Chapter Forty-Two: Family Reunions
Phoenix, Qrow, Grant, Oscar, Team RW_Y, and Team JN_R all approached Haven, armed and ready for a fight. "If Lionheart thinks he's caught us off guard, he's got another thing coming," Phoenix thought. As the group walked in they saw Lionheart standing atop the stairs, looking down at them.
"Why hello. Thank you for, uh, coming. There seem to be more of you than last time," he said with a nervous chuckle.
"You know what they say. The more the merrier," Qrow said. "So what's going on with the council?"
"Why did you bring your weapons?" Lionheart asked, ignoring Qrow's question.
"What possible reason could we have for bringing our weapons to a meeting with a traitor?" Phoenix replied sarcastically. "Especially when that meeting is probably a trap."
"W-what are you talking about?" Lionheart asked, clearly starting to panic. "What could possibly make you think that-?" He was interrupted when Yang recognized the bird that was watching their conversation.
"Mom?"
Qrow quickly fired at the bird, but it evaded him. When it flew by Lionheart it transformed.
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me," Raven said as she took off her mask. "That was insulting."
"What're you doing here?" Qrow asked angrily.
"I could ask you the same thing," she replied as she walked down the steps. "You've been scheming little brother. Planning to attack your own sister."
Grant looked as though he was about to try and arrest both of them, but Qrow spoke up before he could "Leo, what did you do?"
"I-" Lionheart tried to answer, but he was cut off by Raven.
"Leo did what any sane person would in his position; he looked at all the information he had in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice." She looked at Yang. "And it seems you all have to." Qrow tried to convince his sister to join them with the Spring Maiden, but she refused. "All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!" she insisted.
"You're wrong," Ruby said before Raven could continue. "We've done things that most people would call impossible, and I know that the only reason we were able to do it was we didn't do it alone. We had people to teach us. People to help us. We had each other. Work with us," Ruby offered, extending her hand. "At least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. Please."
Raven looked as though she took a moment to consider Ruby's words before replying. "You sound just like your mother." Raven quickly drew her sword and created a portal like the one Yang and Weiss had come from. A ball of fire flew from it before anyone had a chance to respond and hit Ruby, sending her flying back.
"Ruby!" Phoenix cried out as he dashed to her side to help her. However, his attention quickly shifted to who had made the attack.
"Hello boys and girls," Cinder said as she stepped out of the portal. Emerald, Mercury, and someone who Phoenix assumed was the Spring Maiden were close behind her. It took all of Phoenix's self control to keep from lunging at her the second he saw her.
"Everybody stay calm," Qrow ordered, seeing that Phoenix wasn't the only one about to attack.
Before their conversation could continue, the main entrance to the school opened, and someone new that Phoenix didn't recognize entered and slam the doors behind him. "The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds," He announced. "No one's getting in, and no one's getting out."
"Raven, how long were you with them?" Qrow asked angrily.
"Aww, don't take it personally little bird. Your sister was a recent addition. The Lion on the other hand…" Cinder gestured to Leo and started to explain how he had helped them disguise themselves as students at the tournament. "Leonarto has been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very, very long time. Isn't that right Professor?"
"Stop it," Lionheart pleaded to her.
"It was you," Qrow realized. "I knew you had betrayed us, but I didn't think you'd go so far as to sell out every huntsman and huntress in the kingdom!"
Lionheart looked down in shame. "I-"
"I couldn't find any of them because you let her kill them!"
"Don't beat yourself up over it Lionheart. I'm sure Tyrian and Hazel would have found them eventually," Cinder taunted. "Besides, if you're going to get upset about people helping us kill your friends, you should go have a little talk with my brat."
"What are you talking about?" Phoenix asked angrily.
"What did you think was in all those files I had you steal? You're just as guilty as Lionheart. I think you may have gotten even more of them killed than him, and that's quite the accomplishment." Stunned by this revelation, the rest of the group looked to see how Phoenix would react. Grant appeared unsure of which Fall he wanted to arrest more. Phoenix had frozen in shock, trying to process what he'd just heard. He only snapped out of this state when he heard Jaune scream in rage and charge at Cinder. Phoenix managed to push the thoughts of what he was responsible for to the back of his mind and join Jaune in his attack.
Cinder formed a sword and blocked Phoenix's attack while she dodged out of the way of Jaune's. Phoenix tried using his hooks to pull her sword away, and Jaune tried to attack her from behind. She allowed her sword to break and formed a new one to counter Phoenix's attempt at disarming her. Phoenix was thrown off balance by the sudden disappearance of her weapon, giving her an opportunity to block Jaune's attack. When Phoenix recovered, he switched his swords into their gun mode and started firing at her. She ducked out of the way and swept Phoenix's legs out from under him. This caused him to fall over as the shots he fired almost hit Jaune. Cinder evading Jaune's next attack lead to him hitting Phoenix, but Phoenix managed to roll out of the way just in time. However, this left him distracted enough for Cinder to blast him with a fireball before he had the opportunity to redirect it. The resulting explosion sent Phoenix flying back.
He landed right in the middle of the fight between Emerald and Ruby. Emerald charged at him, but it was an illusion, something that became clear when a shot from Crescent Rose broke the real Emerald's concentration. "What?!" Emerald exclaimed, shocked that her illusion had somehow been seen through. "How?!" Instead of answering, Phoenix activated an upgrade he and Ruby had added to his mask and her scope to counter her: echolocation mode. The two of them were able to see through Emerald's illusions and fight her on an even playing field. Phoenix fought her at close range while Ruby took shots at Emerald. Despite her lack of illusions, she was still a dangerous opponent. She was still able to keep Phoenix from rejoining Jaune to fight Cinder.
Phoenix was finally starting to get an edge on Emerald when he was distracted. "NO!" Ruby cried out when she saw Cinder and Jaune charging at each other. The entire room was flooded with light emanating from Ruby's eyes, but Emerald took advantage of Phoenix's distracted state to attack Ruby and prevent her eyes from doing too much damage to Cinder. She tried to move in for the kill, but Phoenix was able to stop her. While he was defending her he saw Jaune and Cinder. Cinder fell to her knees as a result of Ruby's attack. Jaune used this as an opportunity to finish her off. Still dazed by Ruby's attack, Cinder barely dodged. The eyepatch she used to hide the wound she received during her last encounter with Ruby had been slightly damaged by his blade. Enraged by the fact that she had nearly been killed by him, she stormed over to Jaune, who had fallen because of his missed attack. Despite being occupied by his own battle, Phoenix could hear Cinder yelling at Jaune. "Did you think you actually had a chance against me?! YOU?!" She quickly recovered from her outburst though.
"Damn it!" Phoenix thought as he saw her mocking Jaune. "He needs my help, but if I go to save him, Emerald will kill Ruby!" As soon as he thought this Cinder shifted her focus to someone else, forming another spear in her hand. Seeing her intended target, Phoenix called out to try and warn her. "WEISS!" However, it was too late. The spear impaled Weiss, remaining lodged in her for a moment before disintegrating. Jaune dashed over to her while Nora and Oscar rapidly approached Ruby. Seeing that the two of them would defend her, he let loose the rage he had barely kept contained throughout the fight. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled as he lunged at her. She smiled and reddied her sword. Before the two of them could clash, however, one of Raven's portals opened in front of him. Unable to stop himself, he flew into it. When he came out of it, he was heading towards Qrow, who dodged the attack meant for Cinder. Phoenix got up and prepared for another attack. This attempt was stopped as well. This time the one who stopped him was the same man who had closed them inside. He grabbed Phoenix and threw him against the wall by Oscar. Grant, who had been fighting the man, wasn't soon shared the same fate. The two of them clearly weren't the one he wanted to attack though.
"OZPIN!" he yelled angrily before stabbing lightning Dust crystals into his arms and charging at them. Qrow jumped in to push Oscar out of the way while Grant and Phoenix dodged his attack. As the four of them fought they heard Cinder order Lionheart to open the vault. Phoenix and Grant both tried to prevent him from doing so. Phoenix wasn't able to get away from the man with the Dust, but Grant was able to reach him. Lionheart threw a pocket watch that he had taken out to Cinder and told her to put it in the chain on a statue that they were near. Everyone was either too busy defending themselves or making sure that their injured teammates weren't attacked to stop Cinder from doing so. The platform at the top of the stairs lowered to the ground floor. When Cinder, Raven, and the Spring Maiden stepped onto it it started to descend again.
Oscar started talking to Ozpin as he, Phoenix, and Qrow fought. He eventually asked the same question that Phoenix had since the start of his fight with the man. "Why is he so upset with us?"
"He didn't tell you who I was or tell you my tale, did he boy?" the man asked as he approached them. "I thought you looked familiar. To think that evil was inside you when our paths first crossed. Your blood won't be on my hands. It'll be on his." As the man said this, he raised his hands above his head and prepared to attack Oscar. Just before he did Phoenix used his grapnel gun to pull Oscar out of the way while Qrow attacked.
"What was he talking about?" Oscar asked.
"Tell him Ozpin! Tell him how you killed her!" the enraged man ordered while blocking one of Qrow's attacks. Phoenix once again tried to reach the elevator that lead to the vault, but he was once again stopped. The man grabbed both him and Qrow by their throats and started to choke them. Their current situation had given Phoenix an opportunity for a surprise attack. He transformed one of his swords into rifle mode and shot the man in the face at point-blank range. The man didn't seem even remotely phased. He flung the two of them against the wall. When they got up they saw Lionheart about to shoot at Oscar while Grant recovered from one of his attacks. Qrow shot at him to throw off his aim and joined Grant.
Phoenix was still unable to reach the elevator. The fight between Oscar/Ozpin and the man obsessed with killing him stood between it and him. The massive increase in skill that Oscar suddenly has made it clear that Ozpin had taken control of the body. Seeing that his only way to the elevator would be through the obsessed man, Phoenix opened fire. He wasn't the only one who had decided to start fighting the man. Nora jumped at him, but her hammer was grabbed by the man and thrown to the ground. He held her there while electrocuting her. "How many more children must die for you?" he snarled. He was so distracted by his rage that he didn't realize that Nora had begun to get up, the electricity having powered her up. She used this new power to throw him across the room.
Phoenix took advantage of the newly created distance between him and the man and made yet another attempt to reach the elevator. He was, however, foiled once again. This time the one who had interfered was Mercury. "How about we have a little fun?" he asked. "Blondie here isn't much of a challenge," he said smugly as he gestured to Yang. As Phoenix and Mercury fought, Nora managed to send the man who she was fighting through one of the building's walls. The hole revealed the White Fang members who were preparing to destroy the CCT. The hole in the wall allowed for everyone to hear what was going on outside. It was difficult to listen to what was being said outside because of the noise of combat, but Phoenix did manage to hear a voice that he wasn't sure he would ever hear again. "Adam! Stand down!" Blake ordered without a trace of the fear she had shown in the past when talking about her former partner.
"Jenkins actually got her!" Phoenix mentally exclaimed. "But if she's here, then that means-" his suspicions were confirmed before he could finish the thought when he heard the faint sound of music in the distance. Some of the combatants looked confused by the sudden addition of music to their fight, but many who knew what the song meant grinned as they realized what was likely about to happen. "LLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRROOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYY JJJJJJJJJEEEEEEEENNNNNNNKKKKKIIIINNNNSSSSSS!" A familiar battlecry could be heard by everyone. Jenkins had not arrived alone though. The Mynstral
Police department and several faunus with shields bearing the crest of the original White Fang arrived with him.
Weiss, having been healed by Jaune, summoned a Queen Lancer. The lancer's stinger shot out and stabbed the man obsessed with Ozpin through the chest. It then retracted, pulling him back inside. Blake came by the hole to see what had pulled him in. She froze when she saw the rest of her team there. "Yang," she said hesitantly. Yang was equally shocked, but managed to recover when Ruby ordered her to go with Phoenix to the elevator. Emerald tried to stop them, but she was stopped by Ruby. Prosthetic limbs collided. Yang decided that this was the time to test out the upgrade Ruby and Phoenix had made to her arm. It ejected from its socket at a high speed, propelled by a rocket. The surprise attack threw Mercury off balance. A set of smaller rockets extended from the arm and sent it back to Yang. As the arm was returning to it struck Mercury again. The force of the unexpected blow sent him staggering forward. Phoenix and Yang took advantage of the few seconds this bought them, finally jumping down the elevator.
There were two things that Phoenix immediately focused on when he and Yang landed. The first was that the arm that Cinder had kept covered during the fight upstairs seemed to be Grimm. The shock of this revelation was, however, instantly overshadowed by the second thing he noticed. Cinder's back was turned to him and Yang, and she didn't seem to notice that the two of them had arrived. "This is it! This is my chance to finally finish her!" he mentally exclaimed, realizing that he might never get a chance like this again. He transformed his swords into their gun form and started shooting at her. She reflexively turned around to block his attacks, but this created an opening for Raven to attack. She lunged forward and pressed her hand against Cinder's face. A blast of electricity came from her hand and sent Cinder over the edge and into the abyss below. Raven froze her as she fell to ensure that she wouldn't be able to use the Fall Maiden's abilities to escape.
It took Phoenix a moment to process what had just happened. Someone had finally managed to kill Cinder, and he'd been able to help finish her off. When the processing finished, he was almost completely overwhelmed with joy.
"She's dead! She's finally dead! Hahahahahahahahaha! All these years and it's finally over. Honestly I'm tempted to thank Raven."
The thought of Raven made Phoenix remember their current situation. She had just created a massive wall of ice to keep him and Yang from stopping her. The ice didn't slow them down for long, but it bought Raven enough time to open the vault door. Yang grabbed Phoenix's arm before he could do anything to keep Raven from taking the relic. "Let me talk to her," she ordered. He reluctantly agreed, hanging back while she approached her mother. He ended up standing there for a couple minutes, watching the two of them argue and preparing himself to intervene if he had to. This, however, proved to be unnecessary. Raven transformed into her bird form and flew away, leaving Yang and Phoenix to take the relic. Yang seemed to be on the verge of breaking down in tears, but she was able to keep herself together. Unsure of what to say, Phoenix stepped onto the elevator with her.
As they rose, Phoenix took the time to think more about Cinder's death. "She's is finally dead. This is the part where I'm supposed to say revenge didn't solve anything and I feel empty, right? But I'd be lying to myself if I did. I feel incredible, like I'm finally free. Nothing can change what she did. What I've done. But there's still a job to do. Salem still needs to be stopped."
As they returned from the vault, Phoenix and Yang saw that the others appeared to have Emerald, Mercury, and the man obsessed with Ozpin beaten. Any hope of victory that they may have had disappeared when they saw Phoenix and Yang with the relic. Tears streamed down Emerald's face as she fell to her knees. "Emerald, get up. We need to go," Mercury told her as he backed away slowly. She didn't seem to hear him. She let out a shriek of grief and rage as the room turned dark. A large creature that looked to be some sort of Grimm witch rose from a black mist on the floor. It let out a shriek of its own as it lunged at team RWB_ and team JN_R. Just as it was about to hit them it vanished.
"What was that?!" a clearly shaken Blake questioned.
"An illusion, but an accurate one," Ozpin, who was still in control of Oscar's body, informed them. "That was Salem."
I'm sorry about how long it took to complete this chapter. It took way longer than it probably should have. There are four main reasons that it did. 1. College is fairly busy, so I have less free time. 2. A lot of the time when I felt like writing I wasn't able to, and when I could write I didn't really feel like it. 3. As I've said before, I'm not very good at writing fight scenes, so writing a chapter that was mostly fights was somewhat difficult. 4. I discovered the life ruining monstrosity that is TV Tropes. May God have mercy on my soul, for it has had none.
I refer to Hazel as "the man" in this chapter because I try to limit the use of information that Phoenix doesn't know, and he didn't know Hazel's name. Don't worry, he'll be referred to as Hazel after this chapter. Phoenix will have found out his name from either Ozpin or Oscar after the battle when asking about Hazel's obsession. I also know that Cinder isn't dead but Phoenix doesn't.
I have no idea how long it will take for me to get the next chapter out, but I've got a list of ideas for what I might do. Thanks for reading!
