Cover Art by CHE3ZY
You all know the deal. Life, work, moving, etc. I didn't want it to be this long for an update but it's here now. Standard stuff: read, review, like, share, vote for your favorite OC. Let's get this show on the road.
Outskirts of Vale:
On instinct, Jai leaped to the side to avoid a fireball that incinerated the area he once occupied. Jai landed on his hands and pushed off the ground to launch himself back to again avoid another fire blast. Cinder summoned a bolt of lightning and sent it toward the super soldier who proceeded to twist his body in midair to narrowly avoid it. Jai landed gracefully on his feet several meters away from the half-Maiden and immediately fired a series of precise shots from his suppressed pistol, all of which hit their mark, forcing Cinder back. Though her aura protected her, she was surprised at the force the high caliber, armor-piercing rounds struck against her aura with.
That's not a normal pistol. I need to avoid taking too many hits from that thing.
Cinder quickly summoned a wall of ice to shield her from the incoming rounds before she sent razor-sharp shards of ice forward with great speed. Jai leaped into the air to avoid the shards that completely obliterated the area he once occupied. The super soldier twirled his body in midair to reorient himself to where his head was facing down, and his legs were pointed to the ceiling of the warehouse. He had his target in sight again and he quickly fired.
Cinder barely had enough time to dive out of the way, narrowly avoiding taking more punishment from the Guardian's rounds. Jai's pistol slide locked back to the rear as he expended his last round. Guardian Zero-Three-Seven ejected the magazine as he retrieved a fresh one and loaded it while he was still falling through the air. Jai landed gracefully but immediately fell backward into a back-handspring to avoid a slash to his neck from a red-hot blade that Cinder conjured. The Guardian continued to backflip away and put some distance between the two before he landed silently and took a moment to observe her.
Though she was quick, she wasn't as fast as him or his brothers. Jai attributed her speed to the portion of the Fall Maiden's powers within her. The super soldier could tell she was a novice, and not just with her powers but with her fighting skills as well. Jai sidestepped another slash that narrowly missed his head before delivering a fierce uppercut to the half-Maiden's jaw, briefly stunning her. Guardian Zero-Three-Seven quickly then delivered a harsh kick to her stomach that sent her flying backward into one of the warehouse's concrete support pillars, shattering it.
Cinder quickly picked herself up and focused her rage-filled eyes on Jai before she let out an anger-fueled war cry and leaped forwards through the air with her superheated blade at the ready to make mincemeat of her enemy who was rushing towards her with unnatural speed. Jai dove forward, rolling to the side as Cinder's scorching blade effortlessly sliced through the concrete floor. Cinder whirled around and thrust towards Jai's still crouched form, her blade growing by a few inches as it stabbed through the air. Jai brought his aura-backed vambrace up, batting Cinder's sword away as he shot up to his feet.
Faster than Cinder could follow, the super soldier thrust his combat knife forward and went for a stab aimed at her shoulder, only to have it intercepted by a well-timed parry from a second conjured blade courtesy of Cinder, who then somersaulted backward and summoned lightning bolts, sending them towards the Guardian. Jai dove to the side and avoided the lightning bolts as they left the floor glowing red from the heat. Jai immediately fired his pistol, unleashing several expert-level shots that rained down on Cinder as she unleashed a powerful gust of wind and ice that shielded her from the bullets and forced Jai to skid back along the floor.
Cinder breathed a momentary sigh of relief before she regained her resolve. She hated to admit it, but this guy or thing was good. Very good. This was going to be harder than she thought. Cinder summoned fire from her hands before she unleashed a stream of fire that incinerated everything in its path toward the Guardian.
Vale:
Rahm was almost finished setting the explosives. The super soldier had already gotten a photo of the Paladin's identification number for the internal investigation that the general would surely launch once he'd been briefed on this whole ordeal. The Paladin's hardware was classified and not disposing of it would negatively harm the national security of Atlas. All the while he set the explosives, Guardian Zero-One-One couldn't help but think about team RWBY's fight against this mech suit used by Torchwick.
On the one hand, team RWBY's teamwork was something he couldn't help but respect. They certainly worked together better than many fully fledged hunter teams as well as military units. And on the other hand, the defeated Paladin mech was a testament to the Guardians' doubts about the Paladin in the first place.
Rahm stood up, having finished planting the explosives, and walked away from the scene. Rahm retrieved a detonator from one of his pockets. Without a second thought, he pressed the button, causing an explosion that obliterated the remains of the Paladin.
The police sirens were getting closer now, but Rahm would be gone before they arrived. Right now, the Guardian needed to link back up with Terre and figure out what the next course of action was.
Beacon Academy:
"Well, that went well," said Yang.
Pyrrha noted how Yang's sarcasm earned mixed reactions from everyone at the library table.
Ruby frowned, Weiss glared daggers at the blonde, Blake was seething internally, Terre and Ren kept their usual neutral demeanors, Nora looked like she was on the edge of her seat, and Jaune was merely there taking everything he heard in.
"I can't believe we missed all the fun!" Nora crossed her arms and had a pouty look on her face.
"It wasn't fun Nora," said an irritated Weiss.
"Has anyone seen Penny or Jai?" Asked Ruby.
"Jai went to finish his paper for Professor Port's class. I think Penny is with him," replied Pyrrha.
Ruby nodded, content with Pyrrha's answer.
"This is ridiculous!" Blake's angry outburst earned surprised reactions from Ruby and Jaune. "We have nothing to show for any of this and it's all because of that masked killer."
Jaune thought for a moment before nervously he swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Maybe this isn't as bad as it seems. It could be worse," said Jaune.
While everyone looked at him with general curiosity, the looks Blake and Weiss were giving him alerted his fight-or-flight instincts.
"Hear me out," said Jaune, who took the slightly relaxed demeanors of Blake and Weiss as permission to continue. "Our enemies, Torchwick and the White Fang, are clearly up to something that we still haven't figured out yet, but if there's one thing we can determine it's that this masked person wants Roman and the White Fang more than we do. While our encounters with that masked person have been far from great, I'd be willing to bet that he's not our enemy."
Blake was about to leap across the table and strangle the blonde but she was stopped by a set of calm hands on her shoulders. Blake glanced and saw that the hands belonged to Ruby and Yang. Pyrrha mentally thanked the two sisters for keeping Blake calm. The redhead had been ready to step in to keep Blake from hurting Jaune.
"Go on," said Yang.
Jaune nervously nodded before giving Blake an apologetic look.
"I'm not saying that what this guy is doing is good, moral, ethical, or any combination of the three. What I am saying is that he could have killed us if he wanted but he didn't; he was holding back. He was only after Torchwick and the White Fang. I hate to say this, but maybe we aren't the ones to take down these guys down."
The entire table was left speechless. The looks ranged from surprised to confused to angry to neutral.
"Are you saying that the enemy of our enemy is our friend?" Blake honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing from Jaune.
"No!" Jaune replied defensively. "I'm not saying this guy is our ally, but what I am saying is that maybe we should step back and stay out of this guy's way. We've been lucky so far with him holding back, but that might not always be the case. It's clear that this guy or whatever he is wants to take down Torchwick and the White Fang, and that's what we want. Maybe this just isn't our fight?"
Terre remained silent, mentally going over Jaune's analysis as well as studying the reactions of the others. The Guardian could tell that to some of them, Jaune's words sounded cowardly and to others, they sounded borderline traitorous. Terre didn't think either of those things. To be honest, he felt that Jaune was the only one with a clear view of the whole picture. Teams RWBY and JNPR had no idea how big this whole thing was and how unprepared they were for it. Their continued involvement only put them all in danger and made things more difficult for the Bad Batch to deal with. The general had significantly limited them to maintain their cover, and that made things all the more difficult when it came to protecting their targets and dismantling Salem's operation.
"So you'd rather leave this in the hands of that murdering monster?!" Asked Blake.
"Blake, I don't think that's what Jaune is trying to say," Pyrrha interjected, doing her best to act as the mediator.
"It sure sounds like it," replied the cat faunus.
"I believe I understand what Jaune means," said Ren, earning the undivided attention of the table. "I think he means that we're not equipped or trained to handle something like this, whereas this unknown factor has the training and resolve to handle it."
"Are you agreeing with him that we can't handle this?" Yang shot Ren a disappointed look.
"Yang," said Ruby with a look of concern.
The table seemed to devolve into one big argument while Terre remained clear of it all. The two teams became so immersed in their group argument that they failed to notice Rahm enter through the door on the other side of the library. Terre discretely stood up before calmly walking over to meet Rahm on the other side of the library. Thankfully the others were too immersed in their argument to notice him leave. Terre would need to talk to Ruby later about maintaining situational awareness at all times. Rahm stood by the door waiting for him.
Rahm looked around to make sure they were clear of anyone who could possibly listen in on their conversation before he spoke.
"Everything alright over there?"
"Yeah," replied Terre in a discrete tone. "Any issues?"
"None," Rahm's tone switched to a discrete one as well. "It's been torched."
"Good. Any word from Jai?"
Rahm shook his head in the negative, earning a pensive look from Terre.
"What're you thinking?" Asked Rahm.
Terre was thinking about a lot of things. First and foremost was the issue about an Atlesian Paladin mech in the hands of Torchwick and the White Fang. That right there was grounds to believe that there was a leak within the military. How exactly Salem managed to dig herself into the Atlas military was unknown but that would be handled accordingly. The other issue on his mind was the question of that mysterious girl with Torchwick.
"I think it's pretty obvious that there's a leak within the military if Torchwick managed to get his hands on a Paladin. That much is clear. What isn't clear is how it seemed as though that girl with Torchwick was waiting for him. If it was a trap, it wasn't a good one."
"I've seen her before."
Terre didn't say anything; he simply looked at Rahm carefully, silently telling him to continue.
"The night we went to Club Venture, I had seen her earlier at the bar with Penny. I know it was her based on her identical mannerisms. If I had to guess, she's able to use her semblance to generate physical illusions. She'd been tailing that deer faunus, Faline, and I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that she was responsible for throwing you off Faline's tail after the run-in with RWBY and JNPR."
Terre looked at Rahm skeptically.
"We don't get paid," said Terre matter-of-factly.
Guardians didn't receive paychecks. They had no use for them. Everything they needed was provided to them and it wasn't like they could or would ever live normal lives. They were the swords and shields of Remnant. The credit cards they received for this mission to Beacon were meant to purchase anything they deemed necessary for mission success, but that was it. Although Rahm had been using his card to keep up with his usual subscription to his favorite aerospace magazine. But then again, he was doing the same thing back in Atlas only then it was directly provided to him through the help of Dr. Haze.
Rahm rolled his eyes before he replied.
"I would have thought that by now that you'd start understanding the basic concepts of humor. In any case, she would have known about a masked assassin in White Fang gear."
Terre took a moment before he spoke.
"I'm going to back him up."
Rahm looked at Terre quizzically. "You sure that's a good idea? What happened to only one man at a time?"
Rahm's question was valid. It was Terre, after all, who stated that only one man would operate in disguise at a time to minimize suspicion. Though in this case, he felt that this rule would need to be broken. That girl had likely seen him in action that night. The fact she was there waiting could have been an indication of a possible trap.
"Consider this an exception to policy," replied Terre. "We're not letting one of our own walk into a trap without backup."
The smallest hint of a smirk etched itself onto Rahm's face.
"You afraid that Chap can't handle himself?"
Terre's eyes narrowed, clearly unamused with Rahm's joke. If anyone out of the three of them was most suited for operating in unknown territory by themselves, it was Jai. He was originally a Bravo, and Bravos were the masters of infiltration, sabotage, and assassination. An individual Guardian was the equivalent of a metaphorical army. That's not the part of Rahm's joke that Terre was unamused with.
"We had orders from the general to address each other by our cover names at all times."
"He did," replied Rahm, "but I'm starting to think he might have meant that in the context of being around others. I don't see how calling each other by our old names when we're by ourselves would go against the general's orders; let alone compromise anything. Do you Melon?"
Terre stared at his brother for a solid few seconds before he finally replied.
"We'll discuss this later."
Rahm merely shrugged.
"Fair enough. I take it I'll stay here and hold down the fort then?"
"Yeah, but I also want you to let General Ironwood know about what happened earlier."
Rahm nodded.
"You got it boss."
Outskirts of Vale:
Cinder peaked out from behind the support beam, spying the dull silhouette of a vague humanoid in the darkness. The half-Maiden super-heated the concrete floor before her and sent red-hot daggers flying toward her enemy. Jai managed to avoid the incoming projectiles by diving behind a support beam for cover. Cinder charged forward, leaping through the cloud of dust and debris with the intent of catching Jai off guard. Cinder had a pair of blades in hand, ready to attack, when she came upon the spot where her enemy was; only to find that he wasn't there.
Where is he?
Cinder was caught off guard as she found a powerful arm ensnaring itself around her neck while a hand kept forward pressure on the back of her head. Salem's pawn flailed about to free herself of the rear-naked choke, but her strength was no match for the super soldier who held her firmly. Not only could she feel her oxygen supply dwindle, but she also felt as though her aura was diminishing.
"NO!"
Cinder's eye glowed menacingly as her entire body began to glow red. Jai could feel his armor and skin begin to rapidly heat up with zero signs of the temperature decreasing. Jai immediately let go and leaped back to put some distance between himself and the witch's pawn. Jai noticed that his vambrace was glowing red hot, but the super soldier quickly ignored it and refocused his attention on the target. Opting to maintain the distance, the Guardian retreated into the shadows of the unlit portions of the warehouse just as the half-Maiden conjured razor-sharp shards of scorching hot glass and sent them flying his way.
Cinder searched frantically for any sign of her enemy but to no avail. She thought back to the sensation she felt when he grabbed her in that choke hold. It was as if her aura and energy were leaving her body. She was fortunate to possess extremely large reserves of aura thanks to the Maiden powers. Otherwise, it would have been game over for her.
Cinder moved almost instinctively and barely had time to use her magic-enhanced speed to sidestep a downward sword strike from above. The witch's pawn wasted no time and sent shards of ice forwards to eviscerate the super soldier. Jai rushed forward and deflected the incoming shards with the saber he wielded. Cinder wasn't prepared for Jai to close the distance so fast as he jumped forward and his leg shot outwards, kicking into Cinder's face, sending her flying across the warehouse and crashing through several crates. The Guardian didn't stop as he sprinted towards his target. Cinder managed to get up just in time to dodge a sword slash from the super soldier before she grabbed onto his arm with both hands and threw him across the room. Jai twirled his body in midair to right himself before landing gracefully.
Cinder was panting. Her body ached like hell, more from shock than anything else. Though she still had aura, it didn't mean she wasn't in pain or struggling against the freakishly powerful blows from her enemy. While she was visibly struggling to keep up, it was painfully obvious to her that her enemy wasn't winded in the least. No matter how hard she hit him when she was actually successful in doing so, the guy rebounded just as strong and fast as before. This was not boding well for her. At this rate she was going to lose, the Maiden powers were merely prolonging the inevitable by replenishing her aura in the few instances where she could catch her breath.
HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?! WHAT IS HE?!
It didn't make sense to her. Though she only possessed half of the Fall Maiden power, she was still a wielder of magic, the most powerful force on Remnant. Despite that, she was getting her ass kicked by a normal man. Well, at least she originally thought he was normal. This entire fight had proven that he was as abnormal as they came.
Cinder didn't get to ponder for long as she leaped to her feet just as Jai approached fast and swung his saber which was aimed at the top of her head. Cinder brought her swords up to block the saber strike. The half-Maiden exerted all of her magic-enhanced strength to keep the saber's blade at bay, though it was a losing battle as the blade inched its way closer to her steadily. Cinder let out a primal scream of anger as she pushed off the ground to deflect the super soldier's saber away and then immediately lunged forward, driving her right elbow into Jai's breastplate and then throwing the palm of her left hand towards Jai's midsection. Jai immediately caught her left wrist and sent a downward punch into Cinder's jaw that put her on the ground immediately. The pawn of Salem didn't have time to shake the stars out of her vision as she rolled out of the way of a downward heel strike that left a small crater in the concrete floor. Cinder scrambled to her feet before jumping back into a series of backflips to put some much-needed distance between her and her enemy. With some room to breathe, Cinder summoned a small typhoon of wind to force the Guardian back.
Beacon Academy:
James sat alone in his flagship's quarters. To say the general was pissed would have been an understatement. He was reading the update that Guardian Zero-One-One sent him for what seemed to be the tenth time. He didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was overwhelming. There was a leak within his ranks; somewhere, there was a mole. He would have been lying if he said this didn't hit close to home. One of General Haze's many lessons imparted to James was to keep personal anger and feelings out of war. Thomas Haze was nothing short of a legendary military commander, a wise teacher, and a good friend, but despite all of that James couldn't help but ignore his late mentor's teachings and let his anger rise. Salem managed to sink her evil hands into his military. How far she reached was uncertain, but the fact that she managed to breach his ranks was the mother of all wake-up calls. A stolen Paladin mech would have sent the office of special investigations rushing every which way to track it down. That was the least of his concerns, though. Salem might have had more of the mechs somewhere. He didn't know what Salem was intending to use them for, but at least Zero-One-One destroyed one of them. That mech suit had been one of the earlier prototypes that had yet to be upgraded to the specifications that Unit 117 recommended. Had it been an upgraded mech then he doubted that team RWBY would have walked away unscathed. He was grateful that the team of young Huntresses was okay. In any case, he would need to get to the bottom of this. He would need to increase security measures and have his people launch a discrete investigation.
Outskirts of Vale:
Terre donned the Grimm mask, the last piece of his gear, before he closed the supply case and locked it. Zero-Six-Nine glanced down at the small portable radar device he held in his hand. It didn't take him long to leave Beacon Academy without anyone spotting him and then grab his gear from the case they'd stashed in the woods. The super soldier took note of his brother's position relative to his own. He didn't have a means of contacting Jai which was why he would have to go to his position. They'd opted to refrain from using communication devices while out on these missions in disguise to help keep discretion. They didn't want to risk having their comm channels spied on. They didn't know the extent of Salem's resources in Vale, and they preferred not to risk it. The bad side to that was that they had no way of knowing what exactly was going on while one of them was on a mission; they would have to wait for the other to return. He highly doubted that Jai was in a situation he couldn't handle but he wasn't taking any chances here. With his gear ready and Jai's position known, Terre took off in Jai's general direction in a full sprint.
"Ahhh!" Cinder's painfilled cries echoed throughout the warehouse as she impacted the wall at high speed, completely shattering her aura. Her knees buckled and her back slid down the wall as she struggled to catch her breath.
The young woman's vision was all a haze, but she did manage to make out a tall, imposing figure march towards her. Cinder found herself unceremoniously thrown back into the wall, earning a pained groan, before her hands were seized in a powerful grip. She looked up and saw the masked assassin retrieve a pair of handcuffs from his belt before latching them onto her wrists and tightening them down.
This isn't happening. This can't be possible!
The young half-Maiden had so many questions going through her mind. How could she, a wielder of the most powerful force in the world, be defeated so easily? Though the fight had dragged on, she knew damn well that her enemy had been holding back. He wanted her alive. If this was indeed the Harvester that Adam so greatly feared, then she could now understand why that was the case.
From behind her mask, Cinder could feel her eyes swell up with angry tears. Memories of her past flooded her mind. She saw the time that she was effectively a slave, forced to work in a hotel as a servant. For so long she had been humiliated and put down, but then one day she met a Huntsman, Rhodes, who taught her how to fight and made her strong. She killed her former masters, along with her Huntsman mentor who tried to stop her, and ran away to freedom. She spent some time by herself until she was found by Salem and promised to be made powerful if she followed her. She saw firsthand just how powerful Salem was, secretly wanting the same power for herself. When she siphoned half of the Fall Maiden power from Amber, Cinder had never felt more alive. She didn't just want the Maiden powers, she needed them. She would not rest until she had what was hers. She couldn't let anyone stand in her way. She had to keep going.
Jai examined the defeated woman for a moment. While her aura was shattered and she was restrained, his work was far from finished. He needed to get her far away from here and into the hands of Atlas. This whole thing had been a trap and trying to interrogate her here would have been a terrible move that would have been a severe intelligence risk. Only when she was in a secure area would it be safe to interrogate her.
"Get up."
Cinder didn't move or visibly acknowledge her enemy with eye contact. She was seething with rage internally, completely unaware of the heat beginning to emanate from her.
Jai grabbed hold of her arm, intending to force her up, but immediately let go as he felt the temperature around her dramatically increase. Cinder's head shot up, her eye glowing brighter than ever before, just as a fiery aura violently exploded around her, completely obliterating the immediate surrounding area and sending Jai tumbling across the warehouse floor before he pushed off the floor with his hands and then landed back on his feet.
The Guardian took note of his aura levels with a wrist-mounted aura reader, noting that they'd been reduced significantly, before he looked up and observed the rejuvenated half-Maiden rise to her feet. The hand restraints around the woman's hands had melted from the intense heat radiating off of her. The super soldier took note of how Cinder was visibly shaking and how unstable the magical energy that surrounded her looked. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he knew that it wasn't good. Jai took a defensive fighting stance, recognizing just how much more dangerous the situation had become.
The half-Maiden let out a scream of agony as more energy seemed to radiate from her. The temperature around her began to increase exponentially, turning the floor into glass, melting nearby metal rods, and causing wooded crates to burst into flames. Cinder shakily took a few steps in the direction of her enemy who immediately drew his pistol and rapidly fired several rounds, intending to halt her advance. The rounds were immediately incinerated by the intense heat radiating off the woman.
Jai immediately holstered his weapon and leaped back several meters to put some distance between him and the advancing half-Maiden. It was clear that close-quarters combat, and by extension ranged attacks, would be impossible while she was enveloped in that fiery aura that protected her. All he could do was avoid and evade until she ran out of energy.
Cinder abruptly stopped her steady march toward the Guardian as she dropped to her knees, holding her head in pain as she cried out in agony once more. The magical energy around her began to grow hotter and the glow began to pulsate rapidly. Cinder's screams of agony echoed across the warehouse as the energy around her exploded forward in every direction with Jai barely having time to shield himself as the blinding energy completely engulfed the center of the warehouse.
Atlas:
The sound of a scroll ringing awoke Winter Schnee from her slumber. The former heiress reached for her scroll tiredly as she turned on the nightstand lamp and sat up in bed. She was dressed in a white and silver nightgown and her hair was a bit disheveled from her slumber.
"Schnee here," she said tiredly.
"Winter," said the familiar voice of General Ironwood over the line, "I'm sorry to bother you at this hour."
"General Ironwood," her grogginess immediately left her as soon as she realized she was speaking to her boss, "what can I do for you, sir?"
"I apologize for the late call Winter, but we have an urgent matter that needs immediate attention."
Winter sat up straight in her bed. She readjusted one of the shoulder straps to her nightgown.
"We may have a mole, or at the very least a security leak within the military."
Her eyes narrowed upon hearing that.
"How do you know sir?"
"Guardians Zero-Six-Nine and Zero-One-One found the remains of a prototype Paladin mech, which was destroyed by your sister and her team, that ended up in the hands of the criminal Roman Torchwick."
Winter couldn't help but smile at that. She was happy to hear her sister's skills were improving. She couldn't wait to see her at the Vytal Tournament.
"According to Zero-One-One, Mr. Sun Wukong, a student and faunus from Haven Academy, was with Ms. Blake Belladonna inside a White Fang meeting undercover when Torchwick unveiled the mech. We have no reports of any missing Paladins, which means that someone provided him with the mech. Guardian Zero-Three-Seven is currently pursuing Torchwick as we speak."
"What are your orders, sir?"
"I want you to oversee an internal investigation, but I do not want it to be overt. This must be as covert as possible. Whoever the mole is mustn't be allowed to know that we are aware of this. Use anything and everything that is at your disposal to find out who it is."
"Yes sir, I will contact Specialist Ebi and have him inform the Ace Ops."
"Thank you, Winter. See to it."
"Right away sir."
The former heiress to the Schnee fortune hung up. Her eyes held a strong resolve. There was a rat in their military, and she would find out who it was at all costs. The sound of sheets moving alerted the former heiress.
"What's going on?" Asked a groggy voice.
Winter looked over at the source of the voice. Marrow's eyes blinked as they adjusted to the light. Winter smiled at the sight of her partner's grogginess.
"Don't worry about it. I'll tell you tomorrow."
Outskirts of Vale:
It was as if everything was slowly coming back to her. Cinder stood atop the rubble of the warehouse, observing the destruction with awe.
I did this?
The whole thing had been a blur to her. She could barely recall what had just transpired. She remembered being subdued by her enemy and nearly getting captured, but that's all she remembered. She examined the smoldering remains of the warehouse, searching for any sign of her adversary. She saw nothing.
She did it. She won.
A confident smirk etched its way onto her face as she relished her victory. She was so caught up in the moment that she failed to notice an approaching bullhead aircraft until it was just above her. The aircraft landed and the cargo door opened, revealing Emerald, Roman, Adam, and Faline. Cinder didn't waste any time and immediately ran to the aircraft and boarded it. Once inside, Cinder spotted Mercury and Neo at the flight controls in the cockpit. Mercury shot her a nod before he fired up the engines and took off and sped away from the scene.
"You did it Cinder!" Yelled Emerald who had a smile on her face.
Cinder paid her no mind. Instead, she focused her attention on Adam, who stared out the open side door and had his eyes glued to the rubble of the warehouse. Cinder removed her mask, relishing the fresh air on her skin. The leader of the Vale Branch of the White Fang felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Cinder without her mask on anymore.
"Is it truly dead?" He asked in a disbelieving tone.
She smirked.
"It wasn't easy, but yes."
He never thought he would ever be happy to hear a human speak to him. The news she gave him was something he had only ever dreamed about, but at the same time, it only solidified his fear of Cinder. If she could kill a Harvester, then she was even deadlier than he originally thought.
"There are more of them," he said grimly.
While Cinder's facial expression didn't exhibit fear, the shivers that went down her spine were clear indicators of the fear she felt. The post-victory high she felt was beginning to fade. She thought back on the battle she just survived and began to recall the events objectively. She'd been lucky. Very lucky. The entire fight had been a losing one, and she was certain that her enemy had been holding back. If he had wanted her dead, then she'd be dead. He wanted her alive; he wanted to capture her.
She didn't know why exactly, but it didn't matter. The only reason she won was because her dormant magic unleashed itself in time to save her. She hadn't been in control during that whole incident, and she couldn't recall exactly what happened. What she did know was that he was faster, stronger, and far more skilled than she was. She was effectively a novice against him. If what Adam said was true and there was more like him out there, then she would be a fool to try her luck by fighting another one. She needed the other half of the Maiden's powers, she needed more training, and she needed time to prepare before she was ready to successfully fight a Harvester.
Cinder said nothing, and instead, she merely looked out the door and stared at the increasingly distant site of the makeshift grave of the deadliest adversary she had ever fought.
I need to tell Salem about this.
Terre walked amongst the smoking rubble of what he assumed was once a warehouse. This had been Jai's last known position before his radar signature disappeared. The Guardian had made sure that the area was clear of prying eyes before he approached the scene. The super soldier enabled his goggles to their infrared mode, hoping to spot signs of life beneath the rubble, but the heat of the still smoking remains was obscuring the images. Terre deactivated the goggles before he went about digging through the rubble, intent on finding Jai. Terre lifted a steel support beam without much effort before tossing it away as he continued to dig through the rubble. Once he saw that the area he was digging in was barren, he moved to another area and began to dig again. This process repeated itself for several minutes before the Guardian stood up.
"ZERO-THREE-SEVEN!" He yelled in his digitally disguised voice. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
Nothing.
Even though he was certain that there weren't any prying eyes, he wasn't about to yell his brother's cover name.
Terre tried again.
"ZERO-THREE-SEVEN! RESPOND IF ABLE!"
Again, he was met with silence. Terre's head was on a swivel, searching for any movement beneath the rubble.
Terre tried one more time.
"CHAP!" He yelled his brother's nickname at the top of his lungs, hoping for any sign of him.
Almost instantly, a hand burst out of the rubble a few meters from Terre. The glove on the hand was noticeably torn and there was some blood on it. Terre was there in a second. With one hand he grabbed the hand of his brother and pulled. With his other hand, he was throwing debris away. Jai was also pushing debris away with his other arm. Jai eventually crawled out of the rubble looking slightly worse for wear but otherwise ok. His mask and breastplate were charred black in a few spots, his clothes were torn in several areas, and his weapons were either melted or severely damaged. On some of the areas where his clothing was torn, there were either burn marks or blood.
"You alright?" Asked Terre as he observed the state that Jai was in.
Jai nodded.
"Yeah. I've had worse, it's nothing some aura won't fix. You mind?"
"No," replied Terre, "take whatever you need."
Jai nodded before he closed his eyes and focused as he held onto Terre. His aura had been depleted, so getting his semblance to work was going to take a lot of concentration. It didn't take long but Terre could begin to feel his aura levels begin to steadily decrease. Jai was taking extra care to not take too much too fast. Having known them for so long, Jai was very familiar with the amount of aura Terre and Rahm possessed. Jai let go of Terre after a minute. Terre checked his aura reader, which indicated he had about a quarter of his aura remaining. Jai focused the donated aura to the areas of his body where he needed it the most. Terre could see that Jai's bleeding began to cease and that the severity of the burns had subsided greatly.
"That should be good for now," said Jai who was fully intending to get more aura from Rahm once he got back to Beacon.
Terre nodded. It was promising to see that Jai was fine.
"I have to say," said Jai, "I'm surprised to see you here; not that I don't appreciate the help. What happened to only one man at a time?"
"Doc asked me the same thing," replied Terre, "I figured this whole thing was a trap once he told me that the girl with Torchwick was the same one he saw at that bar."
"We're using our nicknames now?" Jai asked with a raised eyebrow from behind his charred mask.
Terre was glad Rahm wasn't here; otherwise, he wouldn't hear the end of how he was being a hypocrite.
"This situation calls for it," replied Terre.
Jai shrugged.
"Noted," replied Zero-Three-Seven.
"What happened here?" Asked Terre.
Jai was silent for a moment before he answered.
"You weren't wrong about this being a trap."
Terre was silent, listening intently as Jai told his story.
Hoped you enjoyed this one. Not as long as the last one but it was a decent sized one. I know that part about them using their nicknames after all these chapters seemed strange but it's actual character development. They're beginning to be less robotic about following orders. I know the simple act of addressing each other by their old names seems trivial but it's not. It will build the foundation for them as they grow and become more human. I might get some flack on both sides for the fight between Cinder and Jai but hear me out. Jai is way more experienced than Cinder. Cinder might be a good fighter but she pales in comparison to a Guardian. Her powers were what allowed her to land a few hits on Jai. Cinder is very inexperienced with the Maiden powers. I based Cinder's hidden potential on Fria's winter storm she unleashed just before she died. My take on Cinder is that while she may only have half of the Fall Maiden's powers, she has enormous potential, which is why Salem chose her to be the vessel for the Maiden powers. As stated in the story, Jai was holding back. He wasn't trying to kill her. He needed her alive. His losing to Cinder was based on pure luck and nothing more. Cinder will have a bigger role later on as this story progresses. That's my piece said. Let me know what you all think.
-Dude64