Chapter-16
Qrow, Sigurd, Ruby
Qrow was getting tired of this.
When he saw Ruby, Blake and Sun burst out of the warehouse from his vantage point, he'd actually been relieved. They had gotten out of there and the force of police and huntsmen could move in to apprehend the White Fang. All of that was dashed when some blue mechanical monstrosity that make Jimmy's latest toys look like…well…toys, burst out of the warehouse along with a bunch of white fang grunts with guns shooting at the force.
Again, there's no way the white fang made this. They never made their own weapons and instead purchased or stole them. Those letters have a faint resemblance to the old language of Northern Anima but Qrow's from the south, a completely different culture so he had no idea what those letters meant.
That thing had to be supplied by Salem, or more specifically, her new allies. Ozpin said that if she also had those magicians, then there had to be some scholars among them who made this thing.
Qrow's thought process was interrupted by the robot firing rockets from flaps in its shoulders towards where Ruby and her friends were. Thankfully they dodged those rockets as they exploded into green fire.
"Shit!" Qrow cursed. That robot was after the three students. While that was good for the police, it certainly wasn't for him. Qrow noticed some white fang grunt getting into bullheads landing at the back of the warehouse but he paid no heed. He had to get to Ruby and for that…
Qrow groaned looking down at the shootout commencing below him. He had to get into that mess and take a car.
"I hate my luck." He spoke before jumping off his vantage point and behind a police car, spooking some officers.
"Don't get distracted!" He ordered as the officers went back to shooting at the White Fang.
Why did I jump into the middle of this? Qrow thought chastising himself. Now he had to figure out a way to get to the periphery where some undamaged cars would be.
Qrow took a deep breath. Looks like he had to ramp up his semblance to make sure everybody got bad aim.
He focused his aura, a distant cawing of a crow sounding in his ears before he started running.
Immediately the shots started going in random directions, losing all sense of aim as they flew at everyone but Qrow.
Qrow kept running, jumping over corpses of police through the battlefield. He was knocked to the ground by a police car exploding but kept up his pace. He could see the police fire was overwhelming the grunts and huntsmen were cutting them down with ease. It was clear they were going to win this.
Qrow was getting close to the periphery when through the bullets flying, he noticed someone engaging huntsman.
They were a purple-haired man with green slitted eyes in silver armor wielding a sickle-shaped blade that looked like it was made of diamond and a shield that seemed to reflect its surroundings.
The shield was blocking most of the bullets before the purple haired man put on a helmet and vanished from sight. The huntsmen looked around confused before one of them fell in two halves.
Qrow froze. Can turn invisible, can land clean cuts straight through aura…
"Rider." He spoke. And his luck had finally starting screwing him over. Saber had pretty much admitted that Rider will send him to an early grave if he fought him. And considering he was an important part of Ozpin's circle, Rider wouldn't hesitate to take the chance of eliminating a high-value target like him.
The other two were able to frantically block a few of Rider's attacks before the wind whizzed as something moved at extreme speeds that were too fast for them to react. Their heads fell to the ground before Rider became visible and noticed Qrow.
Qrow kept up his semblance to avoid getting hit by bullets as the two stared at each other in a standoff.
Qrow had harbinger out, ready for a fight. Rider, meanwhile, put a finger to his chin in contemplation, tapping his blood-stained blade against his hip.
A bead of sweat went down Qrow's forehead as Rider's blade came up in a firm grip as if he was going to attack, before it slid into its sheath.
"You're not my target, Qrow Branwen. Do whatever you wish." Rider spoke before turning invisible again.
Qrow let out a sigh of relief and managed to get out of the gunfire. He got into a car and drove off. Rider had spared him but he could guess who Rider was waiting for.
Eh, it's not going to be a problem. Saber's got Lancer and Ruler with him. Rider won't be able to take them down… He thought. He followed the distant sounds of roars and explosions coming from the direction of downtown.
Smart move… He thought impressed. Ruby had taken that robot to an overpass under construction for more space and avoiding collateral damage.
"Kid's pretty…" Qrow noticed a red light. His eyes widened as he jumped out of the door with a red wave of energy cutting the car clean in half.
Qrow tumbled through the ground before he heard a voice he hadn't heard in years.
"I really hate how your semblance makes your luck so bad it becomes good." Adam Taurus spoke with Wilt unsheathed. "Long time no see, old man."
Qrow chuckled getting up. "I knew I recognized that red wave of anxiety anywhere. Gotta say kid, I'm a bit surprised you got the balls to come to Vale even after knowing Ozpin can bring Jimmy and his toy soldiers down on you."
"Well, the reward our new allies promised is worth the risk. Besides, a chance to take you down is too good for me and my allies to let go."
"Can we have our reunion at a better time, kid? I've got places to be."
"Ah, right. Those students leading the Cyclops away. Well, Ozpin always puts his students in dangerous situations. What's so different about this?"
"The difference is that he knows how much can he go before he gets his students killed. And as much as I believe in their potential, I don't believe in what they can do right now." Qrow spoke. "But enough talk. I'm getting late, so I'll make this quick. I'll get you out of my way and then go."
Adam smirked. "Let's see about that."
Qrow charged at Adam, Wilt coming up to block Harbinger as the two commenced their battle.
Ruby continued pushing forward with her semblance, desperately dodging the rockets that threatened to hit her.
"I think I'm going to vomit…" She heard Sun groan within her semblance.
"Are we there, Ruby?" Blake groaned as well.
"Ye…Eep!" Ruby flew up in the air as a missile almost hit her. She thanked her luck those missiles were not homing.
"Hold on, we're almost there!" Ruby spoke, spotting a clearing under the unfinished overpass that would be ideal for fighting the giant robot.
The three landed on the spot. Blake and Sun tumbled out as the monkey faunus covered his mouth trying not to vomit.
"A little warning next time, Ruby…" Blake spoke clutching her stomach.
Ruby called Yang again. "Come to our location, you guys!"
"Got it!"
"Ok, so we're here. Now how are we going to hold that thing off? We'll get blasted into smithereens by those rockets." Sun asked.
Ruby put a finger to her chin. He did raise a good point, while they have space to navigate, the one-eyed robot's rockets were still a big problem.
She looked up at the overpass and an idea formed in her head.
"It's after the three of us, right?" Ruby asked. "Then you and Sun hide. I'll distract the robot and force him to shoot down a piece of the overpass down upon itself…"
"Oh no you're not, Ruby." Blake spoke up. "You already got yourself injured executing a reckless plan once. That's not happening again."
"But…"
"I'll do it." Sun spoke up as Blake turned to him. "Wha…no! I don't want you to be the bait after you almost got killed when we did it in Nepotain."
"Relax, Blake. I'm the best man for the job." Sun spoke before three yellow outlines of him appeared. Ruby blinked as the four Suns crossed their arms together. "My semblance is cloning." He spoke smiling as Ruby grinned.
"Then that's perfect!" She exclaimed.
Blake still looked doubtful. "Sun…"
"Blake." Sun put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine." He spoke turning to Ruby. "So, where should I do my performance?"
The Cyclops soon appeared, it's singular red eye scanning the area before it's nasal ports opened up to sample the air. Taking in the sample, its brain was fed the information received.
Its targets were here.
The Cyclops focused on the scent of the short female, as it contained the biggest threat according to its programming.
Target detected
Designation: ?
It started walking towards where it could smell the short female before bullets hit its plating.
"Hey!" The Cyclops looked up to see Sun grinning down on him.
Target detected
Designation: ΘΗΡΊΞΝ ΆΝΘΡΩΠΞΣ (ΠΊΘΗΚΞΣ)
The Cyclops' flap opened before something slammed into its eye.
Warning: Damage to optical sensor.
The Cyclops sampled the air again. It detected the same signature as its current target, but from a different location.
"Now, now, it's pretty rude to ignore people." The cyclops roared as a stick hit its eye again. The Cyclops focused its eye to scan for the target, only to see Sun's clones jumping around it. The Cyclops opened its mouth and fire spewed from it. The clone dodged as the Cyclops chased after it. The clone stopped in front of a pillar before disappearing. The cyclops' sensors then picked up the target as above it. It looked up to see Sun taunting it clinging onto the top of the pillar that was holding up a part of the overpass and dropping a banana peel on its face.
The Cyclops let out a growl before its flaps opened up and it fired. Sun jumped away just in time for the rockets to hit the spot where he was, blowing up the overpass and sending debris onto the Cyclops. The Cyclops sensed its target and stayed, not trying to dodge the debris as they fell upon its flaps and engulfing it in a fiery explosion
"Are you sure it's not going to be enough?" Sun asked as the three stood in front of the inferno in front of them.
"From what my experience with the trolls, it's safer to assume it's still standing." Ruby spoke before noticing something.
"See? That big bad robot's still standing!" She spoke as the Cyclops emerged in a bad shape. It's rocket panels were damaged beyond repair and its plating had broken off in many places on its body to reveal some of the wiring. There was a crack in its red eye. But it looked like the Cyclops was still standing.
"Well, we've gotten rid of the rockets. Now what?"
Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose. "Now, we survive till the others arrive. Shoot at the damaged spots!" She yelled as the three teens pointed their guns and started firing at the Cyclops' exposed wiring. The Cyclops thrust its hand and the bullets hit a blue shield covering its body.
"It's using a hard-light shield!" Blake exclaimed as Ruby nodded. "Keep it distracted. I'll go in and try to break down its shield." She spoke as the three teens charged, Blake and Sun taking the lead while Ruby remained in the back.
The Cyclops breathed fire from the shield, which Sun dodged while his clone carried Blake away. Ruby flew up in the air to avoid the fire. The Cyclops looked up before Sun fired Ruyi bang at it's shield. The Cyclops looked away and Ruby zipped down coming out of her petal form to fire crescent rose for more momentum and switched it to war scythe form. Crescent Rose's blade slammed into the Cyclops' shield as cracks spread on the shield.
Ruby flew away from the Cyclops' counterattack as Blake and Sun continued to irritate the mechanical giant. Ruby then loaded her heaviest caliber and began shooting at the Cyclops' shield, slowly whittling it down. The Cyclops managed to get Blake and Sun away with a well-placed fire breath before raising its other hand at Ruby.
Fire balls flew out like a machine gun as Ruby turned into a red blur darting from one spot to another to dodge the line of fire being shot at her. This continued till Blake managed to get back and stab Gambol Shroud, taking the Cyclops' attention away and giving Ruby a reprieve.
Ruby took this opportunity to rush back in, using her semblance to hit the Cyclops with hard-hitting attacks powered by the momentum created by it and then retreating before the Cyclops could attack her while Sun's clones and Blake continued to harass the Cyclops and not giving it time to attack Ruby.
Then, it saw an opportunity. Blake was in the air in front of it and it could grab it.
"Blake!" Ruby exclaimed as the Cyclops' hand shot forward to grab Blake. Blake scowled before placing one of her clones, the Cyclops hands grasping air before Blake threw Gambol shroud to hook on to its shoulder. She swung around the Cyclopse, wrapping Gambol Shroud's cord around it before jumping landing away from it. Ruby understood her plan.
"Sun! Bring it down!" She yelled as Sun's clones tugged on the rope, bringing the Cyclops down to one foot. Blake then threw a bunch of her fire dust crystals, shooting them and breaking the Cyclops' shield finally.
"Got it!" Blake exclaimed.
"Fire in the hole!" Ruby spoke as the three teens fired their fire dust rounds at the cyclops' weak spots, creating a thick layer of smoke.
Ruby and the other two relaxed before they noticed the Cyclops emerge out of the smoke almost unharmed.
"What?!" Ruby yelled. The Cyclops didn't even look like it took damage. So why did its own explosion mess it up so badly earlier.
"Well, that's just annoying." Sun spoke with a frown as the Cyclops raised its hand once again.
Ruby tensed up, preparing to dodge when she heard Yang.
"YAH!" Yang yelled as her fist slammed into the Cyclops' back, making the robot stumble before a glyph lit up below it, encasing it in ice.
"Miss me, Rubes?" Yang spoke with a wink as Ruby smiled. "Yang! You're here!"
Neptune, meanwhile, was standing stock still with a pale face.
Sun noticed that. "Uh, Neptune…?"
"Oh, Neptune's just a little shaken by a teensy weensy ride through the roads."
"You mean you driving like a madman, dodging all the huntsman patrols?" Weiss asked before looking at the Cyclops. "Now, what is that?"
"The White Fang's working with a third party." Blake explained. "They supplied it with some kind of robot."
Weiss' eyebrows shot up. "…Who is this third party? I don't think Atlas could make a war machine as close to advanced as this."
"Whatever, ice queen, we have to destroy it, right?" Yang asked as Ruby nodded.
"Then let's do just that!" She exclaimed pumping her fists while Neptune recovered from his shock and readied his weapon too.
The Cyclops soon broke out of Weiss' ice, raising its hand to fire at RWBY and SN as they charged at it with a war cry.
Adam grunted as Qrow's leg hit his stomach, sending him stumbling back before Wilt stopped Harbinger from landing a devastating hit on his aura. However, the sheer force of the impact still made his arms rattle.
"Still got that brutal strength huh, old man?"
Qrow grinned darkly. "I never retired, kid. If I didn't go to arm day, I wouldn't be able to swing this big beautiful hunk of metal."
"Then I'll guess I'll have to tank the hits." Adam replied before twisting Wilt in a circular motion to disarm Qrow, only for the huntsman to tilt Harbinger to touch Wilt's flat side and slide it out of the disarming maneuver. Adam fire shotgun rounds form Wilt as Qrow brought up Harbinger's flat side and deflected them. Adam continued to press on before his foot tripped on a raised piece of the road.
Adam stumbled and he swore he could see a glint in Qrow's eyes before he broke out of his guard, Harbinger coming straight for Adam.
Damn that semblance… Adam thought before Harbinger slammed onto his chest and sending him flying. His aura protected him from getting cut in half by the blow but it still felt like someone had hit his ribs with a hammer.
Adam noticed Harbinger switch into its cannon and blocked the shot with Wilt, spinning around to transition into an upward slice as he activated his semblance. Qrow dodged the wave of energy that screamed past him while Adam sheathed wilt and fired blush to propel himself at Qrow, forcing the huntsman to duck as Wilt swung where his head had been. Adam rolled and dashed Qrow with another slash which the huntsman sidestepped.
Qrow used to be a lot more of an aggressive fighter, but now he'd become cautious, using his semblance to give himself openings before letting out some of that old aggression into powerful strikes that rattled his opponent.
But Adam was in a way a counter to that strategy, since he practically asked for strong attacks so that he could charge up his semblance. It was also why he retained an aggressive approach, relentlessly swinging at Qrow from certain angles to force the huntsman to either take a hit or block and power up Adam.
The huntsman was able to dodge most of them, but some got through.
Adam swung again and Qrow disappeared.
Oh no you don't… Adam spoke as he listened for the fluterring of wings before using whatever energy he had stored up in another wave at a crow trying to fly away.
The crow dived in time for the wave to pluck off a few of its feathers and graze one of the water pipes, water sprinkling out and drenching Qrow and Adam. Qrow turned back to human and swung his armed hand. Adam raised Wilt, only for it to get stuck on serrated edges as Qrow held Harbinger in its tonfa form.
Adam's eyes widened before a punch from Qrow knocked him down and Harbiner's scythe edge hovered over his throat, Qrow having changed it to the form of a war scythe.
Adam smirked. "Well, now doesn't this seem familiar?" He spoke touching his back
"AAAH!" Adam screamed as the scythe cut into his back, a spurt of blood coming out as the scythe just missed his spine.
He fell to the ground as his back felt like it was burning.
"Stay out of this, kid. You don't get what you're getting into." A cold voice spoke as Adam looked at someone walking towards a dog faunus man with blood all over his body. The man glared as the bloodstained scythe that reflected his face on it through the raindrops falling around them.
"No…don't do it!" Adam yelled as the person hefted their scythe.
"So, finally caught up with me, Branwen? Looks like you finally got yourself some balls." The man spoke as Qrow grunted, his faced hidden by a mask shaped like a crow's.
"I really don't care at this point, Lupus. So last chance, where were you on 43rd Vernal 69 AGW?"
"No…please…" Adam pleaded, hoping Qrow heard him. He didn't.
Lupus gave a bloody smile. "What, you really think someone like me could take her down? Especially when she took down the entire team? I'm not that strong, Branwen."
"You aren't. But you were involved. Now answer my question, dipshit." Qrow spoke.
"…I think you know the answer to that."
"…Then I hope you rot in the afterlife like the piece of shit you are." Qrow spoke raising his scythe before bringing it down on Lupus' neck.
"QROW!" Adam yelled as he watched the man he considered his uncle murder the man he looked upto.
Qrow fell silent at that, most likely having the same memories.
Adam's smile shone with maniacal glee. "Well, you know how it ended. So, why not end it the same way, old man?"
Qrow's eyes turned cold. "I'm not that person anymore, Adam." He spoke in a bored tone, but Adam could tell he was getting close just from the fact Qrow used his actual name.
"You're not? Well, that's stretching it. I know about your little missions under Ozpin. I know all about the things you do. And I'm skeptical that you deny it."
"…This is over."
"Come on, old man! You owe me for not telling Atlas your dark secret! Surely you'd want to free yourself from that debt! Just one swing…and it'll all be over!"
Qrow looked back with rage boiling under his eyes before he went to walk.
"…No matter how much you run, your sins will always follow you…Jackdaw."
Qrow froze up as his breathing turned heavy. He slowly turned back before they heard the distant sounds of explosions.
Qrow turned back and looked back at Adam before turning into his bird form and flying away.
Adam's maniacal smile disappeared before he received a call from his scroll.
"Adam, the recruits have been evacuated and we've salvaged as much dust as we could. We're heading to the secret base." Banesaw's gruff voice came in.
Adam sighed. His little moment of fun was over, now he had to get back to work.
"He's still strong and has picked up some sneaky tricks. I'll have to get stronger." He muttered before hearing the distant sound of sirens.
He called Banesaw again. "Banesaw, send a bullhead to my location." He spoke before looking at the direction where Qrow went.
"You're slowly becoming a genuine threat, Blake." Adam spoke. "If this continues, then I'm afraid you won't live to see our people taking back what was denied to them a long time ago."
The fight had already started in their favor. Weiss conjured a glyph to block the fireballs, giving Yang the opportunity to fire off ember celica to launch herself at the cyclops. She fired fire dust rounds at the Cyclops which while having no effect, distracted it from Blake, to whom Weiss applied a time dilation glyph to increase her speed as Blake swung Gambol shroud to send multiple dust waves at the cyclops, each tearing off a piece of plating off its body. Ruby and Neptune provided cover fire while Sun and Yang continued to hit at the Cyclops.
The Cyclops managed to backhand Yang again, sending the girl flying to the ground. Ruby rushed to her sister in panic while Weiss continued launching ice spikes from her glyphs to slip into Ruby's role.
"Are you okay?" She asked as Yang opened her eyes which had become crimson. "yeah…just step away, Rubes." She spoke before blasting towards the Cyclopes with a yell, cocking her right hand back as her hair lit up from the effects of her semblance.
The cyclops noticed Yang flying towards it and swung its own fist at the girl. The two fists connected sending a shockwave blowing away Sun and Blake as the Cyclops' fist dented a bit from Yang's power, sending it skidding back.
Yang didn't stop, landing on the Cyclops' head and bringing both her arms down on it with another powerful blow, knocking the Cyclops to its knees.
"Take out its eye!" Ruby ordered Weiss who nodded as an ice spike impaled the cyclops' eye from a glyph on the ground.
"Neptune, do your zap thing!" Sun exclaimed as Neptune scowled at him.
"It's not called…AAH!" He screamed as Sun's clones picked him up and threw him towards the Cyclops with all their might.
Neptune landed screaming on the Cyclops' neck. He shook his head and stabbed Tri-hard in its trident form into the neck, emitting an electric shock to overload its circuits.
Neptune smirked before his eyes widened as the Cyclops metal suddenly grew really hot.
"Owowowow!" He spoke tumbling off the Cyclops as it released an even more powerful jet of flame.
Sun came up beside Neptune. "What happened?!"
Neptune looked at the Cyclops. "I don't know! I thought Tri-hard's electric shock would overload its circuits to cause a short-circuit and shut it down! But it's not gotten even stronger!"
Sun gulped. "Uh…maybe it gave it even more power?"
"That's not possible! The amount of eletricity I put into that should melt even Menagerium wires…"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Weiss screamed as she pushed them away with a semblance before the Cyclops' fist smashed into the ground where they were standing.
"Focus on the fight, you dolts!" Weiss yelled before they heard a scream.
Ruby noticed the Cyclops' block Yang's punch, it's arm almost falling off because of the extent of the damage and grab her. The girl's eyes widened as the Cyclops opened its mouth and brought her struggling sister close to it.
"NO!" Ruby screamed as she blasted towards the Cyclops with crescent rose raised. The Cyclops' left arm was only supported by a bunch of wires and before the Cyclops could eat Yang, Ruby dashed in swinging Crescent Rose at those wires.
Yang fell away from the Cyclops as its arm fell to the ground. Ruby panted heavily from the overuse of her semblance as she noticed the cyclops was missing its left arm.
Before team RWBY could make a move, tendrils of water burst out of the stump, lashing out at blinding speeds to wrap themselves around the teenagers before they could escape.
Neptune froze up at the sight of water as his semblance repelled the water while Blake broke out of hers, but another tendril lashed out and slammed them into a pillar, rendering them unable to move.
"Water…? It was using fire attacks and now it uses water?!" Sun spoke as the Cyclops growled in a low tone and began squeezing.
Ruby tried to scream from the pressure of the water pressing down on her. Just as her vision started to go dark, they heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Well, this one's a waste." Ruby noticed someone jump off an overpass. A tendril of water lashed out to grab them, but they batted it away and swung their sword down which cleaved the Cyclops' head into two.
Ruby's eyes widened in shock. She had been able to sever its arm by putting all of her strength and even then it had already been damaged enough to get cut off. This person had managed to do the same with a casual swing.
The cyclops' headless chassis fell to the ground with their saviour standing on top of it tapping their sword on their shoulder. They were dressed in white and red armor from head to toe, with the helmet having two large horns coming from it.
The tendrils dissipated as RWY and S fell to the ground coughing.
"That was really tight." Yang spoke as Ruby looked at the armored person. It was kind of playing out like one of her fairytales, where a knight in shining armor would save the damsel in distress from a monster.
"Thank you…" She spoke with a smile.
The knight looked at them before snorting.
"Thank you? Oh man, you really don't know what's coming to you…" They spoke in a female voice before covering the distance between her and Ruby in a few seconds.
Ruby gasped as the knight's sword cut through her aura and landed a gash on her stomach.
"RUBY!" She heard Yang scream as she fell back, blood running down the corner of her mouth.
Sun rushed to her and pressed down on her wound to try and stop the bleeding.
"Shit, shit, shit!" She heard him exclaim as her sister and Weiss and Blake and Neptune who had recovered prepared to face off against the knight.
"Eh, I'll not waste too much energy fighting you runts." The knight spoke casually slicing some ice spikes Weiss sent at her before jumping away to avoid a time-dilation glyph to freeze her in place.
She brought up her sword to block Neptune's shots before grabbing Gambol Shroud heading towards her and yanked Blake off balance, slamming the flat of her blade against Blake's back and knocking her to the ground.
She noticed Weiss dash towards her with a rapier and forming glyphs to trap her.
"Nah, that's not happening…" They spoke before swinging their sword to smash through the glyphs, grab the shocked Weiss and use her as a body shield to ward off Neptune before kicking her at the boy, sending both of them tumbling.
The knight heard a scream as she dodged the fist of a furious Yang.
"YOU BITCH!" She screamed as she swung wildly, the knight dodging all of them before catching Yang's fist and twisting it back.
"Bold words coming from a weakling like you…" The knight spoke headbutting Yang and punching her away.
"Now…" The knight walked closer to Ruby as her vision started to blur. She noticed several of Sun's clones jump on her to hold her down, but the knight shook them off and destroyed them with one swing of her sword.
"This is starting to piss me off…" She growled as Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang struck her armor but she paid no heed and grabbed Sun by the throat, hoisting him to the air.
"Sun…!" Ruby spoke struggling to get up before a boot hit her in the chin. Ruby rolled away as the knight tossed Sun away and looked down on Ruby who spat out a glob of blood from her mouth and propped herself up on Crescent Rose.
"YAAAAHHH!" Ruby heard Yang bellow in rage as she came in with her hair in flames, punching back the knight who was thrown away by the force.
She skidded on the road to get her momentum right before blocking Yang's next punch with the flat of her sword.
"So, a wannabe dragon, eh? Alright then, let me show you the real deal." The knight spoke before blasting off, breaking the road behind her as she slammed Yang into a pillar of the overpass with a resounding boom, sending more debris down on her.
"Yang…" Ruby spoke as her sister lay unconscious in the rubble. She noticed her other teammates were also down for the count.
"Looks like Tin man was right…Using Prana burst took a lot more than it should have." Ruby heard the knight mumble.
She weakly held up Crescent rose, trying to ignore her bleeding wound as the knight tilted her head.
"…" Ruby then felt a boot strike her stomach, sending her flying into another pillar. Her head cracked against it and her world went black.
They were getting closer. In a few minutes, they should be there.
On the way, they'd heard someone yell into the intercom to raid all warehouses belonging to the company 'FlamWheels', thus confirming their suspicion, but those warehouses didn't have rider like the one they were going to.
Soon, they could see the flashing of light from guns being fired. Almost…
Sigurd's eyes widened as he ducked. The wind whistled as something passed over his head.
Cú and Shirou stopped, the former taking a combat stance with his spear and the latter pulling out thing blades with red handles.
"it's him!" Shirou called as Sigurd nodded. He enhanced his sight to be able to see invisible objects but still couldn't see Perseus. It seemed his helmet was enough to hide him from even a primordial rune.
"Welcome, dragon slayer." Perseus spoke as Shirou launched his keys where the voice came from.
"That won't work, priest. I can get away from your weapons very easily and they will be useless as long as I stay in the sky and away from the lamps."
"So you're going to stay up in the sky like a coward?" Cú spat out.
"Hm, I lack a warrior's pride as a result of my upbringing. Frankly, going down there and fighting you three head-on would be foolish. I am a man from humble beginnings who received the weapons of the gods to fulfil his duties. Henceforth, I have against my liking used foul tricks." Perseus then appeared holding someone in their grasp.
Sigurd's eyes widened before they narrowed in anger. "You ambushed Ruby." He spoke with an edge to his voice. Ruby was unconscious with blood on the corner of her mouth. Sigurd could see a wound on her belly.
Perseus nodded. "Well, I didn't. But one of my colleagues did. This little girl and her friends ruined an asset of ours and she was forced to destroy it. Of course, while that asset is no more, I acquired something even more beneficial to my objectives."
"What do you want with her?" He asked as Perseus hummed. "Nothing. Even if she beat a bunch of experimental failures and a prototype, she is still nothing to the Carrier. All we needed her for was for leverage and negotiation. Now, you will come with me quietly, and you will do as I say. In return, I will let go of Ruby Rose. Or else…"
Sigurd looked down with a guilty expression. He'd been too late to save his student in his lack of vigilance and action of conducting his own investigations.
He should have stopped Ozpin from sending Team RWBY out. Now, all he could do is listen to Perseus and resolve this mess that had been created for him.
"Fine." Sigurd spoke as Cú turned to him, an unreadable expression on his face before he nodded.
"Bring her back safely." He told Sigurd.
Shirou spared a glance at Perseus before watching Sigurd walk away with Perseus.
"I smell something fishy here. I really don't trust Perseus isn't going to try to kill Saber." Cú told Shirou who nodded.
"Of course he won't. Sigurd is a powerhouse in our ranks. Even with less mana, Sigurd would still be a formidable opponent for the enemy. To take him out early would be a blessing for them." Shirou replied.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. So," Cú rested his spear against his shoulder. "Shall we?"
Shirou nodded as the two servants headed after Sigurd and Perseus.
Sigurd found himself in an old warehouse. Neither he nor Perseus had spoken to each other a lot, except for one question.
"I have a question for you." Sigurd spoke as he followed Perseus.
"Hm…what is it?"
"What do you have to gain from this?"
"…"
"You are the slayer of the Gorgon, known for his gentle attitude willingness to help others even if it leads to harming himself. So why do you do this?"
Perseus remained silent "…To fulfil my duty."
Sigurd pondered back to that question. He now knew that Perseus joined the enemy because he wanted to fulfil his duty, but what is that duty? Finding out would give Sigurd some more knowledge of his objective. He hadn't forgotten his purpose on Remnant. Once he had learnt enough from Ozpin, he would begin venturing out of the Kingdom of Vale into other kingdoms.
"And you wish to achieve that by killing civilians?"
Perseus looked away. "I do not agree with my factions consensus on killing innocent civilians who have nothing to do with our battles, but it is a price I am willing to pay. In the end, it will all be worth it."
Sigurd could not argue against that. He could see Perseus genuinely did not like killing innocents despite his attitude in battle, but knowing his legend, Perseus had a stubborn loyalty that had landed him in trouble. Trying to reason with such a sentiment was pointless.
"Now," Perseus tapped something into his scroll before three others came out of the shadows. Two were youngsters dressed in loose white robes and wearing golden armor with blue wreaths who looked like twins and the other was a knight dressed from head to toe in armor.
"Honestly, Perseus." The boy scoffed. "I really don't see what makes you so uneasy about killing humans. I would happily skin one alive if I got the chance."
The female twin pinched her forehead. "Brother…now's not the time…" She chastised her twin.
"I have a very different experience with humanity than you, I have told you this many times. So please do keep quiet."
"Little miss Polly and Greek Lancelot's right, you blonde edgelord." The knight spoke up. "We can discuss your hate boner for humanity later." She spoke turning to Sigurd. "I want to get this done with as quickly as possible. He's giving me the creeps."
Perseus put on his helmet and turned invisible, the twins took combat stances with a sword and a disc and the knight also took a stance.
"I hate this part…" The knight muttered before going for Sigurd, making the first move. Sigurd sidestepped the knight's swing and stabbed Hrotti at the opening of their neck. The knight shifted her head so that Hrotti bounced off her helmet and hissed as Ridill cut a gash on her arm.
"And here we go." The knight grumbled before using prana burst to leap at him. Sigurd fired up his own dragon heart and met the knights charge with Gram now, the demonic blade and Sigurd's strength overpowering the knight and sending them skidding back.
Definitely someone with draconic blood… Sigurd thought before dodging Perseus, who'd attempted to decapitate him once again. Sigurd felt his leg get tugged but kept his footing.
"..!" Sigurd grunted as something grazed him, penetrating his armor to leave a gash as the discus flew back to the boy while the girl charged in with her sword swinging to cut him in half.
Sigurd blocked the girl's slash and was surprised by the strength behind it. Whoever this girl was, she certainly had divinity in her.
"Algiz!" Sigurd chanted to make a shield, only for the same boy to come up and shatter it with his discus. Before he could strike Sigurd, the Nordic warrior channelled his mana outwards knocking the girl back and allowing Sigurd to block the boy's follow-up slash and kick him back.
He did not have time to breath as the knight was upon him again, Sigurd dodging the attacks with his superior speed.
Things started getting bad as the twins joined in, forcing Sigurd to fight from three sides. He batted away the knight's attempt to grapple him and punched the female twin in the jaw to stun her before shoulder-checking the male twin to send him stumbling back, all while avoiding Perseus who kept trying to sneak up on him and separate his head from his body with Harpe.
Knight uses a brutish style. Sigurd's wisdom fed information to him as an idea formed.
He pushed the knight back and when she came back for a charge, he ducked low, reinforcing his limbs to block the knight's blow with Gram in one had and raising his other hand to flip her over his shoulder and stomp down on her chest.
"Gah!" The knight exclaimed as Sigurd brought Gram behind him to deflect the discus coming up, throwing Hrotti to knock the sword off the girl's hand, who dodged ridill before sending a fist to Sigurd's side. He grunted from the surprising strength behind that punch, skidding back before noticing the girl moving in in a boxing stance.
Oh no… Sigurd thought before the girl began sending her fists flying at blazing speeds, fighting with the skill of a professional boxer. Sigurd managed to defend and dodge some of the blows before pushing the girl back and preparing to swing Gram.
"Pollux, sword!" He heard the other twin exclaim as he threw the girl her sword just in time to block Gram. The girl gasped as the blow nearly knocked her off her feet.
The knight was getting back up and Sigurd needed to deal with Perseus, who was arguably the most dangerous of them with his weapon being capable of creating wounds that cannot be healed.
Sigurd pushed the girl away and punched two of his daggers to make her back off before he heard the fluttering of wings. Gauging Perseus' position, Sigurd punched Ridill and Hrotti who knocked off Perseus' helmet and rendered him visible.
Perseus moved like a blur, but Sigurd's eyes were able to track his movements before he grabbed Perseus' leg and tossed him at the knight, sending both of them tumbling.
"get off me!" He heard the knight yell in rage before engaign the twins. Although it seemed to be going good, Sigurd was no winning. He hadn't gotten a major hit on any of his opponents except the knight and the knight had already recovered, while they had landed numerous wounds to his body. And Perseus was at the center of his poor performance.
Perseus may not be as strong as the other servants, but he was smart. Attacking when his allies were getting pressured, and forcing Sigurd not to fight with full focus.
And ultimately, he would have been the one to kill him.
Sigurd had misjudged stunning the knight as he knocked her away, having her recover fast enough to grab a hold of him.
Sigurd noticed Perseus shoot towards him, his adamantine blade glinting as it headed straight for his neck.
But, he was saved by a black key that force Perseus to disengage while Sigurd shook the knight off.
"Oh god damn it!" The knight exclaimed as Shirou and Cú showed up. Cú viciously stabbed his spear at Pollux who was taken off-guard by the sudden change of weapons and ended up with a few cuts on her robes. She was saved by her brother, whose discus forced Cú to spin his spear and deflect the discus, before going back to attacking Pollux, not giving her a time to rest. Even after her brother joined in, Cú was having the time of his life fighting against the twins despite the difficult they gave him.
"Is that all you got?! No wonder our mainland cousins called you Greeks weak!" Cú spoke before kicking Pollux in the stomach and dropkicking her brother.
After that, a silence spread as the six servants faced each other.
"I told you to bring the others." The knight told Perseus who shrugged. "Yes, but I was expecting him to be dead before his friends arrived. But oh well, there's nothing we can do now. This was a failure."
Sigurd raised an eyebrow before light shined through the windows.
"This is the VPD! Come out with your hands up!" They heard a police officer yell through a megaphone.
"Oh, joy. The humans are here." The male twin spoke. "Should I…?"
"No." Both Perseus and Pollux spoke at the same time.
The male twin looked away. "Pah, now you're starting to act like my brother, Perseus."
"I am your step-sister's step-brother from her father's side. So in a way, I am your brother." Perseus replied exasperated. "Well, that ends this little adventure. We'll meet again, dragon slayer." Perseus spoke before they disappeared in motes of blue light.
Cú tilted their head. "Hm?"
"So they have means to teleportation." Sigurd spoke. That made things even more difficult for them.
He sighed. "It's been a long night." He spoke walking up to Ruby. "Now let's go back."
Ozpin stared at the smokes rising across Vale early in the morning from the infirmary. Ruby Rose slept peacefully behind, healing from her wound.
Yesterday night's operation had been an overall success. Qrow confirmed that the white fang's presence had been wiped out from Vale and Roman Torchwick's criminal empire had collapsed. Aside from the chaos of the power scramble, Vale was now safe for conducting the Vytal festival.
Of course, Cinder Fall and her associates as well as Salem's mysterious allies were still at large. They were hiding somewhere, and until Ozpin found their hiding place, he wouldn't truly be able to eradicate Salem's presence from Vale.
Saber, Lancer and Ruler had encountered three enemy warriors like them, who Ruler had designated as Perseus, the twins Dioscuri and Saber, since he could not identify the knight. Ruler had refused to reveal the real names of Saber and Lancer, which Ozpin was fine with. He still needed time before he could reconstruct a mystic art from the Age of Mystery that would give him what he needed.
So, Ozpin could relax for a bit and pay more attention to the Vytal festival now. He was still the headmaster of the hosting academy and had been skipping out on work in order to take care of the problem of the white fang.
But despite all this success, there had been one disappointment. Ozpin walked to Ruby Rose's bed.
"How long will she take to wake up?" He asked Nurse Chrysanthemum.
"A few more hours, Headmaster. Her friends can visit her." Chrysanthemum replied. Ozpin walked out of the infirmary and noticed Team RWBY, JNPR and two boys from Haven academy standing outside. He gave them a silent nod and walked off as they entered to see their friend.
It was clear that Team RWBY was not ready. They still lacked the strength and skill required now to enter his circle. He'd already told the staff to push them harder. Call it favoritism, he did not care. With Salem starting to get more belligerent, he needed a team of Powerhouses more than ever. Saber was there, but if the issue of Saber and those like him is solved and Salem still remains, he will need a team to fill the void Saber would leave.
"It seems their time to be children will be ending a lot sooner." He mused before heading back to his office.
A/N: I got a lot of free time today, so I decided to finish this chapter. And boy was it really big. In my excitement to write the fight scenes, I almost forgot this arc was supposed to end in complete failure for Team RWBY so that they realize that they'll need to train harder if they want to get into these things. Can't have them be OP characters who can overcome whatever obstacle that comes their way, can I? Like every person, they will struggle a lot before they can reach the levels of OP I intend for some of them to reach later on. Also, you can probably see why Adam knows Qrow. If you don't, then you'll have to wait for some time until I get to certain arcs in the story.
Also, since many people pointed this out, I should have rephrased my statement regarding the cyclopes. I know that Greek mythology was not completely made out of mechanical inventions of Olympus and that the mech part was more prevalent in the prehistoric supercivilization of Atlantis. But I saw in Heaven's Feel that when Shirou sees Heracles' 12 tasks, there are many mechanical creatures. Cerberus, Orthrus, Diomedes' mares, maybe the Stymphalian Birds and Erymanthian Boar? So, I figured that most mechanical creatures that do appear in Greek mythology tend to have a connection to the gods. The Ceryneian Hind, The Cretan Bull and Ladon are exceptions to this rule and I'm pretty sure there are many other creatures that are also organic lifeforms rather than mechanical constructs of Olympus. Considering how much Cyclopes would fit the robot part, I decided to make them mechanical too, I'll explain how they work next chapter.
But despite its butchering of greek mythology, the mechanical concept does make for some interesting thoughts like:-
1. Geryon's guard dog Orthrus is possibly a prototype of Cerberus.
2. Alexander's horse Bucephalus could be a cyborg since it is said to have been descended from the mares of Diomedes which are mechanical in Nasuverse.
Another thing, I have been thinking about this for some time. So, before I decided to start posting on fanfiction, I had constructed a fantasy world of my own and developed it as a hobby. The fantasy world has inspiration from Nasuverse, Riordanverse and the actual myths and legends of the Antiquity. The basic premise is that it covers the stories of mythical heroes which weren't recorded by human history. Now, while I don't ever put too much thought into transforming these stories into proper novels, what if I inserted one of them in Nasuverse in a fanfic? The character is an OC norse demigod about whom I won't be talking about a lot right now. I want to write a story where that OC is inserted into 6th century Britain and influences the events of Arthurian legends with some elements of Welsh and Norse mythology. Let me know what you think of this idea. If you guys want me to go with it, I'll begin working on it after I have written a few crossover stories.
Hope you guys enjoyed and Constructive criticism is appreciated!
Response to Reviews:
Gojosin: Well, I responded to yours in my above explanation about the mechanical cyclops.
RiderLimitBreak: I have an explanation for that. Thankfully, it won't divert the story in any way.
Guest (1): Can't answer 'Who saved Yang' because that is a spoiler. As for Cu, I mean, many students copy their teachers' methods when teaching their own students, myself included. I figured Cu trains the students exactly how Scathach trained him because that's the only method he's familiar with.
Guest (2): To clarify, The Supercivilization of Atlantis was destroyed by Sefar in 12,000 BCE. And no, I don't think Harpe works like Black barrel. It's my theory from what I know of Nasuverse lore, but the Black Barrel and Harpe use different methods to achieve the same goal. The Black Barrel's bullets are made of the Fifth True Theoretical Factor or 'True Ether' which destroys the Fifth Imaginary Factor or Ether and Grain (Space dust that mutated humanity to create A-Rays in one of Nasu's works, Notes), the stuff that Gods and TYPEs are made out of. Harpe, on the other hand, has an ability called 'Refraction of Longevity' which removes makes immortals mortal and then lets its adamantine blade do the rest. I have a theory as to how Refraction of Longevity works, but that's just overanalysing.
In short, Black Barrel destroys the materials that make up gods while Harpe renders them mortal before its blade cuts them down. In that case, I believe harpe would have a wider range of effect since Black Barrel's specifically made to destroy the element of Ether while Harpe nullifies the concept of immortality itself.