Chp. 30: Fight Club Raid

Remnant

City of Vacuo

Bug Burger

May 27, 2020

A few days had passed and at night, in downtown Vacuo, Velvet, Octavia, and Kelly were sneaking through the city and preparing to enact the plan to raid The Mirage and capture The Crown's twin leaders.

"You sure this plan they came up with will work?" Octavia asked.

"It's worth a shot to try," Velvet answered.

"It better work and deal with The Crown," Octavia said.

"Girls, in the alley! Quick!" Kelly said.

The three girls ran into an alleyway. Velvet and Octavia wondered why they were hiding in the alleyway.

"What is it?" Velvet asked.

Kelly pointed out to the street as Octavia and Velvet looked to see what the Terran was pointing at. They see a young woman with her hair fashioned into dreads and wore dark mirrored glasses.

"Umber Gorgoneion?" Octavia asked.

"She's with The Crown," Velvet said.

"That can't be. She's too nonchalant," Octavia said.

"Yeah. Nonchalant with joining a terrorist organization," Kelly said.

"Then what now?" Octavia asked.

"She's most likely heading to The Mirage, so I guess we just follow her," Kelly answered.

"Despite already knowing where it is," Velvet said.

The three girls proceeded to follow Umber while making sure she didn't notice them following her. A half an hour later, they followed her to a study warehouse built of steel, which would provide cover from sandstorms with ease. It had been built with shiny, reflective walls to keep the interior cooled in the heat. The building had large steel doors.

Kelly, Velvet, and Octavia ducked behind a large rock just as Umber turned around to see if anyone was following her. She then turns around and walks up to one of the doors and knocks at it. A moment later, the door opens and Umber walks inside with the door closing behind her, all while Kelly peered over the rock watching. She turns and kneels to face Octavia and Velvet.

"Now what?" Octavia asked.

"We wait for a little bit before we get inside," Kelly answered.

"So The Crown inside won't get suspicious," Velvet added.

"Besides, We need to wait for the others before we can put this plan into action," Kelly said.

A few minutes had passed as Kelly was drawing in the sand while Velvet and Octavia fiddled with their weapons. A voice whispered, catching the three's attention.

"Girls!"

They saw Lydia, Cassandra, Rumpole, and Theodore looking down at them. Kelly, Velvet, and Octavia stood up from the ground.

"Where are the others?" Velvet asked.

"They're not far behind. They'll close in on the building when you get a visual on the Jax and Gillian," Cassandra answered.

"I knew that boy was nothing but trouble. Even corrupted her sister and the rest of her team," Theodore said.

"I'd be more focused on capturing them then talking about how corrupt they are right now," Lydia said.

"The Commandant's right. Now give us your weapons," Rumpole said.

"Why?" Octavia asked.

"The Mirage doesn't allow weapons inside," Kelly answered.

Kelly hands Hacker to Cassandra, Velvet hands Anesidora to Lydia, and Octavia hands her kris to Theodore.

"Do you remember the password to get inside?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah," Velvet answered.

"The Crownsmen may be charged up with a lot of aura in there thanks to the twins, so take extreme caution," Rumpole said.

"Got it," Octavia said.

"Good luck then," Lydia said.

"Down with the monarchy! Revolution!" Kelly said.

Suddenly, Lydia pulls out a dark blue revolver and points it at Kelly's face.

"Make one more French joke, and I will skin you alive," Lydia said with an angered look.

"Yes, ma'am," Kelly whispered.

Lydia puts away her revolver as Kelly, Velvet, and Octavia walk down towards The Mirage. They approach the door and Kelly knocks on the door. A narrow panel slid open at the top and eyes peered out of them.

"What do we fight for? a gruff voice asked.

"For crown and kingdom," Velvet answered.

The panel slid shut, then the door creaked open. A large man in a black chestplate stared down at them. A silver armband glinted on his right arm.

"Check your weapons, Scrolls, and Dust," the man said.

The girls reluctantly handed the man their Scrolls. They went down a dark, narrow hallway toward the sound of pounding techno music, cheers, and grunts. They reached a larger room with a golden cage in the middle, surrounded by tables and chairs. The Mirage's walls were filled with a large assortment of weapons that served as decor for the club. People were everywhere all surrounding the cage. Two people were seen fighting inside.

"Any sign of them?" Octavia asked.

"Look," Velvet said pointing at somebody.

Kelly and Octavia looked and saw Gillian watching the fight with another person standing next to her. The person is a boy who has black hair which is tied into a top knot, with a silver diadem over his head. He wears a blue linen duster embroidered with spirals. This is Gillian's twin brother and leader of The Crown, Jax Asturias.

"There they are," Velvet said.

Kelly places her hand on her communicator, hidden in her ear.

"Cassandra, the twins are in the building," she said.

"Copy. Get ready to unleash hell," Cassandra said over the ear piece.

Gillian turns her head and notices Kelly, Velvet, and Octavia. She taps on her brother's shoulder, getting his attention. The girls noticed that Gillian was pointing in their direction as Jax took notice. Before anything could happen, the sound of explosions sounded off. Several French soldiers stormed out of the halls pointing their guns at everyone.

"Get them!" Jax yelled.

Several men wearing silver armbands and all armed charged at the soldiers as they began to open fire. Many people in the room started to run out through the other hallways. Coming out of the hall were Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Kendra, Ricky, Weiss, and Neo. Yatsu carried Hacker, Coco held Anesidora, and Ricky carried Octavia's kris as the three then tossed the weapons to their Huntsmen in training charged at the Crownsmen attacking the French soldiers.

Fox rolled away from an attack from a Crownsman then swepted his leg at the man's feet, making him fall to the ground on his face. The Crownsman quickly gets back up to his feet and swings his sword at the blind Beacon student. Fox parries away the attack then gave a couple of slashes then kicks the Crownsman's to the ground. Another Crownsman runs up to Fox about to strike at him, but Neo whacks the Crownsman in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Thanks," Fox said.

Neo smiled in response. Fox used his semblance to hear what Neo was thinking but to his surprise, got nothing.

"Huh. Not much of a talker," Fox said.

Velvet replicates Myrtenaster and blocks a sword strike from a Crownsman. Octavia charged up and swung her kris, producing a wave of flame pushing the Crownsman back. Velvet replicates Ember Celica and gives a few punches to the Crownsman before she then punches him to the ground. Another Crownsman charges at Velvet with a spear, but she quickly takes notice and copies Mercy Bringer and parries the attack away. Velvet swings the poleaxe at the Crownsmen but ducks from the attack. Octavia slashes at the Crownsman's back as Velvet then kicks him on the side of the head. knocking him unconscious.

Kendra swung Mercy Bringer at a Crownsman, knocking his sword away as Kelly then kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Kelly looks up at Kendra as she then sees Jax sneaking up towards her.

"Look out!" Kelly shouted.

Kendra was too slow to react and Jax grabbed onto her left arm and her mind began to slip.

"You will obey me as your king and commit yourself completely to the service of Vacuo," Jax commanded.

Kendra stopped struggling and Jax pulled his hand away. This was Jax's semblance, Mind Control.

"Now kill her," Jax ordered, pointing at Kelly.

Without hesitation, Kendra then charges at Kelly, about to swing Mercy Bringer at her.

"Shit!" Kelly exclaimed as she ducked under Kendra's attack.

Kendra swung her poleaxe at Kelly a couple of times as she dodged away from them. Kendra swung her weapon down as Kelly jumped away then pinned her weapon down to the floor with Hacker.

"Kendra, snap out of it! This isn't funny!" Kelly shouted.

Kendra lifts Mercy Bringer and kicks Kelly to the ground. She swung her poleaxe down at Kelly as she quickly parried the attack away. Kelly kicks Kendra in the face making her stagger back a couple feet and quickly gets back up to her feet. Kendra charges at Kelly as she readies herself.

Weiss swung Myrtenaster, producing a wave of ice, freezing a Crownsman in place. Suddenly, an arrow flew past her head. Weiss turned to see where the arrow came from and saw Gillian readying another arrow to her bow.

"Time to rid the world of a Schnee," Gill said.

"I am more than just a name," Weiss said, pointing her rapier at Gillian.

Gill shot her arrow at the former heiress shot as she deflected the attack away with her rapier. Weiss creates a series of glyphs in front of her leading straight at Gill. She dashes over the glyphs and towards Gillian. Weiss swung Myrtenaster at her opponent as Gill parried her attack away with her bow. Gillian shot two more arrows at Weiss ducked beneath the upcoming projectiles. Weiss plants her rapier to the floor and summons a Boarbatusk. The Grimm summon leaps into the air and rolls into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launches itself at Gill. She rolled to the side as the Boarbatusk rolled past her.

Gill fired three arrows at the summon as Weiss dashes towards her. Gillian immediately took notice and struck Myrtenaster out of the ex-heiress's hand then grabbed both her arms. Weiss suddenly felt her aura being drained as Gill confidently smirked. She was using her semblance, Aura Siphon. The Boarbatusk summon charged at Gillian, ramming at her and forcing her to lose her grip on Weiss and stopping her from taking more of her aura.

As she was being pushed by the summon, Gill pulls out an arrow and jams it in the Boarbatusk's belly as it then squeals and falls silent. As Gillian readied herself, a bullet hit her in the right shoulder making her cry out in pain. She angrily turns to see three French soldiers pointing their rifles at her as they approached. She shot three arrows at them, two of them narrowly missed as the soldiers swerved away, while the third arrow struck and killed the third soldier. Gill took the chance and ran away to find her twin brother.

Ricky shot a Crownsman in the head with Slasher, knocking the Crownsman to the ground.

"Hey, kid," a voice called.

Ricky turned to find the voice and saw Umber with her hands to her hips.

"This is my favorite spot you guys are trashing," Umber said.

"Sorry Umber, but we're shutting this shit down," Ricky said as he transformed his shotgun to a machete.

Ricky was about to charge at her but Umber lowered her sunglasses while making eye contact with Ricky. Suddenly Ricky completely froze in place. He was just reminded of Umber's semblance, Stone Glance. As Umber slowly approaches a paralyzed Ricky while still gazing her semblance on him, she pulls out a pair of whips in each hand.

Just before she could strike four soldiers started shooting at her. Umber turned to the soldiers, causing Ricky to unfreeze and stumble to the ground. Umber lifts her sunglasses back up, covering her eyes, then hurls her whips at two of the French soldiers knocking them down. She then gave a roundhouse kick to the third soldier and a punch to the fourth knocking them both to the ground. Ricky quickly gets up and charges at the rogue Huntress in training. He slashed at Umber's back, making her cry out in pain. She turned and hurled her left whip at Ricky as he jumped away.

Umber was about to lower her glasses, but Ricky closed his eyes, preventing her semblance to take its toll on him. He swung his machete wildly at Umber while charging at her. Umber hurled and wrapped her whips around Ricky's legs and with a strong tug, Ricky fell on his back. Six French soldiers started shooting at Umber as she ran away from the soldiers.

Kelly parried an overhead strike from Kendra and kicked her in the stomach. Kelly then punches her to the ground. just as Yatsuhashi approached.

"Yatsu! I need some help here!" Kelly shouted.

As Kendra got back up from the ground, Yatsuhashi rushed at her and grabbed on to her. He places his hand on Kendra's head and focuses his semblance on her as she was then knocked unconscious.

"Thanks," Kelly said as Yatsuhashi nodded in response.

Jax watched the whole thing from a distance as Gill was pushed back next to him.

"Jax, there are too many of them. We need to get back to the bunker," Gillian said.

"As much as I like to stay and fight, you're right," Jax said. "Besides, we need to get our troops ready."

The twins ran out of the room as Team BRNZ, more French soldiers, and the rest of Team NDGO entered the room. Soon after most of The Crown began to follow their leaders out of The Mirage. Just as they run out of the building, they find more French soldiers and Huntsmen outside, including Lydia, Cassandra, Theodore and Rumpole with several armored vehicles.

"Abandonnez-vous maintenant et vous ne serez pas blessé! (Surrender now and you will not be harmed!)," a French soldier ordered.

The Crown did not understand what the soldier said, but just before anything could happen, several Creatures of Grimm charged over a hill which included Death Stalkers, Ziraph, Jackalopes, and Dromedons. Flying above them were a group of Grimm that have a strong resemblance to bats. Typical to the Grimm, they have bone-like masks with red markings on them, as well as spikes protruding from their backs, and a bone-like ribcage over their pitch black fur. Additionally, they also have large fangs that interlock over their jaws. They have red leathery wings. They were known as Ravagers.

"Grimm!" Cassandra yelled.

The French began to open fire at the oncoming Grimm. The Crown took this opportunity and started to make a run for it while most of the French were shooting at the Grimm. Rumpole and Theodore see two Crownsmen that were about to run past them. Theodore quickly punches the first Crownsman to the ground, depleting his aura and knocking him out.

As the Second Crownsman was about to get away, Rumpole pulled out a spiked wheel with her left hand, then with her right hand, she pulled on the golden cord that bounded her hair. Her hair fell loose, fanning out behind her, and the cord wrapped itself around the edge of the wheel, which spun in her hand and drew it in. Rumpole tossed the wheel like a discus towards the Crownsman while holding onto the cord. Then it wrapped the cord around the Crownsman's legs, making him fall to the ground. Rumpole's wheel returned to her as she approached the downed Crownsman. The Crownsman tries to strike at the teacher with his sword, but she blocks it with her wheel. She then touches the blade and her eyes flashed gold. The Crownsman's sword then turned into solid gold and the weight of it forced him to drop it. This was Xanthe Rumpole's semblance, Golden Touch. Rumpole kicked the Crownsmen in the head, knocking him unconscious.

The French Foreign Legion soldiers continue to fire upon the Grimm that just keep on coming.

"Whisky 7-3 à l'escadron Rooster, demandant une frappe aérienne à 10 miles au nord-est de Vacuo City! (Whiskey 7-3 to Rooster Squadron, requesting air strike 10 miles northeast of Vacuo City!)," Lydia shouted into her radio.

Team CFVY ran out of the building watching the soldiers shooting at the Grimm. Coco ran up to the soldiers and readied Gianduja in minigun form and fired and slaughtered an advancing horde of Grimm, including two Death Stalkers with her semblance, enhancing her Dust bullets. A Ravager was flying towards a couple of French soldiers. Velvet sees the flying Grimm and summons hard-light copies Geminos. Just before the Ravager would pick up one of the soldiers, Velvet rushed at the Grimm and sliced off its feet. She then sliced the Ravager's head off.

Kelly came out of The Mirage, carrying Kendra over her shoulder and Weiss, Ricky, and Neo following her behind. Two French soldiers ran up to them with a stretcher. They put the stretcher on the ground as Kelly gently sets Kendra on it. Kendra then opened her eyes and started to wake up.

"Wha... what happened?" she asked.

"Jax used his semblance on you and I was forced to fight you," Kelly explained. "I asked Yatsuhashi to use his semblance one you to break Jax's hold on you."

"Oh... sorry," Kendra said.

"It wasn't your fault. You had no control," Yatsu said.

Suddenly, three Rafale fighter jets approached catching everyone's attention. Each jet launched two missiles at the horde of Grimm and the explosions engulfed them, disintegrating and burning the Grimm up.

Meanwhile a mile away, Jax, Gillian, Umber, Rosa, and Argento watched as the French Foreign Legion fought off the Creatures of Grimm and occupied The Mirage.

"I cannot believe this! This unknown military now shows and now has taken the only thing that I can use to get more men to use to take Vacuo!" Jax said in anger.

"What do we do now?" Rosa asked.

"In three days, we go to Shade, and take it and Vacuo under our rule," Jax answered.

"I'm afraid that would not go well," a new voice said.

The group turned to see an unfamiliar face to them. It was Hazel.

"At this point, an attack against Shade Academy or even the city of Vacuo itself would be suicide," Hazel said.

"Who are you?" Argento asked.

"It's not important. What is important is that I came to you with an offer," Hazel said.

"Offer?" Gillian asked.

"We're not interested. Vacuo will be ours, one way or another," Jax said.

"You didn't even hear wha..." Jax cuts off Hazel.

"I know what I'm doing. We don't need whatever offer you have."

Hazel sighed and turned around.

"Even if your plan fails, the offer still stands," Hazel said as he then walks away.

"Jax, are you sure we could win?" Gillian asked.

"Trust me. I know what I am doing," Jax answered.


Kuo Kuana, Menagerie

Belladonna Residence

Meanwhile In Menagerie, Blake, Yang, Rebecca, Allen, Sun, Ilia, and Steel were outside of the Belladonna household with their packed bags. Ghira, Kali, and Wilfred walked down from the home and approached the soon to be departers.

"Do you really have to go?" Kali asked.

"I'm sorry, mom, but I have to," Blake answered.

"I know she'll be fine," Ghira said.

"Lier," Kali said lightly slapping her husband's arm.

"Don't worry, Mrs. B. We totally got this," Sun said.

"I still don't like you," Ghira said, glaring at Sun.

"You guy's go on ahead, me and my fellow troops will help out here," Wilfred said.

"I hope so," Ilia said.

"Guys!" a new voice called.

Everyone turned to see Jacob and Jaune approaching them.

"Jacob!" Yang called.

"Hey!" Yang called with a wave as the two boys made it up to the group.

Suddenly, Wilfred walks up to Jaune and begins frantically shaking his hand.

"Jaune Arc, might I say it is an honor. A real honor it is," Wilfred excitedly said.

"Uh... yeah, it is," Jaune said as the British Huntsman stopped shaking his hand.

"You guys ready to go?" Jacob asked.

"Ready when you are," Yang answered.

"We're gonna be traveling in style," Jaune said.

"What do you mean?" Allen asked.

"You'll see," Jacob replied.


Evernight Castle, Land of Darkness

Conference Hall

Meanwhile in Evernight Castle, Salem sat on her crystal throne by herself. The double doors open and in came Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Tyrian, Watts, and Adam. Salem motions her subordinates to sit. Cinder, Watts, and Tyrian take their seats, while Emerald and Mercury stood beside Cinder and Adam leaned against a crystal structure. Watts pulls out the pouch of Teleporting Dust crystals out of his coat. He opens up the pouch and pulls out one of the crystals.

"What is it that you have taken Jacob?" Salem asked.

"Ma'am, I believe you should look at this," Watts said, handing Salem the teleportation Dust crystal.

Salem takes the crystal out of Watts's hand and studies it for a moment looking back up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"We're not sure, but Jacob seemed quite worried when we took it and didn't want us to have it," Cinder explained.

Suddenly, the doors open and Dr. Merlot walks into the room.

"I apologize for my late arrival. I had to..." Merlot stops as he notices the new Dust crystal in Salem's hand. "Wait, where did you get that?!"

"Do you know what this is?" Salem asked.

"A few months ago, I managed to acquire a large shipment of this Dust in Atlas and have been studying it for a while to see what effects it will make," Merlot explained.

"And what happened?" Watts asked.

"The unknown military, alongside the Atlas elites came and ruined everything!" Merlot answered. "Luckily I've managed to save some notes on my research on the Dust and I can get back to it and see what makes it so special."

Salem hands Watts back the Dust crystal as he then puts it back into the pouch.

"Then you and Watts will find out why this new Dust is so special to them," Salem said as she then turns to Adam. "Adam, have the White Fang go to Atlas and acquire this new Dust."

Adam nods with a grunt.

"And until Hazel returns, you all will remain here until then," Salem said.