Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)
Chapter 43: Discharge
Bagram Airfield, Parwan Province, Afghanistan
The yellow haze quickly spread across the entire military base, consuming everything in sight. Battle-hardened soldiers were left screaming in utter terror as the gas entered their lungs, filling the air with an unceasing cacophony. For only a brief moment, Luke Fox was incredulous, trying to wrap his mind around what was going on. But his incredulity went away almost as soon as it arrived and he jumped right back into gear.
He knew exactly what this gas was. Anyone in Gotham knew Jonathan Crane's work intimately.
"Fear gas!" Luke shouted as he tore his gas mask from his belt and strapped it over his face. "Masks on, now!"
His squad immediately complied, and not a moment too soon as the fear gas enveloped them. Another round of terrified screams came up as yet more soldiers were afflicted, and Luke quickly swept his gaze around to try and find out what was happening. It was hard to see through the yellow fog, but he recognized the flailing silhouettes of his fellow soldiers all too well.
"What the fuck is going on?!" he heard Private Smith yell.
"We're under attack, that's what's fucking going on!" Ramirez answered, his rifle already shouldered.
Luke knew Ramirez was absolutely correct. There was no other reason why Bagram Airfield would be consumed by one of, if not the, most potent chemical weapons in the entire world. In enough quantities, fear gas could grind an entire city to a halt, as Gotham City was unfortunately reminded of just a few months prior. Only now an entire military base, filled with over a thousand well-armed soldiers, was affected. He could already see the disaster coming.
Working his mind overtime, he turned towards his panicked squad and prepared to bark orders at them, only for the words to die in his throat as an ominous crack appeared on the lens of his gas mask. The crack widened, and soon the entire apparatus fell apart. Luke tried to hold in his breath, but it was no use. The gas's toxins entered into his body quickly, and his senses quickly became distorted. Sounds were muffled and amplified, the world appeared to turn and shift before his very eyes, and he started to hallucinate.
"Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me!" he heard Jenkins scream as the soldier started frantically wiping invisible objects off his arms. Around him, he saw more of his men begin to completely lose their composure, some clutching their heads while others fell to their knees. Sergeant Matthews began rolling around on the ground as though he was trying to put out a fire while Private Brixson fell to her back only to try crawling away.
"No, no! Stay away! Stay away from me!" she screamed, her pupils narrowed to the size of pinpricks.
Sweating profusely, Luke tried to focus only to find himself being assaulted by a sudden swarm of bats. Letting out an involuntary scream, he fell to his knees while trying to swat them away and protect his head, but then he stopped himself.
"This isn't real," he told himself while clenching his eyes shut. "This...isn't…real…"
Repeating the mantra over and over again, Luke slowly stood back up and opened his eyes. The bats were still there, with large swarms of them surrounding humanoid bat-like creatures which were stalking around all across the airbase, screeching with slavering maws and glowing eyes. His heart was pounding, and the fear in him was screaming to open fire in order to protect himself. Briefly he brought his rifle to bear, his finger hovering over the trigger, but he stopped himself. Luke took several deep breaths, forcing himself to remain in control, then he turned to his men.
"Guys, calm down," he said as firmly as he could, but he couldn't quite shake the trepidation in his voice. "None of this is real. It's just the gas messing with you."
If any of his men heard him, none showed a response other than continuing to scream in terror at whatever unseen horrors were assaulting them. Their condition was getting worse by the second, and given how his own heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, Luke knew he was, too. Steeling himself, he shakily walked over to Corporal Kim, who was the only remaining member of his squad still on their feet.
"Kim, are you-?" Luke began as he reached out to grab her shoulder, but as soon as he touched Kim the corporal spun around and brought her rifle to bear.
"Stay back!" the terrified soldier screamed, and Luke's eyes widened. He stepped back then raised his arms.
"Kim, it's me! Luke!" he yelled, but in the frantic look in her eyes he could tell that Kim couldn't recognize him. It was even harder for Luke to remember who Kim was, as every other second the Korean woman's body shifted into something that looked like it had come straight out of Hell itself.
"Get the fuck away from me, monster, or I'll shoot!" Kim replied, her finger over the trigger.
Even as her body shifted in and out of a demonic visage, Luke was able to recognize exactly what his subordinate was about to do. The world seemed to slow, and Luke twisted his body away and to the side just as Kim pulled the trigger. A single bullet whizzed right past Luke, ripping a small hole in his sleeve. Thankfully, it didn't actually touch his person, and as Kim shifted her rifle towards him again, Luke kicked upward. The M4 was launched out of Kim's hands, and the stupefied corporal could only watch as Luke socked her right in the face with a sickening crunch. Her broken nose bleeding profusely, Kim fell the ground and began to roll around in pain, with Luke breathing heavily over her.
"Sorry," Luke apologized, then began to drag the dazed soldier to somewhere more secure.
He briefly jumped as he began hearing sporadic gunshots ring out, and to his horror he saw the humanoid bat creatures, whom he could only assume were his fellow soldiers, start shooting each other. Others were outright beating their comrades to death with their hands or using their rifles as crude clubs. It made him sick to his stomach, and his heart pounded even faster, but Luke forced himself to remain as focused as possible. Otherwise he knew he'd join them.
Moving as fast as he possibly could, Luke subdued and dragged his teammates back into the barracks they had just exited one by one. Like Kim, a few of them attempted to fight him off, but one or two punches to the face or gut was enough to put them down. Once they were inside, he tied them to bed posts so that they wouldn't attack each other, all the while more and more gunshots could be heard across the entire base. Grenade explosions were accompanying them this time, and as Luke stepped back out into the open air, he could see that Bagram Airfield had become a warzone in little more than ten minutes.
His senses still going haywire, Luke tried to get a read on what, exactly was going on. It was clear that the entire situation had gone well beyond FUBAR, and they needed backup now. As they were, if someone were to attack they were as good as dead, assuming that they didn't kill each other first. He tried to come up with solutions, but the fear gas made it too difficult to think straight. His entire body was wound up in pure fight or flight instinct, and it was taking everything he had not to fall completely into one or the other.
It was then that he heard a shrill, feminine scream coming from inside the medical tent, and Luke's attention shot straight towards it. Realizing who was making it immediately, he muttered, "Violet."
Without wasting a breath, Luke sprinted towards the tent right past the swarms of soldiers and bat-men killing each other or writhing on the ground. A few men nearby took sporadic pot shots at him, but their aim was wild and unfocused. Luke, however, was as composed as he possibly could be, ignoring everything out of the ordinary in his path as he jumped right through the tent's flaps.
"Aaah!" he heard Violet scream hysterically from somewhere in the tent. Around her, nurses, doctors, and medics pounded on each other with their fists and tools, while the wounded thrashed in their beds. The ones that were still alive, at least. Some had been repeatedly stabbed with scalpels beyond recognition, and one bloodied nurse in particular who looked as though her face was completely melted off was rushing right towards Luke with her makeshift weapon raised.
"Die, demon!" she screamed, but Luke dodged the attack then kneed her in the stomach. She crumpled, and for a brief moment her body flickered back into what she normally looked like before going back to its nightmarish hallucination. Luke was briefly tempted to pull out his sidearm and empty a magazine into her, but he forced himself not to.
"Violet! Violet, where are you?!" Luke called out. A few more crazed men and women rushed him, but their efforts weren't nearly as composed as his were, allowing him to subdue them without much issue.
All he got in response was yet another scream, and Luke quickly followed it towards the back of the tent. There, crawling along the bloodied floor against the tent's wall was a small bat-girl, screaming her head off as a larger bat-man aimed a gun at her head.
"You won't get me!" the man shouted as his finger pressed against the trigger.
"No!" Luke yelled as he rushed the man, tackling him just as the gun was fired. He heard a small yelp as the two men crashed against the ground and wrestled for a bit, only for Luke to throw a trio of punches into the soldier's face, knocking him out.
Breathing heavily, Luke pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to regain his senses. He then turned back towards the girl and asked, "Violet, are you-?"
He stopped as soon as he locked eyes with her. Violet was staring right at him, her hands clutched tightly against her abdomen. A dark, oily liquid was oozing out between her fingers, and she looked terrified as her face began to pale.
"Oh, God," Luke muttered, then rushed over and knelt beside her. "Keep pressure on it!"
"I…Luke…?" Violet hazily asked as her head began to sway, her breathing becoming shallower and faster.
"Yeah, it's me, just hold on!" Luke answered as he pulled out gauze and bandages.
Just as he moved Violet's hands away to apply first aid, however, Violet's breathing stopped. For a moment, Luke could only stare in silent horror, but then her body began to glow purple. The light enveloped her then traveled up his arm. The whole world shifted once again, then it came into focus. While everything was still filled with a yellow haze, Luke found that he wasn't hallucinating at all. Everything appeared as it should be, and he looked down incredulously to a newly animated Violet. Both of them were still encased in a purple halo, and Luke realized that whatever Violet was doing, it was safeguarding them from the effects of the fear gas.
She was looking up at him, her eyes wide and the bullet wound in her stomach reduced to nothing more than a bloodied hole in her sweater. Tears began to well in her eyes, then she wrapped herself around the army lieutenant and cried deeply. Luke hugged her back, trying to offer some semblance of comfort in this horrific situation, but another barrage of gunfire that ripped right through the tent above their heads snapped them into focus.
Briefly the two of them looked up at the holes, then back at each other. Luke then yelled, "We need to move, now!"
Grabbing her hand, Luke led Violet out of the medical tent as fast as he possibly could. Around him, the situation had devolved even more. It was outright chaos, with soldiers firing and attacking each other with reckless abandon. Now that he was able to think straight, Luke's mind was running a hundred miles per hour, taking in everything that had been going on as well as any possible solutions to their predicament. He obviously needed to disperse the gas somehow, but at the moment the solution eluded him.
Right now, though, Luke was far more interested in getting Violet to safety. It was obvious that she was their only lifeline, and he didn't want to risk putting her apparent revitalization abilities to the test. Looking through the toxic fog, Luke tried to spot a path back towards the barracks, only to hear a loud, wailing roar coming from the distance, accompanied by a large shadow in the moonlight sweeping across the airfield.
Then, right before his eyes, he saw a soldier look up into the night sky just as a massive bird, feathers black as oil and with a white bone mask on its face swoop down and snatch him away in its beak. Luke's eyes widened, and he could only watch in horror as scores of alien Grimm descended onto Bagram Airfield, attacking everyone in their way.
Fawcett City, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Rock of Eternity
Breathing slowly in and out, Ruby swept her gaze across the Rock of Eternity's central chamber. Around her, the rest of her team alongside JNPR and Billy's family finished setting up their makeshift fortifications. They couldn't afford to head out and find more suitable objects to use, so instead they made do with rocks and boulders blown out from the walls. Nearly every entrance across the cavern was filled in, leaving only one open for use.
"Shouldn't we close that, too?" Darla asked, pointing to the open corridor in question.
Blake shook her head, then answered, "No, leave it."
"But it'll let the Grimm in," Darla pointed out, scrunching up her face.
"Yes, but in the way we want," Yang replied. "The Grimm are violent, powerful, and destructive, yes, but the majority of them still act like animals. Just animals that are hyper-focused on killing you."
"Why are you making that sound like a good thing?" Eugene nervously asked, taking a deep gulp.
"What Golden Dragon is trying to say," Ren began to clarify, "is that the Grimm act like animals without more experienced Alphas to lead them, which we've already been hunting. As such, they're liable to follow the path of least resistance in order to get to what they want. Namely, the Seven Deadly Sins and us. Were we to block off every single entrance into the cave, the Grimm are likely to just barge through all of them at once. We'd be overwhelmed."
"But, by leaving one path open," Weiss continued, "the Grimm's natural instincts will lead them to that path. A path which serves as an excellent chokepoint, allowing us to cut them down much more easily."
"That…makes sense, and from what I've seen the Grimm aren't all that big on self-preservation," Mary admitted, then frowned as she glared at the open cavern hallway. "But won't the Grimm wise up eventually?"
"Probably," Blake admitted. "But by that point, any attempts they'd make at opening up new doorways would involve far fewer Grimm, allowing us a greater chance of beating them back. Trust me, this was a common tactic used back on Remnant to defend against Grimm attacks. We were taught this back in Beacon."
"I see," Freddy nodded, then asked, "How many times did it actually work?"
"Enough to make it viable, but not enough to make it flawless."
"…What about Mr. Mind, though?" the blue-suited flier brought up. "If he's with the Grimm, he might direct them to break through multiple points early when he sees what we're going, or use his telekinesis to destroy the blocks himself."
"He does present a big complication," Pyrrha acknowledged with a grimace, "and if he does show up to do either of those things we'll have to do our best to counterattack him quickly to avoid being overwhelmed, while Ivory Mage patches the holes with ice."
Weiss then took over, "Though I don't believe he's likely to do that based on his behavior so far. Between what he said about our powers being too great for him, the deliberate effort he's put into avoiding physical confrontation with us, not to mention his actual stature, he seems to consider himself vulnerable to being directly attacked. And I'm familiar with the particular brand of arrogance he's shown. He plainly considers himself to be above getting his hands-, er," she paused in consternation, "Feelers? -dirty, and considers it a point of pride to manipulate his 'lessers' into doing all the hard work for him. He's most likely going to simply sit back and gloat as the Grimm throw themselves at us as waves of cannon fodder, then waltz in to finish us off when we're too worn out to pose a real threat to him anymore. Though if we want to keep him overconfident instead of putting actual effort into it, then we need to sell the act that we're getting pushed to our limit with this."
"Oh, perfect," Pedro said then sighed as he stretched out his arms in anticipation of the coming battle.
"Don't worry about it, Pedro," Billy advised, slapping his younger foster sibling on the shoulder in encouragement. "We'll kick their asses in no time at all."
"Hopefully," Eugene muttered.
Ruby couldn't help but sigh and shake her head. She understood exactly why the fledgling superheroes were scared. Truth be told, she was scared, too. She was scared every time she went out to fight, whether it was against the Grimm or against other people. Sure, she was confident in herself, her team, and her friends, but there was always that sense that things could turn sideways in an instant. None of them could afford to rest on their laurels, and while it was uncomfortable, that sense of fear twitching in the back of her mind kept her on edge just enough to stay focused. It certainly didn't help that, even after an hour, they still weren't able to get a message out to the Watchtower, meaning they were on their own.
She was about to say something encouraging to them all when she felt a rumble in the ground, followed by faint, muffled noises coming from deeper within the Rock of Eternity. Turning towards the open cavern, Ruby narrowed her eyes then aimed Crescent Rose.
"They're here," Jaune said as he raised Crocea Mors' shield in front of him, resting his sword on top of it. He, along with Pyrrha who was doing the same motions as he was with Miló and Akoúo̱, were at the front of the group while Yang, Nora, Billy and Pedro flanked them. Meanwhile Ruby was set slightly behind the two shield users in the middle of their line, with Crescent Rose braced between them with its scythe blade embedded in the floor and loaded with its third-largest rounds, her rarely used .57 caliber. She wouldn't be able to effectively wield her bigger sniper rounds once the chaotic press of the melee inevitably spilled into the closer quarters of the chamber, so she was going to make full use of them as their opener, her oversized rifle aimed straight down the firing line provided by the hallway.
With their strongest direct fighters at the front, the others were further back to lend support, but more than ready to rush ahead should the situation call for it. Knowing their luck, that was very much likely.
As the rumbling increased, the muffled sounds became clearer. Ruby recognized the growls, hisses, and chittering of Grimm along with the scraping of claws along rock. A moment later, the various barricades they had set up began to shake as the Grimm slammed their bodies against them, trying to break through. Dust and pebbles were shaken off, and Ruby couldn't help but worry that their efforts weren't enough to keep the Grimm contained. Luckily, the Grimm quickly noticed the open corridor and began to rush it, large shadows forming on the walls followed by glowing red eyes glaring at them from the abyss.
Without even needing to say a word, Ruby fired Crescent Rose right into the head of the first Grimm she saw, popping it like a balloon and blasting holes in the bodies right behind it. The other heroes followed her example, filling the rest of the corridor where she wasn't clearing lines in the horde in the wake of her shots with gunfire, lightning, and explosive ordinance. Grimm were cut down relentlessly, filling the Rock of Eternity with clouds of black dust, but the tide was relentless. They didn't care how many of their number fell. If anything, their ferocity only increased.
"They just keep coming!" Freddy yelled as he continued to blast the tide of Grimm from above with lightning.
"Just hold the line!" Yang shouted back, firing shell after shell from Scoria Terrae. Normally she'd be using Ember Celica, but at the moment she felt her eight-gauge secondary weapon was more suitable for the task at hand.
Try as they might, though, the Grimm were pushing further and further into the Rock of Eternity, using the brief lulls in fire in order to gain ground, despite the Remantians calling out their reloads for the others to cover them. By now, Ruby was able to make out the specific forms of Grimm that were assaulting them. The vast majority, as she had come to expect, were Beowolves and Ursa, but there were a few Creeps shuffling along by their feet. In the back, however, she could see a larger, hunched over form that slammed its fists into the ground.
Narrowing her eyes, Ruby ejected her empty magazine and yelled, "Switching to heavy, cover me!"
Crescent Rose swelled in her arms even as she grabbed one of her few 20mm mags to slam it into place. The approaching figure seemed to glare spitefully at Ruby before roaring and pounding its chest, then charged over and through the lesser Grimm as it made a beeline towards her. As it barreled out of the shadows and into the open, Ruby was finally able to get a good look at it. The beast greatly resembled a gorilla, with large osteoderms on the pectorals and ribs with lesser plates along the legs and arms. Only a single red eye could be seen, and it was focused squarely on her.
"Beringel!" Blake shouted as the hulking Grimm grabbed a Beowolf in passing and flung it at them. She threw out Gambol Shroud to intercept the airborne beast before yanking on the ribbon, suddenly shifting its trajectory down to a bone shattering crash onto the head of another Grimm just short of them. The Beringel roared in obvious frustration as it continued its charge towards Ruby unabated.
With complete faith in her friends to shield her from the violence going on right in front of her, the Red Reaper chambered a new round and angled the crosshairs of her scope up to the cavity of the Beringel's nonexistent nose in one smooth action. She then pulled the trigger, and with a cannon-like blast the giant Grimm's head messily departed the mortal plane. The rest of its bulky form dropped forward and crushed a few more of its erstwhile minions beneath its weight before more slowly following suit.
Ruby was tempted to bask in such a decisive defeat of a foe that normally would've required minutes of concentrated effort to bring down, but she couldn't afford to do so and turned her attention back towards the opening. The Beringel's assault had left enough of a gap in their attention that more and more Grimm were able to make their way through and now filled the corridor as they closed in on the heroes.
"Fire in the hole!" Yang called out, and the others stepped out of her way as she straightened both arms at the clustered targets. Ember Celica shifted slightly before launching both of their loads of micro-missiles in a swarm that decimated the flow of bodies in a flurry of detonations that shook the chamber. Everyone took the opportunity to take a breath and reload if they had to as grey and black smoke washed over them, Ruby using the brief pause to switch Crescent Rose back down to .50 BMG and shift it into its halberd form. She braced it between the White Knight and the Crimson Guardian just in time to catch a leaping Beowolf on the Nth metal spear tip as the wave started to resume.
Jaune and Pyrrha were immediately on them, holding back the bulk with their shields and slicing and stabbing their weapons into the pitch black hordes while Ruby thrust and chopped past their two-person wall with the reach of her pole-arm while occasionally firing out. Yang began chopping the spillover that tried to go around them apart with Scoria Terrae's bearded axe configuration.
Nora had also shifted Magnhild back into its hammer form, as the dense concentration of Grimm around her friends made firing grenades far too risky. With an eager grin on her face, Nora began pounding away at the Grimm as though she was playing a game of whack-a-mole, crushing them under massive blows. Any that managed to get beside her were immediately taken out by Ren either shooting or stabbing them with Stormflower.
The entire Rock of Eternity fell into a brutal, chaotic melee as the Grimm tide continued unabated. No longer able to keep them from coming in, the young heroes concentrated on eliminating any that came too close. Thankfully, with the notable exception of a few like the Beringel that Ruby dropped, most of the Grimm were young and thus easy to take out after only a few hits. But there was no sign of the tide abating anytime soon, and as Ruby chopped off the head of a Beowolf with her war scythe while firing her pistol, Rose Thorn, into the head of a Creep trying to chomp at her ankles, she noticed that one of the barricades they had set up was beginning to bulge outwards.
Realizing what was happening, Ruby shouted, "Number Five!"
Everyone heard her over comms, and Yang and Weiss turned their heads from different parts of the fight just as the rocks exploded outward. A swarm of Grimm began pouring though, and Yang immediately locked her mask optics onto the blasting gel she'd preemptively sprayed at the opening's base, just as she'd done for all the barricades, and squeezed a trigger in her gauntlet. The trap exploded, shredding the crossing Grimm with rock shrapnel, and interrupting the flow just long enough for Weiss to stab Myrtenaster into a Glyph at her feet and fill the breach with ice.
The thick but otherwise normal ice block already started making ominous cracking sounds as the monsters on the other side resumed pounding on it, and those that survived getting past the gel got back on their feet to attack. Jaune, who was closest, unclipped an incendiary grenade and threw it into the main mass at the front before turning to face them. A moment later, a fireball formed behind him, incinerating any Grimm caught in its blast and lessening the pressure for his teammates as he met the flankers head on and held them at bay with his shield. Knocking them back, he decapitated three Beowolves in one swing, only for an Ursa to knock him back against the wall with a powerful swipe and knock his sword from his hands.
"Gagh!" he grunted, falling to the ground. He tried to push himself back up, but the Ursa was already on him. He was slammed back into the rocky wall and the Grimm attempted to bite into his neck. Jaune immediately grabbed hold of both halves of the Ursa's jaw, holding it in place long enough for Freddy to fly down and land a solid hammer-blow to the top of its head. Disoriented, the Ursa released its pressure on Jaune, allowing him to spin Crocea Mors' shield on his forearm mount and shift it to its bladed sheathe form before stabbing his attacker through the mouth and out the back of its skull. The Grimm died instantly, dissipating into smoke.
"Come on!" Freddy shouted, offering Jaune a helping hand which the White Knight gladly took while picking up his fallen sword. Rushing back into the fray, the two heroes punched, stabbed, slashed, and electrified any Grimm that was in their way.
It wasn't enough, however, especially as yet another hole was broken through. While Golden Dragon and Ivory Mage repeated their maneuver to patch it, their previous ice wall at hole Five crumbled, allowing yet another tide of Grimm to make their way into the Rock of Eternity's main chamber. Any sense of coordination was lost among the defenders as they attacked any and all Grimm they saw. Billy had managed to kill a Deathstalker that was just barely small enough to squeeze into the chamber by pinning it to the ground with an elbow drop before repeatedly stomping on its head until his heel finally broke through its armor, only to immediately be assaulted by a pack of Beowolves. When they tried biting into him, however, their teeth broke against his flesh, causing them to rear back and howl in pain. Darla used the opportunity to rush back, pulling them off her older brother and slamming them against the wall, allowing Pedro to crush their heads against the rocks.
Mary, standing close to the Seven Deadly Sins, punched and kicked any Grimm that got too close, assisted by Ivory Mage who trapped several in Glyphs before stabbing them with Myrtenaster or shooting large ice spikes into their bodies. She wasn't completely focused, however, just on combating the Grimm. Instead, she was keeping her eyes peeled for Dr. Sivanna and Mr. Mind. They had yet to make their appearance, and she couldn't help but remain suspicious. She would've thought that they'd have made themselves known by now, but instead it appeared that they wished to tire them out even more. It made sense, given how they fought the Seven Deadly Sins last time at full strength and managed to beat them. The villains would reasonably assume that having them fight while exhausted would improve their odds of success.
A rumbling from behind caught Mary's attention, and to her shock she saw a new tunnel form, this one unconnected to the previously existing hallways that they had blocked off. Several Creeps ran through and made a beeline towards the Sins, and Mary scowled before rushing them alongside Ivory Mage and Nightshade.
Wrapping up several with Gambol Shroud's ribbon, Nightshade held them back while Ivory Mage skewered them with spikes or incinerated them with jets of fire. A few managed to break free, but Mary was able to punch and kick them back. She couldn't help but frown at her sloppy performance compared to her allies, especially as the Grimm she just fought stood back up. Realizing that she would need to learn how to properly fight after this, she charged up as much magical electricity as she possibly could then fired a massive bolt into their bodies. The Grimm dissipated into dust instantly, and she immediately turned her attention back to the still oncoming horde.
None of them knew how long they had been fighting. They had long since lost track of time, but when the Grimm tide finally began to stem they felt absolutely exhausted. Sheens of sweat covered their bodies, and all of them were breathing heavily. Still, they kept up the defense, unwilling to give the Grimm any more room than they had already taken.
"Where's Sivanna?" Jaune asked, decapitating a downed and pinned Ursa with his shield. "And Mr. Mind?"
"I don't know! They have to be here somewhere!" Ruby replied, continuing to shoot and slash apart the Grimm with Crescent Rose in a flurry of red petals.
Continuing to focus on beating back the Grimm, Ruby kept her eyes peeled for any signs of the supervillains responsible for this. It went without saying that they were going to hunt them down after this, but that would only come after they secured the defense of the Rock of Eternity. Practically all of the barricades had been broken down by the end, but their tactic had worked in stemming the tide long enough to where the Grimm were noticeably fewer at that point. Ruby didn't want to think about what would've happened had they not prepared.
The only Grimm seemingly left now was another Beringel, which Billy was currently fighting one on one. He was clearly stronger than the monster, holding its arms back while it roared defiantly in his face. Billy responded by pumping its body full of electricity, causing it to thrash in pain. A moment later, a shot rang out as Ruby drilled the Beringel right in the eye, causing it to slump over then turn into dust.
Breathing heavily, the team looked around, remaining on guard for any signs of the Grimm. After a tense pause, Darla tentatively and hopefully asked, "Is…is it over?"
Before Ruby could answer, a loud hiss was heard from deep within the Rock of Eternity. Blake then responded, "No."
Darla couldn't help but hang her head and sigh before muttering, "Darn it."
A moment later, a massive black serpentine head emerged from the cavern. Outside of a few white bone plates with red markings on its head, its body was covered in pitch black scales. At least for the first half. Coming out of another hole was an identical head, only pure white with black bone plates on its head.
"King Taijitu!" Ren shouted, recognizing the Grimm from the Emerald Forest back at Beacon.
The King Taijitu let out a dual hissing roar and snapped at the nearest heroes, who jumped back just in time. The stone cracked underneath the force of the Grimm's jaws, but it merely slithered against the ground while continuing its pursuit.
"Take it down!" Ruby shouted, switching back to 20mm and firing Crescent Rose into its body. Unfortunately, the bullets merely blew bloody chunks out of the Grimm's scaled body rather than tearing through it wholesale, telling her that this one was old and thereby tougher than the other Grimm they had fought thus far with the notable exception of the Gargantula. Both heads snarled in fury and immediately focused their attacks on her in retaliation as the most obvious threat, causing the sniper to yelp and desperately juke around the twinning serpents, unable to hold still and properly continue firing without getting crushed.
Realizing that they had to combine their efforts just to take it down, the heroes spread out and began assaulting the Grimm from all sides. Bullets, lightning, ice, and grenades were fired into the creature while Jaune focused his efforts on defending his teammates with his shield. Unfortunately, the two-headed creature made his efforts difficult, as he could only be in one place at a time.
Then, from the corner of her eye, Ruby spotted Dr. Sivanna, with Mr. Mind perched on his shoulder, calmly stride into the room while in the middle of a crowd of Grimm. In his hands was a makeshift raygun-like device that he had to hold at the hip like a machine gun. The man turned to look at the pedestal of the Sins, and Mary and Weiss stepped protectively in front of it in readiness, only to stare in confusion as Sivanna simply turned away with a bitter sneer. He then promptly flipped a few switches, turning his apparent weapon on with a hum they could hear from across the battlefield, and aimed it squarely at the large stone pillar emblazoned with Shazam's symbol at the back of the chamber, the very object that gave the Rock of Eternity its name.
"No!" Ruby shouted and attempted to rush over, only for the King Taijitu to block her off with its thick body.
Turning its black head towards her, the Grimm lunged and attempted to snap her up with its jaws. She jumped back in a burst of petals while rising into the air, firing Crescent Rose which ripped off half its snout while violently propelling her back onto the ground with the recoil. A trio of grenades fired by Nora slammed into the head, causing it to roar in pain as smoke and fire consumed its maimed face.
"Billy, stop them!" Ruby shouted as Billy flew overhead, firing lightning into the monster. Looking to where she was pointing, Billy saw the mad scientists charging up their device. It was drawing dark smoky energy from the Grimm around him, the monsters disintegrating while they were still alive as their particles were sucked into a slot at the top. He didn't know what it meant, but he knew he had to put a stop to it.
"Oh, no you don't!" Billy yelled as he flew down towards Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivanna. Just before he could reach them, however, Mr. Mind shot his head towards him. Billy then found himself suddenly frozen in place, trapped by a telekinetic grip.
"Not now, child. You have far more important matters to deal with," Mr. Mind mocked then threw Billy back into the King Taijitu, which promptly wrapped its body around him and began to constrict.
Groaning in discomfort, Billy attempted to push the Grimm off while the others tried to free him. He saw Jaune and Pyrrha rush the mad scientists, barely slowed by the threadbare Grimm in their way that weakly attacked them, only to achieve the same result he did as they were flung back. At the same time, however, Billy couldn't help but notice that the force Mr. Mind used appeared to be weaker than the overwhelming launches he previously did to them. Maybe the Venusian was getting tired? If that was the case, it was something they could and needed to exploit.
His body began crackling with electricity as he started charging himself up, then he released the pent-up energy into the Grimm's body. The King Taijitu ceased its constricting and froze, its muscles clenched tight as the electricity coursed through them. Seizing the opportunity, Ruby burst through in a cloud of petals and grabbed Billy, freeing him from the Grimm's clutches. When they landed however, they noticed a purple glow coming from the front of Dr. Sivanna's weapon, along with an increased flow of energy and dust from the rest of the Grimm in the chamber alive or dead, now including the King Taijitu as those closest to him were consumed completely.
Looking at each other for a moment, Billy said, "I don't know what he's doing, but we've got to stop him. Let the others focus on the Grimm."
"Right," Ruby replied and nodded, switching Crescent Rose to its DMR configuration.
Loading a magazine of non-lethal ammunition of appropriate size and chambering a round, Ruby fired a rubber bullet at Dr. Sivanna while Billy rushed him. But Mr. Mind was able to quickly reposition Billy into the path of the round, and while it didn't so much as faze the bulletproof champion, it was enough to protect the far more vulnerable human. Shifting tactics, Ruby petal burst around the villains, trying to strike from behind, only to have Billy be slammed into her against the wall.
"So much for the strength of the world's mightiest mortal," Mr. Mind mocked as he began to laugh. The device, meanwhile, glowed even more vibrantly, and the King Taijitu began howling in pain as more and more of its body was broken off and sucked into it. Briefly, the others stared incredulously at the Grimm as it died and was sucked away, but they immediately regained their composure and rushed the mad scientists.
Darla and Blake almost reached them first, but as Mr. Mind froze them in midair another Nightshade shot out of the seized one to finally close in with a dashing crouch.
"What?!" the telekinetic worm barked as the image of Blake disappeared from his grip, and the real Faunus' blade reached out.
But it was too late, as the raygun finished charging. Thin strands of purple energy formed around the dish, coalescing into an orb before firing a strong beam straight into the yellow lightning bolt at the top of the Rock of Eternity. A bright, purple light filled the chamber, blinding the heroes who were forced to look away. Just a few moments later, however, the light subsided, showing the device with its firing end cleaved off by Gambol Shroud's edge.
Seizing the opening, Billy rushed Mr. Mind and Doctor Sivanna, ripping the remains of the raygun from his grasp and slamming them both against the wall in separate hands. Nora promptly shattered the weapon underneath Magnhild then joined the others in surrounding the two supervillains, offering no chance of escape.
"Whatever you two were planning, it failed," Billy declared, glaring harshly into them. His friends and family glared equally in agreement, but to their surprise Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivanna merely smiled.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Dr. Sivanna rhetorically asked. "Because from where I'm standing, our plan went off without a hitch."
"What are you-?" Freddy began to ask, only to hear a loud crackle coming from the Rock of Eternity. Turning towards it, they saw a cascade of sparks and electricity shooting off of it right where Sivanna's weapon hit it.
With his eyes widening, Billy looked back at the villains still in his hands and demanded, "What did you do?"
"It's quite simple, really," Mr. Mind admitted. "But, before I give you stupid monkeys the answer, let me ask you this: how do you beat a champion?"
Billy responded by simply squeezing Mr. Mind's body even tighter, but that only prompted the Venusian to laugh. He then added, "You either cheat, tire the champion out through attrition, get lucky…or get another champion."
Billy's eyes widened in realization just as Mary shouted, "Billy, look!"
He turned back towards the Rock of Eternity, where the energy had amplified and began to focus on a singular point. An unceasing rain of yellow lightning struck down, filling the room with nearly deafening thunder. While Billy himself was unaffected, the others had to cover their ears while crying out in pain and averting their eyes. He, meanwhile, kept his focus on the lightning as it continued to increase. A few moments later, an unending bolt of electricity struck, taking over the flow down from the Rock of Eternity into the stone floor. From that bolt came a rip in reality that matched the symbol on his chest.
"Oh shit," Billy muttered just as a man fell through the opening. As soon as he did, the rip sealed shut, and the lightning ceased. He instinctively let go of the two villains then placed himself in front of his friends and family protectively, staring the large, muscular man down as he thrashed in pain with steam drifting off his body. Darla tried to rush forward and offer aid, but Billy held out his arm and stopped her.
Staring at the man, he quickly noticed several things. For one, it was clear that he was in peak physical condition, with muscles surpassing even his and Pedro's. His head was bald, exposing his light brown skin for all to see. His body was covered in a black and gold version of the outfits Billy and his family wore, complete with a black hood and cape on his back. The man clutched his head and groaned before standing up, his eyes closed at first before he opened them and began to look around.
"Where…where am I?" he asked in a language Billy understood but did not know. "The Rock of Eternity? How…how long have I been trapped?"
"Billy, Mary, what's he saying?" Pedro quietly asked, only to flinch as the man shot his attention towards him. His earlier bewildered expression quickly shifted into one of pure rage, and Billy stepped out in front.
"Listen, man. Calm down," Billy calmly said, stepping forward while gesturing to himself. "We're not—"
Before Billy could even say anything else, the man unleashed a wordless roar then flew straight into him, continuing on out of the main chamber with Billy folded around his outstretched fists. The others were scattered in their wake, leaving the villains to make their exit, Mr. Mind pulling his partner in crime down the tunnel they came in from on lines of silk. Their laughter echoed out as everything unfolded as planned.
The situation had officially gone from disastrous to a living hell. Scores of monstrous Grimm descended onto the airbase, snatching up any unfortunate soldiers who got in their way. Any attempts at counter attacking were hampered, if not completely undone, by the fear gas constantly assaulting their minds. A few soldiers who weren't fighting their comrades or cowering in fear did attempt to hold them off, but their training had been completely forgotten. It was only thanks to Violet that Luke was even able to see them for what they were.
He wasn't as well-versed in the Grimm as he admittedly should've been, something he would be sure to rectify if he got out of this alive. He recognized the giant bird Grimm as a Nevermore, the same kind that assaulted Metropolis back in August, but the rest were new. Alongside the Nevermore were bat-like creatures with red wings and white spikes along the back, most of which were small while others were big enough to carry a fully-equipped soldier into the air. On the ground were Grimm that looked like camels, complete with armored humps. They were spitting what appeared to be acid at nearby soldiers, judging by the sizzling coming off their bodies once the fluids made contact. Skittering around their feet were relatively tiny insects that reminded him of silverfish about the size of a small dog, just with a single red eye and three red tails coming out of their armored rear ends. They were attacking the soldiers in swarms, and were quickly overrunning the entire base.
Realizing he didn't have time to wait for an opening, Luke told Violet, "Once we start running, don't stop. Got it?"
Violet nodded. A moment later, both sprinted away from the medical tent straight towards the barracks. Once more a few men tried attacking him, but for the most part the panicked soldiers had turned their attention to the new enemy. Many attempted to flee, but most tripped over their feet and were quickly consumed.
"Aagh!" Violet screamed as she saw a soldier nearby thrashing on the ground, trying to pull off the silverfish eating him alive, but Luke quickly pried her attention away.
"Don't look, there's nothing you can do!" Luke shouted above the chaos, and they continued sprinting as fast as they could.
The situation continued to unravel by the time they got to the barracks. By Luke's rough estimate, it appeared that more than a quarter of the entire base had already been overrun, and more was being taken every second. Unless he did something fast, it wouldn't be long until the entire base, and everyone in it, was destroyed. Part of him wanted to take his men and run, live to fight another day, but he immediately threw that option to the side. There was no way he'd be able to live with himself if he just ran, not when he had at least a chance to stop this.
Any more thoughts were broken as, just before he entered the barracks, one of the camel Grimm burst into view, sending fuel barrels flying. Black fuel leaked out and covered the ground, but the camel Grimm didn't seem to mind as it looked around for more prey. It quickly spotted Luke and Violet then immediately let out a guttural bray and charged him. Grabbing Violet, Luke dove to the side just as the Grimm came close. While Violet fell onto her stomach in a heap, Luke was able to combat roll onto his knees, where he immediately brought his M4 to bear and fired on the monster.
To Luke's dismay, the 5.56 rounds from his M4 carbine merely bounced off the bone armor, leaving nothing more than small dents and scratches. He barely had time to react before the ravenous Grimm turned its long neck around and spat a glob of acid at him. Luke was forced to jump back, landing on his rear while the acid struck the ground between his legs. The concrete sizzled, and he glanced warily at it before shifting his attention back towards the camel Grimm. Without missing a beat, he emptied the rest of his magazine into the monster, but as before it was to little effect. Only the rounds that struck the soft flesh of the Grimm had any negligible impact, and the Grimm continued its charge unabated.
Rather than flee, Luke scowled then shifted his grip to the underslung grenade launcher strapped to the front of his gun. He fired a single 40mm high-explosive grenade. Unlike his rifle rounds, the explosive ordinance sent the Grimm rearing back, shredding parts of the bone armor off. As it tried to recover, Luke rose to his feet, reloaded his grenade launcher, then fired another. The camel Grimm screeched in pain as it was pushed even further back, stepping into the pool of spilt fuel. Rather than waste another precious grenade, Luke pulled out an emergency flare and struck it. A red glow came from the end of the stick, shining out in the yellow fog while he glared hatefully at the Grimm. Without saying a word, he tossed the flare into the fuel, sparking a raging fire that quickly consumed it as well as a few other Grimm that had been attracted by the fight. Roars of pain and anger came out from the inferno, and Luke only spared it a quick glance to ensure that nothing was coming out. A few moments later, he saw black dust rise up into the night sky, telling him that the Grimm was dead.
Returning to Violet, the two went back inside the barracks and closed it shut. His men were as he left them, bound to the bed posts and screaming their heads off as the fear gas wrecked their minds. Luke couldn't help but grimace sadly at their pitiful states, then he refocused and turned his attention to Violet, whose body and eyes were still glowing purple.
"Think you can cover them, too?" Luke asked, gesturing to himself where he was covered by the same sheen she was generating. Violet looked up at him, unsure and nervous, but quickly steeled herself and nodded.
Without saying a word, she went to the nearest soldier, who just so happened to be Private Smith. His pupils were narrowed to the size of pinpricks and he was desperately trying get away from her, screaming unintelligibly. Violet, however, remained as calm and composed as she possibly could be as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Get-get away from me!" Smith yelled, trying to squirm away and struggling against the bedsheets Luke had tied around his wrists. Violet did no such thing, and instead closed her eyes and breathed in deeply in order to concentrate.
For a moment, nothing happened, and Luke was worried that Violet wouldn't be able to do it. Then the purple halo began to spread from Violet's body onto Smith's. It was small at first, then quickly covered the rest of him. Smith's panicked state subsided as the effects of the fear gas were expunged from his body, alongside the bruises Luke had unfortunately left on his face.
"…What the fuck?" Smith muttered, gasping for breath as he looked around the room with clear eyes. Luke sighed in relief then patted his shoulder.
"Everything's gone FUBAR," Luke revealed, then turned his head towards Violet. "Think you can get the others?"
"Yes," Violet immediately replied with a vigorous nod. Luke nodded back, and without him needing to even say anything she went to the next soldier and repeated the process while he untied Smith.
One by one, the rest of Luke's men were healed of their affliction along with any of their wounds, including Kim's broken nose. Any thoughts of relief, however, were quickly suppressed by the sounds of more chaos unfolding outside.
"Jesus Christ, that wasn't a hallucination?" Jenkins muttered as he looked out a window in the barracks.
"Those are Grimm, aren't they?" Brixson asked, and Luke nodded.
"Aren't those attracted to…negative emotions, like anger and fear?" Kim asked, looking up at Luke with wide eyes. When Luke nodded again, she turned back to looking outside and added, "The fear gas…"
"It was softening us up, leaving us vulnerable while attracting the Grimm like ringing the dinner bell," Luke finished, scowling deeply.
The others could only stare out the window, horrified as they watched the chaos unfold. After a moment, they turned back to him for guidance, completely lost.
"What the hell are we going to do now?" Ramirez asked, and Luke gave as hard of a stare towards him as he possibly could.
"We're going to try our damnedest to save what's left of Bagram," Luke declared. "The only way we're going to do that, though, is by getting rid of this damn gas. We do that, Violet can go around healing anyone she can while we reorganize ourselves."
"Easier said than done, Fox," Matthews pointed out. "How do you suppose we're gonna do that? And even if we do manage to get rid of this shit, I doubt there's enough of us left to mount a defense."
"I'm working on it," Luke admitted, continuing to look around through the many windows of the barracks to try and come up with a solution. At first, his mind came up blank, then he spotted the still intact helicopters that were scattered across the airfield, their engines still running. An idea began to take root in his head, then he turned around to look back at his soldiers.
"The helicopters," he said, pointing at the nearest one through a window. "If we crank up the throttle but don't take off, they might generate enough force to push the gas away."
His men quickly glanced at the helicopters, seeing all the soldiers and Grimm fighting near them. They all, including himself, gulped. Luke recognized that it wasn't the soundest of plans, but it was all they had at the moment.
Quickly glancing up at the central ops tower, he then added, "Once we disperse the gas, Johnson, Kim, I need you two to head up to that tower and call in for help. I don't care where it comes from, but we need it here now, otherwise we're dead."
"You got it, sir," Private Johnson replied, giving him a firm nod. The others repeated the action, and Luke nodded back.
"Alright, pile up behind me," Luke ordered. "Fire in unison. Looks like our weapons might not do much against these things."
His men barked affirmatively, then Luke turned towards Violet and softly said, "You stay next to me. You're our lifeline, okay?"
Violet looked up at Luke, clearly scared out of her mind, but she nodded regardless. Luke nodded back, then went to the front of the barracks. He gripped his rifle tightly, sweat trickling down his brow as he closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply in an attempt to calm his nerves. It wasn't working as well as he hoped, as he was still completely terrified, more than any other time in his life, regardless of their immunity to the fear gas. Despite that, as soon as he opened his eyes he let out a roar and burst out of the barracks, Violet and his men doing the same right behind him.
Billy lost all sense of direction as he was carried out of the main chamber, his body wrapped around the fists of their newest adversary. The Rock of Eternity turned into a blur around him, and the only thing he could make out was the man's face glaring into his own. It was contorted with absolute rage, but Billy didn't know why that was the case. He had never met the man before in his life, yet at the same time felt he was so familiar.
More importantly, though, Billy tried to figure out just what the hell was going on. It was obvious that this man had the same powers he did, and clearly knew how to use them. His thoughts went back to the device Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivanna constructed. This man was released after they fired their raygun at the Rock of Eternity. Was he trapped in there, and did the supervillains know that? Was he the person they were trying to free, not the Seven Deadly Sins as they originally thought? Given how they didn't even touch the Sins at all, it now seemed incredibly likely.
Any more thoughts were interrupted as the two superpowered beings flew straight through a wooden door, shattering it into tiny splinters. The Rock of Eternity completely disappeared, only to be replaced by paved concrete and fluorescent lights. For a brief moment, Billy saw they were now in a subway station, but that was only fleeting as the man continued his flight, carrying up and through the ceiling of the subway. They exploded out of a busy street, sending cars careening and crashing into each other.
A torrential downpour was now coming down, complete with thunder and lightning all over the place. The man carrying him didn't seem to care, keeping his attention completely focused on Billy as he slammed him into the glass façade of a skyscraper, sending shards of glass falling to the sidewalk below. Realizing that people were in danger, Billy attempted to break free by throwing a punch at the man's face, but he simply blocked the punch and countered with a heavy blow to Billy's gut, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"Aaagh!" the man roared at the top of his lungs, then began flying straight up, dragging Billy through the glass, steel, and concrete. Debris fell to the ground, sending terrified civilians running for their lives. Billy felt his body being rocked and buffeted as he was carried upward, but otherwise didn't feel any tremendous amounts of pain.
Once they reached the top of the skyscraper, they hung in the air for a bit, then Billy was thrown onto the skyscraper's roof with enough force to punch a hole straight through. His momentum carried him out and through the outer wall of the building, where he crashed against the side of another skyscraper. Groaning, Billy shook his head as he attempted to regain his bearings, only for his opponent to immediately follow up by flying straight into him and through the steel structure, sending terrified office workers scrambling for cover.
Slamming into concrete on the building behind the one they just went though, Billy was pulled forward while being tightly held in the man's grasp. Then, with a snarl and roar, Billy was uppercutted in the gut, sending him flying high into the storm clouds above. Before he had time to recover, his opponent passed him, flying up then delivering a powerful hammer-blow straight into his chest, sending him crashing into an AC unit on the roof of another skyscraper.
"Oh God, everything hurts…" Billy groaned, lying in the crushed remains of the unit. Rolling out of it, he felt the man slam down onto the roof then stomp over. Desperate, Billy turned over and fired twin bolts of white electricity into his attacker, who immediately countered with bolts of his own. Only his were yellow, and completely eclipsed his output, inexorably forcing Billy's energy back before striking his body.
"Gaagh!" Billy screamed in pain as he thrashed on the ground. Thankfully, it didn't last very long, but then the man grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him upwards with one arm. Billy instinctively grabbed his forearm as the man pulled him closer, snarling spitefully.
Billy braced for another blow, but instead the man simply hoisted him high above and shouted, "SHAZAM!"
A massive bolt of yellow electricity came down from the heavens, striking Billy in the back. Rather than hurt him, Billy felt his body change from its muscular, super-powered form back into being a scrawny teenager. With wide eyes, Billy looked at the man who had already reared back an electrified punch, but the expected blow never came. Instead, the man wearing a black version of his own hero suit was looking at him with his eyes bulging in surprise.
"…A child?" the man asked, now speaking in perfect English. "The Wizard gave his powers…to a CHILD?!"
The child in question yelped as he was abruptly dropped and sprawled onto the rooftop, and hurriedly back-crawled away. The air was knocked out of Billy's lungs when he fell to the ground, but otherwise he was unharmed as he scrambled to put some distance between him and the crazy metahuman who nearly executed him. Breathing heavily, Billy pushed himself back up as the enraged man, sparks of electricity coming off his body, glared at him.
"How?" the man demanded, his eyes never leaving Billy's.
Not quite sure what the man was talking about, and hoping to buy as much time as he could, Billy asked, "How? What do you mean-?"
"How did you become the Wizard's Champion?! What made you worthy in his eyes?!" the man shouted, stomping onto the roof and sending cracks webbing out. For a moment, Billy wobbled in place, but he was able to remain standing.
Narrowing his eyes, Billy admitted, "I don't know. Something about having a pure heart, whatever that means."
"Oh," the man scoffed and clenched his fists, "so the Wizard's standards have fallen that much since my imprisonment? For this to be my replacement of all things, I can see he must've been desperate."
"He kinda was, yeah," Billy replied, narrowing his eyes further as he took more of the man before him in. Letting out a few breaths, he thought back to everything he had learned thus far as he tried to figure out just who the hell this guy was. It wasn't long before the scroll Mary had read just before they fortified the Rock of Eternity came to mind, and he put together the stranger's identity.
"You're him, aren't you?" Billy asked with a frown. "The first Champion. Teth-Adam. Black Adam."
"So, you're both observant and educated," Black Adam confirmed with a huff as he began to pace around Billy, staring him down the entire time. "At least that's two points in your favor."
"I've only had these powers for two weeks, asshole," Billy shot back as he matched Black Adam's pacing, refusing to back down. "Already did what you couldn't do and resealed the Sins, which you released."
Black Adam paused his pacing, and a brief look of anguish passed through his face, but it was almost immediately replaced by a scowl. He retorted, "I only did what needed to be done to save my people."
"Really? 'Cuz from history class it sounded like releasing the Sins killed your people! Along with millions of others around the world!" Billy shouted, turning to face Black Adam completely.
Enraged, and his eyes sparking yellow, Black Adam declared, "Do not lecture me as though you were there! You have no idea of the suffering my people went through at the hands of their rulers! Rulers who were supposed to protect them, not enslave them!"
"And that's supposed to justify releasing Armageddon?!" Billy angrily replied, marching straight towards Black Adam without an ounce of fear. Scowling and baring his teeth as he looked up at the fallen champion, Billy added, "I don't care about your reasons why. All I care about is what you did."
Both champions stared each other down, Billy's face contorted with emotion whereas Black Adam's was flat. There was a small hint of consideration in Adam's eyes, but Billy didn't care.
"Leave now, before I kick your ass," Billy demanded, and Black Adam chuckled.
"No," Black Adam answered while shaking his head. "You're the Wizard's current champion, inheritor to his powers and name. As I cannot exact my vengeance on him, you will die in his stead."
Billy breathed in deeply, then stepped back and spread his arms wide. He then asked, "Well then, I'm right here. What's stopping you?"
"I'm giving you the opportunity to defend yourself," Black Adam replied as sparks were ejected from his fists. "You can either die as a boy, or as a man. It's your choice."
Black Adam and Billy Batson stared each other down. A heavy silence fell between them, the tension thick enough to be cut by a knife. The silence was only punctuated by the flashing of lightning and the crash of thunder, with the heavy rain pouring all around them. Never once did their gazes break, each daring the other to move first.
Finally, as he still glared angrily at his predecessor, Billy Batson said, "Shazam."
A bolt of lightning came down and struck Billy in the head, encasing him in a faint cloud of white smoke. When it dissipated, he was transformed into his superpowered form, and Black Adam smirked.
"What's your name, boy?" Black Adam asked as he began to float upwards, lightning cascading all around him.
"Why do you care?" Billy replied as he floated up after his opponent.
"Call it a courtesy," Black Adam admitted, a hint of respect in his voice, but not much.
Billy furrowed his brow, his mind whirling as it tried to come up with a satisfactory answer, or whether he should even give one. Everything that had happened to him over the past few days had been leading up to this climactic moment, and the gravitas of the situation weighed down on him heavily. He then thought back to what Mr. Mind had previously called him and his family, then his body began to crackle with electricity.
"The name's Billy," Billy admitted, his eyes flashing white, "but you can call me Captain Marvel."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Black Adam and Captain Marvel charged at top speed, slamming into each other with enough force to momentarily stop the rainfall around them.
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for their help in bringing this to life. Now, I know I promised this chapter would be the finale to the Captain Marvel Interlude/Arc, but as you can tell we needed to split it in two once again.
A fight against Black Adam deserves a chapter all to himself, wouldn't you say?
We're super excited to introduce Black Adam into the story, which this entire arc has been building up to. He's one of my favorite characters in DC Comics. Now the Marvel Family and RWBYJNPR have to face him while Luke and Violet fight for their lives in Afghanistan. How will these fights be resolves? Find out next chapter, the actual finale to this arc. As before, I will focus on writing the next chapter of HoJ before moving on to my other stories, and I've already started writing the next chapter. Rather, my original plan was to make this all one big chapter and had already written the next scene, then we realized the last scene made for a perfect stopping point so we went with that and moved the other scene I had written as the first scene of Chapter 44.
Now, before I leave you guys, I want to say something. I have been getting a bunch of mostly guest reviews requesting me to update my stories or focus entirely on one over the others. I'm telling you guys now to stop doing that. I want and encourage as much reviews as possible, but any request or outright demands for me to update my stories out of order will only fall on deaf ears. Don't bother asking; the chapters will come out when they are done, not before. As much as I love writing fanfiction, this is still a hobby and I have other things in my life that take precedence.
Regarding the questions you guys have had, I am aware and have been reading the official RWBY/Justice League crossover comic. I've been enjoying it, but I'm waiting until it ends before I really figure out what I'm going to do with it, if at all, for this story. I know that a few of you were wondering about Salem's immortality now that Remnant was destroyed. She is still alive and immortal. Now I know that her curse literally says that she'll be alive so long as this world still turns, and since Remnant is destroyed/dust in the wind/Alderaaned that's no longer an option. One could take it literally and thus remove her immortality. To which I ask: how does that benefit the story? To me and my cowriters, that was a cop-out and boring, relegating the Big Bad of RWBY into nothing more than a footnote. That isn't what we want to do so we chose to interpret that curse's wording as more of a metaphor or term of phrase. Basically, don't take it literally word for word. Salem's not removing her immortality until she learns her lesson about the value of life and death.
Regarding pairings, as mentioned earlier we do plan on incorporating relationships into the story both canon and crossover. But those relationships are subplots at best, so don't expect them to take up a lot of screentime unless it's for character reasons. Requests will also not be acknowledged during our planning and writing process, so don't ask.
I'm glad you guys liked the reveal of Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivanna. They were a lot of fun to bring out. I hope you guys enjoy Black Adam just as much. Now, with the Synder Cut, I did watch it. Overall, I vastly enjoyed it more than the Joss Whedon cut of Justice League. Will elements from it make their way into the story? Probably, but you guys will have to wait and see.
That's it for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy and let us know what you think! If any of you have a TV Tropes page, feel free to touch it up and add anything you guys feel is appropriate. See you all next time!