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Chapter 25: Remnants
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As he sat up, rubbing the dirt from his eyes, Delsin knew he would never forget the next thing he saw. All around him, Vale was in ruins. Broken buildings were everywhere he looked. In the distance, he could see that much of the city was spared from the destruction, but as he looked at the burning ground around him, Delsin found that to be a rather cold comfort.
In a cruel twist of fate, Delsin actually felt stronger after he woke up. He'd read reports by the late Dr. Sebastian Wolfe hypothesizing that exposing an active Conduit to a Ray-Sphere Blast would increase that Conduit's abilities. Delsin held out a hand and made a small ball of Concrete as he wondered how many people died to make him stronger.
His friends.
His teachers.
Alex.
Velvet.
All of them, and so many other people.
Just... gone.
"Hey!" he heard a voice say, "Is anybody there?!"
Delsin snapped to attention and his head jerked about as he tried to find the source of the voice.
"I hear you!" he shouted, "Keep talking! Help me find you!"
"Over here!" the voice shouted.
Delsin followed the voice to an injured Fox, pinned beneath a section of destroyed wall.
"Fox!" Delsin said.
"Delsin? Is that you?" Fox asked.
"Hang on! I'll get you out."
Delsin moved his hand to his wrist and switched to his Smoke power. Or rather, he tried to switch to his Smoke power. When his hand went to his wrist, he found it empty; his Manual Power Switcher was gone.
"Dammit," Delsin muttered, "Must've fallen off in the Blast."
"There a problem?" Fox asked.
"Yeah, but I can work with it," Delsin replied.
He grabbed the bottom of the wall and lifted as hard as he could. As he felt the weight on his lower body fall away, Fox tried to stand up but something happened. The second Fox tried to stand, Delsin watched as his friend suddenly broke into a Smoke Dash.
"Whoa!" Fox shouted, "What was that?!"
Delsin face-palmed himself. A memory flashed through his mind of the second he burst out of the underground tunnel. The first thing he did was grab something to steady himself. As it turned out, that something was apparently Fox.
"Hang on," Delsin said, "I must've accidentally given you my Smoke power."
"You should be grateful," he heard another voice say, "It's the only reason you aren't dead right now."
Delsin turned. Several feet away, Eugene was lying face-up on the ground with a piece of rebar sticking out of his right shoulder.
"A little help would be nice," the Video Conduit said.
Delsin hopped over to him and helped Eugene pull himself off of the rebar. The wound bled for a bit, but Eugene's Conduit healing managed to stop the bleeding.
"What do you mean 'The only reason I'm not dead right now'?" Fox asked nervously.
Delsin's face fell. Eugene asked a silent question and Delsin nodded. Eugene stood up slowly but stumbled and instead sat down on a bit of rubble.
"Well?!" Fox asked, his tone growing more forceful, "What happened?!"
Eugene sighed.
"A Ray-Sphere Blast," Eugene said.
"What's that?" Fox asked.
"On our world, the Ray-Sphere was developed as a tool to activate people with an inactive Conduit gene and turn them into Conduits, people like me and Delsin, though to be clear, neither of us have ever experienced one until now," Eugene explained, "But there was a big problem in the design."
"What problem?" Fox asked though the answer was already forming in his head.
Eugene swallowed. This was going to be hard for all of them.
"In order to activate Conduits, a tremendous amount of Neuroelectricity is required," Eugene started, his voice starting to shake, "So, the Ray-Sphere makes a special energy field that rips that energy out of the only source it exists in and crams it into people with the Conduit gene."
"Wait," Fox said, "What source?"
He already knew the answer to the question, but he was praying he was wrong. Eugene swallowed again.
"People."
Fox was reeling. If words carried physical force, Eugene just hit Fox in the gut with a sledgehammer.
"Oh my god," Fox said, "Coco. Yatsu. Velvet."
Fox stumbled backward and fell over onto his back. The metaphorical knife that had been in Delsin's gut since the Blast twisted when he heard Velvet's name. But, he steadied himself once more.
"We need to look for survivors," he said.
"What's the point?" Fox asked, sounding defeated, "Everyone is dead."
Delsin shook his head.
"No, Ruby had my Neon power when the Blast hit and as far as I can tell, she still does, so if that's what kept you alive then she should be fine too. Plus, one other person survived. I know it."
"Who?" Eugene asked.
Delsin's face contorted in rage.
"The person who set it off," he growled.
Realization dawned on the both of them. Eugene stood up, his wound healed.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" he asked, "Let's get moving."
Fox stood up as well and nodded fiercely. Delsin turned back to face the horrible sight one more time. He took a deep breath.
"Ok. Let's go."
O00000O00000O
From his office atop Beacon Tower, Ozpin watched alongside General Ironwood as the horrible wave of light enveloped the city. When the Blast subsided and they saw what it had done to the Kingdom, the two of them were in shock.
"Dear God," Ironwood said, "What was that?!"
"I don't know," Ozpin answered quietly.
After they stared at the crater for a few moments, a loud tone started coming from Ozpin's desk. The Headmaster managed to pull himself away and check it. Much to his chagrin, the Council was calling. He sighed as his hand hovered over the button to accept the call. He shook his head with a scowl and ended the call.
"James!" he called.
"What?"
"Have an Airship meet us on the roof," he said, grabbing his cane, "We're going down there."
O00000O00000O
Delsin and Eugene moved through the ruins without much trouble. Fox took a bit of coaching, but he soon found himself able to keep pace. Eugene said a silent prayer as he flew, thanking whoever was in charge of their reality that there were no corpses left behind this close to a Blast detonation. He had smelled death more than enough at Curdun Cay, and he was in no hurry to do it again.
Of course, it was at that moment he realized he spoke too soon.
Just below him, he saw a group of three bodies strewn across what was left of the road.
"Delsin!" he shouted, pointing down at them.
Delsin followed his finger and he and Fox made their way towards it. When Delsin saw who it was, he sighed sadly.
"Damn it," he whispered.
"What is it?" Fox asked.
Delsin looked at the bodies of Professors Bartholomew Oobleck, Peter Port, and Glynda Goodwitch.
"The opposite of survivors," he said.
Fox turned and puked onto the street. Delsin didn't blame him; it was a lot to take in. Eugene dropped in beside him, a questioning look on his face look on his face.
"What's on your mind Eugene?" Delsin asked.
"Well, it's just... we're still really close to the epicenter of the Blast," Eugene said.
"So?"
"So," Eugene continued, "These bodies shouldn't be here. In fact, there shouldn't be anything but dust left of them."
Delsin sighed.
"Does it really matter? They're still de-"
"Nnnnnnn," said a voice in front of them.
The two of them stopped dead and turned to see where it was coming from. Ever so slowly, Glynda Goodwitch stood up, not a scratch on her.
"Mr. Rowe?" she said blearily, "What happened here?"
"How...?" Eugene breathed, "You should be dead!"
"What?" Glynda said as the fog in her head started to clear.
"Hang on," Delsin said, "There's one other possibility."
Eugene's eyes widened as Delsin grabbed Glynda's hand. Delsin smiled as a familiar sensation overtook his senses.
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A young girl, no more than 15, was standing in front of a pair of graveyard headstones, crying. As each of the girl's tears fell, time advanced. The girl grew, and what started as two headstones grew, expanding exponentially. By the time he saw the girl as she was in the president, a full grown Glynda Goodwitch, the graveyard was huge.
Delsin would never know if what he heard next was something from the memory or something he somehow said.
"I'm sorry."
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Delsin stumbled backward, as did Glynda. Normally such an exchange left both parties unconscious, so Delsin counted himself lucky.
"What was that?!" Glynda said, "Were you in my head?"
Delsin nodded.
"Sorry, that's just how my powers work," he said.
He raised a hand to look at it. Small ice crystals began to form in his palm and on his fingertips.
Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"I don't remember ice being on your list of abilities," she said.
Delsin smirked.
"It wasn't. Not till a moment ago, anyway," he said.
He raised his hand to show her better.
"Because this one?" he said, "Is yours."
Glynda's eyes widened.
"How?" she asked.
Eugene spent the next few minutes explaining how the Ray-Sphere worked and what had happened. Glynda's expression never wavered, even during the most gruesome parts of the explanation, but Delsin knew she was only wearing a mask. In her mind, a whole bunch of new headstones just popped up in that graveyard.
When Eugene finished, Glynda knelt down next to the other two professors, her friends, and placed a hand on them.
"I'm so sorry you two," she said, just barely above a whisper.
Fox, having recovered a bit of his composure, walked over to the rest of them. The moment he arrived, his head perked up.
"Hold on," he said, "I thought you said they were dead?"
"Well, they are," Delsin said.
"Well, then how are their hearts still beating?" Fox asked.
Three sets of eyes snapped to him. Fox walked forward and knelt down. He placed a hand on Dr. Oobleck's chest.
"It's faint and really slow, but it's beating," he said, placing a hand on Port's chest, "Both of them are."
Delsin's jaw hung open.
"How?!" he shouted, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but they should be dead!"
Glynda got it first.
"Aura," she said.
Eugene nodded in understanding.
"Ok, maybe. If their Aura was strong enough to keep even the tiniest amount of neuroelectricity in their bodies, they might survive," he said, "But not for long, and definitely not without outside assistance. We need to get them to a hospital or something."
Delsin shook his head.
"We can't worry about them right now," he said, "At least, not only them."
Eugene and Fox looked at him in confusion, but Glynda nodded.
"He's right. If their Aura's did manage to let them survive, then the rest of the students who were in the plaza are still alive as well," Glynda said, "We need to get to them and quickly."
The three of them nodded.
"Eugene, can you leave a few Wingmen to guard them? If any more Grimm come along, I don't want them left alone," Delsin asked.
Eugene nodded and spread his arms.
"No need, kid," A gruff voice said from an alleyway just beside them, "I'll take care of them."
A man walked out. He was tall, easily as tall as Delsin. He had dull red eyes, almost pink in their softness which meshed well with the grey streaks in his jet-black hair. His clothes might have once been a rather nice suit, but it was torn up badly. In his hand he held a massive sword, the blade was over eight inches wide at the base and at least four feet long. There was some kind of clockwork mechanism near the base. To Eugene, he looked like he'd jumped straight out of the anime Bleach.
"Qrow?!" Glynda said, "You're here?"
The man in question looked himself over and made a show of poking himself in various places.
"Looks like it," he said.
Glynda rolled her eyes.
"You know this guy?" Delsin asked.
Glynda nodded.
"Yes. He may be more than a little rough around the edges, but you can trust him," she said politely.
"Seriously though kids, I'll take care of these guys. You don't have to worry about them," Qrow said.
Delsin nodded. The four of them ran off in the opposite direction. Behind them, Qrow watched as the vanished from his sight.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I came along when I did," he said.
He held up one hand, and a few drops of misty green liquid fell out of his palm. They landed on the concrete below and began to sizzle.
"Things are starting to get interesting around here."
O00000O00000O
The four of them made good time on their way back, making it to the plaza in a few minutes.
"We need to split up," Delsin said as they arrived, "Eugene, you and Fox take the south end, try and find any more survivors."
"Got it," Fox said.
Eugene nodded and the two of them were off.
"So that leaves the north end to us then?" Glynda asked.
"Right. Let's go."
The two of them started walking.
Delsin took the lead, though only because Glynda was having trouble keeping up with him. She had seen that kind of determination before, the kind born of feeling like if you stopped moving for even a moment, all of your problems might catch up with you. She didn't show it, but deep down she was worried about him.
As they continued walking, Glynda felt something stirring inside her. There was an energy to the sensation, a power entirely unlike that of her Aura or Semblance.
"Is this what being a Conduit feels like?" she thought.
As she began to explore the sensation, she recalled what Eugene had told her of how this power came to be hers. At the time, she had pushed the overwhelming guilt aside and focused on the problem at hand. But as she took in the sight of the slagged buildings, ruined streets, and so many destroyed lives, the feeling only grew. Instead of crippling her as it normally would have, Glynda found it motivated her. She could no longer do anything to help the people who had died. But, with the power their deaths had given her, she would find the person who did it and make them pay.
"Glynda," Delsin said with just enough force to snap her back to reality, "Are you ok?"
Glynda looked down. Waves of cold were rolling off her forearms, and ice crystals were forming in her hands. She shook her head and after a moment the ice subsided.
"I'm fine," she said, "And it's Professor Goodwitch, thank you."
Delsin smirked.
"You got it, Glynda," he said.
Despite herself, Glynda grinned. Like Delsin, she was trying to find joy wherever she could. She turned back to their path. Her eyes widened.
"Mr. Rowe! Look!" she shouted.
Delsin spun around. In the center of the plaza, he saw Alex hunched over, his wings forming a lopsided shell in front of him.
"Alex!" he shouted, picking up a Boulder Dash. He ran to his friend's side and grabbed his shoulder. The second he did, Alex fell backward, his body frozen like a statue. Delsin scrambled to find Alex's pulse. He managed to find it and let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Unfortunately, he was still unconscious, just as the two professors were.
He heard a bit of coughing behind him.
"Delsin?" he heard a quiet voice say.
He turned around. From a spot that had somehow been untouched by the damage from the explosion, Ruby and Yang slowly began to wake up. Delsin's heart leaped.
"You're ok!" he shouted.
Ruby looked around and saw the destruction.
"What... What happened?" she asked.
"What do you remember?" Glynda asked.
Yang placed a hand on her forehead.
"Well, we were fighting the Grimm," she began, "When we heard someone scream 'Everybody run.'"
"Yeah, that was me and Eugene," Delsin said.
"Well, the second you said it, Alex grabbed us," Yang continued, "He covered us in his wings. Then there was a huge flash of light, and then we were here."
"Delsin, do you know what happened?"
When she saw the troubled look on his face, Yang met his gaze and shook her head slowly.
"Don't worry about that right now," he said, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "All that matters is that you're safe.
Yang smiled and placed a hand on Delsin's shoulder.
O00000O00000O
Yang was standing at the mouth of a cave, smiling confidently with her Ember Celica at the ready. Several people were standing behind her, hiding deeper in the cave. One by one, monsters started to approach the cave. Some were shaped like Grimm. Others were shaped like men. It didn't matter. Whenever one of the dark and evil things tried to get into the cave, Yang put it down.
Nothing could get past her.
And she never stopped smiling.
O00000O00000O
Yang and Delsin both physically recoiled from each other. Delsin put a hand over his face at the massive psychic headache he'd developed and sat down.
"What the hell?" Yang shouted, "What was that?!"
Delsin started rubbing his temples as Glynda sat down next to him.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'll be okay," he said.
He looked back at Yang.
"We have a lot to talk about," Delsin said.
O00000O00000O
On the south side, Eugene and Fox were standing on the wreckage of an Atlesian Airship so they could get a better vantage point.
"You see anything?" Eugene asked.
Fox looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
Eugene face-palmed himself.
"Right, sorry," he said, realizing the stupidity of his question.
"It's alright. I get around so well even my own teammates can forget I'm blind," Fox said.
"Yeah, I noticed," Eugene said, "How do you do that anyway?"
Fox tapped his ear.
"My Semblance. I may not be able to see, but my Semblance amped up my hearing so I can perceive everything around me anyway."
"Cooooool," Eugene said in true nerd fashion.
Fox smirked, but his head quirked up.
"Speaking of," he said, "I hear something. C'mon, this way."
Fox Smoke Dashed off the Airship, having gotten much better at controlling his new, if only temporary, powers. Eugene soon followed, letting Fox's super-hearing lead them. They soon found the source of the sound.
George Halbridge was helping Jaune and Nora of Team JNPR to their feet, while Pyrrha and Ren were lying unconscious on the concrete.
"Guys!" Eugene shouted as he and Fox ran to them.
"Eugene!" Jaune replied, surprised.
"You guys ok?" Eugene asked.
"Yeah, we're fine," Jaune said, "but Ren and Pyrrha... they won't wake up."
"Fox?" Eugene said.
Fox nodded.
"Their still alive. For the moment at least. How you feeling George?" Fox asked.
The older man shrugged as he placed his sword on his back.
"I'm ok, but I've had this strange feeling in my stomach since I woke up," he said.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, so have I," Jaune agreed.
"How about you Nora?" Eugene asked.
"Nope. I'm just fine," she said.
Eugene cocked his head to one side in confusion.
"Really?" he asked.
Nora nodded.
"Yep. No problem's here.
"Hmm. That's … odd," he muttered, "But I suppose I should take my miracles where I can get them."
"Fox...?" A quiet and strained voice said to their left, "Is that you?"
Velvet creeped out from behind an upturned shard of destroyed Airship wing.
"Velvet!" Fox shouted.
He ran to his teammate and grabbed her as she fell over. Her back was littered with concrete shrapnel and she was bleeding pretty badly. Eugene looked over her injuries.
"We need to get these things out of her. She can't heal with them still lodged inside her," he said, "Lay her down and I'll get to work."
Fox nodded and helped Velvet down onto her stomach.
"Fox," she croaked.
"Hush, Vel," Fox said, "Eugene'll have you patched up in a minute."
"Coco. Yatsu," she continued anyway, "Just over there."
She pointed past where she'd come out from.
"Help … them..." she said.
Fox looked at Eugene desperately.
"I've got this," the Video Conduit said, "You go."
Fox didn't need to be told twice. He ran around the corner, George following him.
O00000O00000O
After a few moments of running, the two of them found rest of Team CFVY laying on the ground unconscious, just as all the others had been. Fox leaped to his girlfriend's side and scooped her into his arms. He could feel her heart beating, but that didn't help his mood much. Seeing her like that was... disconcerting for him, to say the least. A few tears began to fall from his eyes.
George placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She'll live, Fox," he said, "You know she will."
Fox held her close. After a minute, he rose to his feet, holding her in his arms.
"You're right," he said, "she will. Come on, we need to get back to Delsin."
George nodded.
O00000O00000O
"So I'm a Conduit now?" Yang said.
Delsin nodded.
"Yeah, that about sums it up."
She looked at her hands. After hearing the truth about what happened, she was glad she had sent Ruby with Glynda to find more survivors.
"Wow. Just...wow," she said.
"Yeah, I felt the same thing when I woke up and saw all this."
Yang looked over the city again for what was likely the tenth time in the last hour. She was still letting it all sink in.
"Is there any way to find out what kind of Conduit I am?" she asked absentmindedly.
Delsin shrugged.
"We'll get to that," he said, "I wouldn't worry about it right now."
Yang smiled weakly.
"Delsin!" he heard Eugene's voice say.
Delsin looked up. He saw Eugene walking towards him, Velvet limping alongside him, supporting herself on his shoulder. Behind them, he saw Fox was carrying Coco in his arms. Jaune was similarly carrying Pyrrha, and Nora had Ren slung over her shoulder. A couple of Eugene's Wingmen were helping George carry Yatsuhashi.
Delsin sighed and stood up.
"Looks like we've got more work to do," he said.
He held a hand out for Yang and helped her to her feet.
"Let's get to work."
O00000O00000O
They managed to find a few more survivors, like Sun and Neptune and the rest of Team RWBY. After searching his now ruined home/store, George found his husband Johnathan in a similar state to all the rest in their panic room under the floor of the shop. He hid it well, but Delsin could see the concern and worry on his face, among a myriad of other emotions.
Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood arrived soon after and with no more words the crew that was able loaded the rest onto the airship. Ozpin had a temporary hospital set up in the ballroom to deal with the dozen comatose patients they now had to care for.
That night, none of the students would leave the room. None of them could bring themselves too. So, Ozpin had a few more cots brought in so they wouldn't have to. After a while, no one could stay up any longer and they all crashed on the provided cots.
As the rest fell asleep, Delsin stared up at the ceiling, half wondering and half dreading what tomorrow would bring with it.
CHAPTER END
Hey guys. This chapter... got a little heavy, I feel like. I hope you still managed to enjoy it.
Anyway, I have news. As far as my internal canon is concerned, there were a total of 10 Conduits activated by the Vale Blast, not counting Delsin and Eugene of course. Nine of them are characters that have already been established.
That leaves One outstanding. One that I will let you the readers create.
For the rest of May, anyone who is so inclined may submit to me by private message (and private message ONLY, please) a dossier for their own personal OC Conduit.
Things to include in your submission are:
Name: Please attempt to follow the Color Naming Rule of RWBY (google it). If you can't don't worry, you can still submit it.
Age: Please try to keep it under 20 years old.
Species: Are they Human or Faunus and if Faunus what kind (nothing too crazy, please
Gender: If you are so inclined, you may submit a Trans or Gender-fluid character, though if you do please also submit their birth sex for my personal notes.
Conduit Power: I'm giving a lot of leeway here, but I'm not allowing any power overlap. If you submit a character with a power I have already assigned to another character, I will inform you so you may change your submission accordingly
Personality: Tell me enough about their characters so that I can accurately write for them.
Backstory: Tell me about where they come from, who their parents are, how they grew up, etc.
Ship: While by no means required, you may submit a suggested pairing if you wish. But let me be perfectly clear here: when submitting a ship recommendation, there are to be absolutely NO LOVE TRIANGLES. NONE. You can do any kind of pairing you wish besides that, but if you submit one with a love triangle, I will throw it out. End of discussion. Also, keep it within 2-3 years of your character's age.
And that's about it. Now, I will be taking the rest of the month off to review them, so the next update will be on the first Tuesday of June, June 5th. See you then, and I look forward to hearing from you.
