Chapter 17 – Battle for Mantle
Jaune
Snowflakes mixed with ash gently floated down upon the icy tundra of Solitas…
Beings forged from darkness bolted across the fields of snow and ash, black smoke trailing from their savage bodies. Sabyrs, Beowulves and many other fast ground creatures lead the charge. But the massive army of monsters never trailed far behind. Jaune raised his shield and breathed shakily, cold air escaping from his lips. The Oncoming Shadow simply looked like a wall of darkness that was edging closer and closer.
He could feel the terror in the air. Nobody had ever seen Grimm in numbers like this before. Much less attacking in such a coordinated fashion. Pyrrha spun Milo through her fingers and turned to Nora and Ren, who were at the ready, teeth gritted. Kassius flicked Lash Equinox upwards, extending the blades from the hilts, eyes glowing a faint fiery orange. Sun spun Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers and Oscar drew Traveller's Atrocity, exhaling shakily as well.
"Th-They're not slowing down!" a soldier whimpered… soldier? How could you even compare these people to soldiers? Many people in these defences were once just civilians. Some had never even held a gun before, let alone fought in a battle. And now they were up against this.
But everyone here knew what they were signing up for…
… but even then… did anyone ever think they signed up to fight this?
"Mortars! Open fire!" A soldier commanded with a bellowing voice, then deafening cracks bellowed behind them. The recruits yelped when they heard the sound of those things firing, and the shells whistled overhead, arcing across the snowy sky. But the seasoned soldiers and the Huntsmen and Huntresses did not even flinch… well, except for the Students who came down here from Atlas Academy before the walls were raised. Even they jolted when the Hellfire Tanks all blasted high explosive shells up into the sky.
The shells soared high in the air, then came crashing down into the snow with a catastrophic bang. The explosions were constant, blowing the Grimm to pieces. Chunks of black matter were tossed across the air with black blood and smoke spreading the area. Ursae roared as they were hit by incoming mortar fire. The incendiary bombs set some beasts aflame, but some were completely immune to the weapons. Like the Hellhounds, bodies already engulfed in fire, and sprinting across the snow at terrifying speeds, melting the frozen flakes beneath their paws. Magma drooling from their glowing teeth.
"Oh, gods…"
Some of these people who lived behind the walls of Atlas had never even seen Grimm in their entire lives. Yes, they knew they existed… but never saw them in person.
"Steel your nerves." Hazel advised to some of the soldiers, raising his fists and scowling.
"Listen to him… it's only gonna get a lot worse." Cinder assured, her eyes igniting, then her hair fluttered as she levitated off the ground, preparing to lay waste to these monsters.
The Hellhound drew closer and closer, roaring savagely, until they heard the magnificent sound of afterburners roaring overhead. "Talons 9 and 7 incoming." One pilot informed to their ground forces. Machine gun fire blasted down to the Grimm, shredding through the body of the Hellhound, ripping it apart and killing it before it could even get close. Then they flew over the ocean of beasts that were swelling towards the walls of Mantle.
They both dropped firebombs down upon them. The sound from the explosions took a couple moments to reach the ears of people below. But when it hit, they whimpered. But the Oncoming Shadow continued to advance. "Alright! Here we go, people!" Jaune called out as he walked forward, weapons at the ready. He clenched Crocea Mors tight, and he felt the hieroglyphics across its blade shimmer and communicate with his aura. He turned to Pyrrha and Kassius, who stood beside him. Many others stood with him as well, ready to charge at the Grimm head on.
"LET'S SEND THESE FUCKERS BACK TO THE HELL THEY CAME FROM!" He roared, and that boosted everyone's motivation and they all roared with defiance. The Huntsmen and Huntresses all sprinted towards the incoming Grimm together in a defiant attack, whilst the soldiers all opened fire on the Grimm, killing them one by one.
Kassius charged across the snowy terrain as the shells from the Hellfire Tanks came crashing down all around him, blowing Grimm to pieces, then he threw Lash Equinox directly into the eye socket of an Ursa, jumping towards its head and grabbing the hilt, dragging the body down into the ground with all his might, cutting the head clean in half. He ducked down underneath an incoming fireball from a Manticore, only to be smashed across the snow by the fist of a Beringel.
It roared with fury as it charged towards him, but Emerald launched towards the beast and kicked it in the side of the face with both feet. Kassius then threw one sword into its chest and jumped towards it. He grabbed onto the hilt of his lodged sword, then stabbed them both down into the eye sockets of the huge ape. It howled with immense pain as he twisted the blades, turning the eyes to black pulp.
He kicked off his shoulders, ripping the blades free with thick black blood covering them, and he landed effortlessly with a smirk. He nodded at Emerald, who had to immediately roll aside as a Beringel lunged towards her.
Up ahead, Jaune slammed his shield into the incoming swipe of an Ursa Major, but he swung back, knocking the beast off balance, and then he jumped up and cut clean through the neck of the huge Ursine Grimm. The creature crumbled away into ashes as he landed, then he rolled aside as more Grimm kept charging his way. He stood back to back with Pyrrha, who fired shot after shot at the Grimm. Luckily, with all their forces firing on them, they weren't being completely swarmed yet.
Yet…
The Grimm just kept coming, and they both turned as they saw a huge Nuckelavee galloping towards them, shrieking with fury. It swung its arm towards Jaune and he ducked. So did Pyrrha. He then slashed across the arm, severing it. The Imp bound to the Equus shrieked in immense pain. Then he raised his shield over his head. "Pyrrha!" He called.
"Done!" She agreed, jumping onto his shield, and with his Semblance he created a powerful blast of energy from his sword, which sent Pyrrha flying back and killed the surrounding Grimm that were going to mob him.
She soared overhead and transformed Milo into its spear form, and she dove towards the Imp, ramming the red spear straight through its ribs, killing it. The Equus roared in pain as it charged at Jaune, but he quickly cut through its leg with the sword, amputating it. The Horse flipped forward, throwing Pyrrha from its back and she flipped through the air before sliding across the snow on her feet.
The Horse slid to a stop and Jaune finished the beast off with Crocea Mors, stabbing it through the ear and killing it instantly. Pyrrha threw Akoúo immediately, bouncing it off the face of a Beowulf, sending it into the skull of a Thrall, killing it instantly. She then called it back into her hand, cutting across the throat of the Beowulf before spiralling around and raising her shield, blocking the incoming quills from a Spiker that spotted her. She immediately nocked her rifle over her Discus Shield, shooting the creature in the head.
Jaune stood beside her once more. Then they turned to hear the excited cheer of Nora Valkyrie. Despite everything that was happening, she always found the enjoyment in any fight against the Grimm. She soared overhead after being thrown high into the air by Hazel, and she crushed a lightning dust crystal in her palm, activating her semblance. As she descended, she held Magnhild over her head, glowing bright pink.
She crashed into the snow, burying Magnhild into the skull of a landed Teryx, and the blast vaporised an entire legion of Grimm, leaving the entire area around her barren. Soldiers advanced, firing their weapons, or even swinging them at the Grimm. Hazel charged past them. He hadn't activated his Blood Rage yet, but he had more than enough vials of blood to fight with if the time ever came to him using it. Nora fired grenade after grenade into the swarm of Grimm, which was relentlessly advancing towards them.
"Keep fighting! Don't give up!" Jaune called out, turning to a soldier shooting his machine gun at the Grimm. Only for a Nevermore to suddenly snatch him with its talons.
"OH GODS! HEEEELP!" He shrieked in terror, only for the Nevermore to throw him in the air, and he was bitten down on by the jaws of a Teryx. Two of them were there, and he wailed in immense agony as they pulled him apart for fun, spraying his blood everywhere. Jaune's eyes widened at the horror, and one by one he started seeing more and more soldiers being ruthlessly killed by the creatures.
A Beowulf tackled another soldier to the ground, ripping him open with its teeth and claws, whilst another was bitten over the head by a King Taijitu and flung into the swarm where his screams were muffled by the deafening roaring of all the beasts. Jaune was snapped back to reality when the ground lit up gold and he jolted from the deafening sound of a Colossus firing its powerful cannon loaded with Lightning Dust into the ground, through the vast horde of Grimm, killing hundreds of them in a single attack. Thinning out the attacking numbers for a few moments, then it turned and looked up as a Reaper came flying towards it. The massive creature blasted a beam of fire at it, but the Colossus raised its Hardlight Shields, being pushed by the force of the incoming beam of fire by the beast.
The Colossus immediately returned the favour by firing a returning beam up into the creature, melting the bone armour and making the giant roar in immense pain. As it tried to ascend, the Colossus extended its drill arm from the other hand and thrusted upwards, stabbing straight through the heart of the creature. The Reaper howled in agony, then the Colossus threw it ahead, sending the giant body crashing down onto the Grimm.
Jaune looked around with wide eyes as the ten massive Colossus M.E. stood in a line, protecting the walls of Mantle, either thinning out Grimm numbers with the Dust Cannon, or shooting up at the larger creatures descending from the open portal to the Charred Forest.
But Reapers were not all that were coming through. More and more creatures came descending from the sky, from Wyverns to Manticores, Nevermores and Sphinxes, and gods know how many others. Jaune turned away from the sky, and rolled aside as a Griffin flew towards him, and as it tried to fly away, Cinder suddenly launched herself into the creature, cutting it perfectly in half with her dual Obsidian swords.
She then closed her eyes and when they opened they burned hot, and then she held out her hands, forming dark clouds above them all, and brought down huge tornadoes of ice into the Grimm ahead of their forces. The Grimm were frozen solid and then the power of the wind was enough to shatter them completely. Pyrrha looked up and her and knew she had to save her powers, and she knew when best to use her Maiden Powers.
Up on the walls, Snipers fired shot after shot with ear defenders on, whilst the Anti-Air Defences came online as flying Grimm breached the city. Screams could be heard from the north, but the Grimm could not even get past that Border wall defending the city. But that did not stop the Grimm from attacking the buildings to destroy the city.
A Reaper descended, blasting a beam of fire through one of the skyscrapers, cutting off the power and chopping it in half like a hot knife through butter. The top half of the tower came crashing down into the empty streets below. "Activate the Mass Accelerator Cannon!" Ortega commanded from the Drift of Wandering Star, firing all cannons at the Grimm as well, alongside the rest of Robyn's fleet of Dreadnaughts. The huge turret powered up and turned towards the Reaper, which roared as it burned through the city streets with the Wyverns.
"Target locked – shot." The operator confirmed, and the thunderous bang of the Mass Accelerator Cannon firing was heard everywhere, and the powerful shell of kinetic energy cut clean through the Reaper. It was killed instantly, sending it crashing down on top of one of the skyscrapers, crumbling away into smoke. Missiles and machine guns from the other turrets flew over the city in every direction as the airborne Grimm tried to attack the civilians, unaware of Robyn escorting them the other way to the mountains, to be safe in the mines.
Jaune felt his teeth vibrate from that Mass Accelerator Canon firing.
At least it's on our side this time.
Mazen battled in the centre with his White Fang forces, cutting the Grimm apart with his Chainsword, and hardening his aura into diamond to block the incoming blast of fire from a Hellhound. The gigantic creature launched towards him, its burning paw with razor sharp molten claws extended from its pads.
Mazen suddenly broke through his diamond shielding and punched the Hellhound up the jaw, and as the beast recoiled backwards, he rammed the blade of his sword through its chest, pinning it to the ground and cutting it in half. Kaa jumped past him, throwing two of her knives into the faces of a pair of Beowulves, giving Mazen time to swing around and behead two more creatures.
Hazel charged at a Beringel, punching it in the face, and catching its fist, glaring back at the monster which snarled viciously at him. He then punched it in the face once more, and knocked the creature to the floor, and he pounded its skull in until it was dead, turning as a Sabyr lunged towards him, only to be saved just in time by Sun who smashed the creature across the floor in one hard strike.
Jaune sprinted through the battlefield with Pyrrha beside him, and she threw Akoúo forward, then her eyes ignited with green flames and she blasted a powerful lightning bolt into the Grimm, stopping them from pouncing on Sun from behind. Jaune charged forward with his shield and smashed a Beowulf in the chest before ramming his sword into its throat.
"Look out!" Sun yelled, pulling Jaune aside, as a huge Hellfire Tank rolled forward, crushing some Thralls underneath its massive treads. The cannon fired, the sound of the discharge being so loud it made their ears ring for more than just a couple of seconds. They jolted and covered their ears, then they made some distance away from the gigantic tank, which was constantly firing artillery into the Grimm.
Then Jaune looked up and saw the Air Force fly overhead. Huge bombers soared over with droning roars as their bomb-bay doors opened, sending an extensive collection of maximum impact shells towards the ground. They exploded with magnificent scale, wiping out hundreds of Grimm. Gunships hovered overhead, firing their machine guns and missile launchers into the horde, shredding their bodies down to a black goo on the floor as they bought the city more time.
But as the battle continued, Jaune looked up at the sky with wide eyes.
Lightning cracked above them, Cinder continued to lay down support with her Maiden Powers, but she was looking up as well as the Tempests were still floating overhead, darkening the skies with black and red clouds, littered with blood red lightning crackling in them. It didn't take long before visibility dropped dramatically, and Jaune shuddered.
He raised his scroll to his ear. "Robyn, how far along is your evacuation?" Jaune questioned.
"Barely halfway through!" He could barely hear her, both over the battle around him but also from the terrified civilians on the other end, mixed with the constant sound of the Anti-Air Cannons firing at the Grimm in the city.
"Well, you'd better pick up the pace." Jaune answered, turning to cut through a Wraith as it swung its sword at him.
"How long can we keep this up?" Sun asked him as he looked around.
"As long as we can." Jaune answered.
Ozpin
The Three Higher Demons glared at them, preparing for battle.
Ozpin spun his Sceptre through his fingers, and he felt the seconds tick one by one. Maria spun her Scythes through her fingers. Glynda flicked the Disciplinarian whilst Carmine and Bertilak glared the two beings down.
I'm guessing these assholes are the demons he was talking about… fitting…
The Three Higher Demons suddenly blasted forward but so did Ozpin, shattering through time itself, and sending him flying forwards and punching the Whisperer in the side of the face. The entity was flung back a few feet, the face that was once Salem's breaking apart into the shards of a fractured mirror. Ozpin landed and immediately channelled powerful magic into the tip of his Spear, firing at the Whisperer. It turned and took Salem's form once again, and she blasted another beam right back, a thick line of black and red lightning. The two beams crashed into each other, holding them both back from each other.
Maria and Glynda both sprinted at the Onyx Phantom and first took the form of Maria, copying her likeness, except with a darker and more disturbing look. Half her face crumbling away into golden embers and her hair completely black. And eyes burning orange, she jumped at it and slammed both her scythes down at the Demon. But the Onyx Phantom swiftly formed the same weapons, stopping her in one hand and blocking Glynda's incoming blast of purple energy. The Onyx Phantom suddenly swung around, throwing Maria into the wall with swift speed.
She crashed into the bricks, tumbling inside, but before she could even stop rolling across the floor, the Onyx Phantom already had her by the throat and pinned against the wall. "Poor Maria Calavera… last of a dying breed outside of Kragen's little home of Silver Eyed Cowards… so few brave ones of you left." The Onyx Phantom hissed in her voice, but Maria growled and suddenly blasted a blinding white light from her eyes through the mask, stunning and weakening the Higher Demon long enough to fight back.
"Bold talk for someone who hides behind a face that isn't their own." Maria bit back. The Onyx Phantom looked over its shoulder and Glynda, also mimicking her appearance, and it laughed sinisterly before attacking.
Bertilak and Carmine both sprinted towards the Lord of the Wood whom drove its hands down into the road, sending powerful roots tunnelling underneath the tarmac, smashing cars over as they launched towards them. Bertilak smashed one root apart with his mace, only to be smashed in the face by another, but Carmine was faster and more agile, easily dodging the incoming roots. And with her semblance, she flung her Sai towards the Leshen. The small blade shot straight through its shoulder, causing it to stumble back a few steps.
She rushed forward and repeatedly slashed her Sai with her semblance across the Leshen's roots that tried to wrap around her, then she floated up in the air, constantly slashing across the bark covering its body. The Lord of the Wood extended one arm, and the roots dug into the wreckage of a car, then the Demon flung it towards her with great speed.
Carmine gasped, and she dropped to the ground, narrowly dodging the incoming car and landing on both feet. She stared ahead and her eyes widened to see the one slow moving Lord of the Wood suddenly blasting towards her, punching her in the face. The impact was so hard it made the car alarms start blaring and she tumbled across the road.
The Lord of the Wood followed, but Bertilak reappeared, bashing his Mace into the side of the Leshen's skull. It barely even moved from the impact of the mace, and when he swung again, the Leshen caught it with ease, staring down at him. But Bertilak smirked, blasting hot air from his aura, which burned into the hard dry wood. The Lord of the Wood staggered backwards from the heat, but Bertilak did not back down, smashing his mace repeatedly at the Lord of the Wood, he then blasted three shots at the skull, then fired the chain forward, wrapping it around the Demon's neck. He yanked himself forward, smashing his knee up the Lord's face, driving him back, before flipping backwards and landing on both feet.
The Lord of the Wood rolled its shoulder and growled softly, smoke trailing from the bark that covered its body. Bertilak sprinted at the Demon again, but this time as he jumped at it, the Lord of the Wood crossed its arms over, and suddenly sharp spikes of wood burst out from the Lord's body, blowing Bertilak back. It then wrapped its roots around his ankle and swung him around, smashing him through the fountain in the centre of the square. Water burst from the broken fountain, and then the Lord of the Wood flung him into a burning bus.
Maria and Glynda both continued to battle the Onyx Phantom inside of the department store that they were thrown into. Glynda launched a trolley at the Demon, which the Phantom simply batted aside. But behind it, Maria jumped up and locked her scythes over its throat. Whilst taking Glynda's form, it snarled as she tried to cut its head clean off its body. The Onyx Phantom suddenly turned around inside its own skin, suddenly facing Maria. She gasped with disbelief at that, and the Phantom suddenly punched her into the wall again. Maria groaned in pain as the Onyx Phantom approached, Scythe in hand to kill her, until it heard Glynda roar.
It looked left as Glynda suddenly launched an abandoned bus through the building and into the Demon's side. It barked in pain as the bus exploded out the other side, throwing it across the street. It drove one of Maria's scythes down into the road to steady itself, then Glynda walked out from the smoking ruin of a store. She flicked the Disciplinarian and suddenly began sending arcs of purple lightning at the demon.
It mimicked her body and copied her fighting style, blocking her incoming attacks, then sent them right back. Glynda rolled aside, then rebounded an incoming bolt into a building, bringing the whole wall down. Maria suddenly shot out from the shadows, slashing across the Onyx Phantom's back. It snarled with anger and spun around at her, and the skull mask suddenly glowed blood red.
She blasted her Silver Eyes right back, cancelling out the destructive power of the Demon's dark reflection of the Silver Eyes. She threw her Scythe at the Onyx Phantom, which had already dodged the incoming throw, but then she smirked and called it back with the linked gravity dust pairing the two weapons have. The blade sliced straight through its right arm and it snarled, seeing the arm break apart. But it laughed darkly as golden ashes reconstructed the arm piece by piece.
It suddenly lunged forward, cutting across her body, then dashed towards Glynda and slashed up her chest, and as it shifted into Glynda's body, it levitated chunks of debris on the ground and threw it into her before she could dodge it.
The impact of the rubble made her aura flicker and also winded her. She gasped for air as she tried to get back up, but the Onyx Phantom stamped its boot down onto the back of her neck. "A shame… you could have all just made it simpler… but now it has to be painful. Although… in truth? I'm glad… there's something truly delightful about bringing your meek kind suffering. You feel so much… pain, grief, terror… yet we feel nothing." It snarled. Then Maria got up, and this time sent a single powerful beam of white light into the Onyx Phantom's side.
He roared in pain as the searing hot white light burned against its spectral form, forcing it against the wall. She then shot forward and rammed her Scythe down into the Onyx Phantom's throat.
"Sounds like you feel plenty plain, you fucking monster." She snarled into its ear, before slashing downwards so hard that its head dangled from sinewy matter. It stumbled, but then it grabbed its head and reattached it, allowing the matter to realign.
Glynda recovered and stood beside Maria, staring the Onyx Phantom down.
Ozpin and the Whisperer remained locked together with their green and red beams of magic crashing into each other, staring each other down. Ozpin gritted his teeth. Then his face disappeared behind his helmet of clockwork, which transformed over his head. He then swung upwards, sending both their beams up into a building, blowing it apart and sending chunks of rubble crashing down all around them. Ozpin shot forward through slowed time, but the Whisperer conjured many long spears of magical glass, firing them towards him. But Ozpin spun through the air at great speeds, breaking them all before they could even touch him, then he thrusted his Sceptre at the Whisperer.
It caught his weapon and stared at it, trying to open it to reveal the Relic hidden within it. "Nice try." Ozpin growled, blasting a pulse of energy from the tip of the Sceptre, pushing him away.
The Whisperer paced back and forth, staring him down, clad in the fractured skin of Salem. Ozpin circled the Demon, keeping his attention on the Higher Demon, knowing it to be the most dangerous – and intelligent – of the three. "Your defiance against the inevitable is charming… but we will acquire what you keep from our grasp." The Whisperer promised.
"This Universe will not be destroyed, not whilst I am alive to protect it." Ozpin warned.
"Indeed, that was what we were hoping for. You have been a thorn in our side for far too long." The Whisperer snarled sinisterly, suddenly levitating a car and launching it at Ozpin. He formed a magical sign which flew towards the car like a circular saw blade, cutting it clean in half. Both halves crashed to the ground on either side, then Ozpin spiralled his Sceptre and slammed it down against the ground, opening his eyes and ripping the rebar from the surrounding buildings. He then shot them all towards the Whisperer, but it simply broke apart into a thousand pieces, just making every single projectile pass through the cloud of fragments.
It slowly came back together, returning to Salem's form, smirking at him. "Clever tricks… the Relic of Knowledge has taught you much." The Whisperer stated. "But our power is far beyond yours…"
The Whisperer floated above him and formed hundreds of shards above its body, and fired them all down towards him, but Ozpin drove his Sceptre down, collapsing it down into Cane form, and forming a protective bubble of green magical energy. The shards broke apart one by one as they hit, but the Whisperer launched towards him, and punched straight through the barrier.
The Whisperer grabbed Ozpin by the throat, throwing punch after punch into his face, before launching him down the side of one of the buildings. Entire floors exploded into chunks as he fell down the layers. But Ozpin held out his hands, using his magic to grant himself the power to float as well, and he shot forward, striking across the face of the Whisperer, fracturing its face in the process. The Whisperer grunted – Ozpin remembered what they learned back at Salem's Sanctum. The Whisperer's weakness was the face. If he continued to aim for the face, he could damage the Demon enough to give them time to retreat.
He swung again, but it caught his arm and threw him into one of the buildings, pinning him there with its dark magic. Black Grimm arms latched onto his body, holding Ozpin in place. In Salem's voice, it laughed at him. "Your arrogance to believe you can stop the inevitable never ceases to entertain us." It chuckled, then as it grabbed the sceptre, the entire weapon flashed green and sent out a powerful blast of energy, throwing the Whisperer back a few feet.
"And to think you're arrogant enough to believe that nobody is smarter than you." Ozpin retorted.
"We are tempted to test that!" The Whisperer roared, commanding the Grimm arms to toss Ozpin to the ground, throwing him against the body of a burning truck. He bounced off and slid down the side. Then as he ripped the last of the Grimm limbs from him, the Lord of the Wood extended its arm, forming a Grimm arm that grabbed him by the throat, slowly squeezing the air out of him.
"You may find… the Relic of Knowledge… won't give up so easily…" He warned, the Whisperer chuckled.
"Oh, child… we are more than acquainted with the pebble." It assured, smirking at him, but Ozpin growled and activated another spell, forming two more replicants of himself, all of which fired a pair of beams up at the Whisperer, breaking the arm clean off and freeing the Professor.
He gasped, finally able to breathe again, and he held onto Mihi Vindicta tightly.
The Whisperer continued to float above him, swirling black smoke between Salem's fingers. "We will take the Relic. The Canvas shall be wiped clean."
"Not on my watch." Ozpin replied.
The Whisperer smirked at him, but Opzin stood his ground and scowled right back.
Weiss
"Whitley…" Weiss gasped, eyes wide at what he had become. "What have you done?"
The Deimos M.E.C.H walked towards them, extending a long electrified blade from its right arm, whilst using the Hardlight Dust Glyphs which mimicked Weiss and Winter's Glyphs fired on them. Fireballs exploded across the garden, igniting the beautiful bushes into wildfire. Weiss rolled out of the way whilst Yang blasted at him. Her shells bounced off the armour plating, doing no damage whatsoever, so instead she shot at the ground behind her, riding the recoil towards him.
She pulled her arm back and went to punch him in the head with her cybernetic fist, only for Whitley to effortlessly bat her aside, and then he punched the ground so hard that the pistons inside the mechanical body burst with hot air. The ground cracked, blowing the nice pave stones to pieces around them. Ruby jumped and ran across the breaking tiles before throwing herself high in the air through her semblance. She spiralled Crescent Rose through her fingers and aimed down at Deimos. The huge M.E.C.H stared up at her, and she fired at the glowing blue optic, but an armoured plate slid over just in time to protect the optics. Now all they could see was a thin line of blue light bleeding through.
"You think I didn't study how you fight? I know all your little tricks!" His voice echoed across the manor as he walked around, swinging his massive sword around hard and fast. Blake sprinted aside, casting a shadow to distract Whitley. He cut straight through, but then his shoulder opened, revealing a missile launcher which tracked her thermal readings, something her shadows could not fake.
They fired, and she gasped, eyes widening as the rockets exploded behind her. She jumped into a roll, only narrowly dodging the first, but the next exploded by her side, throwing her against a wall. Weiss narrowed her eyes in anger, then she drove her sword into the ground, sending a long line of razor sharp shards of ice bursting up from beneath. One of them slammed into the back of Whitley's leg, making him stumble forward.
He spun around and growled with anger. "Why don't we take this time to catch up, big sis?" He charmingly challenged, Weiss gasped as she watched his legs open, revealing powerful thrusters alongside the panels on his back, revealing more afterburners. He launched towards Weiss and grabbed her in his hand, flying off towards the nearby highway.
"WEISS!" Ruby screamed, rushing to help her, with Blake and Yang at her side. Jacques stood and watched with a sinister smile, giving him more time to prepare more defences in case Whitley cannot kill them.
Or if the Grimm break through.
Weiss reached back to Ruby, but also the Manor. "NO!" she screamed.
So close… so damn close to stopping him!
Whitley slammed down to the ground on the highway, where panicking drivers were roaring across the surrounding road. He threw Weiss ahead, but she quickly spun through the air and stabbed Myrtenaster down into the tarmac, slowing herself down and using her glyphs to steady her stance.
Whitley's legs dug down into the road, ripping up tarmac as he came to a stop, also blasting flames from his spine thrusters. Chunks of tarmac crumbled beneath his feet, and he grabbed a motorcycle driving by, stopping it dead and causing the rider to be thrown swiftly overhead and into the road. Weiss thrusted to the man, using a blast of wind from her glyph to throw the man out of the way as the bike exploded against her body. Weiss tumbled across the floor as Whitley lunged forward, stabbing at the ground where she was standing, only narrowly missing her.
She blasted up into the air, then jumped off another angled glyph in the air, and she stabbed in between the plates of metal. "Stop this, Whitley!" She begged, but he suddenly blasted searing hot vapour from the mechanical pistons which blew her off, and his metallic laugh echoed all around them.
"You can't even begin to imagine how good it feels to finally let loose!" Whitley roared with joy. He then aimed at her and a machine gun opened up from his wrist. He immediately opened fire on her, spraying a storm of bullets across the road at her. She gasped, dashing aside and creating a quick barrier of ice. The ice broke apart immediately, but gave her the time she needed.
She jumped, then landed atop one of the cars before jumping on one after another to get back to Whitley. She then launched towards him like a bullet, aiming for his glowing blue optic, and she thrusted her sword towards him, only for Whitley to catch her and smash her down into the road. Her blue aura flickered, and her vision became hazy from the sudden and hard impact. Whitley grabbed Weiss by her legs in one hand and her torso with the other.
"For fifteen years, the family held you up!" Whitley roared, smashing her back down against the floor, dealing a devastating blow to her aura once again. He then stamped down at her with his powerful boot, pinning her against the road. "Father saved our family from annihilation!" He barked, before reaching down and lifting her up once more, glaring at her. "And nothing will stand in my way to finish it." Whitley snarled, swinging around and throwing Weiss into a truck, so hard the carriage was thrown onto its side.
Whitley stood amongst the cars and aimed at her, charging up a powerful laser. "First it was mother… then Winter… now it will be you." He growled, but before he could fire, Ruby suddenly launched overhead in a flurry of rose petals, and dug Crescent Rose into the side of the Deimos' head. She used her momentum and pummelled him into the ground, so hard that the bridge collapsed and they both plummeted down towards the next bridge beneath them.
The cars all screeched to a stop, whilst Blake and Yang arrived. "Go! I'll get Weiss!" Blake told Yang, and the Blonde Brawler nodded, immediately jumping after her sister as they fell. Ruby ripped the scythe from the damaged armour plating, and she shot away from Whitley's incoming sword that he swung at her. She shot repeatedly at his chest before launching down past him.
He flipped through the plummeting air and landed on both feet, whilst Ruby slid across the road. The bridge cracked under the impact of the Deimos and he snarled, instantly blasting a powerful energy beam at her. She dodged it then rushed at him, going for his leg, only for him to roundhouse kick her into a car, crushing the door inwards.
Luckily, nobody was in the passenger seat.
Ruby turned to see Whitley sprinting towards her, and he went to stab her, until Yang dove into the side of his head, smashing her cybernetic fist so hard into the head it made his optics flicker, and the metal rippled from the blast. He crashed into the ground, tumbling over, before stabbing his sword into the road.
The sisters stood side by side, weapons at the ready.
He chuckled at the two of them. "You two really think you can stop me?" Whitley challenged, Ruby and Yang both glanced at each other and grinned.
They both charged forward, and Whitley sprinted towards them. He fired a volley of missiles, but Yang shot them out of the air before catching one and throwing it right back. He grunted and staggered back a couple of steps. He then swung at Ruby, but she landed on his blade then shot an explosive round into the armoured head of the M.E.C.H.
He recoiled back, then formed multiple glyphs around him, all of which blasted icicles at them at the speed of bullets. Yang sprinted, dodging the incoming ice blades, whilst Ruby shredded through them with her Scythe. Yang smashed her fists together, and she smirked, jumping off one car driving by, and she launched a swarm of missiles down at Whitley, whom brought up a Hardlight Shield with his right arm. Yang landed and punched him in the back of the knee, forcing him down, and then she shot up and uppercut the machine, breaking off a small chunk of metal.
Ruby then flew overhead in a burst of petals, and hooked Crescent Rose under his neck, and as she dropped, she smashed his head down into the road.
He blasted up into the air, suddenly hovering, and then launched back down, shattering the ground. Yang gasped, and she jumped after one of the cars, and caught onto the rear bumper, saving the screaming family from falling to their deaths. "Hang on!" She yelled. Whitley sprinted towards Yang from behind as she struggled until Blake and Weiss returned to the fight. Weiss summoned a Nevermore which flew towards him and Blake leapt off the head and threw Gambol Shroud into the armour.
She soared past and yanked him down against the ground. Weiss landed, conserving her aura as best as she could, and ran to assist Yang with the car. She formed a couple of glyphs beneath them so Yang could drop them, then Weiss safely lowered them onto the bridge below. "Go!" Weiss called, and the family immediately took off without question.
Whitley snarled and his blade arm transformed unexpectedly into a cannon, and he fired a powerful shell at her. Blake rolled out of the way, gritting her teeth as the shell exploded in a fiery blast behind her, blowing her beautiful black ponytail in the wind. Yang and Blake both rushed forward, and Blake threw her the grappling hook, and swung Yang around as she sprinted around them, then launched the Brawler towards Whitley.
She roared and punched him in the face as well, blowing him across the bridge. He turned and suddenly grabbed another car with a civilian inside. She screamed in horror as he held the car above his head.
"I love this body!" He laughed.
"Put her down!" Weiss yelled at her deranged little brother.
"Oh, I intend to." He sinisterly chortled, and he launched the car at her, only for Yang to once again catch another car. She threw herself in front and held the bonnet, falling to one knee. She strained as she laid it back down and got out of the way, panting and she reloaded her shotgun gauntlets, then she smacked the side of the car.
"Get out of here, go!" Yang ordered, the tyres shrieked before the car took off.
Weiss stared at him, and she shook her head. "You always were jealous of us, weren't you? Well, do you feel powerful now? After turning yourself into a monster?" Weiss questioned, and he aimed at her.
"Yes, Weiss… I really do." He snarled, firing immediately, but Weiss rolled aside.
Blake sprinted forward and threw Gambol Shroud and tugged herself forward with her ribbon. She flew forwards them suddenly ignited into flames before him. He gasped and saw her flip away, and suddenly the burning shadow exploded. He stumbled away, then swung around, firing a line of machine-gun bullets towards them, and he started to also launch missiles up into the air, which came crashing down with explosive force.
Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster down, protecting her new family with a barrier, absorbing the damage instead. She glanced at her aura on her scroll; she was falling into the red. "Stay back, Weiss… let your aura recharge." Ruby ordered.
"Okay, I'll try." Weiss agreed, then the others all charged towards Whitley. He charged towards them and swung across the top of their heads. Ruby swirled around the blade and then slashed up his arm, cutting into the armour plating, whilst Blake shot up into the least protected regions, bleeding sparks from the machine. Yang punched him in the knee, damaging some internals and bringing him down to one knee.
He turned and punched Yang through the floor, breaking the road apart, but they all fell together, Weiss included. The Deimos M.E.C.H smashed off the side of another bridge before flipping over onto both feet, landing on the grass beneath. The impact broke the soil apart, throwing grass everywhere. Weiss floated down on her glyph whilst Yang and Ruby used the recoil of their guns to slow their descent, and Blake swung off the piping underneath the lower bridge, landing and sliding across the snow.
This brings back memories of Roman in the Paladin…
Yang sighed, flicking her gold hair back. "Alright, no more collapsing bridges, please? It's getting really old already."
Whitley stood tall, and Ruby looked around with a smile. "Well… at least we don't have to worry about any innocents getting caught in the middle. We need to stop him. He's too dangerous." Ruby explained.
"Yes… you're right… whoever he has become… that isn't the little boy I knew anymore. We need to stop him." Weiss agreed, and they looked at Weiss warmly, understanding the pain she had to be experiencing, seeing Whitley the way he was.
He was too far gone.
They had to take him down.
Battle of Mantle
The Battle below continued to rage…
Neo fired an explosive shell from Hush, killing a Beringel she had been fighting, before she shattered into thousands of shards as a Boarbatusk rammed into her side. Amidst the carnage, she always found the time to smirk and cockily challenge the creatures. The enormous pig snarled and rolled towards her, only for her to suddenly drive her pointed blade up the throat of the creature. She lifted it off the floor before smashing it down to the ground again, killing it. She flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the claws of a Beowulf, and the snarling beast charged at her, slashing repeatedly.
Neo ducked and dodged each swipe, before she relentlessly stabbed it over and over in the chest, before cutting across its throat. The Beowulf collapsed to the ground, and she smiled brightly. She turned to see a row of Grimm suddenly all fall at the same time, and Oscar stood at the other side, his sword drenched in their blood.
He glared ahead as a Wraith creepily floated towards him, before teleporting forward, and it struck at him with its lantern before spiralling around with its sword, slashing at him. But he dashed aside to dodge the lantern, and parried the sword, breaking its defence and cutting straight through the Spectre's body. It howled as it faded away. Then he turned with shocked eyes as the far larger Grimm arrived at the fight.
Megoliaths were charging in, smashing the soldiers into the snow with their huge curved tusks, even seeing one with a skewered soldier dangling from the tusk. Blood spewing everywhere as it shook the body around, like it was enjoying the sight. But there were others as well, like Ziraphs.
A Ziraph was a three-headed Grimm that resembled a giraffe. Their bodies were covered in red spots that bore a resemblance to a leopard's. Each head had two horns. They stood at roughly five stories tall and had razor-like plates on their four legs and long tongues, which they used to ensnare people and swallow them whole.
That was exactly what the beasts were doing, snaring up soldiers and swallowing them whole as they screamed, slowly being digested in their guts. One of the Ziraphs roared in pain though as a shell from a Hellfire tank suddenly exploded into the side of its body, knocking it over so that the soldiers could finish the beast off. Alongside them were more and more Grimm, including the horrific Nightmares.
They were devouring soldiers whole, trapping them for eternity, experiencing unimaginable torment forever, shrieking desperately to be killed instead of exist for another second as a part of its body.
Oscar growled as he saw what these monsters were doing to people, then he looked up as another Reaper was shot down by the Mass Accelerator Cannon, blowing a vast hole through its body and sending it crashing down onto the Grimm below it.
He rolled aside just in time as a Knight's Bannerman swung at him, but he blocked this time, sparks flew as he then threw one of his time bubbles onto the Spectre, and he transformed his sword into dual pistols, firing many rounds into it, stacking them, and when the bubble burst, the Bannerman was blown to pieces.
Ahead of him, Coco stood atop the rocks in the snow, unrelenting as she sprayed bullets down upon the Grimm, shredding them apart one by one. Jumping past her was Yatsuhashi, roaring with fury as he cleaved a Beowulf clean in half with Fulcrum, then caught a jumping thrall by the throat and threw it against the floor, stamping on its skull. Fox also sprinted forward, cutting through the beasts with Sharp Retribution, very little behind in his wake as he killed them.
He then slid under the claws of a banshee. The tall, slender, almost humanoid creature stared at him and shrieked at deafening levels, only for Velvet to silence the creature with a rocket in the throat from Ember Celica. The skull of the Banshee splattered everywhere, and they all fought together. Coco also closed her eyes, igniting them and bringing down a massive blizzard over the Grimm, freezing an entire legion of them solid.
Velvet then jumped high in the air, slamming down a Hardlight Replica of Magnhild down on the frozen creatures, shattering them all into thousands of pieces. Velvet turned with Yatsuhashi beside her, and she just saw more and more, and she trembled with fear.
"They just keep coming…"
Somehow, it never sank in. How could it? It was hard enough to hear the stories of how unstoppable the Oncoming Shadow were, but seeing it firsthand was a totally different experience.
"We just have to buy the evacuation time!" Coco yelled over the chaos, jolting as a Colossus walked overhead, crushing ten Grimm under its foot, blasting all the elements of dust down upon the Grimm.
Up above, the Atlesian Airforce battled in the sky, firing everything they had at the creatures. But the huge Monstra Whales were just circling around Atlas. They were not even interested in Mantle.
What were they waiting for?
Jaune cut through another Sabyr, covered in black blood and sweating. He looked around to see Pyrrha killing just as many beside him, then they both stared ahead with fear.
"Can you feel that?" He asked her.
"Yeah it's… it's like…"
Like an earthquake, the ground was trembling. Cracks were spreading miles ahead of them, but they were getting closer, and closer to where they were.
"All forces, I'm detecting massive levels of seismic activity. I think another portal has opened in the permafrost." Ortega informed.
The cracking was getting bigger and bigger. Then the permafrost exploded, unleashing something horrifying.
It was three of the same Krastax that attacked Vale, the Cephalopod, the Eel and the Shark.
The trio let out a nightmarish bellow at them all, and Jaune's eyes widened with terror at the Kaiju that had arrived at the battle.
"Oh, no…" Pyrrha gasped in fear as she saw the three monsters alongside Blind Worms tunnelling through the frost as well towards the walls.
"Damn it – Colossus teams! Focus your attention on the three Krastax that just showed up!" Jaune ordered.
But without them thinning out the horde… their advance will be even worse than it already was…
… it's gonna be a slaughter.
But what other choice do we have?
If the Krastax break through and they go for the Evacuees… it's all for nothing.
The Ten Colossi all walked towards the three Krastax, armed to the teeth, and ready to fight to the death.
And the Oncoming Shadow's numbers swelled more and more.
Jaune raised his shield, tightened his grip on Crocea Mors and hardened his resolve.
"We don't back down… we fight… to the last soldier if we must."
Author Note - Shiiiiit the Krastax are here, but also YEEEEAAAAH MECHS VS GRIMM KAIJU!
Love writing the Battle for Mantle, super intense and terrifying to picture just endless Grimm constantly flooding towards you, and one by one the soldiers are being killed. Question is - how long will the Huntsmen and Huntresses hold out for against these odds?
Ozpin and his team Vs the Higher Demons was fun, always enjoy the way the 3 demons fight, since they are all really unique to each other. The Onyx Phantom is always a personal favourite with how it mimics the person it fights, plus imagining an Onyx Phantom version of the characters we love is super spooky to picture.
Team RWBY Vs Deimos Whitley, god that MECH is so awesome to write at long last. To help you imagine it, picture the Arma Gigas, but make it a MECH that's nearly twenty five feet tall and armed to the teeth. That's what they are up against. Plus it was fun to have it call back to Volume 2 with the Paladin fight, thought that was fun to do.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the wait, Writer's Block was a biiiiiitch as you can guess XD
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Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt