Big Issues
AN: It's gonna be another long one with shifting points of view. But there will be some surprises. At the same time, a fair warning to those who get squeamish about blood and stuff, this chapter contains it... though not as much as the previous chapter.
Survival – Part Two
Ruby had heard from her sister about how annoying this girl was to hit. She had dismissed it as an exaggeration and knowing that Yang was the slowest of their team, even before the Issue. That didn't mean that she was slow, just that she relied more of raw strength and durability than quick strikes like the rest of the team.
But Neopolitan has proven to be extremely nimble and what weight she had put on since the night they fought Roman in the Paladin seemed to have no effect on her. Ruby swung Crescent Rose at the shorter girl as fast as she could and knowing that her irritation was rising as she failed to make contact. Neo kept dancing around the sweeping blade; sidestep here, ducking there, a jump… all ensuring that the smug smile stayed on her face as she remained untouched. No matter what combinations Ruby tried to attack from different angles and distances as fast as she could, nothing seemed to work. Even trying a trick of throwing her spinning scythe into the wind to catch the lighter girl by surprise failed.
Ruby caught her weapon and dug the tip of the blade into the hull and pulled the trigger, her aim was trusted after hundreds of hours of training. Neo came down from her latest flip and opened her umbrella to block the bullet, only for the weapon and girl to shatter like glass and revealing that Roman was behind her with his own weapon ready. The criminal fired Melodic Cudgel into Ruby's chest, the fiery explosion sending the chunky girl tumbling backwards. She managed to find her balance in the air and slammed her scythe into the metal to slow herself to a stop, a massive tear in the top of the ship was the result.
Ruby found herself laying on the side of the ship, Crescent Rose being her only way to keep herself up from falling though her belly provided some grip on the metal. The sound of footsteps on the metal made her look up from the Griffons flying below her and the ground covered with burning buildings much further below her. Roman had walked up and leaned on his cane with a smug smile.
"Little Red, Little Red… you are just determined to be the Hero of Vale, aren't ya?" The Gentleman Thief asks with no small dose of sarcasm.
"What are you doing?" Silver eyes pleaded up to him. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"
"That's the plan!" Roman practically sang as he pointed the tip of his cane at her head.
The cloaked girl grabbed the cane and pulled, the unexpected act combined with her weight pulled Roman off balance and the shot went far behind the girl. Roman needed a few steps to fight the wind and Ruby used that time to rise to her feet, only to find that Neo had reappeared and jumped over her head to roll over her shoulders, pushing the cloaked girl down a bit and keeping her from countering as Neo landed and kicked Ruby in the face, sending her back down onto the hull.
Ruby was quick to rise again, mostly thanks to adrenaline rather than rolling out of the fall. But now Neo was on the attack, pushing her back with a flurry of kicks that nearly sent Ruby over the edge. She managed to stop short, the wind blowing into her face helping to hold her back. A Griffon flew by with a screech and talons ready to grab her, only to miss as Ruby spun back and away just in time.
With the Grimm past, Ruby turned to see that Roman and Neo were now standing by each other with the shattered moon behind them. "But why?" She didn't care if she sounded a bit whiney, she was getting desperate for answers for all of this death and destruction. "What do you get out of this?"
"You're asking the wrong question, Red!" Roman responded. Contrary to his earlier bravado and flamboyance, he sounded bitter as what he had to think about for the answer. "It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose!" If he sounded bitter before, he certainly was angry to say that.
Ruby was simply galvanized by that statement and charged at him, only to be surprised by the taller man twisting and ducking to allow Neo to use his back as support to kick at Ruby. The girl managed to take the heels on the shaft of her scythe but was still pushed back a few steps.
The girl ran at Neo now that she had left Roman's side and tried to fake an attack, only for Neo to pull her jumping kick now that Ruby had her guard up, instead dropping down in front of the taller girl and hooking Hush on the shaft of Crescent Rose. The unexpected move and the weight behind it pulled Ruby down as she tried to keep hold of her weapon, Neo taking advantage of her opponent's lack of balance and pulled the scythe behind her, dragging Ruby along. Reversing the pull of Hush, Ruby lost her grip and Crescent Rose was thrown in the opposite direction. The girl tried to twist herself to land on her feet but before she made contact with the metal, Neo had spun and delivered a kick to the small of her back; no amount of pudge there was stopping the pain that filled her body from that.
The girl tumbled across the hull towards Roman, who was watching with a grin before it became wicked. The man slammed the tip of Melodic Cudgel on the metal as he squeezed the trigger, having the timing down perfectly so that the cane served as a rocket that struck Ruby in the face hard enough to arrest her momentum and even bounced back into the criminals waiting hand.
He spun his weapon in his hand by the hook as he watched the girl of his frustrations stumble to her feet. Just in time for him to have a little bit of fun and prop his cane across his shoulders and pulling the trigger. The explosive round caught 'Not so little Red Hood' in the gut and erupting. The girl was blasted away and probably would have gone right over the edge of the ship and out of his hair if she didn't somehow catch the shaft of Crescent Rose and twist it in the metal hull so that she now dangled with nothing but air between her and the ground.
That and several dozen Grimm on the way down.
Roman took his time walking over to look down on the girl, Neo standing by his side with Hush closed over her shoulder. "I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just don't take." He was clearly getting some sort of satisfaction out of this.
Neo lowered her umbrella and a sharp blade protruded from the tip of the shaft long enough to scrape along the metal as she slowly stalked to the girl who looked like a cherry hanging on the side of the ship. The sparks from the contact ended when that blade was pointed directly at Ruby's face, ready to poke and cut as needed to make her fall.
"Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world!" Roman declared as Ruby had to take a moment to kick the face of a Griffon who had looked at her as a snack. Her boot and the lack of anything to hold onto made it fall and fly away, though it was now probably waiting for her to fall on her own.
"You can't stop them!" He continued. "I can't stop them!" There was some doubt that he really tried to stop Cinder. "You know the old saying, 'If you can't beat them, join them.'"
Ruby lurched quickly, pulling herself up and around the blade, reaching for the switch on Hush and hitting it. Almost instantly, the blade retracted and the awning opened. Just as quickly, the wind began to pull the umbrella with tremendous force, leading to Neo taking a deep gasp of surprise that matched her wide eyes, the curvy mute being dragged off the ship and into the swarm of Grimm.
"Neo!" Roman yelled as he grasped at air where she once was, having tried to catch her but was too slow.
At the same time, Ruby climbed back up and over the ledge so that she could stand again. "I don't care what you say, we will stop them. And I will stop you!" She may have been crouching yet and her cloak fluttering in the wind, but her words were taking a harder edge the more she spoke, every word filled with conviction. "BET ON THAT!" She screams as she uses Petal Burst for a quick boost to rush the criminal in a serpentine motion, bare handed.
Roman wasn't worried about the rotund girl charging him, he knew how bad she fought without her scythe and that was still hooked into the ship. To counter her speed, he used a little trick he had developed for dealing with multiple enemies at once; grasping his cane near the tip with one hand while squeezing the trigger with the other, the explosive round fired and he whipped the hook around to catch the Dust- shattering the crystal and continuing the flick, sent the explosive crystal shards out in a broad arc in front of him before they could explode in his face.
Ruby was caught in the chest by the unexpected attack, the combination of the high winds and multiple tiny explosions with surprise arrested her forward movement. Long enough for Roman smack her face with the hook and to jab his cane into her soft belly hard enough to actually pick her up like she had been speared, and he pulled the trigger again. The instantaneous explosion in her gut sent the girl flying backwards to tumble near the windows of the bridge.
"You got spirit, Red!" He congratulates the girl who had been a pain in his rear for the better portion of a year. He gripped his cane near the tip so that he could swing the hook at her, catching her in the shoulder and knocking her back to the 'floor'. "But this is the real world!" He yells at her over the wind.
"The real world is COLD!" He punctuates with a swing into her hip, the girl unable to do much more than curl up to brace for the impact that her fluff and clothes couldn't mitigate the pain.
"The real world doesn't care about spirit!" He winds up for an overhead swing long enough for Ruby to kick her boot into his shin, making the man stumble back.
Both fighters rose to their feet, though Ruby had far more difficulty thanks to the pain in her hip. "You want to play the hero?" Roman asks with no small measure of anger and sarcasm. "Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!" His anger was nearing its peak.
He wound up and slammed Melodic Cudgel into the girl's cheek, easily snapping her head to the side as her body did its best to twist with it and followed her down to the metal.
"As for me." He paused now that he had gotten great satisfaction from that last hit and his cane was lowered to his side. "I'll do what I do best." He was bragging, savoring the pain he saw as the girl struggled to stand against the beatings, the wind, and her own weight as exhaustion and pain set in.
He began counting off on his fingers, the anger and desire to get rid of the girl reaching their maximum as he did so. "Lie." One finger. "Steal!" Two fingers. "Cheat!" Three fingers. "And SURVIVE!" His hand opened to four briefly before grasping his cane with both hands as he was winding up to attack.
Only for a Griffon to engulf him completely in its mouth, before tossing its head back to swallow Roman whole. It reared back and roared in victory at having killed a human and terrified the next in front of it.
Ruby watched with wide eyes, the tormentor gone in a flash, all thanks to a Grimm that was bigger than any of its kin, likely an Alpha variant, but it was looking at her for dessert. It was so big that she only stood up to its knees and the roar pushed her back on the metal.
But she wasn't going down without a fight, as they charged at each other, Ruby jumped and flipped to slam her boots into its mask-like skull and push off into another jump. The boost allowed her to clear the rest of the enormous creature and her weight had the added effect of pushing its head down so that the Grimm wound up diving into and through the windows of the bridge.
As the plump and sore girl landed on the hull again with a jiggle, the trashing of the Griffon in the bridge set the room on fire as sparks flew from ruined machines. Then the ship began to lurch from the confused and cut signals from the main control room in addition to the damage from the Grimm as it tore its way through the decks, causing various explosions in its path of destruction, tearing holes in the hull and destroying more of what kept it in the air in the first place.
The ship began to list and descend in elevation, making Ruby stumble from the sudden movement and the lessened grip of her boots on the metal. Even through it all, she could hear and feel the Grimm inside continuing to tear through the vessel. Spotting Crescent Rose still embedded in the hull where he had been hanging not long ago, she smiled for the first time since she left the arena and began running towards her weapon, all while the ship continued to be filled with more holes thanks to the Griffon inside, some appearing far too close for comfort.
The girl ran on the side of the warship as it listed, more than enough that she didn't need to worry about slipping off, for now. Her face lit up briefly in a smile as she made contact and drew the scythe from the steel before it settled into determination. At the same time, the Griffon burst through not too far away.
Ruby fell through the swarm of Griffons that surrounded the falling ship, none of them going after the girl but some did give her seemingly odd looks as she passed as they felt little to no fear from her.
"Time for a landing strategy!" She says to herself over the wind rushing by, letting herself drop a few hundred feet freely before grasping the end of her cloak to use as a makeshift parachute that slowed her fall. She spotted a building that was tall with a large flat roof and 'steered' herself in that direction until she saw that there were several Grimm there… giving her an idea. Switching her cloak to one hand, still surprised at the strength of the pins holding it to her collar, she used her other to shoot at the Grimm, each shot slowing her noticeably.
The Grimm also took notice and moved to intercept her, not being smart enough to realize that grouping up made it easier for the girl to shoot them yet estimating her landing zone. There were only three left by the time she made it to the roof, two were still standing as the third became a landing pad and was crushed under her weight. The others didn't last more than a few seconds.
In the city, Glynda was making short work of killing multiple Grimm at a time with her semblance and light applications of Dust. The rare few that made it to her were physically beaten by the hefty teacher, there was a reason she was one of the most feared Huntresses at Beacon. Nearby, Qrow took out three of the few surviving Atlesian Knights in the area, two by his sword and one by shotgun across the street before it could track him with its own weapon.
Team CRDL had managed to survive so far and were assisting with clearing a path to the hospital, having come across Glynda and Qrow by coincidence. They were doing surprisingly well as a team in the situation but thanks to their varied opponents, had become separated… more specifically Cardin did thanks to him focusing on an Ursa. The boy that was already large when he came to Beacon spun for the extra force before his Executioner mace slammed into the face of the Grimm, the sharp titanium flanges cutting into the mask and the weapons sheer mass snapping the head back and the beast was sent to the side where it began to evaporate.
The grin he had from the kill faded now that he realized that he wasn't simply away from his team but surrounded by Knights with their guns trained on him as they walked closer. Then a pair of gunshots took the heads off two of the machines.
Cardin slumped in relief and disbelief as out of the smoke of a nearby burning building, General James Ironwood came walking out as he reloaded his hand cannon. The other Knights around Cardin didn't stand a chance as the General fired explosive rounds with a slight delay before detonation into clusters of mechs. Five shots were all it took to remove the threat of nearly twenty traitorous autonomous soldiers. One came at the man from behind to punch him, only to be pistol whipped in the head, smashing it to the ground.
Glynda and Qrow saw the man in the intersection and walked closer to him and the student that was nearby. Both adults could see the effects of the Issue on the General. Seeing James with his clothes in tatters from his crash landing, his body was exposed to the world; how the right side of his body was almost purely mechanical, his right leg and arm, the attaching hip and shoulder respectively, that side of his torso from stomach to chest and even enough of his back to require joints over his spine. His flesh side was far softer and was far from matching the contours of his right side, like he could be a robot with a fleshy covering that was torn away. It simply wasn't a pretty sight, even if his skills hadn't waned.
"This area is secure!" The General was quick to declare after a glance around. "We need to- "
He stopped speaking as soon as he saw and heard gears moving, Qrow's sword undergoing the transformation into a scythe. The blade folded back and the segments hinged slightly, red blades extending from the segments to lock like a single piece on the inside of the hook. The hilt telescoped into a long handle that was slightly curved, which the man grasped with both hands as he held it in front of himself with a deep scowl and a growl of irritation.
The action of one of the few he considered his equal made James take half a step backwards, not even into a combat stance. "Qrow! This isn't my doing!" He pleaded. Gone was the self-assured military leader replaced by a man nearly begging for forgiveness.
Qrow seemed to ignore him as he ran at the Atlesian, Harbinger's blade raising sparks when it occasionally hit the asphalt with the long blade. In response, James flipped Due Process so that he was holding the pistol by the barrel to show that he wasn't trying to fight.
Qrow leapt in the air, making James think that he was still about to be attacked until he realized that his flight was taking him past him. It was only then did he see the Griffon from the corner of his eye, claws splayed and ready to grab with its beak open wide to take a bite out of him… and he was just standing there as an open target.
Then in the time that he blinked, Qrow had brought Harbinger down and cut the beast in half, the pieces landing on either side of Ironwood where they began to evaporate. Qrow landed on his feet not far past the General.
"You idiot." The Huntsman says as he rises from his crouched landing position. He turned to face the General fully. "I know you didn't do this."
Cardin seemed to be ignored as he watched the adults. James let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't distrusted by his closest allies while combining it with a sigh of frustration that so much had gone wrong tonight. His flesh hand rubbed his brow as Glynda stepped up to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. There was little that they could do right now about the mechs turning on them rather than assisting as they did at the start of the battle; just yet another investigation that would need to be conducted immediately once things were brought under control again.
"So, what now, General?" Maybe it was a bit too much to ask for Qrow not to have at least some sarcasm even in these dark moments. Then again, it did somewhat help to lighten the mood.
James stood up straight in a parade rest, most likely a habit from his years in the military but it seemed to help him think. "Someone's done the impossible and gained control of my machines. And that enormous Grimm seems to be fixated on the school." He says evenly, trying to control his emotions. "Glynda, form up with the Huntsmen and soldiers and help with the safe zone at the docks." He had heard some of the radio chatter and how they were setting up some organized defenses there.
"We need to evacuate Beacon." He continues as he turns to the scythe-wielder. "Qrow, I'm leaving that to you and my men."
From where Qrow was standing, he had a really good view of the scars on James' flesh. Scars that all radiated from his prosthetic half that allowed the man to move and housed his organs along with a few synthetic organs. His position also gave him a look at how much weight he had put on and how lopsided the man looked with only half of him capable of doing so and with the extensive damage that required so much robotics to keep him alive, it was lumpy at best. No wonder he insisted on wearing so many layers to hide the uneven contours of his body.
"I still need to get to my ship." He clarifies his goal for the others, just before a series of explosions brought their attentions skyward where the ship in question was already coming down for a crash landing, fire and smoke billowing from holes in the hull, and occasional blasts from the inside made new holes. They all flinched as they saw it slam into a series of buildings where Dust reacted violently to the crash, engulfing much of the vessel and homes in flames. With any luck, the buildings had been emptied at the time. The same couldn't be said for the ship's crew.
Qrow scratched his head at the sight. "Well, it won't be much of a walk." He was at least trying to look at the bright side.
It was also about that time that they noticed that the few Knights that were intact enough to be considered survivors and had been crawling towards the four, suddenly chirped as the signal was cut and they collapsed completely on the ground. That granted no small amount of relief to the Huntsmen left standing.
"Looks like your part is done, James. Come with me and we'll see what we can do at the safe zone." Glynda all but orders her friend. "Come along, Mr. Winchester." That was an order that snapped the boy out of his daze.
"But my team…"
"We'll collect them on the way." With that said, she led the slightly subdued males away.
"Back to the solo gig." Qrow shrugs as he puts Harbinger back to regular sword form and hurries off towards Beacon. He had plenty of Grimm to fight along the way but it was only their numbers that gave him any trouble.
Up at Beacon, the group of Huntsmen trainees had managed to do fairly well for themselves but the constant combat was getting to them and injuries were starting to pile up. They didn't waste time arguing as those with the most aura left moved to the front of the line to confront the charging Paladin while others readied their weapons, especially those who could fight at range.
Then the unexpected happened; the Paladin stumbled and fell, sliding to a stop in front of them. They watched as the indicator lights and sensors died, showing that the walking tank was no longer a threat to them.
Almost as one, they all let out a sigh of relief. Some, like Weiss, nearly collapsed thanks to that stress being lifted so suddenly.
"Hm? That went better than expected." Sun quips.
Yang was getting tired of seeing the masks of the White Fang. Saw too many back on the train at Mountain Glenn where she beat down her fair share and more than likely left most of them to die in the bombs that they had set themselves. Now tonight, she couldn't turn a corner since she left the dorm building without having to take out a dozen or so to move on to the next as she tried to make her way to the docks.
Needless to say, her progress was slow due to how many fights she was getting into but she also seemed to be the only person left in the dorm area at all. She had heard more than once from the faunus about torching the buildings, choosing to let them know what fire was when she shot into their arms or legs with Fire Dust laced buckshot.
While it may have been similar to what she had done to Mercury in the arena the day before, this time she was sure that there were no tricks. Too much experience dealing with the former Equality group turned terrorists in her short time. So, she had no qualms about making sure that they had worries beyond causing problems for others.
The Wyvern circling overhead and occasionally dropping blobs that turned into more familiar Grimm also served as a distraction since they were willing to attack the White Fang grunts as much as they would attack her. The Knights were much the same way when she found them, though they were cathartic to put her fist through.
But she eventually made her way towards a courtyard where she found more than a few Knights laying in pieces and even the remains of Paladins. The latter she knew well after shattering one with her own fist once.
The sounds of stomping feet of an intact Paladin brought her attention to the one making the noise as it ran down the walkway in the courtyard. She moved to go after it when she watched it suddenly collapse to the ground. That made her curious as to the cause, hoping that she may be able to find out why it happened and if she could use it on others.
That was when she heard a familiar voice. "Hm. That went better than expected." That was Sun! If he was here, he was likely to know where her teammates were!
She ran around a short wall and found a much larger crowd than expected; Teams SSSN, CFVY, ABRN, Flynt, Neon, Nora, Ren, and…. "Weiss!"
The heiress didn't even look up from her hunched over position where she was using her sword to help her stay upright and catch her breath. She was getting tired and this was the best break in the action they've had since the invasion started. If anything, hearing Yang's voice and her boots running up to her made her slump even more in relief.
"Weiss! You're okay!" The blonde greets her, stopping just short of the tired girl. She didn't pay too much attention to the others who were checking their surroundings and their weapons for ammunition and obvious damage. "Have you heard from Ruby?" Of course, her first question would be for her sister.
"Last we saw her; she went rocketing up to the battleship." Sun informs her as he points to where he last saw the Atlesian ship. Then he saw her questioning face and looked back to where he was pointing to find nothing but Grimm in the air. He let his hand move to follow a trail of smoke to the ground and his own face grew pale. "Oh no."
"Ruby?" Lilac eyes went wide at the sight of the crashed ship.
"We know how she is; she wouldn't have been in there when it went down." Sun tried to be reassuring to his fellow blonde.
Yang let out a sigh, "Yeah… she wouldn't be." The rest of the group remained silent as they watched the exchange but stayed vigilant for more attacks. "What about Blake?" She asks, noticing that she wasn't with them and knowing that she and Weiss were together when she had called.
"She went after an Alpha." Weiss told her, raising her head so she could point towards the burning cafeteria, Yang following her finger. "And some members of the White Fang." She adds, knowing that the blondes near her knew how personally the cat girl took those she once considered allies.
"You try to find Ruby; I'll go after Blake." Yang ordered her teammate, receiving a thumbs up. She caught Sun's eyes, looking almost pleading, and she gave him a nod in response to his silent question. With that, the hefty brawler ran off in search of her teammate while she heard Sun and Coco beginning to order the rest of the group to move towards the crash site and the docks.
There were many questions that Jaune had about what was going on today. One of them being why he was crammed in an elevator with Ozpin and Pyrrha. It wasn't particularly cramped, but his partner did take up a fair amount of space. None of them stowed their weapons, something that Ozpin had insisted on, raising more questions. The doors opened far underground, further down than Jaune had expected anything involved with the school to be involved in.
Ozpin led the way as they broke into a run down the long and dimly lit corridor. "What is this place?" The blonde asks as they ran, still taking the time to look around their new surroundings.
"It's… a type of vault." Pyrrha answers with some hesitancy. It wasn't due to the run at her size or the previous fighting- the ride down had been more than enough to recover her stamina from combat on the surface and her training had been more than enough that she'd need to do a lot more activity until she was tired. The adrenaline pumping through her like it did with everyone else certainly helped to keep her going.
"You've… been here before?" Jaune asks his teammate.
Ozpin seemed content to let them talk so long as they didn't slow, he was too focused on getting things organized in his mind from what he was about to do to possible ways to repel the invasion above them. He didn't want to think of the possibilities of the vault being discovered in the confusion and exploiting what was within. Amber's power needed a Guardian and she was weakening by the day. He already regretted that he was even considering the transfer of power forcefully but with everything above them, his hand was being forced for the sake of the world once more. He could only hope that his worst fears of the process would only be fears and not reality.
Pyrrha didn't answer her leader. Not verbally but the fact that she turned her head away spoke volumes.
"What would this school need to… hide." Jaune trailed off as they came up to the equipment keeping Amber alive along with the unit that would transfer her aura and remaining Maiden powers. "What?" He watched as Ozpin went straight to a console and began inputting commands, Pyrrha was close behind the Headmaster.
"Jaune." The Spartan began to speak, already sounding apologetic.
"Pyrrha!" Ozpin interrupts her. "Get to the pod!" He orders with a pointing finger. His tone leaving no room for argument. The teammates share a look before the girl complies. "Mr. Arc, if you'd like to help, you can stand guard here."
Jaune blinked at the order, even as the older man turned back to the controls. The blonde set his features into one of resolve, recognizing that something important was going on and that he was being asked to be the last line of defense. With that in mind, the husky blonde turned around to face the way they came with his shield raised, sword in hand, and feet ready to move as needed as he watched the dark corridor for any movement, though his ears were trained on those behind him now.
"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asks as she approaches the pod that had the door lifted to accept her.
"We, do nothing." He faces her directly. "You, Miss Nikos, have a choice to make."
Pyrrha took a few moments to look between the open chamber and back to the young man who was diligently defending her. A man who had been the most open to her and her alone out of all of their friends. Someone who looked to her for her strength and skill, asking to be taught by her and excelling faster than what she expected. He was someone she regretted keeping this secret from him, yet she remembered at the dance when she had bore her heart to him… and the lengths he went through to keep his word to her.
She would do anything to keep him safe. The first person to look to her as Pyrrha Nikos. Not a champion of multiple tournaments. Not a celebrity. Not a trophy. But someone who had become his friend and was a friend in turn.
She set her sword and shield on the floor near the machine and wiped a tear from her eye before stepping inside the chamber and adjusting herself for the incline that she lay back on. The door swung down and sealed, making her glad that she isn't claustrophobic but with her girth, there wasn't much room to spare.
Through the window of the chamber, she could see Ozpin looking far older than he was, and not just because of the lighting, but seemed to have a lifetime of regrets and he was adding yet another. The sight raised sympathy for the man, knowing that he wasn't doing this to harm anyone, but trying to save them. It was the unfortunate cost that one life was to be extinguished, one that was on borrowed time, to possibly drastically change the life of another.
Neither of them were being selfish in doing this but both were hoping for the best outcome where Amber could peacefully pass while Pyrrha would inherit her power and keep herself.
"This could have been our day! Can't you see that?" Adam yelled at Blake. Their fight was as much of one of ideals as it was physical. Unfortunately, it looked to be that the girl was losing in both as she had been knocked to the floor again.
"I never wanted this! I wanted equality!" Blake tries to reason with the man who she once thought she loved. She kept her eyes on him as she rose to her knees, the katana half of Gambol Shroud in hand. "I wanted peace!" It was ironic that she should say that while shifting to pistol and firing at the bull faunus.
Adam responded by half-drawing Wilt from Blush and using the red blade to deflect the bullets almost casually, the blade glowed briefly from the contacts. "What you want, is impossible!" He punctuated by sheathing Wilt and backhanding Blake in the face, dropping her to the floor once more.
Blake pushed herself up with her arms, coughing a bit from the smoke and grunting from the pain. Adam took a step closer to her again.
"But I understand. Because all I want… is you, Blake." Those words may have been the calmest he's said to her since she ran from the White Fang. But she knew him well enough that he was both vengeful and dramatic. She experienced that once more when she tried to raise her gun and didn't even get close to trying to aim when his right foot lashed out and kicked the weapon from her hand, leaving her spread eagle on the floor.
"You used to be so beautiful, My Love. Growing into a woman by my side, the envy of many." He sounded wistful of the past and his dreams of the two of them together. Then his face twisted in rage. "But look at you now! You've become a fat, disgusting pig! This place has ruined you!" He seemed to calm down after that, or at least to take some sort of pleasure as she cringed in fear at his feet, no longer even trying to fight him anymore… completely vulnerable. Subjugated. At his mercy. Already crying as her stomach heaved from her hitched breathing.
"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the Justice that mankind so justly deserves…" He pauses to crouch closer to her face, raising a clenched fist. "I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
In one of the worst timings ever. "Blake!" A familiar voice calls out for the cat girl. Both faunus turned to a window where they saw a heavyset blonde girl calling out for her again before a White Fang member rushed her with a sword, only to receive a shotgun shell to the shoulder.
Adam looked to the girl as she moved on in her search, obviously desperate for her friend. Then down to Blake at his feet whose eyes were wide with absolute fear. The connections made him smile. "Starting with her." His hand moving to grip Wilt again.
There was a small earthquake that shook some dust from the ceiling in the vault, worrisome enough to make Ozpin glance around quickly before turning back to enter some final commands into the terminal. "Are you ready?" He turns to Pyrrha in her chamber to see her visibly trying to relax herself and nodding her approval.
"I… I need to hear you say it." The concern for her well-being, his hesitancy over the entire procedure, his care for her decisions were all wrapped up in the regret in those few words.
Pyrrha looked at him once again, touched by the final act of kindness. "Yes." She answers simply as she lays her head back in preparation.
Ozpin lets out a sigh. "Thank you, Miss Nikos." It would at least ease his conscious to have heard her say that, even if he wouldn't forgive himself for putting her in the position in the first place. He entered the final command to begin and Amber's pod rose to match Pyrrha's, the girl within not even stirring from the movement.
Jaune turned around to watch what he was guarding, seemingly forgetting about keeping an eye on the path from which they came. He saw as Amber began to glow a dark gold, almost honey colored, as the machines kicked in with a low whine. Her eyes flickering open a bit before closing again. The tubes coming from her chamber began to glow the same color as she was, trailing up a small tower, disappearing within before similar tubes glowed down to Pyrrha's chamber.
There, the glow of the extracted aura began to be forced into the girl, her body glowing as the aura surrounded her. The experience was apparently painful combined with the fear making itself known as she squirmed and her muffled cries could be heard.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune calls out in worry and runs over to her capsule but stood helplessly outside and watching.
Ozpin stood next to him, watching over the entire process but unsure how long this would take. "I'm… so sorry." He says sadly.
Amber's eyes opened today for the first time in months in response to her aura being drained. She was unmoving otherwise. Her eyes blinked, unseeing… then they went wide and she instinctively gasped as an arrow of obsidian pierced her chest through the glass window. Immediately, her eyes began to close and alarms began to sound off due to her fading vital signs. The aura flickering around her as the machine tried to continue the extraction while her body directed as much as possible to the wound in a vain attempt to heal it.
The men turned around to find Cinder coming out of the shadows with a black bow in hand, still in the firing position and looking pleased with herself.
Adan drew Wilt from Blush and raised it high with the sharp tip pointed at Blake. Without a word, the red blade plunged into her flesh, into her stomach just above her left hip, her aura already broken and she cried out in pain.
"Huh?" Yang heard the cry and turned to look through the window in time to see Adam removing his sword from Blake's body, a few drops of blood falling to the floor as the girl gasped from the wound and reaching to cover it. "Get away from her!" The blonde yells, furious that her friend was being hurt and the man was acting so casually about the act, slowly sheathing his blade while staring at her through his mask. Blake went unseen at his feet, silently pleading for Yang to leave her.
With the combination of everything that had happened yesterday and today, seeing her teammate stabbed, the sabotage after her fight with Mercury, the inability to find Ruby, the invasion in general… Yang finally snapped. With a yell, Burn activated from her rage and frustrations, briefly bathing her entire body in golden flames as her eyes turned red, the flames settling to manifest solely from her hair. She quickly crouched and fired both gauntlets behind her as she jumped, assisting her to close the distance as fast as possible as her emotions demanded.
Her right arm pulled back for a massive punch that would have her full weight behind it and she swung forward… and the world seemed to turn red.
Adam was now behind her with his sword drawn and pain screamed through her body, overloading her mind until she passed out in midair, causing her body to go limp even before she hit the floor and tumbled to a stop, blood splattering over her and the ground.
Amber's last moments of life were those of pain, awoken from the slumber that helped to keep her alive. With her aura being drained and fighting to heal her chest and heart, the old scars and burns from her last attack… she fought to hold on with rapid breaths as her heart was unable to beat with glass speared through it. Her head slowly rolled to the side as her eyes clouded and closed… breathing fading to nothing.
In her chamber, Pyrrha felt the pain begin to recede, the foreign aura being drained from her even as she tried to open the door from the inside, wanting to join the fight that was about to happen. The aura traced its way completely out of her, back through the tubes in the machinery, and into Amber as if it was one last attempt to keep her alive.
But there was nothing left for the power to hold onto with her now dead. That power ripped itself free of her cooling body, broke through the glass and was absorbed into Cinder who doubled over as the power of the Fall Maiden became whole once more and filled her body. None of them took notice that the obsidian was removed from Amber's chest; as if it was one last act from her power.
Cinder's eyes radiated flame-like aura as she rose into the air, floating as fireballs began to circle her body. Jaune was the first to act, charging at the new Maiden with his shield up and sword ready to swing, and ignoring Ozpin's warning to stay back, only for one of those fireballs to crash into the floor in front of him and explode, throwing the boy backwards.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha yells from inside her chamber, her fists on the glass doing nothing to move it. Instead, she focused on her Polarity and tore the door off and threw it at the floating Cinder. Unfortunately, it never hit the thickly curved young woman as she directed another one of the fireballs to slam into the flying metal from the side, the door crashing into a wall as a result.
Cinder lowered herself to the ground with a satisfied smile, already enjoying the feeling of power she now had at her command and the fear that she was able to induce with it.
Pyrrha brought Milo and Akouo to her waiting hands with her Semblance and charged at Cinder, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by Ozpin's outstretched arm.
"Take Jaune and get out of here!" He commands. "Find Ironwood, Glynda, Qrow! Bring them here right away!" He turned his gaze back to Cinder fully as his student backed off. "The Tower cannot fall."
"But I can help." The girl insists.
"You'll only get in the way." He barely looked back at her to say that but the message was clear.
Cinder watched calmly as the Spartan helped the Knight to his feet and they ran past her without a look back, let alone trying to attack from behind. With the kids out of the way, she turned her attention to the only one she believed could challenge her now.
Adam stalked his way towards the blonde on the floor, a small pool of blood spreading. He flicked his blade to the side and removed any blood on it with practiced ease. He was somewhat curious as to how she kept her arm, if barely. Maybe it was that he noticed that her aura had congregated into her arm for maximum attack power. Maybe it was the slight flinch to pull back he saw, something that must have been instinctual from her training. Or it could have been that he misjudged how thick her arm is when he attacked. It could have been a combination of all three as far as he cared but this human was connected to Blake and he had a promise to keep as he raised his sword.
The cat girl through herself between him and the human, her anger and pain making her bare her teeth at him as she glared.
"Why must you hurt me, Blake?" He asks. Here she was defending a human in front of him. Human; the species that kept the faunus as slaves for centuries and even after being granted equal rights on paper, rarely had them in practice. The woman he loved was now defending someone they had agreed just last year was among those who would subjugate them for their own amusement and profit.
She said nothing in response, just glaring at him. So, he gave into his own frustrations at her and Wilt flashed through her neck, removing her head as cleanly as he wanted to do to the human's arm… only for Blake to fade away thanks to Shadow, even the human was gone.
The clacking of heels behind him made the bull turn to the noise in time to watch as Blake half-carried the blonde over her shoulder. The girl kept looking back at him, afraid that he'd attack them while they were so helpless.
But he let them go. If he wanted, he could easily follow the blood trail from the blonde and His Love, but he felt that the message of fear was best now to left to marinate within them. He'd get to Blake later.
The Creep that tried to blindside him was cut down without him even looking as he made his way out of the burning building; it was time for him to begin collecting his troops.
Denko may not have gotten tired yet physically, he was tired of having to kill so many Grimm. It may not have been as much as his time at Cloudspire, there were plenty of the dark creatures to remove from Remnant. The fact that there were the traitorous Atlesian Knights and the White Fang to mix things up kept the fight somewhat interesting, in its own way.
He didn't bother keeping track of how many civilians he had saved or even other Huntsmen and the students, though he was glad to see so many stepping up to fight off the invasion. It certainly helped when the mechs were shut down, likely thanks to the last battleship crashing to the ground. It was then that he insisted that the civilians he passed to take the guns and take them to the safe zone by the docks. Thankfully, most of them didn't try playing hero; they lacked the training to even attempt that but a few had to turn the weapons on Grimm that had turned up.
But he was pulled all over the campus by the different fights, making it hard to really know where he was with most of the landmarks destroyed or obscured by smoke and flames. The large building that was the cafeteria in the distance helped him figure out his orientation. He paused as he saw a figure by the light of the flames who looked to be carrying another and he made to intercept them.
"Blake?" He calls out once they had a building between them and the cafeteria, his voice making the girl jump and nearly drop her load. But her superior night vision allowed her to see him far more clearly than he could see her, until she stepped into the light and he saw who she was carrying.
Yang was limp over Blake's shoulders, her left arm being used to keep her up as her right arm was nearly completely severed, he could see the bone, muscle, and fat of the limb clearly as it hung by a small bit of skin. The stump was bleeding even through the golden aura that was focused there and it may have been a trick of the light that he saw a flash of red from the other part.
"Oh shit!" He nearly yells as he rushes over and sees that not all of the blood on Blake was from Yang, she had her own wound in her stomach that was leaking the fluid slowly. He took Yang from her, trying to be as careful with her arm as possible but it was difficult with how it twisted and swung, and found a nearby room that was fairly clean and safe.
Thinking fast, he took Blake's ribbon from her head and created a tourniquet to reduce the bleeding and drew his flask. A quick swig for his dry throat and much of the rest of it was used to clean the halves of Yang's arm before he pulled it shut and tied the ribbon to hold her arm together.
"What was that for?" Blake questions his unusual field dressing.
"My tea uses honey and a few other ingredients that make it double as a minor antiseptic, so that should help." He explains before removing his vest and t-shirt, only to put the vest back on. The shirt was cut and wrapped around the arm to further bind and cover the wound. Then he turned to Blake and splashed the remains of his canteen on her stomach and wrapping the cloth from his shirt around her to keep pressure on the hole in her.
"It's all my fault." The faunus blubbers as she cries. She couldn't seem to stop since Denko found them and began his treatment.
"I don't see how." He comments, only half attentive to her words as he pulls the cloth tight around her, enough to hitch her breath from the stab of pain from the pressure and her stomach being squeezed to force the air out of her.
"It was Adam! He was here for me!" She almost yelled, not having the strength to do so right now.
"Save the explanation until we get through this." Denko dismisses her worries as he does what he can to check Yang for other injuries. Nothing that he had to worry about tending to but he wished that he could have given her arm a proper splint, having to accept what he had done and knowing that undoing it at this point would likely only make things worse. He shook his head of the thoughts of cauterizing the wound to help with the bleeding and somewhat sanitize it, rather glad that he didn't; burnt flesh didn't smell good and that was one of the better thoughts.
"How are we getting out of this? Grimm and White Fang are everywhere!"
"I'm carrying you two to the safe zone. There should be doctors there or they can get you to the hospital fast from there."
"What?"
"Just calm down, I'm gonna need you to focus."
A few minutes later, Yang and Blake were on Denko's back with Yang's left arm draped over his shoulders while Blake's right helped to hold the unconscious girl up. The two of them sat on Raijin, Denko was holding it behind his back and their legs hung on either side of his hands holding the weapon, the small scraps that were left of his shirt acted as a sheath so that Blake could sit on the blade. In Blake's left hand, she held Gambol Shroud and ready to use it to counter any enemies in their path.
Denko for his part, started carrying the excess of six hundred pounds of girls on his back with surprising ease. But having to weave around the debris and the few Grimm that required him to turn so Blake had a clear shot began to wear at him.
"Denko!" The blonde looked up to see Talon dropping down from a building to land in the street next to him and falling into step. "How bad is it?"
"Glad you could catch up." He greets her as he marched on. "These two aren't fighting anymore tonight. Blake was stabbed and Yang nearly lost her arm."
The chubby girl sucked air through her teeth as she checked the quick patch job he had apparently done on Yang and made note of the blood covering them all. "I'll make sure the Grimm stay off you. Anya is a block over dealing with a pack of Beowolves. The safe zone isn't too far from here."
"Great, I hope the hospital can handle all of the injured." The blonde grumbles as he presses on, determined to get the girl who helped him so much the help she needs. With any luck, other teams would be there to ensure their safety.
AN: As you can see, there have been a few changes from canon, even if this followed fairly closely. Rest assured the divergence will be growing from here.
But yes, this time, Yang didn't lose her arm, if having it barely hanging on counts. And we're seeing how they make it to the safe zone for evacuation, being carried there on Denko's back. But speaking from experience as someone who has done a lot of physical labor while also not being one who goes out of their way to properly exercise regularly, carrying that kind of weight is possible. I've carried double my own weight on my back several times and have been the one to hold/ brace even heavier many more times. I'm not saying that 600 lbs is an easy load, just that it's possible. Add in that Huntsmen and Huntresses are capable of physical feats far greater than a normal person with ease.
But we are closing in on the finale of this arc, I'm doubting that it will get to chapter 50 but that may be where Volume 4 begins after the short break. Confirmation and execution of that break is pending though I'm considering posting the chapter on the one-year anniversary of the launch of Big Issues here on this site.
If anyone is interested, art is on my DA page where the story can be found with art embedded into the text as it applies.
As always, reviews are welcome!