Chapter 13: The Torchwick Crisis Part 3
Remnant, Continent of Sanus, Mountain Glenn
POV: Ruby Rose
Premise: The D-Train heading for the Bronx is leaving soon, and both the Blood Gulch Crew and Team RWBY are desperate to board it.
"Gah!" Ruby cries, she is thrown across the floor of the cavern by Torchwick
"Wow!" the criminal chuckled, "You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours."
Ruby got up and charged at Torchwick. But he simply just steps aside, and watches her tumble on the floor.
"Oh man." Torchwick laughed, "You know Perry, I did need this."
Perry gave him a simple thumbs up in responce. Torchwick then walked up to Ruby and pointed his cane at her.
"But seriously Red, how did you find this place?" he asked her
Ruby just growled at him, and used her semblance to run away.
"Whoa!" Torchwick muttered, before twirling his cane in the air and firing a hook at her hood, catching her. Ruby then found herself back in his grasp.
"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve!" Torchwick said to her, "Let me make this clear: We're not through here yet."
Suddenly, the two heard a massive explosion in the distance.
"Oh, what the... Perry, if you and the boys could take care of that?" Torchwick asked his associate, "Kinda in the middle of something."
Perry simply nodded at him before going off with several of his fellow WF soldiers to investigate the situation. That was when another explosion was heard.
"WHAT is going on here?!" Torchwick shouted
A third explosion then went off, and Torchwick noticed several White Fang soldier running around the corner of some abandoned buildings. Turns out, they were being chased by Team RWBY, and the Reds and Blues.
Ruby took advantage of this and jumped onto Torchwick's soldiers and pulled his hat over his eyes before running off back to her friends.
Torchwick managed to fix his hat, "Somebody kill her!"
The WF soldiers at his side, along with himself proceeded to open fire on Ruby. But she dodged every shot, angering Torchwick even more.
He then turned to one of his men, "Attach this cart and spread the word: We're starting the train."
"But we're not finished." the soldier pleaded
Torchwick proceeded to pin the soldier against the wall with his cane, "Do it or your finished!"
Meanwhile, Ruby ran up to a group of WF soldiers that were closing in on her. But they were flown off their feet by an explosion caused by her friends.
"Ruby!" Caboose shouted, as she hugged him
"Are you ok?" Weiss asked her
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Ruby shouted, "But listen! Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons and robots down there."
"What?!" Blake cried, as she handed Ruby her scythe
"Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!"
"That's ridiculous." Simmons replied, "These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end."
Suddenly, Torchwick's voice was heard over a loudspeaker, "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"
A nearby train carrying several train cars then started to move on the nearby tracks. Heading into one of the caves.
"Well, it sounds like they're going somewhere." Tucker muttered
"We need backup!' Ruby shouted, "Where's everyone else?"
"JNPR, Doc, Locus, Donut, Kai, and Lopez all stayed behind." Wash replied
"So what do we do?" Weiss asked
Ruby deployed her scythe, "We're stopping that train."
"Hell yeah." Sarge muttered, as he cocked his shotgun
POV Change: WF Soldier
A lone WF soldier stood in the rear train car, when he heard a noise coming from outside of the train car. He opened the side door only to notice Grif hanging from the side.
"Hey buddy!" Grif said to him, "Is this this the D train heading to the Bronx? Cause me and my friends are looking for the A train going into Brooklyn."
"Why you!" the soldier shouted, only for Grif to grab him by the collar, threw him out of the train car
Grif then climbed back onto the top of the caboose, where everyone else was.
"Nah, this is the F train heading for Staten Island." he jokingly said
"Funny." Simmons muttered, "I could've just taken the ferry. Come on, let's keep moving."
"Uhh...guys?" Weiss muttered
"Yeah?" Tucker replied
"What's that?" she asked them while looking into a hatch, inside was some sort of device.
"That…" Simmons said to her, "...appears to be a bomb."
"A what!?" Carolina shouted, "How much time do we have!?"
"We got baddies!" Ruby shouted, as she pointed at a train car that was ahead of them. WF soldiers all pouring out in an attempt to stop them.
Simmons then looked at the bomb, which started to flash red.
"Uh, this is one of those moments where I actually don't like the color red." Sarge muttered
"NO TIME! NO TIME!" Simmons cried as he waved his hands in the air
"Everyone! Get to the next car!" Wash shouted, "Blake, detach the caboose, it'll kill us all!"
"Hey!" Caboose yelled at him
Everyone jumped onto the next train car. Blake then turned around and was about to detach the caboose...only to see it detach itself.
"Huh!?" Blake muttered, "It decoupled itself!"
"What!?" Sarge shouted
"I guess Torchwick really doesn't want us on this train." Tucker quipped
The caboose slowed down a bit before exploding into pieces.
"That's not good…" Wash muttered
"Uh, neither is this!" Ruby shouted while looking into the current train car's hatch. Sarge ran over to her and looked inside.
"Another bomb!?" Sarge cried
Grif looked around before running over to the next train car, and opened its hatch.
"They ALL have bombs!" he shouted to his friends
The train car the rest of the group were on started to detach, forcing them all to jump onto the one Grif was standing on.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Wash cried
Meanwhile, the WF soldiers were still closing in on the group.
"Get the humans!" one of them shouted at them
The next detached train car proceeded to explode, only this time it created ahole in the cavern, allowing multiple forms of Grimm to emerge from the wreckage. They all growled before proceeding to follow the train.
"Oh dear." Grif muttered, "He's leading Grimm into the city!"
"What!?" Carolina cried
"Its the cars!" Grif explained, "They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"
"That's insane!" Blake shouted
Just then, another car detached itself.
"We have to hurry!" Sarge announced, "Grif! Simmons! Tucker! Go with Blake, Weiss, and Yang and disarm the bombs!"
"What about you guys?" Simmons asked
"We're gonna stop this train." Sarge replied
"That's what I said earlier Sarge." Ruby muttered
POV Change: The Prowler
On the surface, the rest of the team got a message from the Sarge.
"Torchwick's gonna lead Grimm into Vale! You guys have to get all the help we can get!" Sarge shouted through the comms
"Come on!" Locus shouted, "Let's move!"
"Where are we going to get help?" Kai questioned
"Beacon." Locus replied, "Its the closest place with both huntsmen, and the Atlas Military."
"Then lets get some help." Jaune muttered
Everyone boarded the Prowler before it took off in the direction of Vale and Beacon Academy.
POV Change: WF Train
As the train continued toward its destination, several members of the White Fang started to take control of their Atlesian Paladins. With one jumping onto the top of the trains cars, and started to charge at the group.
"Heads up!" Ruby shouted
Sarge looked at Zwei before getting an idea. He picked up the corgis and threw him up in the air. Pulling out his shotgun, Sarge fired one round at the dog, sending him flying into one of the two paladins, knocking off its feet and off the train. Zwei then got up and looked at the second Paladin, which was quickly knocked off the train by Carolina.
Wash took out several WF soldiers with his battle rifle, while Caboose was mowing them as if he was Rambo. Thanks to Freckles.
"TARGETS ELIMINATED. TARGETS ELIMINATED." said Freckles as each soldier was gunned down
"Thanks Freckles!" Caboose said to his rifle
"Did your rifles just talk!?" Ruby asked him
"Yep." Caboose replied, "His name is Freckles."
'I want one now.' Ruby mentally said to herself
POV: Train Car
While Ruby, Sarge, Zwei, and the freelancers were giving the soldiers and paladins hell. The Rest of the group entered one of the lower train cars.
"I guess this is what we trained for." Yang said to her teammates
"Hey, we got this." Tucker assured
Weiss took out an ammo cartridge filled with dust and gave it to Blake.
"Here, this should help you." she said to her, as Blake took the cartridge and slid the mag into her weapon.
"Come on." Tucker spoke up, "Let's move, the sooner we get this train to stop. The sooner this will all be over."
The group ran towards the end of the train car, until a figure stopped them in the middle of their tracks. That figure turned out to be Neo.
"Oh great." Simmons groaned, "Her."
"I forgot about Neo." Grif added
"Grif and I got this one." Yang muttered, "You guys go on ahead."
"Wait, what?" Grif gulped, as the others ran up to Neo. Grif proceeded to give them covering fire so Neo couldn't attack them. She then set her sights on both him and Yang, once others escaped.
Yang walked up to Neo and gave her a cold-hard stare, while Neo simply put a sinister smile on her face. Yang then raised her arm ready to punch the smaller girl.
"Yang wait!" Grif shouted
Yang swung at Neo, but upon impact, all she felt was pain. She then dashe forward, unleashing a flurry of several punches, resetting each time instead of redirecting her blows, as Neo simply dodged each attack, moving her body swiftly in order to avoid them in a very laid back, but extremely effective style. With every unsuccessful punch, elbow, and kick, Yang continued moving forward as her last three blows brought her to a knee, where she attempted a roundhouse kick, allowing Neo to deliver a spinning hook kick, knocking Yang to the ground, the former's guard completely open on the left side.
Neo was about to deliver a second blow until Grif fired a grenade from the Grif Shot, causing her to stumble slightly. She then dashed forward at him, but was slashed across the chest by his sword. Thus, blowing off a portion of her aura. Grif then took out his pistol and fired several rounds at her, which were all blocked by her umbrella.
Yang then got up and charged at Neo, but she countered through a pull in redirection of force technique, pulling Yang's arm in with her own left arm, and performing a well-executed ax kick to hit Yang on the chin, before kicking Yang in the stomach with a perfect side kick. Neo then pushed Yang back via her umbrella, now on the offensive, as Yang tries to counter her movements with Ember Celica. Neo is able to effortlessly push Yang back against a wall, until Grif fired at her feet with his battle rifle. Neo, however, backflipped effortlessly, and she landed perfectly on a metal container, before sitting, awaiting both Grif and Yang's next attack.
POV Change: Next Train Car
In the following train car, Weiss, Simmons, Blake, and Tucker proceeded to make their way towards the engine when they heard the sound of revving coming in their direction. The revving was coming from a chainsaw being carried by a WF lieutenant.
"You guys go on ahead." Simmons said to both Tucker and Blake, "We got this guy."
Both simply nodded as they ran up to the lieutenant. The faunus swung the weapon over his head. Weiss backflipped away from it, but both Blake and Tucker quickly deflected his attack anyway before swiftly departing. Weiss flips forward, slashing the lieutenant with Myrtenaster, and the two fight, each parrying the other's attacks successfully before Weiss flips the Lieutenant over, and Simmons punches him in the gut. Both smiled at Blake and Tucker, who left the carriage as the Lieutenant stood back up.
"Finally, I get to kill a Schnee." he said as he readied his weapon
Weiss held Myrtenaster up in defense. The Lieutenant ran towards Weiss as she raised her weapon defensively before using Myrtenaster to draw a pale blue circle in the air, forming a force-field. Cyan shockwaves radiated from the center of the force-field as the Lieutenant tried, in vain, to saw through it. Simmons then jumped up and opened fire on him, but the soldier simply deflected all the bullets with his weapon. Weiss then knocked him back with a slash from her weapon. The Lieutenant attempted another overhead swipe, but Weiss pointed her weapon downwards and let the chainsaw simply run down the side of it, creating sparks but missing her completely. She then spins and slashes him again, knocking him back. She flipped gracefully over him, slashing at his head and landing on the other side of him.
Simmons then swung at the Lieutenant but missed, and was hit in the head by the brute's chainsaw. However it did no damage, as Simmons' armor was strong. Simmons then kicked him in the leg, knocking him to the ground. Rising from the ground, the Lieutenant slashed at Weiss, but she ducked out of the way. After attempting another overhead slash, which she dodged again, The Lieutenant managed to briefly knock her back after the two weapons clashed. However, his subsequent kick towards her meets only a pile of boxes, as she leaps onto the ceiling. She spiraled downward with her weapon outstretched, but he stepped out of the way. She lands, before getting up, deflecting one of his attacks, performing a backflip and countering with a stab of her own, which sended him flying backwards. As he got back on his feet, Weiss held Myrtenaster in front of her and concentrated, mixing yellow dust with a glyph to create a haste glyph beneath herself. Utilizing her speed powerup, Weiss charges forward and creates a series of glyphs that surround the Lieutenant. She lept and began ricocheting off each of the glyphs, slashing at him extremely quickly each time she passed him, knocking him to the ground.
Creating another glyph, Weiss attempts to stab him where he lies, but the Lieutenant rolls backwards, preventing her from doing so. She jumps in the air in order to attack him again, but he the Lieutenant takes notice of this.
"C'mere, princess!" he snarls before grabbing her face before brutally raising her above his head and throwing her into Simmons, knocking them to the ground.
Weiss was the first to get up, she looked over at Simmons who slowly got up. He was facing the other direction as the WF soldier spoke to them.
"Heh, you damn humans are always the same. You think us faunus are all freaks." he said to them
"No." Simmons, "I don't. You wanna know why?"
"Pmf, why?" he practically snarled at him
Simmons took his helmet off and dropped it on the ground. He then turned around to reveal his face. Both the soldier and Weiss stepped back slightly to see what they were looking at. Simmons had fair skin, and maroon hair, and his left eye was green. His other eye was glowing red. The entire upper portion of his face was metal, stopping just above his mouth. A small portion of his lower neck was also metal, along with a small strip of metal just above his right eyebrow.
"Cause where I come from...I'm a freak."
Simmons then charged at the WF soldier and somehow managed to knock the chainsaw out of his hands. He then punched him straight in the jaw before being punched himself. Simmons was knocked back to Weiss's position.
"Let me make this clear." the soldier growled, "You won't make it off this train alive."
"And neither will you." Simmons replied
Suddenly, the WF soldier heard something beeping on his shoulder. He looked and found a blue orb stuck to him. The orb lit up as if it were on fire.
The soldier started to panic, as he realized that it was a grenade of some kind. Simmons then jumped in front of Weiss as the grenade exploded, killing the Lieutenant.
POV Change: Blake and Tucker
Blake and Tucker ran into the next rain car, only to run into a familiar face.
"Hello, kitty cat. Mr Tucker." Torchwick replied casually, "You miss me? You know, we really gotta stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk…"
Blake just growled and charged at him, she feinted and used her semblance combined with dust to create a fiery shadow of herself. Roman striked it and it exploded, propelling him into the air. Blake jumped up and delivered some midair strikes to knock him down, then landed in a fighting stance. Roman fired a blast from his weapon, and Blake used dust to create a stone shadow of herself to take the blow. She lept overhead and prepared to strike, only to feint again and create another shadow of herself with her Semblance.
Tucker then drew his word and charged at Torchwick. The criminal blocked a flurry of attacks from Tucker and tried to strike her with an overhead blow, but he dodged it. Blake then trapped Torchwick's weapon within ice, before sending a shockwave that broke the ice and knocked Torchwick to the ground.
As he tried to get up, Tucker put his foot on him and pointed his pistol at his head. Blake simply pointed her blade at his neck.
Roman chuckled nervously before speaking, "Why are we fighting? I saw you at the rally, we're on the same side and you know it…"
"Shut up." Tucker barked at him, "You've lost Torchwick. You won't be hurting Ruby or her friends ever again."
"I must say, I never thought you would be this successful." Torchwick said to Tucker, "You Red and Blue bastards are more creative than I thought you were. One of my partners are going to have a field day."
"We already stopped her little mission on CCT." Tucker replied, "So don't bother thinking you're going to win."
"Man! You are crazy my friend!" Torchwick chuckled, "Am I right Blake?"
Blake simply growled at him.
"Oh, still feisty." Torchwick quipped, "Soooo, what are we gonna do now? You think a little bow on top is gonna make people forget who you were? What you've done...?"
Blake just growled again at him along with Tucker.
"Come on Tucker." Torchwick chuckled, "This world may seem all happy and go lucky. But you and both know the truth. This world is doomed, and I intend to save it."
Tucker just stared at him.
"So what's it gonna be, Blake?" Torchwick asked the faunus
Blake thought for a moment before sheathing her weapon. She then kicked Torchwick in the face, knocking him out.
Tucker was about to say something until Simmons and Weiss entered the train car.
"Are you guys ok?" Tucker ask them
"We are. But that other guy isn't" Weiss replied, "Did you know Simmons is a cyborg?"
"Yeah we did." Tucker answered her, "Let's get back on top."
POV Change: Grif and Yang
Grif fired several grenades at Neo, who got up from her seat and deflected them all with her umbrella. She then slashed at Grif, who drew his sword and blocked several of her attacks before somehow kicking him in the balls.
"Not again!" Grif groaned before he was knocked to the ground by Neo
Yang then unleashed another attack. Neo countered, and began kicking Yang back. Yang then unleashed another blast from gauntlets, which Neo blocked. The two spar briefly, hand to hand, before Yang grabs Neo's foot, and pulls her closer to throw her, only for Neo to perfectly counter, before grappling Yang and using her momentum to throw her into Grif. Knocking him down again, and rendering Yang unconscious.
Grif then looked up to see Neo draw a hidden blade within her umbrella. She walked up to Yang's body, ready to make the final move.
"Yang, no!" Grif shouted
Neo was about to make her move when suddenly, a red portal opened up on the ceiling. A figure emerged from it and drew a long red sword.
It was Raven, she charged at Neo and slashed at her, but was blocked by her umbrella. Neo, realizing that she was outmatched by Raven, and Grif who was getting up. Disappeared in a flash.
Grif got up and got a good look at his and Yang's rescuer, "You…"
"So." Raven muttered, "I was right. You do know Yang."
Grif drew his pistol, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill right here and now."
"Right in front of a child?" Raven quipped, "That's cold."
"You left her, Raven." Grif growled, "She had no mother, until Summer came and went."
"You've been doing some research." Raven muttered, "Impressive."
Raven then summoned a portal and began to walk away.
"I know what it's like to leave Raven." Grif continued, "I left my family to join the army. Then, I left my friends cause I couldn't cope with reality. But I overcame that, after realizing that they needed me. Like how Yang needed you."
Raven stopped moving, but still looked away.
"This is your chance to undo everything. Just like I had my chance." Grif said to her
Raven looked at him, "Just watch over Yang for me. Will you?"
She then entered the portal before it disappeared. Yang then got up, catching Grif's attention.
"Yang." he said to her, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Yang replied, "Let's get out of here."
"Right."
POV Change: Train Car Roof
Ruby, Caboose, Sarge, and the ex-freelancers all made it to the front of the train. Upon arriving, the rest of their friends emerged from the top hatch of the train car.
"Ok, the bombs are defused." Grif panted
"Yeah, but we got another problem!" Wash shouted, as he pointed in towards the front of the train. They were approaching where the tunnel was sealed off.
"What do we do?" Blake questioned
Ruby and Weiss looked at one another and smiled. The Ice Queen summoned a thick sheet of ice to cover the entire group. Once inside, they all braced themselves for the impending crash...
POV Change: Ruby Rose
Ruby slowly opened her eyes. From her perspective, she was lying on her back. Upon sitting up she took notice of all her friends. They were also no longer underground. Instead, they were back in Vale. A large hole in the middle of the road.
"Is everyone ok?" Wash asked
"We're fine." Sarge replied
"What the hell?" Grif muttered, "We're back in Vale."
Suddenly, the ground started to shake until a King Taijitu emerged from the hole along with numerous other forms of Grimm. Civilians all started to panic and run from the chaos, as more Grimm emerged from the hole. The Reds and Blues and Team RWBY then readied their weapons, realizing the fight wasn't over yet...