short, and Whitley bumped into her back as a result. He caught the hiss she made, and though it was impossible to register because of all the fire already surrounding them, the heat waves radiating from Yang were not a good indication.
"What happened?" Whitley asked, finally catching his breath as they stopped.
"Adam and Ruby's signal just disappeared. I don't know where they are anymore," she growled.
"Well we know the general direction don't we?" Whitley bumped her shoulder. She sighed and the heat around her dissipated.
"You're right. But that still begs the question..." Yang stared hard at the last registered location of her sister and teammate.
"What the hell happened?"
Pyrrha and Jaune found Nora seated in the exact same place and position as they'd left her. Upon her arrival, the ginger looked their way before turning back to Ren. He was breathing easy, a relief to the redhead. She wished she could say the same for herself since she had run all the way here.
Pyrrha caught her breath first and turned to Nora who now had her focus directed towards her leader. Pyrrha noted that the windows in the room didn't overlook Vale, and that the emergency rooms must've had some heavy soundproofing since she could no longer hear the emergency alarm. Guess it wouldn't be a great idea if they startled doctors and injured students with a klaxon.
"The train made it to the city," Pyrrha finally said. Nora's eyes narrowed and sighed as she stood.
"And? What's the damage?" Nora asked. Pyrrha winced.
"You may want to see for yourself," Jaune said in a low tone, so as not to disturb Ren.
Nora grunted and gave Ren's hand a firm squeeze before standing and following her leader. If he woke up only to find he was alone, they'd all have hell to pay, and a very vindictive ninja on their hands to deal with.
They missed the slight movement from the boy as they left the room.
The three moved quickly from the infirmary and outside where the city could be seen. Upon looking out and at the city, Nora hissed in shock, a fairly extreme reaction for the normally stoic girl.
"Shit," Nora swore through gritted teeth.
"Yang and the others are already en route to the city. We need to help them," Pyrrha explained.
"You make it sound so simple," Nora sighed, "the city's been reduced to a giant bonfire and a bunch of students are supposed to fix everything?"
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at the girl and Nora sighed again.
"Sorry," she said dully, "it's been a long day now."
"I know," Pyrrha squeezed her arm, "but we can't just do nothing, can we?"
"No. You're right. There's still a lot of people in Vale. They'll need everyone they can get to help the citizens," Nora grabbed Pyrrha's hand and squeezed it back, "let's go."
Pyrrha sent her a relieved smile and the three started to move towards the docking area. There were still students running around, waiting for transport into the city so they could help. The teammates looked around, hoping they could find an available bullhead. Behind them, someone could be heard clearing their throat.
"Miss Nikos," the ever calm voice of Ozpin started, though the serious look in his eyes said that he wasn't taking the current situation lightly.
"Headmaster," Pyrrha nodded, Nora and Jaune doing the same, "we were just looking for a way into the city."
"Hmm," Ozpin's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, "I see. As much as I appreciate and encourage your initiative, I have a different task for you at this very moment."
Pyrrha's eyes widened and she blinked. Now? What could the headmaster possibly want right now?
"What are you talking about headmaster?" she asked. Nora, too, looked confused. Jaune looked upset at the prospect of leaving the city alone any longer.
"I assure you that what I am asking of you is in the interest of everyone. If we're fast enough, we can contain the situation in Vale within the next few hours."
That got their attention. A fire and disaster of that scale would take a long, long time to contain, like a wildfire in the woods, not to mention any other adverse effects that it resulted in like air quality or Grimm. Having it tamed in a few hours? What kind of plan could Ozpin sensibly have to make such a thing even remotely possible?
The look on the headmaster's face had hardly changed. The wizened man had to be very sure of this plan of his if he wasn't even batting an eye at the carnage.
"The clock is ticking Ms Nikos. I need your answer," Ozpin said calmly, but with an intensity that nearly floored her. Wait around like everyone else for a bullhead into the city, or potentially help the citizens right now? Like it was hardly a fair choice!
"Lead the way, headmaster," Pyrrha nodded resolutely. He sent her an appreciative smile back.
"Very good. Ms Valkyrie, Me Arc, you may come if you wish or wait here further. The choice is yours alone," Ozpin offered before turning and leaving, Pyrrha in tow. Jaune huffed but followed his leader, a strange itch forming on the back of his head. Nora looked back to the city, then after Pyrrha. Call her a skeptic, call her untrusting, call her whatever the hell you may, but something about all of this rubbed her the wrong way.
She followed her leader without another thought.
"Headmaster Ozpin?" Pyrrha asked, "Where are we going? What are we doing over here?"
They arrived at Beacon tower and Ozpin ushered them inside the elevator. Once inside, he pulled out a key and opened a panel below the set of buttons. Within, there was another button, unmarked and dull looking, as if it rarely saw use. As the elevator began its descent and the small chamber grew darker, Ozpin answered without looking her way.
"We're going to help, Ms Nikos."
Adam barely grunted as he carved the head clean off of an ursa, ducking past it's falling corpse to stab a boarbatusk straight through the mouth. Hearing a snarl behind him, he left his sword in the dissolving beast and snapped back, driving an aura enhanced elbow into the chest of a beowolf. It flew back, digging its claws into the ground and howling before it flung itself back his way.
Adam ducked low, letting the beast soar over him. Once it cleared him, he tore Wilt free and dashed after the beowolf. It turned, only to be bisected down the middle. Adam huffed and returned to his dash towards Ruby.
At least, he was about to, until Ruby crashed into him at the same speed as a formula one race car.
"Hi Adam," she said innocently.
"Hello Ruby," he sighed, pulling them both up.
"Where are Yang and Whitley?" she asked, looking around. Adam checked his scroll.
"They should be catching up soon. Yang sent me ahead to reconvene with you first."
Ruby smiled lightly, proud of her sister's foresight. She was about to say as much, but a familiar sound caught her ear, and by the looks of it, Adam's too. Far too late did they realize the sound wasn't coming from anywhere on the street or above them.
It was coming from below them.
The street exploded out where they stood, both going flying and crashing into the brick wall of a nearby building. Adam coughed as the wind was knocked out of him, while Ruby lay on the ground, trying to recover.
"Ruby? You alive?" he coughed out. Ruby rolled over and sent him a scathing look.
"Just peachy," she drawled. He grunted and went to check his scroll to see what level their aura was at, but a brief glance was enough to know the device had been crushed when he slammed against the wall.
"Scrolls busted," Ruby wheezed, tossing the object to the side. He did the same, and Ruby let out a long-suffering sigh. For now they'd have to just guess based on feeling. Adam stood on shaky legs, using the wall to keep himself upright.
"What the hell caused that?" Adam groaned.
"Come on Adam, I thought you were smarter than that. After all, you're the one who taught me how to rig an explosive like that."
Adam froze, the urge to swear out loud almost winning out as he glared in the direction the voice had come from. He knew it was her, but he had hoped against hope that it wasn't. Unfortunately his hope was misplaced.
Ruby saw the shift in Adam's countenance when she heard whoever that was speak. Turning to see what had frozen the man, she had to say, she was a little confused.
A girl stood in the middle of the street, a raging fire behind her that she didn't even seem to notice. Obviously she was with the White Fang, if the mask and the group of soldiers aiming at Adam and herself behind the girl were any indication. Her hair was black as the night sky and while her face was covered with a mask, Ruby noticed a single glowing yellow eye leering at her behind it.
She looked as if she could've been the same age as herself, and Ruby watched as her ears, or rather, her faunus ears located on the top of her head, twitched every now and then, as if agitated with something around her. The pair of cat ears seemed out of place on such a serious looking person. A pair of gold rings pierced one ear, the other left barren.
She was also pointing a gun at them. So that was nice too.
"Blake," Adam's voice was clipped, and he was clearly trying to keep himself from gritting his teeth.
"How long has it been since we've last seen each other Adam?" Blake asked, brushing a stand of hair away from her face.
"I'd love to say a few months but I think you've appeared in a few nightmares of mine," Adam snipped.
He sidestepped the bullet that had been aimed at his head. Blake didn't seem too upset that the shot had missed, but also didn't put the gun away.
"Oh Adam," Blake cooed mockingly, "I'd have thought we'd have so much to talk about."
"I've nothing to say to you," Adam barked.
"Nothing? You won't even introduce your new... Friend?" Blake flicked her gun towards Ruby.
To Blake's displeasure, Ruby wasn't even looking at her. Instead she was looking towards Adam, a questioning look on her face.
"Adam, who's this... Lovely individual?" Ruby eyed Blake skeptically when she said lovely.
Adam was wondering why Ruby would suddenly be so interested in the person pointing a gun at them, but the urgent look in her eyes said to answer her question.
"Ruby, this would be Blake. She's—"
"Someone he betrayed."
"—a complete fucking psychopath, yes," Adam finished, trying not to smirk when the girls ears flattened momentarily.
"You left the cause we all would die for Adam. That we promised to die for," Blake hissed.
"No, you all would kill for the cause, none of you would be willing to die yourself for it," Adam rolled his eyes.
"Let's not dwell on this. We have more pressing matters to attend to," the gun she held leveled with his head again.
"Actually, I have a question really quickly," Ruby interrupted.
"What?" Blake spat.
"A question? You know, like, I wanna ask you something?" Ruby said slowly, speaking as if she were talking to a child.
It was then that Adam realized that what Ruby had been trying to do was buy time. For most, it wouldn't do much, the urge to act taking over. Fortunately for Ruby, Blake was a special case of 'monologue when given the chance' which made her plan an amazing one.
"Leave it to a human to not understand the situation they're in," Blake sneered.
"Yeah yeah, anyways, I was just wondering, does your gun take flat point, soft point, or round nose bullets?" Ruby asked, ignoring Blake's jab.
"Are you serious?" Blake growled.
"I'm just wondering what kind of stopping power you're working with. Overall your gun looks pretty poorly optimized compared to commercial models," Ruby continued.
"It is not 'ill optimized', human," Blake's tone was feral.
"Okay let me rephrase— Ruby Rose, by the way, graduated top of my class at Signal Academy with a perfect score in applied weapons designing— and what I meant to say was that your gun is definitely not optimized," Ruby reiterated.
"No it isn't," Blake seethed.
"It is."
"It's not!"
"Nope!"
"What do you mean nope!?"
"As in, nope it's not optimized?" Ruby leaned forward, a 'duh' look on her face.
"Enlighten me human," Blake snapped, "before I end your career early, how is my gun lacking in any way that matters?"
"Well for one it looks like the chamber had to be shortened, likely because the weapon shifts in some way, which means the overall force behind your bullets is weaker. You could have used a muzzle and that would've made your accuracy and range a little worse but in exchange for more overall firing power," Ruby rattled off.
Adam blinked. He remembered saying something like that to Blake a long time ago too, now that he was thinking about it. It seemed Blake had remembered too, if the thunderous look on her face meant anything.
"Also, I don't know what exactly your weapon shifts to, but I'm banking on a sword of some kind just by the sheath on your hip. That's fine and all, but a pistol and a sword leave you pretty open to cover fire from anything outside your range," Ruby continued, fully in her element.
"I don't need your advice!" Blake stomped.
"And I mean, maybe you have a way of getting within people's range, but what if those same people have ways of getting back out of your range? Then you're just trying to play catch up with someone while they take pot shots at you," Ruby finished, an accomplished look on her face.
Blake was silent, staring at Ruby for a long time before slowly turning to Adam. For his part, Adam kept the smirk off his face that he so desperately wanted to let loose. She was shaking in rage, and for a moment Adam readied himself for another attack.
"You humans just love taking the fun out of everything," Blake said quietly. The shaking stopped and Adam shivered. Something was off. Adam tensed, his hand dropping to Wilt immediately.
When Blake didn't move his fear was confirmed. He opened his mouth to scream at Ruby to start moving. Ruby didn't know what to expect, and tried to keep up the facade.
"Well, I guess it's just part of my charm—"
But Ruby didn't get to finish her statement and Adam didn't get to warn her as Blake suddenly seemed to fade away and appeared before the reaper. The hooded girl was cut off mid sentence.
Literally.
He didn't cry her name, he didn't want to give Blake the satisfaction or make Ruby think things would get worse. Instead he moved.
Adam shot forward, ignoring the spray of blood that painted his shirt as he kicked Blake back and pressed Ruby to his chest. It didn't stop the agonized scream that Ruby let loose into his shoulder, her hand clutching his arm in a vice grip.
"It seems your reflexes have deteriorated while you've been off playing hero," Blake brushed the boot print off of her top.
She narrowly avoided the buckshot that flew from his scabbard, huffing at him as he kept Ruby behind him. Be it from the sudden blood loss or pain, she had passed out.
"Look at you now Adam, standing before humans like a guard dog. What happened to your pride?" Blake taunted.
"The humans treat us like beasts because people like you choose to act like the Grimm," Adam glared through her.
"And now you spit the same recycled material that the politicians throw around," Blake whipped her gun to the side and blade folded up.
"Then take it from someone who's been on both sides," Adam gripped the hilt of his own sword, "you're below every human I've met since leaving you."
That seemed to be enough of a catalyst for Blake to attack. The White Fang behind her cheered and hollered, shouting for his and the 'vile humans' heads. When Blake was upon him, it was only within his power to go on the defensive, lest he risk getting Ruby hurt more.
The problem was that Blake would disappear from his sight, only to reappear where he held Ruby, forcing him to turn and spin the entire time.
Her strikes weren't light by any means, and he was only holding Wilt with one hand. He was fortunate that his experience with his weapon allowed him to at least prevent an immediate death, but Blake wasn't letting up, and while he may have been able to overpower her normally, keeping Ruby safe took priority right now. Had he been faster, maybe she wouldn't be hurt.
He wouldn't dwell on that now though. He knew when and when not to focus on the real world and right now everything before him was far more pressing than kicking himself for any failures.
He grunted as Blake kicked him in the kidney, a shot from Blush forcing her to retreat again. She appeared on his right a second later and he swung wide, more to gain space and buy time than to actually do anything to her. The wide swings were fast, but weren't very heavy, which meant he was conserving his energy for when an opportunity arose but that if they even connected at all they wouldn't do much harm.
But what then? Maybe he'd be able to get Blake on the back foot but the horde of Fang she had brought with her wouldn't let him do much else beyond that. Not to mention that the emotions that were currently filling the atmosphere would definitely attract Grimm, and there was no way he'd be able to manage everything on his own.
Luckily, it looked like he wouldn't have to worry about doing anything alone.
The cries from the group of soldiers drew Blake's attention, and shortly after her displeasure. An explosion threw several faunus away like paper against a hurricane, while several others found themselves being lifted into the air by glyphs before being shot with bullets of ice and slammed back into the concrete.
A raging inferno and an unflinching blizzard now stood against the White Fang.
"Back off my big sister," the feral growl that left Yang was punctuated by the heat that rolled off her as she stomped forward.
"Adam did mention someone that fits your general description. Though he seems to have undersold just how atrociously horrendous you actually were," Whitley rolled the cylinder of Pistolblume before aiming at Blake.
Blake's gaze lingered on Whitley, but rather than back down or flinch, Whitley continued to stare down at her, chin held up in the haughtiest manner they'd ever seen him and looking past his nose as if challenging her. He even made a show of turning the holster for his revolver outwards, showcasing the Schnee snowflake for the world to see.
At that moment, Whitley held the entire group of faunus's attention. And they looked pissed to high heavens.
"For a Schnee to deliver himself to me?" Blake swung her arms wide, "this day just gets better and bett— ARGH!" Blake clutched her nose tightly, hunching over.
"You talk too much," Whitley drawled, quickly blowing smoke from the tip of his gun.
That one attack was all it took for the White Fang and Blake to jump into action. Whitley and Yang were more than prepared to meet them, Yang screaming her rage out as she flew forth, arms extended and ready to deliver a can of holy whoop ass.
"Whitley! Gatekeeper!" Yang shouted as she flew forward.
Whitley allowed his partner to close the distance, instead staying back and lining up a row of glyphs before the charging Fang. They started white, but with a flick of his finger and a precise dialing of Pistolblume, the glyphs turned a brown, Almost grey color. As they did, a stone wall erupted between Yang and the now confused Fang. What the Fang couldn't see was the glyph that appeared in the center of the wall on Yang and his side.
Yang met the glyph, impacting the center as Whitley let the glyph go. The wall exploded forward, shredding it's way through the unprepared attackers. Those that were hit by the shrapnel directly flew backwards, sometimes taking others with them. Those that didn't tripped as they tried dodging the onslaught, their allies tumbling over them.
By the end of the attack, the entire contingent but for two lay in a heap on the asphalt.
Blake stood, a girl with a long ponytail beside her, with her head in her hands. The girl tried to lay a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder but the girl slapped it aside without looking her way.
"Adam, you really know how to ruin my fun, you know that?" Blake growled back towards the man. He shrugged, making sure Ruby was still behind him as he levelled his scabbard towards Blake.
"I've been told I'm something of a buzzkill," he replied.
"Ilia," Blake spat, "Take care of the children. I need to make this break-up official."
Ilia said nothing, instead whipping her weapon out and charging Yang and Whitley. The two met her in kind, Yang entering close quarters with her while Whitley acted as support from behind.
Ilia dodged each punch, and the ones she could t she moved to let them roll off of her, dealing minimal damage. Compared to the monster of a girl she had fought on the train, Yang was a welcome change of pace.
The Schnee, on the other hand, made the fight more annoying than it had any right being. When the brawler missed, she couldn't counter unless seg wanted to get shot. If she dodged behind the blonde, a glyph would block her attack. Simply put, Whitley was a pain in the ass.
Growling and kicking Yang back, Ilia whipped her sword out and towards Whitley, surprising the boy. He was able to dodge and the tip dug into the wall beside him, but that left him open for the girl to retract her whip, flying forward to his position.
"Your blood will be the sweetest aphrodisiac for our revolution!" Ilia shouted as she slashed forward. Whitley raised a glyph, which blocked the slash but was met with a kick to the ribs as the girl advanced more and more.
"Then it's a shame you'll never get that pleasure," Whitley mused before dropping his guard and rolling back. Ilia made to follow but was interrupted as the wind was driven from her as a fist impacted her back. She allowed herself to fall forward, rolling and jumping into a turn. Yang cracked her knuckles and readied herself to move again.
This is going nowhere! Ilia growled as she was put back on the defensive. Looking for a way to turn the tides, she saw her opportunity in a displaced fire hydrant, and began subtly moving the fight towards the small pool of water.
Yang continued putting on the pressure, throwing elbows and knees alongside her fists. When she could she let out bursts of fire that would either burn or momentarily blind her opponent. On one advancing jab, she felt her foot splash down in water but thought nothing of it.
At least until the girl threw her next attack wide. Yang ducked under the move, but was caught by surprise when the chameleon faunus's sword pierced a fire hydrant. Said hydrant exploded from the attack and a torrent of water spewed forth and dowsed the blonde. Yang sputtered as she was pushed over by the unexpected force.
Then she cried out when everything started to burn and a crackling filled her ears.
Ilia grinned wickedly, her sword dipped in the water as a current of electricity flowed through it and into the brawler. Even as Yang's eyes changed to a red color and some of the water evaporated, the electricity continued. She was sure the girl would fry but a glyph formed below the younger girl and tossed her backwards towards the Schnee. The water became a wall of ice soon after, cutting off her sight of the two.
Whitley caught Yang, stumbling as he wasn't much for upper body strength. She grunted but remained conscious, though she shook in his arms. He tried to let her stand but she couldn't without his support. Her eyes, still a vibrant crimson, were in direct contrast to the spasms that wracked her body still.
"You take her," Yang mumbled, her voice weak, "I'll get out of your way so you can bring the bitch down."
"As you command," Whitley replied dutifully, helping her to a safe place. When he was sure she was hidden he stood, noting her thumbs up as he left her. He hurried away and reloaded, readying himself for another close confrontation.
He thought he saw movement but when he checked there was nothing. He narrowed his eyes and remembered what Nora had told them about the girl that team PAVL had encountered, and how she could blend into her surroundings.
Another slight movement had him turning again, finger on the trigger but no shots being fired yet. He took a deep breath, remembering what Weiss had taught him about keeping calm and not wasting ammo. He let his eyes drift around, seeing nothing but wreckage, something that definitely benefited his enemy more than himself. He heard a click and his eyes widened.
He ducked and rolled, aiming at where the attack had come from but saw nothing. This was going nowhere and he knew he had to do something to take away his opponents advantage.
His eyes lit up a moment later when he thought of something.
He waited again, trusting his ears more than his eyes as he awaited the attack. When it came he stepped to the side but rather than trying to follow where the attack had come from he trapped the whip with a glyph. Twisting his hand, the glyph turned black, then purple and he heard a grunt as the girl was pulled towards where her weapon was.
Ilia flew through the air and choked as a knee met her stomach, stopping her short trip. She fell to the ground and grit her teeth when the barrel of a revolver was pressed to her throat.
"Yield," Whitley stated, eyes narrowed and finger flexing as it clicked on the trigger.
"I'd rather you just killed me," Ilia spat.
"I'd never give you the satisfaction."
Whitley shot her shoulder, making her grit her teeth as her aura sparked brightly, dimming shortly after. Whitley pressed his foot to her chest, keeping Pistolblume trained on her as he looked up and winced as Adam was stuck defending their wounded teammate. Evidently, Adam still couldn't find much purchase in his fight as long as he was stuck in the defensive.
"Still your blade or you lose your lieutenant!" Whitley barked.
Perhaps it should've been predicted, but Blake didn't even waver as she continued her assault on Adam. Whitley was disgusted by such an act, but the almost manic laugh below him caught his eye.
"We aren't weak, sentimental fools like you humans! What's a life here today if it means a lifetime of freedom tomorrow! Take ten! A hundred! We'll take however many we need if it means a world without humans!" Ilia chanted, a delirious look on her face. Whitley didn't know if the girl was just like that or if the sudden shock of knowing how dispensable her life was finally took a bat and bashed her in the head.
Whitley honestly felt bad for the girl, and for all of the crazed fanatics that lay defeated around them. After months spent with Adam, he'd seen the difference between the misguided and the spiteful. It may have been easy to get the two confused, but after yet another threat to kill the girl pinned beneath him if Blake didn't stop fighting was ignored, he knew for a fact that there was nothing but hate behind the car faunus.
"Do it then! Kill me!" Ilia shouted. A heel met her face instead, and she was frozen in place, literally, as Whitley stepped off of her and towards his teammate. She struggled as she saw his sights set on Blake, but the ice only creaked and she only wasted energy.
"Like I said," he levelled his revolver at Blake, "I'd never give you the satisfaction."
Pistolblume barked as a series of icy bullets flew towards Adams location. The man saw the incoming volley and dragged himself and Ruby back as shards and spikes of ice sprang forth. Blake hissed and tried to send a scathing look towards the boy, but he had already regrouped with Adam. She tried to dash forward but almost tripped and realized her foot had been caught in the sudden freeze.
A clone briefly took her place before it dissipated and she stood only a short distance away, trading shots with Whitley. His marksmanship was definitely the superior of the two however and, upon realizing this, Blake disappeared yet again, making the hairs on Whitley's neck stand on end. He felt something shift behind him, and turned an eye to see that Adam had turned his back to him, with Ruby between them.
And unspoken conversation took place in the seconds of reprieve they had. Adam clearly didn't want to let Blake go, but wanted Ruby out of there just as badly. Whitley bumped his shoulder into his back as if to tell him that losing their friend here would only make the losses today all the greater. Gritting his teeth, he slammed Wilt home in Blush and dropped into a ready stance. They'd retreat, but first they'd have to find an opening.
"Glad to see you can still think," a somewhat raspy voiced Yang coughed out as she joined them, putting her shoulders to theirs and forming a triangle defense around her sister. The worried look Whitley sent her was waved off.
"You didn't plan on leaving little old me did you?" she smirked. Even with her hair frazzled from electricity and a tired look in her eyes, she still managed to keep her spirits higher than any of them.
"As if I could get rid of you that easily," he sighed, but the slight tug at the corner of his mouth gave away his appreciation for her ability to get them to relax.
Adam suddenly let out a quick and sharp breath, notifying them that their opponent had shown herself again.
"Have you truly fallen so far that you must rely on others to fight your battles?" Blake asked as she reloaded slowly. Deliberately. Her eyes weren't trained on Adam though. Not Yang or Whitley either. Her head was angled towards their injured teammate and friend.
"Have you really gone so insane that you believe you can win such a fight?" Adam shot back.
"I only need to take one life before I take off. The scars that'll leave will be more painful than any battle we could do here."
"Lay another hand on my sister and you'll soon be very familiar with the inside of your own ass," Yang growled.
Whitley didn't send out a comment or remark. Instead he sent out a bullet, forcing Blake to flip back. A snarl crossed her face as Adam finally left his partner's side and engaged in full frontal combat with her. Whitley and Yang kept Ruby behind them as they both provided support in the forms of fire and glyphs.
To say that Blake was nimble was an understatement. The girl may have been dangerous when she was on offense, but in terms of agility and maneuverability, she had them beat. The trade-off was that while they couldn't touch her, even as Adam continued his brutal onslaught, she was unable to get a leg up either.
And so they were at a strange stalemate for the time being. Where normally even just the three of them would be able to bring someone like Blake down, Yang was already disoriented from being electrocuted, not to mention her and Whitley needed to keep Blake away from Ruby, lest she try and finish what she started. That left Adam as the only one who was fighting at full force.
Where he stepped forward, Blake danced backwards. When she ducked, he would drop with her. The two moved with a grace befitting of partners who had spent years fighting together. It meant one could not land a hit, but the other could not attack.
When it seemed like no headway would be made, and when Whitley and Yang had run out of dust and ammo, Adam went in with an overhead slash. His blade was caught when it struck a clone which quickly became stone. Growling and releasing Wilt, Adam ducked as Blake's own blade soared overhead. He kicked at her and jumped backwards.
With only his scabbard at his disposal, Adam was put at a disadvantage yet again, and Blake seemed done with words or toying with him, running in with a snarl and both blades out. She leapt at him when she got in his range, flying with her blades crossed in front of her. Adam braced to fire, but when he did she merely disappeared. He turned just in time to take a dropkick to the chest.
He rolled backwards but was quickly tackled and held down, and Blake took no time to start raining blows on him wherever she could. He did his best to push back her arms, but his aura was quickly diminishing. Blake raised her blade high, ready to stab down, through his arms if she had to.
She didn't get the chance when Yang stepped in and slugged her in the temple with a haymaker. Dust or not, the girl was still a hand to hand fighter, and the blow sent Blake crashing away and through an already broken window. Yang helped Adam up, the man sending her a nod as he went and tore his sword out of the Blake statue while he could.
They all stood on guard, ready for the girl to come back out, but as they waited in the middle of a burning city, there was no movement from where the girl had been sent. Tensed and low on both aura and energy, Yang sent Adam a look.
"Think that knocked her out?" the brawler asked.
"Not likely," Adam grunted, before leaning back slightly towards Whitley who still stood by Ruby, "anything over there?"
"No, there's nothing," the boy called. Then he blinked and looked again before cursing, "Actually, there's nothing at all, and that's our problem."
"How do you figure?" Yang asked.
"The other one got out somehow," Whitley said, pointing to the broken ice that once held Ilia.
They all looked around the area, searching for any signs that they were still under attack. After a minute of waiting, Adam was the first to drop his guard.
"I think they've retreated for now," he muttered.
"Either way, we can't drop this chance to get the hell outta here," Yang said, going back into leader mode as she looked at Adam, "think you've got it in you to carry Ruby?"
He nodded and ran over to lift her. Funny how the reaper would likely huff and be embarrassed at being carried bridal style like this, but at the moment, she only shuddered, both eyes closed but one bloody and grisly looking.
He stared down at her as they made their retreat, Whitley behind him and Yang in front of him as they moved quickly through the ruined city. Blake, once his partner, in more than one way, crippling his partner currently. All because he had run and led the White Fang to Beacon.
"Quit looking so broody," Yang suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see her turning away as they rounded a corner.
"How could I be anything but furious and disappointed right now?" he growled.
"For one, she's not your sister," Yang sent him a look and he could see her eyes were still a deep crimson.
To that Adam didn't respond. He was being callous about this. Of course Yang was feeling even worse than him. Her sister, who she admired so much, was currently bleeding and unconscious and she could do nothing to help other than run her to someone who could. Not to mention the person who had done this had escaped.
"... Right. Sorry," Adam grunted. Yang scoffed back.
"There you go apologizing for something that wasn't your fault," Yang grumbled. For a girl so young, her words felt far wiser than expected from someone normally so jovial. Adam still felt responsible for bringing Blake to them.
"But—"
"Oh get over yourself," Whitley chimed in from behind.
"Seriously," Yang listened around for a moment before guiding them right and towards who she hoped were their friends before she spoke again, "You didn't attack Ruby. Your crazy ass ex did. Bad taste, by the way. She had psycho written all over her."
"First of all, I'm not apologizing for Ruby getting hurt, I'm saying sorry because you're likely feeling this much worse than me. Second of all, she didn't always seem that crazy, don't get on me for that now," Adam said gruffly. Whitley was the one to voice his disapproval this time.
"Oh please, I mean this in the least racist way possible but you must've been chasing those red flags like an actual bull. I bet the signs were there the whole time," Whitley groaned. To this Adam growled.
"She was normal when we first got together," he said through gritted teeth.
"Oh please, I bet she was still a problem when you first got together. Be honest, it was the ass wasn't it?" Yang joked, trying to relieve tension.
For a spell there was silence, and the two assumed that Adam was just upset and not responding. Yang took a moment before she spoke again.
"... It wasn't actually the ass was it?" Yang said quietly. Again, silence.
"... Listen—"
"Oh you're a special kind of stupid!" Whitley chastised.
"We met on Menagerie! It's an island nation! It's normal to wear a bathing suit everywhere!" Adam argued.
"Oh Brothers," Yang was astonished, "Adam I always thought you were better..."
"Don't turn this on me!"
"Who else could we turn this on!? You broke the number one rule!" Yang shouted, "Don't go sticking your dick in crazy! And what did you do!? You found crazy and went through hours of foreplay before you even stuck anything inside it! And even then you still went balls deep! Raw!"
More shouting ensured, the two younger not giving the man any reprieve, and Adam not giving any ground. Despite the argument, and the barbed words traded among them, they had succeeded in diffusing the negativity around them.
On and on their arguing continued until they rounded a corner and saw something that had them sighing in relief. It was a large square, likely ornate in its original design, but now serving as a very defensible position for all those present. The large statue in the middle and the surrounding citizens were bathed in the glow of the fire still raging in the middle of Vale.
All around the area, huntsman and academy students had secured the surroundings, and civilians were being directed to transits that would take them to a designated safe zone. Any Grimm that got close were reduced to ashes in seconds. Such a sight seemed to give the citizens some measure of safety which made the escorting process far easier.
"You guys!" they turned and saw Penny and Neon coming their way. When they got close enough to see the state they were in, Penny gasped and Neon paled.
"Oh shit! We gotta get her to the medical tent!" Neon yelled. Adam nodded and let Neon lead them through the area of refuge.
"What happened?" Penny asked softly, saddened as she saw the state of her friend.
"White Fang," Yang grunted, "we'll tell you the whole story later."
The tone Yang spoke with told them that she really didn't feel like talking about it any further, so they dropped it. That didn't stop them from worrying for their friend.
"Where's everyone else?" Yang asked, changing the subject.
"Flynt is out keeping the civilians calm. The good thing about his weapon being an instrument is that when he isn't using it to fight he can use it like a normal trumpet. Music has been keeping the people from thinking about the situation as much," Neon explained.
"And Weiss is still out in the city searching for survivors," Penny added, her normal excitement absent in the face of such a statement. They entered a white tent and when the people walking around saw the state of Ruby, they rushed to take her from Adam and get her situated. It went unsaid that there were no small amount of casualties in the attack. There simply was no way to prepare the civilians of Vale for an attack like this.
"What a disaster..." Whitley groaned as he watched the medics start tending to Ruby. It was a mix of disaster professionals and civilians with some amount of medical training who occupied the tent. Judging by the look on some of their faces, they hadn't ever seen the results of a Grimm attack or an explosion before.
The three watched as two doctors laid Ruby out on a stretcher while another ran about collecting the necessary means to treat her. Even so, it appeared the resources they had on hand were sparse, and they still had others that would likely need treatment.
"Is anyone here related to the girl?" one doctor, a woman with short brown hair and two round ears on top of her head asked.
"I am," Yang stood from where they'd all slumped down. The doctor walked up to stand before the brawler.
"Do you know if she's allergic to any type of painkillers?" the doctor asked. Yang shook her head and the doctor nodded. Adam tuned out the rest of the doctor's questions to Yang and instead stared at his partner.
The doctors had her laid out, and he could finally see her face. A long grisly scar ran from her left temple to her right cheek, just under her right eye. Her left eye couldn't even be seen, the blood pooling around her face so dark that he couldn't make it out. Morbid that he counted it a blessing that Blake had missed hitting both her eyes.
A hand found its way onto his shoulder, another following on his opposite. He looked left at Whitley, then right at Neon, both giving him the same look of resolution. He grunted, appreciating the fact that they didn't give him pity. Such a thing would only serve to make the day's losses feel all the more upsetting.
"We'll leave you guys to it. We're gonna scout the city some more," Neon stood, tugging Penny to join her as they left, leaving team YSTR in the tent.
And so they all just sat and watched as the medics and doctors flitted about, tending to Ruby and the many other occupants surrounding the square. As the minutes ticked on, Adam's eyes slowly found themselves closing, but not in sleep or exhaustion, but in hope that his friend would get better.
Raven tapped her foot anxiously. They had... Acquired a small airship from the opposite end of Vale and we're now soaring around the perimeter of Vale towards Beacon. She watched out of the cockpit window as Vale, a city that just shortly ago was quiet and peaceful, burned as a battle between the White Fang, Atlas, and the Grimm raged on its streets.
"Don't look at it. It'll only make it worse."
"If you don't shut the hell up woman the only thing that'll get worse are those scars of yours," Raven spat at Cinder, who grunted and continued to fly them along in silence.
How the hell had they let this happen? The fact that Cinder had been helping the White Fang was probably a good start, but even then the woman didn't want things going this far.
"So what exactly is our plan when we arrive?" Raven asked. Cinder didn't turn to look her way, but answered nonetheless.
"Considering I hadn't planned any of this to happen in the first place? I'm not quite sure yet," Cinder shrugged.
"So we're going to charge head first into a school full of hunters and Ozpin himself, and just hope we can find the other half of the maiden powers with nothing but a can-do attitude?" Raven growled.
"Evidently not since you can't even fake a good mood if your life depended on it," Cinder grumbled. Raven's deeper growl signified that she had heard her remark.
Fantastic then. They were basically about to drive full speed into a brick wall then.
"Then again," Cinder spoke up, "I do have a favor I can call in."
"A favor? I think we need more than an IOU to get through this mess you've made," Raven drawled.
"I did nothing. The White Fang and that moody and broody cat couldn't keep it in their pants. This wasn't even part of my plan."
"Dare I ask what your full plan was?" Raven shot back skeptically.
"How do you think I'd look in a school uniform?" Cinder asked eagerly.
"You can't be serious..."
"It was a legitimate plan!" Cinder bit back, flushing slightly.
"No, it wasn't. It wasn't even a legitimate idea, let alone a plan," Raven dragged a hand down her face.
Scoffing and rolling her eyes, Cinder tore out her scroll and dialled without looking. It rang out almost the full duration, making Raven believe her 'favor' was about as good as her overall planning skills. Just when Raven was about to say this, the call went through, and an oily, baritone voice filled the space.
"Cinder my dear, whatever is that you need now?" the man on the other end asked.
"I need you to bring the others and bail me out. Vale's gone to the dogs, almost literally, and once I get the maidens powers I'll need a way out of the hot zone," Cinder spoke casually, as if she weren't talking about murdering another person and taking a mystical power from them.
"And by others I assume you mean our resident vindicator and Mr No Fun?" the man chuckled, the sound of something clicking from his end in the background.
"Yes, them. I need you to meet me in the city. I don't have the time for this old man, can you bring them yes or no?" she drummed her fingers on the control stick impatiently.
"I can and I shall. We'll be there momentarily," there was a shuffle before the man's voice could be heard shouting, presumably to the two people he'd mentioned.
"You two! Get up and get ready! Cinders gone and messed it up like I said she would!"
Raven smirked and Cinder snarled.
"No, we don't need to try and kill Ozpin now you brute, the powers take priority! I know he killed your— WE ALL KNOW! IT'S ALL YOU TALK ABOUT! Oh for the love of... Tyrian, once this monologue is done, meet me on the ship. And quit being such a stick in the mud!"
More shuffling and then the man let out a deep sigh.
"Very well Cinder, we shall be there shortly. Consider this as your favor cashed."
The call cut out without so much as a goodbye from either of them. It was silent in the aircraft as Raven stared at the scarred woman. She waited for a moment, to see if Cinder would comment on it herself. When it became obvious she wouldn't, Raven took the initiative.
"So your family seems lovely," Raven said, the smugness just oozing from her tone.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh but I do."
"Branwen—"
"What happened to our first name basis?"
Cinder grumbled but said no more. Raven took the time to make a call of her own. Pulling up her scroll she dialed a number that she knew would pick up immediately.
"What's up Ray?" Summer's voice came through on the second ring.
"I need you to be ready at a moment's notice for me to open a portal to you," Raven waited for her to ask why. Instead she got—
"Sure. Be careful, okay?"
Raven smiled and sent Cinder a smug look that the woman hissed at.
"I will be. See you soon."
"I better!"
Raven hung up and stood with her arms crossed next to Cinder. Cinder didn't say anything, staunchly refusing to meet Raven's eyes and focusing entirely on flying. Raven decided to make the first move.
"I'm just saying—"
"Enough out of you!"
The bickering continued almost the rest of the way to Beacon. When the school came into view they both quieted, realizing just what was about to happen.
They landed behind the school in the Emerald Forest. Getting out and moving swiftly through the trees and up the cliff until they reached Beacon grounds. The school was emptier than usual, most likely due to the population of capable hunters being down in Vale.
They moved almost without opposition. Every now and then there would be the odd student with an injury or janitor that they'd have to avoid but besides them they were unimpeded.
They came up Beacon tower and waited around the corner to make sure Ozpin wasn't coming or going. Good for them too. Ozpin hurried into the tower with Pyrrha and Nora shortly after. After waiting two minutes they shuffled around the corner and through the doors. Once inside Cinder looked around. Nobody was here.
"So where is he keeping the maiden?" she looked for anything that would act as a secret door or switch but found nothing.
"I don't know, he never showed me," Raven too looked around. He wouldn't keep her on any of the upper floors, there wasn't any room for that.
Both continued looking for clues when Raven noticed the elevator was in use. It was going down too.
"Shit," Raven grabbed Cinder and dragged her behind the front help desk.
"Is he coming down?" Cinder asked, a bow of glass materializing into her hands.
"I don't know who else it could be," Raven waited, eyes narrowed for the door to open.
Except it didn't.
Instead the elevator apparently stopped, but the doors remained closed and they could hear nobody inside. They both looked over the desk and waited again, but nothing happened.
"What the hell?" Raven walked over to the elevator and pressed her ear up to it. There wasn't any sound in there. Not even of the elevator itself settling into place.
Cinder didn't seem to share her caution this time, walking up to the door and placing her palm against it. Soon after, the metal glowed a bright orange and melted away. She blew ice at the molten metal hole before looking through it.
"That's one deep elevator shaft," Cinder hummed. Raven poked her head through too, looking down.
"What the hell? Since when did we have a basement?" she murmured.
"That has to be where the maiden is," Cinder made to drop down but Raven grabbed her before she could.
"Wait. If they really are down there then that means Ozpin will be with them. Are we really just gonna rush him and hope we get out of it unscathed?" Raven probed.
"With the two of us, I'm sure that we can manage for the most part," Cinder assured.
"And why exactly would you be doing that, Raven?"
Raven shivered but didn't freeze, throwing both herself to the right and pushing Cinder left. Shortly after, a purple shock of aura crashed down where they once stood. Turning and tearing Omen free, Raven turned and stared down a chilling visage.
"Glynda... So nice to see you at this hour," Raven said wearily.
"Buying time was never your strong suit Raven," Glynda didn't wait to hear her speak further, instead launching the desk they were hiding behind a moment at her.
Raven brought Omen up and cut the desk in two. Instead of flying past her however, the two pieces instead came back together, crashing and splintering against her arms. Raven grunted, but the attack didn't do much damage despite the force being enough to stagger her.
The two women stood staring at each other, ready and waiting. Raven had her sword held next to her head while Glynda stood perfectly still, eyes never leaving Raven's own. Cinder looked conflicted between helping Raven or jumping down the elevator on her own. Raven tried to reason with Glynda, knowing she was always a level head.
"Glynda," Raven started, not lowering her weapon but easing her stance, "this isn't how it looks. Ozpin is hiding things from us. Lying to us."
Glynda said nothing, still staring at her. It was starting to piss Raven off.
"Just stop fighting and I'll show you!" Raven tried, "I'll show you that Ozpin isn't who you think he is!"
Then something happened that had Raven shivering.
Glynda laughed.
But it wasn't a melodic laugh like one would expect from such a woman. It wasn't a giggle or a chuckle, it wasn't a snort or even a bellowing laugh, as strange as that would be. No this was far more upsetting.
What started as a simple bubbling of laughter soon exploded into a shrieking cackle like that of a madwoman or a witch. So hard did the deputy laugh, she leaned back and broke sight with Raven, her face leaving her view.
"Oh Raven," Glynda said through her laughter, "I think it's you who misunderstands!"
"I... What?" Raven was floored by the display she was seeing. This was Glynda... Right?
"Ozpin may have been lying to you, hiding this and that, but from me? No, he'd never do anything of the sort!" Glynda continued her manic laughing, placing her face in her hands.
"But—"
"No! Ozpin may not have been what he seemed to you, but he was everything and more to me!" Glynda finally raised her head, and the look on her face had Raven reeling.
Her eyes were wide open, pupils dilated like she was an animal on the prowl. Her lips were turned into a deep set, crooked grin.
"You simply can't see him how I see him! You may have been deceived but not me! Because to me..."
Glynda's hair fell from it's normally tight bun and flew out as everything in the room began levitating. Even sections of the wall, the front doors, and flooring came up as she heaved. Raven pushed Cinder to the elevator and the woman nodded before leaping down. Raven held her sword between her and the now manic Glynda. The deputy's body shook with laughter as she stretched her semblance to grab everything she could.
"HE IS MY GOD!"
The chamber they stood in shook, and Jaune and Nora sent each other weary glances. The large underground chamber was already on the sketchy side, but now there was a commotion on the surface?
Something was definitely off.
"Hurry now, I fear our time is running shorter and shorter," Ozpin ushered Pyrrha along, not bothering to see if the other two followed.
"Headmaster, what is all this?" Pyrrha asked as he took in the giant hall.
He didn't answer, instead continuing forward until they reached an odd looking device. It looked like something out of a sci-fi film, with two pods on either side and a large number of wires and tubes connecting them in between. There was a control panel in the center, but all of their attention was drawn to something, or rather, someone in the left pod.
"Is that a person!?" Jaune asked incredulously, staring at the person through the glass.
"It is Mr Arc. It is someone very important who was injured recently," Ozpin walked over to the machine and began inputting something on the control pad.
"What the hell is this?" Nora spoke in a hushed tone, every hair in her body raised in alarm.
"In this world," Ozpin said suddenly, startling them, "there are somethings that are inexplicable using conventional terms or logic. This is one such thing."
"But what is it professor?" Jaune urged, his arms tense as clenched his hands into fists.
"This is what you've likely grown up hearing stories about. A maiden," Ozpin finally turned back to them, face impassive.
"W-what?" Pyrrha blinked, "Like... Like a fairy tale?"
"Much the same. Much like the maidens in the stories, she has the ability to harness the very elements themselves without the use of aura or dust," he explained.
"That's ridiculous," Jaune shot back.
"No Mr Arc," Ozpin shook his head, "it's magic. And hers has been diminished by some unknown assailant."
"So why did you need Pyrrha?" Nora's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Ms Nikos, what if I told you that we have developed a way to transfer the maidens powers, even her very aura, to a new host through this machine? And that in doing so, you could be the next inheritor of these powers?" Ozpin pressed, sending Pyrrha an almost eager look.
Pyrrha's world froze then and there. She could have powers like that? Tales of the maiden were something she'd always heard as a child. Women who could utilize amazing powers and do things that anyone would call supernatural in some way.
"What happens to the woman in there if you do this?" Nora asked. Ozpin sighed, though it sounded somewhere between sad and... Annoyed?
"She will die."
He said it so plainly that they all flinched, but he continued speaking anyways.
"I understand the severity of such a thing, and I wouldn't ask you to take this on lightly. But with these powers you would be able to turn the tides of the situation in Vale almost immediately," Ozpin pressed.
Pyrrha put a hand to her head. If she really could do everything the maiden stories said she could, then it would be foolish not to accept them. She could actually be the hero she had set out to be! She could go and save people right now!
"I... I'll do i—" Pyrrha didn't even get to finish before Ozpin nodded approvingly and began guiding her to the other pod.
"Wonderful! We shall begin immediately. Mr Arc, Ms Valkyrie, please ensure that we aren't interrupted," Ozpin all but pushed Pyrrha into the open pod and then closed it, sealing her inside.
Pyrrha suddenly didn't feel as sure about this.
Jaune and Nora even less so.
"Professor," Jaune's voice was steely and heavy, "I don't think this is as good of an idea as you say."
"I assure you that this is the only way to solve the situation in Vale," Ozpin practically waved him off.
"What happens to it just being the best way?" Nora glared.
"Should we not do things as efficiently as possible? I understand your contention, the cost of one life here for many tomorrow will weigh heavy, but it is a toll hunters must grow used to," Ozpin assured them.
"With all due respect professor," Jaune began moving towards Pyrrha's pod quietly, "that isn't the part that has us skeptical."
Just as Jaune was about to reach the pod to let the very obviously uncomfortable Pyrrha out, a cane smashed into his chest and sent him flying back. He coughed and spit, but remained on his feet as Nora caught him, the two sliding backwards. His aura glowed a moment longer before fading. That had been a monstrous hit, and even through his massive aura reserves he knew that such a thing would've instantly killed a civilian.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha's muffled yell came from the pod.
They all watched nervously as Ozpin turned towards Nora and Jaune. He looked unimpressed and disappointed.
"I tried to make this as civil as possible, Mr Arc," Ozpin shook his head slowly, "I should hope that we can still try to rectify this, no?"
"Like hell we would now," Nora growled, tearing Mjolnhild free and holding it by her side. Jaune did the same with his own weapons, and the two glared at the headmaster. The man simply seemed to deflate slightly.
"I was hoping we'd be able to do this humanely, but I see that's out of the question now," Ozpin almost sounded like he'd expected this outcome.
Before either of them could move, Ozpin slammed his hand down on the controls and the machine sprang to life. Pyrrha's pained screams reached them a moment later.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune charged forward, shield raised as he made to go through Ozpin.
For someone of the headmaster's age and who walked with a cane, he moved incredibly fast. His cane came up and tapped the center of Jaune's shield, stopping his charge almost entirely and jerking the knight in place.
A green glow soon emanated from the cane before a shockwave left it and sent Jaune sliding back. There was a black scorch mark on his shield but it still remained in one piece.
Nora and Jaune stared the man down. This wasn't just any hunter. This was the headmaster of the most renowned combat school on the planet. If they wanted to get past him, forget even beating him, they'd have to do this with as much careful and graceful skill as possible.
"NORA! BOOM!" Jaune shouted. Nora nodded, remembering the team attack name and shifting Mjolnhild into laser form. Jaune's lance curled inwards as he held it in cannon form, both aiming at Ozpin. The headmaster merely tapped his cane against the ground solidly and a giant crystal-like green field surrounded him.
Jaune's aura shot slammed into the barrier and it crackled. Nora's laser hit the same spot a moment later and the barrier completely shattered. Ozpin staggered back, looking minorly surprised they'd manage to simply brute force their way through his magic.
The barrier went up again just seconds later.
"This isn't going to get us anywhere," Jaune mumbled to Nora. She nodded, but they didn't have a lot of options. They could try targeting the machine, but that ran the risk of hurting Pyrrha, not to mention that the headmaster stood in front of it with his barrier so they couldn't get through to it.
"We need more people. We're not enough to do this on our own," Nora replied as she kept Ozpin in her sights.
As if hearing them, an arrow flew between them and exploded on impact with Ozpin's magic. They turned in shock, expecting to see their teammate back on his feet and behind them.
Instead they saw a woman stalking forward, a bow that looked to be made of glass in her hand.
"You're the professor Ozpin I've heard so very much about from Salem," the woman said haughtily as she met the eyes of the headmaster.
"And you are?" he asked, unimpressed with her display.
"The specifics are boring. Perhaps this answer is enough for you," she hummed.
A stream of fire flew forward and engulfed the barrier. Ozpin was caught off guard and the magic slowly started giving out. Before it could, he pushed it outwards and the fire exploded with it towards the three of them.
Jaune grabbed Nora and pulled her behind his shield, but the heat never reached them. Instead there was a crackling sound and they looked up to see a wall of ice melting in front of them.
"I assume you two are the friends of that girl in the machine?" the woman asked. Just now they noticed how scarred her skin was.
"We are... Who are you?" Jaune asked wearily. They were already doing poorly with Ozpin. They couldn't handle another enemy right now.
"Cinder. I'm a friend. Let's say that the power in that machine doesn't belong to that girl. If we can get it back to me, your friend will probably survive."
"Probably?" Jaune repeated through his teeth.
"The only way she'd die is if Ozpin killed her. We can control that, can't we?" Cinder smirked.
Not like they had much of a choice.
"I'll keep him occupied. I need you two to kill that woman," Cinder didn't wait for them to agree. She also missed their shocked faces at her brazenness towards taking another person's life.
But after Ozpin's stint and this woman offering to help save Pyrrha? Maybe the girl in the pod wasn't actually a good person either.
They didn't have time to think. They couldn't leave Pyrrha to die. They followed after the woman, not even able to take a moment to watch as she put on a display of magic, similar to Ozpin. Hers was weaker, and it almost seemed dampened, but she was holding her own well enough.
They had to duck and dodge as the headmaster occasionally tried to crush them with his own powers, but Cinder held true to her word and kept him at bay.
"I'll get Pyrrha," Jaune rushed to their leader's pod. Nora nodded before lifting Mjolnhild up.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, before slamming the hammer down and into the pod. The machine flickered as one of the occupants' life force faded.
Jaune tore the panel off of Pyrrha's pod and caught her as she stumbled out, breathing heavily and coughing. He rubbed her back and lifted her, regrouping with Nora as the two ran back across the chamber-turned-battlefield.
Cinder seemed to be glowing a lot brighter now. Ozpin noticed, but he didn't fall back. Instead his own magic expanded and ran wild as he pressed the attack. Cinder was put on the defense as magic, ancient as the wizard who wielded it, flew to and fro.
"So this is the actual power of the grand wizard," Cinder dodged as an energy indescribable in modern words nearly tore her arm off.
She wouldn't win this fight like this.
She sent forth a wave of fire, far more massive than what she'd been doing before now that the full power of the maiden had returned to her. It was like embracing a dear friend for the first time in years. She felt whole again. Too bad she couldn't relish the moment.
With Ozpin keeping his barrier up to deal with the magic fire pouring over him, cinder flew backwards and met with the three teammates.
"We need to get back up this elevator now. Be warned, the huntress who chaperoned your mission is up there fighting your deputy headmistress," Cinder explained as she ushered them into the elevator.
"Wait, Raven? Yang's mom? She's against us too!?" Pyrrha shouted.
"No, she's with us. The witch is against us," Cinder reiterated. The students shivered. That was far more terrifying.
Before a button could be pushed, Cinder's eyes lit up and what sounded like a howling wind surrounded the elevator. They began flying up at a rapid pace. Readying themselves for what was likely going to be a very brutal fight once they stepped out, they waited for the elevator to reach ground level.
Once they did they all leapt out of the elevator and through a melted hole in the doors. The elevator itself plummeted back down once Cinder herself stepped out.
"Holy shit..." Jaune swore. Even Cinder was shocked at the scene.
Unlike they thought, Raven and Glynda weren't fighting in the lobby.
By the looks of the massive hole in the wall and the absolutely demolished campus of Beacon academy, they'd taken their fight outside.
"We need to find Raven now, she's our ticket out of here!" Cinder told them as she followed the sounds of trees and buildings being ripped and torn asunder.
The rumbling behind them as they fled the tower meant that Ozpin was done dealing with the fire and was now chasing them. They had to move fast if they wanted to escape.
Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, they didn't have to search long. Raven crashed through a concrete wall and landed in a heap before them. She coughed and stood, shaking a little as she tried to shrug off such an impact.
"Nice of you to save us the effort of finding you," Cinder snarked. Raven aimed her next cough at her and the scarred maiden sent her a disgusted look.
"Where are you Miss Branwen!? Class has only just started!" the manic voice of Glynda Goodwitch cackled. They watched the statue from the Beacon courtyard float above the dormitories. Raven shivered.
"She is not nearly as easy to fight as I thought she'd be," Raven dusted herself off and stretched her arm out.
The ground shuddered and Raven blinked.
"I take it you got what you can for?" Raven huffed. Cinder nodded and Raven sighed.
"Then let's get the hell out of here," she took her sword out to make a portal.
"Wait!" Nora stopped her, "we have to get Ren!"
"There's no time, Ozpin will be upon us soon and that madwoman will follow after," Cinder argued. The three remained stalwart however.
"We're not leaving our friend here with them. You can run, we're not leaving yet," Pyrrha started running towards the infirmary, Jaune and Nora following her.
"Well they fought honorably and will be remembered fondly," Cinder sighed melodramatically. She turned to see Raven giving her an unamused look.
"Do you want to stay and fight the witch and Ozpin?" Cinder hissed.
"Not at all. That's why we're gonna book it after those kids, make sure they get out okay, and then get the hell out of here," Raven started following after the retreating team. Cinder blinked and realized that at this rate Ozpin and Glynda would reconvene on her and then she'd have to deal with them alone.
"Grrah! Fine! Wait for me!" Cinder shouted as she chased after them.
It didn't take long to reach the infirmary, though the staff looked noticeably shaken at the carnage being caused on the campus. Luckily it hadn't reached the medical wing of the school so everyone there was unharmed.
They found Ren, and he was right where they left him, but with one major difference.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?" Ren shouted when they came in the door.
It looked like he'd woken up. Nora quickly embraced him and told him she'd explain in a bit. He looked annoyed but agreed when it was obvious that it wasn't the best time. He looked around before finding his weapon placed beside his bed and grabbed it, standing up with a slight wobble.
"So where are we going?" he asked.
"Wherever my reckless daughter and slightly less reckless niece are," Raven said, tearing open a portal.
Nora pushed Ren through, Pyrrha and Jaune following after. Cinder stepped through with Raven going last. The portal winked out of existence, and they were all standing in the middle of a tent. The occupants of the tent were staring at them in shock, some in fear, and one particular group was on them immediately.
"Mom!?" Yang shouted as she stood, confused as to why her mom, friends, and what looked to be a hooker just appeared here.
"Brat," Raven put a hand on her head, "we need to go. Grab Ruby and let's get the hell out of here."
Yang winced and looked away. That caught her attention. She could sense Ruby was here, but the fact that Yang was being so dodgy wasn't a good sign.
"Yang," Raven spoke quietly, making Yang wince harder, "where's your sister?"
Rather than get an answer from Yang though, it was her teammate, the grown one, who stepped forward. He had his head bowed slightly and a grimace on his face.
"Ruby was injured in a fight with the leader of the White Fang cell here in Vale," Adam stated, taking the brunt of Raven's attention off of Yang.
Raven swore and asked to see her. They led her to where Ruby was being kept and she screamed internally at the sight. Half of Ruby's face was covered with bandages that were stained a deep red. According to Adam, the doctors said they couldn't save the eye. She'd also have a scar across her face, likely for the rest of her life. Raven Was at the very least happy that Ruby was still alive and didn't have any infection after the wound. But still...
Summer was going to annihilate her.
Forget sleeping on the couch, Summer wasn't even gonna let her back in the house!
"What happened mom? What are you all doing here? And why do you all look like a smacked ass!?" Yang asked. Raven pursed her lips and tried to come up with an answer that'd make sense.
Luckily for her, someone else took the reins.
"It's a long story," Jaune said, "we'll explain later but for now it's best if we get out of Vale for a while."
"What!?" Whitley jolted.
"Why do we have to leave?" Yang asked, a look of stress crossing her face.
Raven tried to come up with an answer but was interrupted. There was a commotion outside and the sound of people outside the tent shouting garnered their attention. It sounded like a ship was landing in the safe zone. Cinder quickly peered out of the tent and her good eye narrowed.
"It's Atlas. Soldiers," she said, noting the build of the ship and the small group of armed men flooding out of it.
"Not just soldiers," Raven took a look as well, watching as James Ironwood himself stepped off the ship.
"They must be here to start moving people out of the city," Whitley watched as the soldiers began talking to some of the huntsmen that were patrolling the safe zone.
Raven watched as the soldiers asked more and more of the people in the area something. Ironwood himself surveyed the area as if he were looking for something.
"Check the medical tent. Find that woman now," his voice boomed and the soldiers nodded, marching towards them.
Raven felt an itch in her spine and before she knew it she had already pulled Cinder out the back of the tent, ushering team PAVL to follow. Yang watched and shot her mother a questioning look, but Raven put her finger to her lips and slipped away.
A soldier came through the tent a moment later. He looked around, eyeing all the beds and looking behind them as well. When he found nothing he turned about face and left with the same silence he entered with.
Yang followed the same exit her mother took and found them waiting. She pointed back in the tent with a nod of her head.
Once back in the tent Raven made sure they were alone before she spoke again.
"Listen, there's something big at play here and we need to be far away from it right now. Believe me when I say that we can't just fight our way out of this," Raven kept looking out to make sure the soldiers stayed away from them.
"We've gathered as much, but that doesn't explain a lot," Whitley grumbled.
"We don't have the time for the whole story, we need to get out," Cinder checked the time and saw that she'd received a message from her colleagues.
"And where do you need to get to exactly?" Raven asked.
"Somewhere out of the city. Away from Ozpin's eyes and Ironwood's army," Cinder joined Raven in looking out for soldiers.
"And why would you be hiding from me?"
They didn't even check to make sure who it was. Raven tore Omen free and turned with her slash while Cinder did the same with a glass sword and went low.
A heavy boot stomped and shattered Cinder's sword and a hand caught Raven's own just before it connected with someone's head.
"You're the very picture of innocence right now Branwen," Ironwood intoned, her sword still held in his vice grip.
"That you came here looking for us paints a very similar scene for yourself," Raven grit her teeth as she slipped back, twisting her sword and dislodging it from his grip.
"Hey, hey!" a doctor came over, already looking very stressed without the people in a medical tent swinging swords around, "take this out of here! You can't just—"
He silenced himself when a gun was shoved just a hair's breadth away from his face. He paled, and slowly stepped back, the other occupants of the tent beginning to sweat.
"Ozpin got in contact with me and said that you've decided to side with her. He said you'd be in the city somewhere," Ironwood acted as if he hadn't just threatened a civilian and doctor with an alarming amount of ease.
"Jimmy, since when have I been one to listen to authority?" Raven's voice was sweet, betraying the snarl on her face.
"Under the authority of Atlas and Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon, I hereby place you under arrest. Failure to comply will result in—"
It was quite the sight to see a man so giant and imposing fly the way that Ironwood did when Nora hit him with her hammer. Having not expected the attack and not realizing that the students present were also currently affiliated against him, he barely even threw his aura up in time to block the hit. It still crashed heavily into his back and he flew out of the tent, tearing through it as he did.
He got up and didn't even look phased. Instead he started running their way the minute he was standing again. Raven turned to her daughter.
"Yang, get your friends and Ruby out of the area, now—"
Ironwood came sprinting back in and went through Raven into Cinder. In a perfect spear tackle he took both women out of the tent and into the clearing. Not wanting to set one of her only allies on fire, or anyone else in the area, she refrained from using her powers. Instead the two used their combined strength to kick the man off of them and started fighting while civilians screamed and ran.
This had certainly gone to shit.
Trading blows with Ironwood was like trying to fist fight an actual tank with fists. He was vicious in his onslaught, and it was like he didn't even register that he was taking hits.
Cinder shot him with an arrow but he went through it, letting it shatter on his face and delivered a haymaker to her stomach that had her retching then and there as she lifted off the ground from the force. His gun came up a moment later and he shot her point blank in the same spot. She tumbled, heaving but not dead and even more impressively not out of aura yet.
She looked up and watched as Raven now fought him on her own. Having learned from watching Cinder, a fact that annoyed the maiden slightly, Raven was dancing out of the way of his assault. Whenever he would bring up his gun arm she would move in with a step slash.
On one such instance, when Raven stepped in, Ironwood caught her by the throat and held her up. He didn't so much as strangle her as he did try to crush her throat through her aura. He didn't say a word, instead still looking at her with the same look he always had on his face. She tried kicking him in the face but he didn't seem phased.
Her vision started to go dark, but suddenly everything went spinning and she could breathe again. She realized she was on the floor and slowly got to her feet. She looked around, assuming Cinder had saved her ass.
Instead she saw Jaune going toe to toe with Ironwood himself.
He was on a full defense right now, his shield coming under a direct assault. While skilled in his own right, the general hardly seemed to care, and had the knight sweating under his constant unending attack.
He grabbed the edge of the shield and tore it to the side, using his other arm to shoot Jaune three times before delivering a straight kick to his stomach. Jaune, to his credit, didn't fall back. Instead he shoved his shield into Ironwood's face and dropped it, staggering the man.
With both hands he swung his lance down, pouring all his power into the swing. If Ironwood wanted to fight with sheer power then he'd do the same.
With a battlecry, he brought the lance down and tried to crush the general. Ironwood threw both arms up in a cross guard and caught the strike. The result was the ground around them shattering as both pushed to overpower the other.
The stalemate didn't last as long as one would think. Jaune was a powerhouse who was used to carrying more than his weight in armor and weapons, but Ironwood had shown this far that it wasn't so simple to go through him. Despite his effort, Jaune was getting pushed back.
Cinder came in low, slashing at the generals heels. He didn't fall, only stumbled a little, so she continued attacking his back while Jaune pushed down. Raven came in as well, jumping and landing on Jaune's lance with a stomp that brought it through his guard.
Effectively flattened, the three backed off and waited. For a moment the man didn't move, staying perfectly still.
Then he sprung right back up as if he hadn't just been assaulted from all angles.
"What the fuck!?" Raven swore, upset that the man was so resilient. She never had to actually fight him before but she really wasn't expecting it to be such a pain in the ass.
"General Ironwood, Sir!" the soldiers he brought with him surrounded them and aimed at them.
There were ten soldiers in total, Ironwood himself hardly looked phased, and who knew how long it'd be until Ozpin showed up.
They had to get out of here. Fighting Ironwood was as good as stalling.
"I have a plan," Cinder said quietly, "on my mark, get low."
Raven and Jaune nodded and waited. The soldiers moved in as the general followed shortly after. Cinder waited until they were at arms length.
"Now!" Cinder's eyes glowed and the area around them was ensnared in a fierce wind. The soldiers were taken unaware and flew off their feet, and the general stomped through slowly.
"Does anything stop this guy!?" Jaune shouted over the wind.
"Fuck if I know kid!" Raven shouted back. She hoped that Yang was getting Ruby ready. The minute they could, they needed to get the hell out.
Ironwood was a man of pure grit for him to remain undisturbed by the wild winds around him. Cinder growled and focused all of the wind directly at him, a streak of lightning flowing through the storm and entering his body. He shook and one of his arms went limp for a moment before jerking back to life as he stayed in place. He crouched low and gripped one of the cracks made in the concrete to keep himself in place. Cocking his gun with his teeth, he aimed up and shot at her several times.
Three of the shots went long, but two found their mark. It was enough to break her focus ever so slightly that the winds weakend. Ironwood didn't run at her so much as he flew forth and cracked her across the jaw.
After all the hits she'd taken from him already, her aura shattered. She still had the maidens powers, but if she got shot now she was as good as dead.
Ironwood knew this too, as he stomped down on her left shin, shattering it on impact and making her scream. He aimed down at her and shoved his gun in her face, even as the area around them burst into flames and her eyes glowed ephemerally.
"Send Arthur Watts my regards."
A gunshot rang out.
Ironwood fell to the side, a glowing bullet lodged in his temple as he twitched and spasmed, his pupils dilating and growing rapidly.
"Send them yourself, you over-glorified toaster."
A man stepped towards her. Or rather, a man moved towards her, seated in a very high tech looking chair. He wore a dark grey overcoat with yellow highlights. Underneath was a yellow dress shirt and a purple vest adorned with yellow buttons. His moustache was well trimmed and his hair was greying on the sides.
"I'll see about fixing your leg once we're out of this conundrum," he said as he leaned down and injected something into her neck. She passed out a moment later and he turned to Raven.
"Who the hell are you?" Raven asked, on guard upon seeing the strange man.
"Arthur Watts, at your service. We should move quickly. That bullet won't keep our good general down for long, and while I'd love to finish him off here and now, we need to stop my colleague here from bleeding to death," he spoke so casually that Raven had to wonder if he actually realized how shitty the situation was in Vale.
Hoisting Cinder over the arms of his chair, he grunted something about 'manual labor not being his responsibility'. When she was semi secured, he turned and gestured to Raven herself.
"Cinder had good things to say about you. Well, good as far as Cinder goes, that is. She mentioned that you had a unique semblance that could transport us quickly?" the lack of urgency the man held was seriously starting to piss her off, but she refrained from kicking him since he seemed like an ally. And also because she had to debate whether kicking someone who was handicapped was ethically or morally appropriate.
"Yeah, I can, but why wouldn't you just leave the way you got here?" she asked, not willing to bring this new stranger near her family.
"For one, you're effectively on our side now. Ozpin will want you dead seeing as you've helped her, and I'm sure you know, perhaps now more than ever before, that Ozpin has more than enough power to do so," he didn't say this smugly, so much as objectively. He was only stating a fact, and Raven didn't appreciate that he was right.
"And two," he seemed far less pleased at this part, "my associates had to drop me and then flee the area, lest they be shot down by the floating armada above us."
Which means they arrived by air and couldn't remain in the area without being marked as White Fang. Raven grunted and unsheathed her sword, pointing it at him limply.
"Fine, but make any weird moves and I'll make the rest of you as useless as your legs," she threatened. He didn't appear to take it too seriously, even going as far as to cross his heart with a smirk.
Tearing open a portal she waited for his chair to take him through, then waited again as Jaune walked through. She liked the kid. Didn't ask too many questions when he knew there was shit to do.
She looked back at Ironwood one last time. The bullet was glowing a lot duller now and she didn't want to be around when it wore off. Stepping through the portal she was met with a different part of Vale, and her daughter looking extremely stressed.
She looked to see the rest of team PAVL go to their teammate. Ruby was held in Adams arms, still unconscious.
"This isn't quite as far as I had been hoping," Watts mumbled.
"Relax, I wasn't leaving my daughter here," Raven growled. Opening another portal, she pointed to the large group.
"Okay kids. If you're related to me you're going through the portal. You four are going through regardless," Raven pointed to team PAVL, who just nodded, and Raven turned to Adam and Whitley, "you two technically get a choice. You can stay around here or go off to wherever. The second, much less safe option is to come with us, basically painting yourselves as enemies of the law and humankind for... Well, maybe for the rest of your lives."
Adam and Whitley turned to each other, a silent debate going through their eyes. Adam turned back soon enough.
"I've kind of already done that before. I'll be going," he claimed. Left unsaid was that he felt he owed the girl in his arms for letting this happen to her.
"I..." Whitley looked conflicted, "I can't say you've given me a very good ultimatum."
"Listen kid, nobody's gonna fault you for not wanting to run off and make yourself a criminal," Raven spoke hurriedly, "and I know this is unfair, but you need to decide now."
Whitley sucked in a breath and bit his tongue. Go and turn himself into an 'enemy to humanity' as Raven said, or go back to his family. He sighed and waved his hand.
"Somehow, becoming humanity's enemy is the less abhorrent option," he grumbled. Yang grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, sending him a grateful look.
"Then get your asses through this portal now!" Raven barked. They all moved, jumping and running through the portal with the exception of Watts who was practically pushed through by Raven.
When Raven stepped through, it was no longer the burning cityscape that was currently Vale, nor was it the now daunting grounds of Beacon. It was something far, far scarier.
"Raven."
Raven hissed and did her best not to meet the voice's eyes. Everyone else was silent. Eventually, she was forced to look up.
"Heyyyyy Sum," Raven plastered a smile on her face.
It did not lessen the aura of murder radiating off of her best friend.
"What the hell happened to my daughter?" Summer said, everyone in the room slowly moving towards the door. The closer they got, the faster they moved to leave the cabin.
Raven was not given such an opportunity.
"Summer listen—"
"Did I not say, be. Careful?" Summer took a silent step forward, but to Raven it may as well have been thunderous.
"Wait, Summer, I wasn't even—"
"Not to mention," Summer pointed to the television in the room, a picture of Vale burning featured on the news, "That came on the news not even a full four minutes after you called me."
"Okay but that—"
Raven was cut off, not by a slap, like she had expected, but by an embrace. Summer gripped her tightly, a slight tremble to her arms as she held her friend. Raven almost fell back, not expecting the sudden move. When she realized what was going on, she slowly hugged the woman back, sighing.
"It all went to shit, Sum," Raven said quietly.
"I know," Summer whispered back, "I'm just happy you three came back."
They stayed like that, neither saying any more. When they heard the door creak, they separated, and turned to see a sheepish looking Yang.
"Hey, so I know we're all in a very emotionally charged state right now, but there's a few things I think we need to talk about," she stepped into the room. She only had a second to gasp and try and turn and run when she was captured in a patented 'mom hug' by Summer.
"I'm so happy you're okay!" Summer shouted.
"Ack! Me too! I'm happy I'm okay too! Please... Give... Air...!" Yang choked, flailing and trying to release herself.
Raven stepped over and tapped Summer, to which the woman swatted her hand away and resumed her hugging. Raven rolled her eyes and pried the woman off instead.
"Okay, we'll tell you everything when your sister comes to. For now we all need to lay low and think about where we're going," Raven rubbed her temples, already anticipating the trials to come.
"What do you mean 'where we're going'?" Summer asked. Raven blinked as she realized Summer didn't know about Ozpin.
"That's... Also a lot to talk about," Raven groaned, realizing she would have to explain most of this since Cinder was out cold and she didn't like the idea of Watts talking to kids.
Summer sent her a look that was a mix of concern and annoyance but didn't push any further. Good thing too. It had been a day and right now Raven needed to relax before anything shittier happened.
The guests they'd brought filtered in slowly after Yang called them back. Summer walked over to Adam, who still held Ruby and looked at her daughter. Noticing what had happened to her face, her eyes narrowed.
Adam stood very still. Aside from the fact that Summer had said she was Ruby's mother, Adam could've guessed at a glance. Ruby was the spitting image of her mom. He clenched his jaw when Summer's eyes finally met his.
"And who are you?" she asked, her features still grave. There was no heat to her words however, only curiosity of the man who held her child.
"I'm... Ruby's partner," he said, betraying no emotion. Summer kept studying his face, making him sweat a little. When he realized she was waiting he coughed lightly before speaking up again, "Adam."
Summer just continued to look in his eyes, and he was beginning to think that she was trying to read his soul. He didn't dare look away, somehow knowing that if he did, something awful would happen.
What he didn't expect was for the woman to step forward gently and delicately wrap her arms around him and by proxy her daughter who he was still holding.
"You have the same look as someone I knew," she said softly, "but I feel like you don't have nearly as much to regret as he does."
Adam didn't know how to respond, but it didn't seem like Summer needed him to. Instead she slowly stepped back and ushered upstairs.
"Yang, help him get Ruby to her room. Help set up spaces for our guests too while you're at it."
Yang nodded and dragged her teammates up with her, team PAVL stayed at the foot of the steps awkwardly, not knowing whether to follow or not. That left Watts, Raven, and Summer standing in the living room as well as the still bleeding Cinder, who Summer looked to with a wince.
"I don't think the bandages we have will be enough for that," Summer looked at Watts, who waved her off.
"She may lose her leg but I assure you that I can save her life," he was so nonchalant that Summer blinked in surprise. Lose a leg? In her living room!? That most definitely called for a more urgent disposition!
"If you don't mind..."
They all turned to see Jaune stepping forward. Still geared up and fresh from the fight with Ironwood, he looked like a soldier of old coming back from a battle. The dents in his armor from where the general's likely armor piercing rounds were a testament to his aura to negate so much force.
"I may be able to assist," he offered. Watts raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but waved him along regardless.
"If you believe so, there's no harm in attempting. She'll either lose the leg or bleed out. Let's not do this in someone's house, hm?" he turned to Summer, "I saw you have a shed in the back. Mind if we conduct our business there?"
Summer just nodded and Jaune left with the chair-bound man. He said something along the lines of 'she might not lose anything' which Watts didn't seem to fully believe. His friends followed him, Nora sending a thankful nod to Summer and Ren shouting a loud thanks as he closed the door.
"I need a drink," Raven grunted, making for the kitchen with Summer following after her.
"You certainly look like it," Summer chimed as she watched Raven pull a can from the fridge.
"What an absolute mess," Raven sunk down into a chair, taking a long drink. Summer pulled out another can and sat next to her doing the same. If you knew Summer, then you knew she didn't drink often, which made Raven shoot her a look.
"I have a feeling that I'll need this for when you start explaining what happened," she smirked, cracking her can open and taking a much smaller sip than Raven.
"I'll tell you what happened in Vale, but the rest has to wait until Cinder— that's the woman with the fucked leg— is awake. I'm not letting her heap all of that storytime on me," Raven grumbled.
She readjusted herself, getting comfortable and taking another long sip before sighing and looking Summer in the eyes.
"I'll start with why Ozpin had me snooping around Vale."
And so, for the next hour and a half, Raven recounted everything from her investigation in Vale, to Mountain Glenn, to the attack on Vale, leaving out the parts with Ozpin and Cinder for now. And wouldn't you know it, Summer was right.
They'd gone through an eight pack before Raven even made it to Mountain Glenn.
Wow that was a mess. I went through this chapter over and over again, and while I really liked some parts, I wasn't satisfied at all with other parts. By this point though, I figured I'd sat on this for too long and needed to put it out, otherwise I'd never continue.
I considered separating this into two different chapters but the points where it would've been best to end one would've made the other half too short.
Also I felt bad for not uploading for so long so I decided to keep it as one biggun.
No I didn't forget about Roman and Neo, Mercury, Emerald, or any of the Atlas kids. There just wasn't a reason to include them here. The ones who need to show up again will show up.
If the way this chapter went was any indication, I'll state it here just in case: I'm not doing the Vytal Tournament for this story. I didn't really see a reason to frankly, and aside from that it'd just be fairly close to the way it normally goes and I didn't want to keep things so cookie cutter.
Bear with me as I continue this story, and thank you again for reading.
Drop a review and follow to keep up with my wack ass updates.
Have a wonderful time and stay healthy!
