Chapter 18 – Titans on the Battlefield
Robyn
The sirens continued to wail out across the city of Mantle.
Robyn stared up at the sky as she saw the black clouds polluting the sky, and the vast fleet of Tempests swarmed the skyline, crackling red lightning everywhere. The population they were evacuating were terrified, but they had to keep them moving in order. They couldn't let the fear tip the Oncoming Shadow off from the military.
Assuming that Vir Nominis Umbra wasn't already prepared for this scenario. "Everyone keep moving! We need to get out of Mantle before the Grimm break through!" Robyn called out, then she turned to a mother carrying her baby in her arms, clad in a thick fluffy coat, holding her baby close with a warm blanket around the infant.
"Ma'am… what if it isn't safe there? In the mines?" She asked her.
"It's safer in the mines and the mountains than it will be in here. Soon Mantle is gonna be completely levelled, we have no other options. Now go, keep moving." Robyn felt like there was no point in lying to these people about their odds. But that was a simple fact. Anywhere in those mountains was a safer bet than the hell this city was soon going to become.
She looked at the people… they were already succumbing to the hallucinations of the Charred Forest.
And it wasn't even here yet.
Fiona ran over to her and she panted. "We're halfway through the evacuation. How long do we have until the Oncoming Shadow breaks through?"
They all spun around when they heard Shriekers soaring across the sky and exploding into the side of one of the skyscrapers. The explosion shattered the windows and caused massive chunks of rubble to plummet to the bottom of the city. Burying the cars beneath the chunks of concrete. Snow was already billowing into the streets as the heating grid shut offline, and more airborne Grimm flew into the city.
King and Lesser Wyverns soared over the districts, burning the roads to embers, melting cars from the powerful heat of their flames. But as the Grimm laid their once beautiful and bustling city to waste behind them, the Acolytes of the Rose and Atlesian Air Force battled against them, shooting them down with missiles and machine guns.
A titanic Reaper flew overhead, blasting beams of fire and lightning from its jaws, destroying multiple fighter jets. Only for a bright flash and a deafening crack, and a single shot from the Mass Accelerator Cannon pierced through the armour, blowing a mighty hole in its body, and sending it crashing down into the city streets below it, crushing small buildings underneath it, and shaking the ground.
Robyn watched as the flames burned hot and smoke rose higher and higher… and through it all… she heard the roaring of the Krastax Titans that had entered the battle.
She turned back to Fiona. "I don't know… but our window is getting smaller by the second. We need to move faster." Robyn ordered.
Joanna nodded. "Alright, double time people! We're running out of time! Get moving!" Joanna roared, and their tanks that they could spare stayed close to the long line of people heading out into the icy tundra.
Robyn looked back at the wall, where their warriors were bravely holding the line against the unending army of Grimm.
"Good luck, Jaune Arc…"
Battle for Mantle
The Cephalopod Krastax snarled, half of its face still scarred from Ruby's Silver Eyes back at Vale.
Yeah… these are definitely the same Krastax that attacked Vale. Looks like they're not done with us yet.
Jaune bashed a Howler Grimm across the face with his shield, tumbling the Mandrill Grimm across the snowy ground, and he stabbed down the top of its head before it could get any closer. As he turned, a large pack of Grimm charged towards him. He narrowed his furious eyes and jumped high in the air. His eyes glowed bright blue, and he held Crocea Mors with both hands, and stabbed down into the ground. The Glyphs shone brightly across the entire blade, and huge spikes of ice erupted from the surrounding ground, impaling the many Grimm, killing them all instantaneously.
Qrow launched himself across the sky, and then transformed back into Human Form, sliding across the ice and cutting through three Beowulves at once with Harbinger in its Scythe Form. Black blood covered the Huntsman, and he jumped, flipping backwards to kick up the jaw of an Ursa. The huge Bear snarled with anger as it stumbled away from him, then it dug its claws into the ground and hurled a rock directly at him. Qrow spiralled Harbinger effortlessly, destroying it before it even came close to hitting him, and then he aimed the shotgun barrel of his sword forward, shooting the beast in the face.
The right eye splattered. The Ursa roared in agony as bone fragments bounced across the floor, only for Qrow to launch forward and ram the sword through its throat, dragging it along the ice. He swiftly ripped the blade out and stared ahead as Penny and the Maidens decimated the Grimm from above.
The Krastax were standing their ground. They were outnumbered by the Colossus M.E. … but they were hardly outgunned.
They all aimed their cannons at the huge Grimm that stood their ground, and they charged them up. But just before they opened fire, Blind Worms burst from the ground and attacked. One of the huge worms wrapped around the cannon of a Colossus, causing it to stagger around. The enormous tail of the worm smashed through both Grimm and Soldiers alike, crushing them underneath its weight. The Colossus smashed the beast against the wall, and the sudden attacks of Blind Worms caught them off guard.
The Krastax continued to stand their ground, and the huge M.E. kept on fighting. The first to be attacked grabbed onto Worm and ripped its hooks from the cannon, and smashed it down into the floor, before stomping down atop its head with all its might. Black blood sprayed across the once white floor. Another backed up as the giant Blind Worm erupted from the ice right in front of the huge machine, but its fist transformed into a powerful mining drill, and it thrusted upwards into the monster, skewering it with ease, drilling a huge hole through its body.
Black blood splattered across the Colossus, then the M.E.C.H tossed the dead Grimm into the ground. Another Colossus sprinted forward, firing multiple shards of rock from the cannon into a Blind Worm, rearing up from the ice, shooting acid from its mouth at them. The Colossus raised its other hand, forming a protective barrier of Hardlight Dust, and then fired a single beam of electricity dust and cut it clean in two.
Down below, Hazel continued to beat the Grimm to a pulp, and turned with shock as multiple soldiers were dragged down to a horrible fate as a Blind Worm attack from beneath. They shrieked in terror and agony as they were swallowed by them to be digested. He rolled aside as the Colossus behind him charged towards the Cephalopod Krastax. The huge Grimm snarled viciously back at the M.E.C.H, and it fired multiple spikes of rock towards it.
The Krastax suddenly moved, and it was terrifyingly fast, much faster than the Colossus M.E. could move, and it dodged all the incoming projectiles. It then threw its long Sceptre towards the barrel of the cannon, stabbing directly inside of the barrel. The cannon exploded when it fired again, sending vast arcs of lightning flying, and huge spikes of ice and rock dust burst through the armour plating, and flames belched from within. The tremendous weight of the cannon brought Colossus down to one knee.
The Cephalopod Krastax sprinted at the Colossus and jumping overhead, flipping through the air, and extending its tentacle arm down and wrapping it around the other arm. It twisted the arm around, breaking off plates of metal and snapping the internal workings before effortlessly ripping the entire limb off, tossing it across the battlefield. The Cephalopod roared viciously, its massive mandibles splayed out wide and eyes glowing bright red. It sprinted towards the disarmed Colossus and it kicked the M.E.C.H in the face, knocking it down, and it bit down on the armour plating, ripping it off. It then stood aside as Grimm clambered on top and fed on the screaming pilot inside.
Another Colossus continued to fight off the Blind Worms, stabbing one through the mouth with his drill arm, only for the Eel Krastax to sprint towards him from behind. It jumped up and slashed the claws across the hardlight shielding, but the impact caused it to stumble. The pilot desperately looked around, unaware of a Thralls climbing up the back of the armour, underneath the shields, and ripping away at the plating hiding the shield generator. They then ripped it apart, causing the generator to explode. The Colossus staggered forward, causing the shields to shut down, and the Eel Krastax charged once again, jumping up onto the side of the walls and leaping towards that Colossus.
It stabbed its massive claws into the arm, cleaving the drill off, but the Colossus swiftly smashed the Krastax against the wall with its Cannon arm, discombobulating it momentarily. The Colossus kicked the Krastax in the face, but as it tumbled, it crawled on all fours, skewering an unlucky soldier.
Its jaws opened, and it spat a glob of acid towards the cannon as it charged up, melting the cylinder into itself. And then it stood on its hind legs, and the skull split open. The long eel head slithered out and hissed, before smashing straight through the cockpit and devoured the pilot inside. The Colossus collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, killing a few soldiers and Atlesian Knights beneath it.
Two out of Ten Colossi down already, and not a single Krastax defeated.
Another sprinted towards the Shark Krastax that sprinted forward, and it tackled the suit to the ground, snarling as the mandibles opened and the entire skull opened, revealing hundreds of razor-sharp teeth inside. The Colossus kicked the gigantic creature off it, and it rolled backwards, smashing the cannon down against the ground, pumping powerful dust projectiles downwards.
Fire erupted through the ice and snow, blasting hot air into the side of the Krastax, forcing it to retreat. The Colossus looked around, becoming surrounded by the fog that they created. Unwittingly giving the Kaiju the advantage, and it suddenly jumped up behind the Colossus with a deafening roar. It grappled onto the plates, and it stabbed one of the sharp fins that protruded from its elbow into the shielding on its back. The field of Hardlight Dust flickered after being dealt so much damage. Sparks flew from the spine, and then the Krastax bit down into the shield generator, causing it to go critical and explode.
Massive forks of electricity burst from the vehicle, burning across the face of the Krastax, burning some plates of bony white armour. It stumbled across the ground, and the Colossus swiftly spun around, firing a powerful beam of golden electrical dust towards it. The Krastax were far slower on land and it could not avoid the incoming beam. The beam burned across the armour, leaving a long scar over its body. It stumbled and then dropped to the ground, killing a couple of beneath it.
It snarled, then roared so loud that many soldiers had to cover their years. The Colossus stood its ground, and it charged at the creature as it lunged for him. He rammed the Drill towards the heart, but it swiftly dodged and shoved its shoulder up into the underside of the arm. It rammed the horn of bone poking from its forehead up into the mechanical gut, and slashed to the side, ripping it open. Sparks and fluid spewed across the floor, and then it opened its jaws once again and bit down into the cockpit, ripping it clean off.
It forced the suit to the ground and held its fists above its head with a horrendous howl, smashing them down on the screaming pilot inside, killing him and destroying the Colossus.
Now there were Seven left.
"Damn it! The bastards are wiping the floor with us! Three Colossi down! I repeat: THREE COLOSSI DOWN!" The Colossus Captain roared through his communicator.
"Damn it, all Colossi Units, stay together! Do not let the bastards get the advantage over you!" Ortega commanded from the Drift of Wandering Star, which sent another volley of Broadside Rounds down into the horde of Grimm endlessly pouring across the cold tundra.
The Seven Remaining Colossi stood together and watched as the three massive Krastax paced back and forth, waiting for one of them to break rank. But they refused to. They took their time to find their weaknesses. "These things are smart and know our weak spot. Don't let them get behind you! And fight together. Units 4 and 7, take on the Cephalopod." Unit 1 commanded.
"Copy." They replied.
"Units 9 and 2 take down the Shark." Unit 1 commanded.
"Roger that." Unit 2 nodded.
"8 and 5 you're with me. We'll take down the Eel." The Colossi all charged forward at their designated targets. Unit one immediately punched the Eel in the face, knocking it back a few paces, but it immediately jumped up and slashed downwards, cutting across the shielding, making it flicker momentarily. But as it went for a second slash, Unit One swung upwards, upper cutting the creature, which Unit 8 shot in the chest with his Fire Dust Cannon, blowing it across the ground.
It crashed and tumbled, driving its claws downwards into the ground, cutting through the soil as it snarled. It then spat acidic venom towards them but the Hardlight Shielding stopped it from getting too close to the metal.
Units 4 and 7 rushed towards the Cephalopod, and the massive beast rolled across the snow, ripping up massive clumps of snow onto its coral armoured shoulders. It immediately launched its tendril towards Unit 7, wrapping it around the Cannon Arm of the huge Colossus. But she had remembered what it did to Unit 10, and this time wrapped the tightening tentacle around the gun, pulling it tighter and tighter. And then she yanked the beast towards her, and immediately punched the beast in the face so hard it snapped off one of its mandibles.
Black blood spewed all over the snow, then Unit 4 drove the Drill down into the shoulder of the creature. It roared in agony, but then it suddenly extended spikes from its back, pushing 4 away, and then it ripped the tendril from its own arm, screeching in pain. It immediately kicked Unit 7 down to the ground and jumped on top of her. It roared with hatred down at her, pounding its fists down repeatedly on the armour, and then Unit 4 blasted a huge spike of ice into its chest.
The Cephalopod tumbled near the corpse of Unit 10, immediately grabbing its Sceptre and ripping it with ease from the burning cannon. It charged at them and cut across Unit 4's leg, dropping it down to one knee, before biting down on the hand, ripping off one finger and smashing the blunt end down the top of the head. Despite the shields, it still dented it. The two Colossi retreated and the enormous beast roared furiously to the sky.
Units 9 and 2 both rushed the Shark which jumped and dove into the ice, swimming through the ocean hidden beneath. The immense monster was terrifyingly fast underneath them, and then it descended into the dark depths before bursting up through the Glacier once more. Massive chunks of ice flew high in the sky, crashing down all around them. The Shark punched Unit 9 across the face, but 2 blasted across the battlefield and caught it by the mouth, smashing it against the floor repeatedly.
He swiftly extended the Mining Drill, stabbing down at the beast, but the Krastax snarled and flipped backwards onto both feet. It roared savagely at them, before spitting water, which froze instantly onto the gun. The ice hardened to the point that it was nearly rock, and weighed the gun down, but Unit 2 started ejecting hot air from the fire dust, melting the ice as Unit 9 swung her fist into the beast's face. It staggered back, but then it caught her fist again, and it head-butted her down against the floor.
But Unit 2 swung the side of the cannon into the beast's skull, throwing it into the ice, in which it crashed through the ice and back into the water beneath the extremely thick layer of ice which Blind Worms and other subterranean Grimm were still tunnelling through.
The two Colossi stood back to back, waiting for the beast to rear its ugly head.
From the enemy's side of the battlefield, Vir Nominis Umbra silently watched the chaos, and he turned to the Knights of Grimm. "It's time." He commanded, smirking and keeping his eyes on Atlas.
And his shadow was in the form of the False God.
Soon he would enter the battle… the question was when.
Clover
The Ace Ops approached the Academy, keeping their heads low, but their senses sharp.
Clover and Harriet took the front, and they glanced round the side of the wall, seeing the Acolytes of Lien defences. "Jacques' got very few forces left. The soldiers here must be all he has…" Clover softly said to his team. He spun his horseshoe on his finger, noticing the Gunship hovering around the area with a spotlight, and many mercenaries guarding the entrance.
"Anyone wanna bet on there being a shitload more inside?" Harriet guessed.
"Fifty Lien?" Marrow extended his hand with a smirk and she shook him on it.
"I'll remember that." Harriet grinned.
"Oh, I know…" He said, touching his light wallet.
"Stay focused, we're outnumbered here, we'll need to be smart about this." Clover ordered.
"Yes, the Acolytes of Lien are not a force to be reckoned with… not after how many Huntsmen and Huntresses they've killed over the years." Vine agreed.
Clover examined their defences. They were definitely in for quite the fight, but they could take them on if they hit them by surprise. The biggest threats were their heavy weapons and the Gunship.
Harriet could easily handle the Seekers thanks to using their tech against them. Marrow was good for crowd control with his semblance. Elm can take down the Gunship with her Rocket Launcher, that just leaves the rest…
… so long as they don't have too much inside waiting for us.
Hopefully, Team R.W.B.Y can get rid of Jacques soon… we'll need their help to get through this.
If there's one good thing though… it's that we can finally finish the Acolytes of Lien once and for all.
Tonight…
… that's motivation enough.
"Alright, Elm – when we attack, I want you to shoot down that gunship first. We need it out of the fight as fast as we can." Clover ordered.
"You got it, boss." Elm assured.
"Harriet, keep the Seekers off us."
"Copy." Harriet nodded.
"Marrow, help Vine and I with the rest. Use your semblance, but do it sparingly. Don't wanna lose you." Clover gently patted his shoulder, and he smiled with a nod.
Clover touched his four-leafed pin gently and closed his eyes, exhaling softly.
Let's hope my good luck holds out…
"Okay, Ace Ops… let's do what we do best." He smirked, and they all smirked back, and vaulted over the wall to attack. Elm immediately aimed her Rocket Launcher at the Gunship and fired two missiles towards it. They exploded against the rear tail, and it bled flames and smoke, causing it to spiral out of control and explode against the ground, killing multiple mercenaries in the process.
Good luck indeed…
The Ace Ops all charged forward, following Clover's plan to the letter. Clover sprinted ahead, and he swung his Fishing Rod forward, and the long line wrapped around the throat of a soldier who turned around. He choked the soldier, then yanked himself towards the Gunner, and slammed both his feet into his head. The soldier crashed across the floor, his visor cracked, and then as a thug swung her red sword at him, Clover ducked and drew his Horseshoe.
He threw the silver horseshoe into the face of the thug, breaking her nose, in which she tried to stab him, but he caught her arm and broke the bone. She screamed in pain, and as his Horseshoe flipped through the air, he caught it and spiralled on the spot, punching her with it like a knuckleduster, knocking her unconscious.
Marrow suddenly was thrown overhead by Elm's hammer, and he fired multiple burst shots at the Acolytes, who shot up at him. The young Ace Ops Huntsman dove and rolled across the snowy floor, then transforming his rifle into its Boomerang Blade Form, and he launched it towards one of the Mercenaries. It cut clean through the arm of a soldier, blood sprayed from his arm and it returned to his hand. He charged ahead, dodging incoming bullets, and he shot another trooper in the face, killing him instantly.
He raised his other hand with a grin, spotting the incoming Seeker instantly and he snapped his fingers. "Stay." He commanded, his voice sharp and powerful… then the Seeker came to a sudden halt in her tracks, electricity still crackling from her armour and backpack.
That was when Harriet joined in, bolting into the side of the Seeker and punching her in the face so hard that her helmet shattered from the force. Harriet smirked as she slid past the defeated Seeker, turning as a Juggernaut aimed at her with his massive machine gun arm, firing at her. She sprinted through the courtyard at great speed, slowing time around her, avoiding the incoming bullets, before jumping off a piece of burning debris from the Gunship Elm shot down, and landed a hard punch into the face of the Juggernaut. He staggered back and looked around, turning as Elm roared, swinging her huge hammer towards him.
The Juggernaut raised its mechanical arm up and stopped the head of the hammer, creating a tremendous shock wave from the impact, and the two foes glared directly at each other. The Juggernaut suddenly fired missiles at her, but she rolled aside, and then her feet were surrounded with a golden aura that rooted her to the ground. The Juggernaut blasted towards her, blade extending with flames burning across it, but she swung her Hammer back around and smashed it into the Juggernaut's chest.
The heavy armour plating snapped and broke apart, sparks flew out across the air, and the huge armoured soldier crashed to the ground. Elm then uprooted herself and jumped high in the air, holding her massive Hammer over her head and buried it down into the Juggernaut's head, killing him.
Beside her, Vine extended his aura around his arms, stretching his arms out and grabbing chunks of concrete from the ground, and effortlessly hurling them towards the soldiers who were firing at them. The artillery of debris broke their defences, opening up a window for Vine to make his next move. He grappled onto a pair of lampposts and pulled back as hard as he could, nearly bending the posts over, and then he shot forward. After turning himself into a Human Slingshot, he spun through the air and stretched his arms out and grabbed onto one soldier, pulling himself towards him.
He stomped down on the soldier's chest, smashing him into the ground, countering the incoming bullets by yanking the riot shield from a soldier. He blocked the incoming bullets as he knocked the soldier he took down unconscious, before he threw the shield into the face of the other Mercenary, breaking the helmet. He turned as a Seeker shot towards him, but Harriet immediately defended her Squad Mate, and punched the Seeker across the floor.
The Seeker tumbled, but this one was not knocked out this time and drew her shortsword, and blasted towards her with a furious roar. Harriet shot towards her as well. Two trails of orange lightning zoomed towards one another and collided. Harriet caught onto the blade of her sword with one hand, then punched the Seeker in the face. She recoiled back, then the Seeker fired her Sub-Machine Gun towards her, but Harriet rolled aside, then blasted forward to punch the Seeker again.
But the Seeker dashed aside, then fired once again, before slashing towards Harriet from behind. Harriet smirked and jumped, bouncing off the colonnade behind her and she blasted off it and grabbed the soldier by the armoured collar and pummelled her against the floor, dragging her through the smooth concrete, before finishing her with a hard smash into another wall.
Harriet wiped the dust from her shoulder and turned to see Clover sprinting towards a squad of soldier, dodging an incoming bullet from a Marksman watching him. He extended his fishing line and wrapped it around the throat of one of the Mercenaries, pulling him towards his grip. Clover wrapped one arm around the soldier's throat, choking him out and using him as a meat shield to block the Marksman's bullet, killing the Merc. At that moment, Elm anchored herself down to the floor with her semblance and fired her missile launcher up at the soldier, killing him instantly.
The gigantic explosion brought the spire he was atop down with a deafening crash, filling the air with smoke and dust. Clover continued to block the bullets from the remaining soldiers in front of him and saw the grenade attached to the dead meat shield's belt. He pulled the pin and kicked the corpse into the soldiers. The grenade went off in a bright fiery flash, splattering a couple of soldiers across the wall. The last one of that small team turned away from his dead comrades and fired his shotgun at Clover.
But the skilled Huntsman jumped overhead and wrapped the fishing line around his throat and used the rebar sticking out from the damaged wall to hang the soldier from the neck. The soldier dangled, gasping desperately for air, but finally died, allowing Clover to retract his cable.
"Alright Ace Ops! Let's clean this up before they can call for more reinforcements!" He yelled.
Marrow jumped and rolled aside as a Quartet Trooper fired their machine-gun bullets at him, and he panted, looking around for something to give him the advantage against the duplicating Mercenary. Marrow launched his Boomerang Blade upwards, and it spun through the air and cut across the cable he saw, bringing a live wire down onto the soldier, electrocuting him. The false versions burned away and the real one screamed in agony as the electricity cooked him inside out.
He vaulted over the cover he was hiding behind, but a Tremor Trooper suddenly punched him in the side, blowing him through the window. The soldier jumped inside after him and he slid backwards, using the nice marble floor to his advantage. He shot Fetch at the soldier, but the Tremor Trooper slammed his huge gauntlets into the ground, creating a shock wave that threw Marrow off his feet and sent his weapon flying away.
The Tremor Trooper stomped after him, smashing his fists together, but then his attention was caught as Elm roared behind him. She swung Timber towards him, but he punched the hammer from her grasp. It clattered across the floor, but she swiftly reacted by punching the Tremor Trooper in the face.
He rotated around and punched at her, but by rooting her aura into the floor, the punch didn't even make her move. She parried with a hard headbutt, before punching him repeatedly, and then Marrow shot the soldier in the back after kicking Timber towards Elm. She caught it and slammed the huge hammer into his chest, pinning him against the wall, finishing him.
"Who's left?" Elm called out.
"We're clear out here for now, but remember, there could be anything waiting for us inside. We need to keep the entrance secured and wait for Team R.W.B.Y to catch up. I imagine the really dangerous shit is just waiting for us inside…" Clover explained, but Harriet turned her gaze to the corpse of one fallen mercenary.
"Wait a minute… I don't remember taking down a Captain. All of them have Captains, and there should be Zealots here." Harriet explained. "This is the Academy… and we didn't see a single Zealot."
Zealots – the name given to Huntsmen or Huntresses who abandoned their heroic path of goodness they swore to follow, and took the life of mercenaries.
They were rare, due to how many Huntsmen and Huntresses the Acolytes of Lien had killed, but they had fought them in the past more than once.
"Yeah…" Marrow agreed as he walked over to the rest of his team with Elm.
"Think they're down at the Vault?" Elm suggested.
"Or protecting Jacques. Team R.W.B.Y could be fighting them as we speak… still… it's strange… I expected a lot more resistance by now. No reinforcements… nothing…" Clover explained. He then stared at the Monstra Fleet that was constantly circling the shield dome of Atlas.
A screech got their attention, it was from all their radios at once. "Entrance Team! What's your status?"
It was the captain. She was somewhere in the Vault, most likely.
"Entrance Team? Respond, damn it!" She yelled. Marrow walked over to the radio, but Clover stopped him. "Pylon Teams?" She spoke again.
…
… still nothing…
"PYLON TEAMS REPORT!" She yelled, but she sounded terrified now.
That was not what they were expecting. "Pylons? She doesn't mean the Shield Pylons, does she?" Harriet gasped.
"We never hit any teams at the Shield Pylons… and Team R.W.B.Y are at the Schnee Manor…" Clover pieced together.
"If we didn't kill all their Pylon Teams… then who did?" Vine questioned.
All eyes were on the huge spires that kept that massive shield dome functional.
… something big was about to happen.
Weiss
The Deimos M.E.C.H stood tall, with Whitley glaring down at Team R.W.B.Y.
Weiss glared back at what had become to her little brother, and she gripped Myrtenaster tightly. With her aura still regaining strength, she knew she had to keep her distance until she was stronger, but luckily, the rest of her team had more than enough Aura to burn against him. "Gotta find his weakness. Even giant robots have weaknesses." Ruby said as she gripped Crescent Rose tightly.
"Try to give us some support with your glyphs if you can, Weiss, but keep your eyes open for any weak spots. Once we find one, we'll hit him with everything we've got." Blake assured.
Yang smashed her fists together, and a grin grew across her face. Whitley suddenly formed a huge glyph behind him and he blasted a powerful gust of wind, which sent him flying towards them. Team R.W.B.Y dispersed, and Ruby flew towards her best friend to save her from Whitley's sword, and she launched her away from Whitley. Weiss nodded and levitated up into the air with her glyph, forming even more and throwing down a multitude of dust projectiles.
Fire and ice exploded together against his armour plating. Whitley snarled with anger and he aimed at her, but Yang smashed her cybernetic fist into the side of his head. Whitley crashed into the ground, then drove his sword downwards to slow himself down. His shoulders opened and unleashed a swarm of missiles towards her. Blake flung herself high above him, shooting the missiles that swirled upwards, causing them to explode beneath her. She then dove through the smoke and dug her Katana into the gap between the plates where his neck was.
Sparks sprayed out and Whitley grunted in pain, staggering back, and as he reached for her, she cast a burning shadow, exploding against the side of his head. The flames charred the silver paint job off the armour, and Blake landed, her dual weapons tightly in her grasp. He immediately responded by extending the machine gun from his right wrist and blasting hundreds of bullets at her. They shredded through her body, which faded into a shadow, and she launched through the shadow with a flurry of red rose petals beside her.
"Ladybug!" Ruby called out, and Blake flipped backwards, kicking Whitley up the jaw and detonating another fire dust shadow in his face. His optics flickered from the bomb Blake had turned herself into, whilst Ruby drove Crescent Rose in its War Scythe Form into the chest of the enormous machine. She forced him across the ground, bashing him into one of the pillars. Chunks of concrete crumbled off around him, but Ruby burst into more petals as he reached for her.
"Stay still!" Whitley yelled, and he caught her in the air when she tried to cut down his arm. He smashed her into the ground and stomped down at her. Ruby narrowly dodged the incoming mechanical boot, firing herself away with the recoil of her rifle. He effortlessly deflected the incoming bullets, and his sensors detected Yang incoming again. She tried to hit him in the face another time, but this time he raised his arm, forming a massive Hardlight Shield.
Whitley batted her aside, and she tumbled across the grass. "You're getting cocky, Xiao Long!" Whitley challenged, laughing maniacally.
"Gods… were you always this insufferable?" Yang questioned.
"Yeah… he was." Weiss answered.
Whitley sprinted at Yang and threw his fist at her, but Yang swung back, and their fists collided with an enormous shock wave. It was good they were no longer fighting on the Freeway with all the cars and were on the ground. Now they could throw everything they had at him without risking civilian lives. Yang smirked and blasted a rocket into his arm, causing him to stagger back, and right into Crescent Rose as Ruby shot past. She cut across his armour plating on his head, making him stagger forward. Yang then blasted upwards and uppercut the M.E.C.H, breaking off chunks of metal.
As he flew up through the air, Blake flung herself overhead and she smirked, conjuring a shadow formed of rock which landed on his chest, weighing him down and sending him crashing back down a lot harder than he would have. After landing, Blake and Yang both charged towards him as he got back up. Ruby held onto the side of a pillar holding the bridge above up, and she fired her Sniper Rifle at him.
He raised his Hardlight Shield, deflecting the bullets, and he blasted both missiles and machine gunfire at them. Blake swiftly dodged the incoming bullets whilst Yang shot herself over them. Whilst in mid-air, Yang fired shot after shot from Ember Celica at him. He suddenly used his Gravity Dust reserved and called his sword back into his hand and swung it down at her. Yang blasted to the left, narrowly dodging it.
He roared wildly, thrashing the sword around and towards Ruby. She darted away, leaving a long trail of rose petals behind. She slid across the grass, then he swung it down towards her. She swung back, and the impact knocked them both back for a few moments. He formed more False Glyphs, which all shot powerful energy beams at them all. They all fled from the incoming super-heated beams of power.
They cut through the ground like hot knives in butter. The grass ignited into a wildfire all around them, making the silver armour appear gold from the reflection of the pyres. Deimos turned as something hard punched it in the face. Whitley staggered back and growled with rage when he saw the glowing white Arma Gigas sprinting towards him. It drew the sword, whilst Weiss stared at her mechanical brother with her finger on Myrtenaster, and she commanded the true Arma Gigas against the Mechanical Abomination mocking its design.
The Arma Gigas slashed across Deimos' chest, leaving a deep gash in the heavy metal plating, making sparks of fluid leak out from the wounds. It vanished when Whitley slashed his sword at the Summon, then turned as it appeared behind him. He raised his sword and blocked it from his enemy, staring back at it. The rest of Team R.W.B.Y took their shot, and as Weiss kept Whitley distracted, she noticed something.
"Guys! His back! I can see a generator. It must be his Hardlight Dust Generator. Destroy it and he can't make anymore of those glyphs or raise that shield!" Weiss called, Yang looked and Blake and smirked.
Blake threw Gambol Shroud to her, and she caught onto it, and they spun around on the spot. Blake strained as she felt Yang speed up more and more.
In the background, Deimos head-butted Arma Gigas, causing it to stagger back, and he formed more Hardlight Glyphs, all of which shot multiple glowing swords towards the Summon. They all shot straight through, destroying the summon. Blake swung Yang around as she fired Ember Celica behind her repeatedly, then finally Yang had enough speed and was thrown towards his back.
The impact nearly toppled Whitley onto his face. She held on and grabbed onto the back panel with her metal arm, and with all the arm's might, she bent the armour and ripped it from the weldings and bolts. The panel broke off, and she grinned, emptying a bunch of explosive rounds inside, all of them beeping, ready to be detonated at her command. She jumped off and gracefully flipped through the air, landing and retracting her weapons, detonating the bombs.
A huge fiery explosion erupted from Whitley's spine, and he yelled with fury, stumbling a few feet forward. Electricity crackled around his body, and the Glyphs crumbled to dust on the ground, alongside his Hardlight Riot Shield.
Whitley laughed at their efforts, hiding his fear of losing his life's work. "You think I'm out of toys?" He questioned, when suddenly his back and legs opened, revealing his rockets once again. He blasted towards them and punched down at the ground, calling his sword back and he rotated at great speed, only his upper half, and slashed the three Huntresses back a few feet. Ruby's aura flickered, and she groaned, getting back up.
He hovered in the air, and she narrowed her eye, staring at his optics. "If I can get onto the back of his head, I may find the wiring for his eyes. If I can blind him, we may have a shot at taking him down." Ruby suggested.
Weiss landed with them and they stood between two pillars and the Ex-Heiress smiled. "Just like old times."
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.
Weiss smirked.
"Can I?"
Blake threw Gambol Shroud to Yang, and she caught it, and they tightened the ribbon together, whilst Weiss formed a glyph behind it. Ruby jumped onto the Ribbon, held in place, and then Weiss launched her up in the air. Whitley stepped back, and he fired rockets up towards her, also firing his machine gun repeatedly at her. Ruby revolved Crescent Rose, then shot herself towards him, digging Crescent Rose into the side of his face.
Whitley grunted, and he spun out of control. Ruby twisted the blade, ripping chunks of steel away and pounced onto his shoulders. Ruby gripped the handle of her trusty weapon and scanned the internals hidden behind plates. Down below, Yang and the others shot up at him. Blake rolled aside as he shot down at them, shooting back up at him with her ice dust pistols, freezing up the gyrating barrels of his machine gun.
It stiffened and Whitley growled.
Ruby pulled the plates apart, and her eyes widened. "This looks important!" She cheered, reaching down into the cables and ripping them out as hard as she could. Sparks burst out and the glowing blue V-Shaped optic he saw through suddenly flickered off.
"What did she- I can't see!" He yelled, and then she flipped backwards off him and the chamber was loaded with highly explosive dust rounds. She fired three into his shoulder thrusters, blowing them apart. He spun out of control and crashed into the ground.
Blake sprinted and threw Gambol Shroud ahead, digging it into the pillar as Whitley tried to get back up. His thrusters constantly burned as he tried to get back up. She swung towards his legs and slashed straight through the open burning weaknesses, blowing them apart, creating explosions so bad that the back of his knees completely fragmented.
Whitley toppled forward, but Yang blasted up and smashed her fist up his chin so hard that the face plate shattered. Chunks of sharpened metal bounced all around them, and as he fell towards the ground, Weiss floated up above with the Summoned Nevermore they killed together their first time together above her, giving her beautiful glowing white angel wings. She and the Nevermore both dove and she held Myrtenaster above her head and gritted her teeth.
I never wanted it to go this way, Whitley…
… I'm so sorry for everything you went through… but you have gone too far.
This ends here!
Weiss slammed into him so hard that it created a bright white flash, and her sword smashed through the plates and hit the internal core. The Deimos M.E.C.H crashed into the ground and flames erupted through the cracks in the armour.
She stood above her brother, looking down at him with tears in her eyes. "No… this machine… it's the one thing… the one thing that was never handed down to me on a silver platter… it's the one thing that I made… it's my achievement… don't take this away from me…" He begged her.
Weiss stared down at him, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
"I never wanted it to go this way, Whitley…"
"… I'm so sorry for everything you went through… but you have gone too far."
"This ends here!"
Weiss' voice cracked on the last words, and she twisted her sword in his core, and she heard the core go critical. Ruby launched herself to Weiss and caught her, and they both slid across the grass, and watched as the Deimos M.E.C.H crumbled and blew itself apart. And finally, in a blinding explosion – it was no more.
The monster Whitley willingly created and forced himself into was no more.
Now – Whitley had only one life left…
… and nothing left to lose.
Weiss fell to her knees with grief for her brother and she buried her face in her hands, sniffling. She did not know that Whitley's consciousness was sent back to his original Atlesian Knight body his uncle transcended him into after Ortega shot him – but having to directly do that to him like that?
Hearing him beg her not to destroy the thing?
It was monstrous… but it hurt a lot more than she expected.
"I wish… it hadn't come to this… that Whitely… that I… could have been better." Weiss sniffled, but Ruby wrapped her arms around her best friend in a very warm hug. Weiss closed her eyes and welcomed her friend's embrace, holding her close. Blake and Yang both crouched down beside her and shared the comfort. But Weiss wiped her tears away and stood up.
"We… we need to get back to the Manor… get through the soldiers left… and stop my father. We have to finish this." Weiss stated, and they all looked at her with concern.
"We'll be there with you, okay? And you don't have to be the one to kill him." Ruby assured.
"We have to stop him one way or another." Weiss replied. "Doesn't matter who does it." She said, looking at Myrtenaster.
"We're with you." They promised.
"Thank you."
They made their way back up to where they fell, running through the roads as fast as they could, before finally returning to Schnee Manor. It felt like they were having Déjà Vu at first, having to fight all those Acolytes of Lien all over again.
But… something was wrong…
"Guys?" Blake's eyes widened and her ears perked up.
"What is it? What're you hearing?" Yang asked her, but she looked at them with confusion.
"N-Nothing…" she answered.
That got their attention. They all peeked over the cover and they gasped in horror.
The blood was the first thing they saw… there was blood everywhere. Every single Acolytes of Lien soldier, the Gunships… everything they had in defence for Jacques…
… were dead or destroyed.
Weiss couldn't see her father in the window anymore. He must have been hiding from whatever had done this. "What the hell happened here?" Yang questioned. Then they heard a nightmarish roar come from the roof of the Manor. They all stared up, and as red lightning crackled above, with Monstras and Tempest filling the sky with horrifying storms, blacking out the sun.
They saw the Hound.
Staring down at them with blood smothering its teeth and dripping from its claws.
It glared down at them, snarling viciously.
And its roar echoed in their minds… because part of it sounded frighteningly familiar…
Author Note - The Hound is finally showing its face again...
Any theories on that last line I wrote? Would love to hear them. Hehehe XD
Also just wanna quickly make a note - I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE. I needed to take a break for a while, had really bad Writer's Block, on top of me wanting to play some cool games and literally getting swallowed up by them (looking at you Breath of the Wild) etc. But I am back XD
Quite a fun chapter, always love going Pacific Rim style with giant robots fighting giant monsters. Plus getting to play around with the Colossi from Volume 6 is always great fun. And the battle down there in Mantle is just getting worse, especially with the Tempest Storm just getting worse and worse and worse. Soon they will be fighting in the dark, which just makes matters even worse.
Good fun to write the Ace Ops kicking some ass, but the ending does also pose the question - did the Hound take out the Pylon Teams? Or was that someone else?
And Whitley is now at no lives left, if he dies again - that's it. And it's definitely concerning considering he now has nothing left to lose. Begs the question of what he is gonna do with this final life? And with the Hound here at Schnee Manor and has wiped out the last bulk of the Acolytes of Lien with ease? Things are about to get VERY intense.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt