Arc III - Light At The End
Chapter 23: Winds of Madness
"Ok, I'm not the only one finding this whole situation repetitive?" Explain, Eric. "Well, if you haven't noticed, either when Oz and Merlot talk, we're attacked by Grimm and Robots. When they aren't talking, we're progressing to a new section of the facility. I'm feeling a sense of redundancy."
"Now that he says it, what actual point is Merlot trying to accomplish?" Iota spoke next, as I listened. "He wished to control Grimm to save humanity, and yet he's working with this 'Salem' person now, so what actual merits is he trying to achieve? Because all I see is a man trying to keep his pride intact."
"Hey, I think this is the entrance!" At Ruby's voice, I looked up to see a massive door ahead of us. Spotlights illuminated us, as we noticed that our surroundings were nothing but pipes, cliffs, and green pools of unknown origin. Were they found of the island? Are there more in other places? Does Merlot plan to infect all Grimm with this stuff? Honestly, I give up
"So...any idea on how to get in said door?" I asked, as we all looked among ourselves, before we heard a mic being tested, before we focused on the speakers above the blast-proof-reinforced-door. Yeah, I scanned it
~Do you really believe things happen for a reason, Oz? I mean, your little prodigies practically washed ashore on my island~ Yeah, because a crate this knock-out gas was totally not planned. Thankfully, Yang took my unheard advice
"Hey! You're the one who dropped us here!" Then the camera above the speaker turned to face us
~Maybe you can be of some use to me after all? How serendipitous~ Merlot mused, but before we could ask why, or before I could tell Ruby what 'serendipitous' means. The sound of hissing and gears turning made us all look towards the massive door, as it slowly opened up to the main complex before us?
From what Tabus told me, I would be the one to harm one of the girls, somehow I'm beginning to take her word into more consideration due to him merely...opening the door?
~Oh? So we're letting them in now? Great. I guess i'll be moving ahead of my plans~ Mars finally spoke, sounding unpleased by the results of the door opening. The monitor above the door soon turned to static, then to a screen displaying a blue grid of code. ~Now then, Kai, I believe I owe you an explanation after all the help you've given me~
"What are you talking about?" I muttered cynically, all while he chuckled to himself
~I gave you Cognitum for a reason, and it's only fair you see the fruits of your hard work in cultivating its abilities, and I am being honest when I say I am deeply impressed by your usage of methods from your world. Like that 'Fire-Ice Dragon' move, very potent~ While I hated his guts, I did smirk at the compliment, although my arms were crossed
"You make it sound like I've done you a benefit?" I shrugged, keeping my eyes on my team that stood close to Ruby and myself. "What is Project Eclipse?"
~Project Eclipse was a prototype, combining two very real and very powerful forces among the Multiverse. Ether, the concept of everything and nothing~ He began as I held my tongue, even the others didn't say a word. ~And Dark Matter, the byproduct of chaotic and discarded concepts of the Multiverse. What makes them different is that Dark Matter is the darkness to Ether's light, creation, and destruction to put simply~
~Project Eclipse consists of these elements to forge the gauntlet, making it completely unbreakable to everything, say for pure forms of those two matters or that of...high authority among Universes~ Did he mean Gods? Well, if warping between worlds and magic exist, then I guess it's not far off the mark
"And you're telling us this...why?" Yang drawled with a tilt of her hand, yet Mars simply clicked something, possibly his fingers
~I merely wanted to give you all a little insight into Project Eclipse's origins, other than that I also wanted to show you something that hasn't been tested~ Mars paused for a moment, then clicked a key. ~Where you bring light with the Ether, darkness will always form a shadow of Dark Matter, that is the order of things, as the Universe should be~
~Oh, I almost forgot, now that all my reasons are out, I should mention that I have someone I'd like you to meet, and spoilers, she's rather peeved at me, so mind her aggression~ Mars quickly added before we had the chance to say anything, yet now we all listened to the sound of rattling chains and feminine grunts, obviously a prison-
"I swear, if I get out of this, i'm going to kick your teeth in!" !
"That voice!?"
"That voice!?"
"That voice!?"
At the familiar sound, my head shot up to see the screen, and I couldn't breath, my eyes never grew so wide in my life. Her hair was short and red, the rest tied up into two ponytails, eyes as black as my armour. Her white jacket was torn slightly, revealing her crimson halter top. As her black shorts were the only thing that looked clean.
"A girl?" Blake murmured, as Ruby gasped, myself completely frozen with the beat of my heart that grew faster with each second I lingered on the screen...on her face...and it made me so very angry
"I-I know her! Erika, Sky's...sister." And like that, the pin dropped, a single drop of sweat echoed, a tooth chipped with my shaking hands. "Sky?"
"Erika!? What...what did you do to her!?" I demanded as he laughed menacingly before the screen went black again, just as I stepped towards the door instinctively. "MARS! Where the hell is my sister!? Tell me!"
My blood boiled uncontrollably as I radiated with a fierce, blue aura, my eyes pinpricks at the mere concept of my sister being here, taken away to this world without so much as an understanding of its quirks. He dared to hurt her!
~Another thing, Project Eclipse plays on your emotions...imagine if they got out of hand~ He added once more darkly. And without any warning, my body was struck with unbearable pain through my spine, coursing through my muscles and into the back of my head. Instinctively a clutched my head in agony when this struck
"SKY!" I heard them all yell, as I managed to move my feet, but not of my own accord
"Ahh-This hurts so-Its like something-is drilling-through my thoughts!" We all yelled in a mesh of voices, all while my armor looked to be melting in a mesh of black, with our three signature colors blending into the molten mix. Yet my mind started to fade away, almost as if my very consciousness was drifting far from my head. My H.U.D burned to nothing, and I felt nothing but unbearable pain flow through me. I couldn't even hear my Team
[Yang's POV]
"S-Sky, dammit, what did you do to him!?" I yelled at the camera, as he chuckled darkly
~I've already given enough information, good luck Huntresses of Raven Branwen, Ghira Belladonna, Winter Schnee, and...Summer Rose And just like that, he went dark, but how he said Ruby's mom, our mom's name, did he know her? I wasn't given a chance to think as someone poked my side
"Yang...?" Ruby fearfully pointed ahead, my own eyes widened at the sight of my best friend...if that's what it was anymore under all of it
Sky's whole armor had turned into something like black skin. As his head became balled, pointed at the back with two massive, twisted-red eyes, along with a grin that stretched across his whole face. His jaw hung open with skinny arms, bone-like claws replacing his fingers. and his feet the same. Cracks of red were dotted across his body like uncontrolled waves of his aura, all while an animalistic growl escaped his lips. His arms then grew three bone-spines, along with the backs of its legs. Then it looked at us, as the whole world went silent
"S-Sky?" Ruby asked hesitantly, this made the head snap in her direction, the eyes narrowed with a fierce expression of uncontrollable malice
[Nobodies POV]
*ROOOOOAAAAARRRR*
At the high-pitched scream, everyone covered their ears, as it twisted its head to look at the team, fingers twitched in the breeze as the eyes remained fixated on the girls, all hesitant to raise their weapons against Sky, yet he no longer felt the same, all that rived in his head was a mesh of scrambled thoughts and a lust of bloodshed. Without remorse, Sky lashed down on the girls with two sharp tendrils that protruded from his lower back, striking the dirt they once stood upon.
"...F-F-F-frenz-z-z-zy...!" The voice sounded nothing like Sky, Iota or Eric, just a feral animal, yet Ruby only looked on with pleading eyes
"Sky, don't do this, we don't want to hurt you!" Ruby called out in fear, but Frenzy just lashed towards her, its claws turning the pipe behind her to scrap, the remains of rose petals lead to the rest as Ruby deactivated her semblance. "What can we do...?"
Frenzy quickly grabbed his own hands, pulling them along to extend the fingers into crimson claws, with a swish of his hands he propelled the ten blades in their direction, only for Weiss to react quickly a sharply extend a wall of ice to seal the blades. Yet Frenzy circled slowly around the area, his tendrils slashing the ground as it stalked them.
"What 'are' we going to do? We don't want to hurt him, but I doubt he feels the same way?" Blake pointed out, as they all thought of different ideas, but then Weiss quickly erected another wall of ice, trapping Frenzy's arm in the wall as it twisted and pulled to free itself
Then it grinned, laughing like a maniac. They only watched with surprise as a bright ball of flames appeared in his hand, his fingers crushed the embers, forcing it to rupture within the area, shattering the ice and pushing the girls back.
With a lunge, Weiss was nearly pinned by Frenzy, who grasped Myrtenaster tightly, locking the two in a struggle for the rapier, yet the two tendrils came above them, striking down on Weiss, yet were cut to ribbons by Blake in a heartbeat. She attempted to follow this with a strike to Frenzy's chest, yet he latched his right hand to her sword, with indomitable strength, Frenzy threw the two girls away from him and into the ground once more.
Not seeing any other options, Yang clenched her fists and stepped before them, placing her hand against her sister's chest to stop her approach. With a smug look she gave them a thumbs up, all while Frenzy stood in waiting for the next target.
"No. Sky isn't himself right now, and I know you want to help, but we have a job to do, so go, I'll take care of him." Yang spoke seriously, yet Ruby protested
"No! He's our friend, we can't just - I-I can't just-!" But Ruby was cut off by Yang patting her little sister on the head softly, making the young huntress blink innocently
"I know, but leave the tough love to your big sis, okay? You got to find Erika and beat those jerks into the ground." Yang smirked, and after a small moment of silence, Ruby nodded and ran towards the open door, waving for Blake and Weiss to follow
"Ok team, let's move out!" Ruby responded as she knew Yang would be ok. Weiss and Blake looked at each other in confusion but shrugged and followed their leader. That left only Yang to stare at Frenzy, who stood directly in front of her face. Royal crimson stared into lilac
"If you're in there Sky, you better make that clear..." Yang muttered calmly before she closed her eyes, her fist suddenly making contact with Frenzy's stomach as her eyes glowed a bright red. "Because I won't hold back."
"L-L-look w-w-who's ta-talki-i-ing."
Frenzy screamed in her face, lashing out as Yang dodged, flanking Frenzy to release a flurry of slugs into his side, sending him across the basin yet he quickly regained his balance with the tendrils. The two quickly sprinted towards each other, locking hands and ending with the two head-butting one another as the two strained against their own strength, arms and legs trembling. Pulling back, the two pushed off each other.
With a right cross, Frenzy and Yang struck each others' fists, followed by a simultaneous left hook, each of their fists made little to no connection other than with their own fists, and the shockwaves forced the tendrils to rest near Frenzy's legs as rock and debris was sent flying under the flaming and shotgun-powered punches.
However, Frenzy surprisingly bit down on her left fist, grinning as his hand reached out and clasped around Yang's face, lifting her off the ground with little effort, chuckling between her fist. Yet Yang's eyes only widened as Frenzy felt her lips move.
Pushing down, Yang shoved her fist into Frenzy's massive jaw, firing consecutive blasts into his throat with a gargle of a scream mingled with the slugs. Heaving Yang's fist out his broken mouth, Yang watched as he simply snapped his jaw in-place again, Sky's aura shimmering through the black skin slightly to allow Yang some semblance of comfort, knowing she didn't break his jaw completely.
He laughed at this, volleying purple flames at Yang, who merely avoiding the impacts and fired off her own two concussive blasts to disperse the flames, with an overhead swing, Yang struck the air above Frenzy, who latched his fingers through Yang's hair, throwing her over his body and into the ground again.
But Yang used her gauntlets to propel herself back, avoiding the tendrils that impaled the soil, followed by a bombardment of slugs to blind Frenzy, yet he did the same, causing a massive eruption of gold and purple mid-air. Yang couldn't see through the dust that had sprouted, but her eyes widened from the red glare from within the cloud.
The fist came through the dust cloud as it connected with her stomach, the resulting force destroyed a chunk of the cliff behind her, but Yang grit her teeth and threw her own left hook into Frenzy's jaw, as that shock-wave shattered the pipes and wall behind him.
He leveled himself and quickly kicked Yang back, only to see her left foot hit the ground as she recoiled, striking him across the face, followed by a right cross. Frenzy panted alongside Yang for a moment at this, clearly both pushing their own limits, yet he screamed in defiance and ran at her with a crackling left hook, so Yang pivoted and swung with her right.
*POW-CRACK*
With a sickening crunch of bone, Frenzy's body spiraled into the ground, his claws latching into the stone to slow his fall and claw back to his feet, albeit with some difficulty. Yang spat out the dust in her mouth, cracking her knuckles as her emotions swirled in the back of her mind, causing her frown to worsen.
"Come on!" She taunted, as he replied in consent, the two charging at each other once more. With a single duck under Frenzy's right arm, Yang threw an uppercut, followed by a left and right swing to Frenzy's head. "You are my best friend!"
Frenzy swept the area with his tendrils, seeing this, Yang front flipped, placing her left hand on the appendance and leaping into the air to kick Frenzy, then with a shot of Ember Celica she spun around to crack his right cheekbone.
"You put your faith in Blake! She'd trust you with her own life now! Because of YOU!" Another several punches were thrown, dazing Frenzy even further as his tendril stuck her side, yet did nothing but make her aura shimmer dimly. Yang was beyond furious, throwing her feelings into every fist that connected. "Can't you see all the people you've saved!? The people that love you!?"
Another two fists to his chest and jaw, all while Frenzy continued to throw lazy hooks to her, yet did nothing to break the girl's concentration.
"Weiss...she truly loves you like a brother, she wanted to spend more time with you!" This was followed by Frenzy kicking her leg, yet Yang knelt and threw another uppercut, standing firm again. "Ruby...my little sister loves YOU, do you want to her to suffer, seeing you like this!?"
Suddenly, Frenzy's right fist froze before Yang's nose, and her hair burned a fierce gold at her opportunity realized. Reeling her right arm back, she stomped her right foot down and lurched forward. Within a second, she thrust her fist against his chest in a diamond formation, the final strike shattering Frenzy's ribcage with five shockwaves of concussing slugs to his form, uprooting the ground and driving the deranged armor into the ground. The area was burned and alit with golden flames, while Frenzy shifted about in the ground, wheezing like a dying animal.
"And that..." Yang gasped for breath, her aura shattering completely. "Is why I can't let you die...because I can't lose my best friend...Weiss' brother...Blake's trusted friend...the person Ruby cares for deeply. Don't ever forget that you idiot."
Even with all she had thrown into Frenzy, she watched as he moved to land on his knees, yet the cracks of red and single-colored eyes were completely black, no voice or scream can from his jaw that hung open. To her shock, he fell completely onto his face, lying motionless before her, even his chest ceased to rise. The sight rejuvenated Yang into moving with a frightened voice.
"Sky! Oh crap, no-no-no, wake up!" She shook his body, yet nothing occurred, making her continue in her attempts to wake him. "SKY!"
[Sky's POV]
Among the grey void, I couldn't feel anything, I saw nothing, and in turn, I just floated, as if my body was beyond my control. Not even the voices of Iota or Eric were here. I grit my teeth at that, the feeling of tears rolling down my face as I hoped to simply...stop being a burden.
"I tried...I tried but I can't do this...not anymore..." I choked out, feeling my soul grow heavy, and my own mind longing to up all of these memories and feelings to rest, maybe that would be a better idea
"Are you giving up? Tell me, are you giving up?" I heard a feminine voice ask me, but right now, it didn't matter
"No, I just want to try a simpler solution, one that won't risk any more lives, and I can finally be happy...is that so wrong?" I replied tiredly
"That would be simpler, yes. But it doesn't mean it's your only option left, and the one you chose has been hard, both on your mind and spirit, yet have you not grown because of these hardships?" The voice, Specter, didn't sound angry, but she wasn't pleased either. "You have others willing to do anything to help you, they never needed to, and no-one, not even yourself, forced them into doing this, they simply wanted to of their own free will, to take that jagged, uncertain path alongside you."
I saw their faces again, all of them were still clear in my fuzzy mind above all other memories I could only a few in distant smudges on a grey canvas. Their expressions of joy, their meaningful eyes, and kindhearted souls, they were all different, yet a single connection brought light to my face, and to myself again after...so long, my hand instinctively reached for them against the growly tide in my head.
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Coco, Velvet, Sun, Neptune, my sister Erika, Specter. All of them, they've been their, some more than others, but they were by me, not once did they hurt me, none of them dared to turn their backs on me. They...made the heartache stop so many times...how I...used to be.
"They all saw inside of your broken, soul, pieced the fragments back together with you...and took away your pain." Specter's final words gave my arms the motivation to reach out, while my teeth ground against each other more and more
"You're right...not yet, i'm not done...I want to live." I resisted the force that held me back, then she spoke a final time
"Go, your friends need you, more than you know." And with that, a flash of white light blinded me, and my arms suddenly felt alive again with a small twitch
"Sky?" Yang asked, just as I felt my vision clear again on the ground, yet the soil looked far clearer than before as if my vision was completely magnified again, the black substance that controlled me was gone now, that...form had been locked away again
I pushed up with my hands shakily, I was surprised I had energy after whatever...Yang did to me. I looked to her, seeing her hand wipe her eyes for a moment as she blinked at me with surprise, almost unnerved? Why?
"Sky? Are...is it you?" I...hmm. I paused, pushing myself to rest on my knees as my own thoughts felt so calm and cleared, my heart was resting, and my chest felt so warm. "Don't try to move too quickly."
"I'm fine, Yang; Actually, I feel amazing!" I grinned, this new yet familiar confidence swelled inside me again as I saw her point to me
"Your eyes...they're different." Yang's bewildered question excited a gasp from me as I raised the screen of Cognitum to view my reflection, and yet I felt my eyes widen at the sight of my irises, a natural shade of purple where hazel, white or red used to rest
"My...eyes, I'm me..." I gaped, placing a hand over my right eye with a warm smile on my face. "Me, Iota, and Eric are back together, how...how is this...?"
Wait! Iota!? Eric!?
"Seems it is true...this world has truly gifted us with our own souls." Iota...thank the Gods. "You sound too pleased to hear from me again?"
"I'm glad you're still here, really, I'd have missed hearing you and Eric talk," I answered, seeing Yang look at me, clearly lost, but that wasn't important. Instead, I stood up, clasping my fist before me as I felt something else resonate with my aura. "I'll explain the details later, right now we need to get the others and go."
"They went in to stop Merlot and Mars, and to save your sister too." I nodded as I glared into the open air, my reformed thoughts far clearer than they've been in years
"Ooooh, this is gonna be fun~!" Happy to have you back, Eric. "See, told you he misses us, Iota!"
"Shut it and focus." Iota snapped, clearing his throat. "But...I am glad we are not mere fragments of your mind now, I...was beginning to like it here."
"Okay, Yang," I turned to her, my purple aura electrifying my body with a shimmer of white, red, and blue. My heart thumping with my renewed determination I had once given up on before. "Let's go save our team, and my sister...and then tell Ruby..."
"Hmm?" Yang gave a coy expression as my forgotten pride came to light within my hand, my aura beginning to imbue with Iota and Eric's
"I'll tell her how I feel, I won't hold myself back now."
To Be Continued...
Holy hell this was something! From what I had planned the fight between Sky and Yang, this was certainly long. Sky is also back together, sort of. His whole act is about to change so I hope you're ready! Hope you did enjoy, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Watch Me Burst With Color
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are caught in a struggle with Merlot's final creation, yet with help on the way, can it overcome the horrific experiment, and just how has Sky changed since is 'revival'? Will it be enough?
Authors Notes: We're nearly at 15,000 Views, almost there now, woot! And almost at 100 followers of the story, I know we can beat these milestones, you guys are the best and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!