Chapter 56 - Haven No More Act I
Act VI - Kingdom of Lies
The shattered moon overlooked Haven Academy with the remains of what was once a whole, white surface of the moon, I get the feeling of similarities between me and the moon, both shattered, as the fragments slowly draw themselves back to the whole, I chose tonight to be philosophical, that can't be good.
To answer my woes, Amber and Iota emerged from one of the school buildings, both with stern looks shared between them. Iota adjusted his glasses then addressed our group. "You're walking into a trap," Called it. "Shut it." His finger jabbed at me, forgot our thoughts still transfer
"What?" Qrow gaped, and a number of odd reactions followed
Amber sighed, nodding her head. "This is true, per to Sky's instruction he felt it wise to ensure Haven had not been compromised as Cinder Fall was able to infiltrate Beacon after all," She paused a moment, eyeing the school ahead. "His paranoia was correct..."
[No POV]
A Day Ago...
While Sky spent the day with Ruby, as sweet at the gesture was Amber took heed of his words prior to their R&R, Iota more than willing to aid in the investigation into the Headmaster of Haven. The two sat on the rim of the office roof, Amber kept her wing-beats slow and silent, steading her hold on Iota as the two watched through the window, careful to stay far from both the individuals inside.
One was Lionheart, a rather aged Faunus with a deep crease of guilt resting on his features, hands placed on the desk. Standing before him was a middle-aged woman with wild, raven hair and piercing crimson eyes, herself stoic and unphased during their conversation, hand resting carefully atop her weapon's pommel.
"-I'm helping her for the same reason as you are," Lionheart sighed. "I'm afraid, we... we can't stop her, no one can..."
Raven hardly seemed concerned at all, or that's what the average man would see, Iota knew better, she was a coward, hiding behind all that smug sense of control. "That's why I tried to leave when I did, I'm not afraid, I'm smart."
"You can call it whatever you want," He motioned to her, shaking his head solemnly. "It doesn't really matter, we're here... helping her." Lionheart placed his hands against his head, distraught at his choices. "I've crossed a line, I've done things Ozpin will never forgive and he shouldn't!"
"I don't know where I go from here." He was lost, terrified to make a choice that could impede his survival
Raven scowled. "Man up," Placing her hands on his desk she leered at the man. "You did what you had to do to survive, there is no shame in that."
He looked to consider her a moment, then asked with a hand. "Who are you trying to convince?" That was all they needed to hear, Iota being pulled closer to Amber as the two made a silent retreat, both with alot on their minds when the time was right
[Sky's POV]
"Raven... she's here?" Qrow scowled to himself, Yang and Weiss sharing a look given their first-hand experience with what I could only describe as 'Worst. Parent. Ever'. Though now this complicates things, the Relic was in danger, and if they have the Maiden is could be all for nothing again
"What do we do now? If we walk away they get the Relic?" Jaune asked, our expert strategist out of ideas like the rest of us
"I'd usually say we stand our ground and fight once the trap is sprung but there are too many missing pieces, sorry," I shrugged myself. That was when Albatross stepped forward
"No, your plan is fine but we need to act fast less we draw suspicion," Albatross waved us closer, drawing his hands toward certain people. "Myself, Amber, and Erika will remain out here, if we take into consideration that fact they are working for Salem then it's safe to assume they brought back-up."
"So we'll help in delaying that front!" Erika pumped a fist to Albatross' grin
"Exactly, and having a dragon on our side has proven lucky in the past," He winked to Amber, herself loading her rifle with a small smirk
"I will gladly fight alongside you."
Then Jaunge piped up. "We should also think about who we can pair with once the fight starts," He put his hand out to Ruby and myself. "What I mean is that the enemy will try to divide us like Beacon, using a series of attacks to draw us away from one another, isolate us-" Now Iota added amongst his own deliberation
"I see, maximize our performance while adapting to whatever kind of discord they attempt to throw at us, cunning and effective." All eyes were now on Iota, star-struck. His own blinked, then sharpened. "What?"
"You... actually complimented someone?" Yang breathed, and then came the furious backlash that Amber immediately smothered with her hand, Iota's arms flailing
"I cwn gve cmpmnts yu blnd with!"
"Iota aside," Weiss turned to me. "What about the other Horsemen, what if they're also here?" That brought me back to a darker memory
"Don't let... the Vex destroy this world... save Tabus she... has no part in this... please save her."
Lifting my frown to her I shook my head only once. "No, Una is completely off the grid, and Tabus, well, if she's here I'll handle her," "For Mars' sake I hope I can save her."
"We should go before the Headmaster get's suspicious." Ren inquired, and after one final check of our plan, myself beside Ruby, and the others in their own pairs we slowly made our way toward the 'Trap' or until I nudged Ruby
"Hey, Ruby, can I talk with you for a moment?" I asked, the others taking small glances at me, whilst Albatross, Erika, and Amber walked towards the Communications Tower by themselves. Seeing her look at me, she nodded once and stopped, allowing us to speak alone. "Just give us a minute."
"So, what's up? If you're nervous, I think we all are about this?" Ruby smiled comfortably, but I only shook my head
"Other than the pressing danger ahead? Nope, I'm grand," I winked before I pointed to her chest. "Did you put the upgrade I gave you on?"
Ruby's eyes lit up at that before she pulled her cloak down, revealing the silver triangle pointing down across her tunic, a silver glint resonating across the face. With that she gave me a salute. "I'm combat ready!" I laughed at that, and I think Penny did too, so I grabbed Ruby's shoulders gently, making her head look up at me directly, even if I was only a foot taller
"Ruby, no matter what happens tonight, we'll win, it's not gonna be Beacon all over again, I promise." I reinforced that into her mind, knowing she, along with everyone else could feel the dread in the air, that unwavering thought of failure. Not me though, because I wasn't going to lose anyone this time. "Besides...I have an extra pair of eyes."
"Huh?" Ruby's dumbfounded blink was only further increased by the faint shade of green that crossed my eyes. "W-what?"
"Sorry, thought seeing her again might give you a morale boost," I answered her confused state as a flash of green emanated from Cognitum. From within, the small, green sprite sat on my shoulder with a wave as I smiled at Ruby's widening eyes, her breath caught in her throat. "Ruby, say hello to Penny two-point-oh."
"P-penny..." Ruby looked to be nearly on the verge of tears while Penny floated before us, my giddy smile at the adorable girl's own was more than enough for me
"Salutations, Ruby, I hope you have been well?" Penny gave her trademark greeting, rushing aside as Ruby leapt into my arms, hugging me tightly with the sprite landing on my shoulder again while I tried to maintain balance from Ruby's swinging assault
"Y-You really saved her! I can't believe its Penny!" Ruby cried before she pulled away, looking at Penny again with a pressing question. "But how did-"
"My body was severely damaged, and my core functions were to systematically terminate, but when Sky attempted to reconstruct my circuitry I had inadvertently been assimilated into the EC-1101 program, and therefore, I am okay, thank you for asking." Penny bowed, then I held Ruby again, her arms around my neck. "I don't blame you for what happened, Ruby, don't feel bad about it!"
"With Penny, I know we won't lose, because if I could save her, then I can do it again for everyone he - mmfh," The gun-nut pressed her lips to mine without hesitation, I wasn't going to refuse so I slowly pushed back, consider it a shot of good luck from the overly optimistic leader of mine. "Ahem, well Penny, time to save the day!"
"As Ruby said, I am combat ready!" She vanished, leaving me to step away from my flustered girlfriend to prepare my end of the plan
"I got your back!" Ruby bumped a fist out for mine to tap against
"And I yours, love."
Minutes Later...
This was it, no turning back now, my body now invisible to any prying eyes, sitting upon the banister of the second floor's balcony, overlooking the group as they entered, with my eyes trained on a 'Certain Raven', sitting off to my right, watching them as they entered the halls. The coward, Lionheart awaiting them.
"Why hello...thank you for um, coming." Leo began, the group now standing before the massive stage with a statue under it. "There... seems to be more of than last time."
"Eh, you know what they say, 'the more the merrier'," Qrow answered. "So, what's going on with the council?"
"Why... did you bring your weapons?" He oh-so elegantly hid his behind his back anxiously
"What? Leo, we're huntsmen." Qrow sounded just as baffled as me, making gestures with his arms at the rest. "You okay?"
"Of course! Of course, I just forgot to have my afternoon coffee!" He was bad at lying and seems that Yang had looked in my direction, seeing the Raven standing beside me, so I hit a button on Cognitum, sending a buzz feed to Qrow quickly, to which he lifted his scroll out for a moment
"One sec, Leo."
[Raven. To my left]
"Mom?" Yang whispered at the sight, as I refused the urge to face-palm
*BOOM*
How could he miss she wasn't moving! Then again, I could have done something but that would blow my cover. Raven flew away the second the slug left Qrow's blade, the Raven flew behind Leo before she appeared around the other side, now in her human form. Okay, that was impressive...
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me," Raven grumbled, taking her helmet off as she glared down at them all. Raven then smiled, moving to walk down the steps. "That was insulting."
"Well, seems the kid's info was right about you being here!" Qrow sieved, making Raven's eye twitch at the answer she was not expecting
"So, that boy managed to really kill the Horsemen, I can't say I'm not impressed." Thank you, thank you. "But 'YOU' have been scheming little brother... planning on attacking your own sister." Objection! I call hypocrite!
"Leo... you really are with her... what have you done!?" Now Qrow was pissed, and he wasn't even drunk. As Leo tried to answer Raven only continued for him
"Leo did what any sane person would do in his position... he looked at all the information he had in front of him." Raven now stood before them all. "Assessed the situation." Now she looked solely toward her brother. "And made a choice." Then to her own daughter, "And it seems you all have too,"
Qrow slowly lowered his guard, "You have the Spring Maiden," Qrow spoke with Raven remaining unchanged
"I do." Simple answer
"Then hand her over and let's work together! We can beat Salem." He put away his weapon, I could hear it, he really wanted her to stand down, he didn't want to fight her
"All that time, spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with!" Raven scoffed.
"What part would that be, the part about her and Oz sharing a past or the fact she can't be killed?" That alone finally tipped that stupid look on Raven's face, she looked surprised by the knoweledge she probably believed on she had, while all of us grew to accept it as fact. "Yeah, the kid found out, I don't think anyone slept that night, not with the weight on our shoulders."
"So you understand just how fruitless it is to waste your time facing the inevitable?" Raven replied, but that still had no effect on Qrow
"I was a curse," He clenched his fists angrily. "No one wanted me, so when Oz offered us a chance to do some good, I felt I had my place in this world," He put his fists down, staring back at his sister for what I felt was genuine worry that normally remained smothered under intoxication and dry remarks. "But it wasn't just Oz that brought me here, hell, any sane person would have walked away the moment they heard the truth,"
"Why won't you-" Raven stopped herself, seeing his smirk
"Little Red always knew what to say, even when it was obvious how hopeless the situation was," His eyes then lingered on Ruby, herself smiling confidently. "So like her, I'll hold on to my own on truth if nothing else, beating Salem won't be easy, heh, we knew that from the start."
"There is no 'beating' Salem!" Raven lost her nerve, and again, she was led back into her corner
"You're wrong..." Yes! I looked over to view Ruby, a small smirk rising to my face, though my right eye kept its view on the blade tightly gripped between Raven's hand. "We've done things that most people would call impossible..."
"And I know the only reason we were able to do it is because we didn't do it alone. We had people to teach us. People to help us. We had each other," Ruby continued her speech, with Raven seemly conflicted now, it was faint, but I could see it, that slight confliction. "Work with us. Atleast I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. Please."
I saw that confliction a moment ago fade, Raven's eyes becoming cold, along with her deepening frown. "You sound... just like your mother." Well fuck, we tried. Three. Two. One...
The second Raven's blade was drawn, my feet curled at my leap, and by that frame, Raven had torn a fucking thread in reality. The flaming blast tore through the rift, but met the divide of my ice-laced blade splitting the attack in two inches from Ruby's face.
"Hello, boys and girls." Cinder sneered, a mad grin on her face, it screamed with insanity as my scanners locked onto her cloaked arm that was layered in negative fields of energy, Dark Matter. Oh for fuck sake, she really did it, didn't she? When my cloak unveiled, she lost that smile. "You..."
"Hey, there, Scar," I waved most notably to her concealed, missing eye. Iron Regalia shimmered as I stood beside Ruby. "Did you miss me?"
"Come on guys? Is that any way to greet your old friends?" Mercury grinned
"I know, we have to catch up for lost time, so tell me..." My right eye expanded while my left narrowed. "How much tension can those cybernetics of yours handle before they snap like twigs?"
"Ehehe, Atlesian steel, though I'll have to decline." Mercury chuckled, raising his hands nervously, whilst I eyed Emerald
"Hey.
"Hey." She returned
I considered my next words. "You doing good, besides the whole world domination thing?" She almost didn't know how to reply to my casual tone, yet, offered a chuff
"Fine I suppose." Hmm... fair enough
"FYI, Iota holds grudges, he reeeally hates you messing with my head, so..." I twisted around on my heel, pointing to the infuriated personality
"I'll get you greenie, and i'll make it look like a bloody accident!"
"Everybody stay calm!" Qrow ordered us but I just moved ahead, seeing Ruby smirk at me with Yang calming down a little, giving a wink to me
"Hey-hey, I'm calm, I'm totally calm. You can't really blame us for wanting to smear this shit-stain across the walls with our weapons, I mean...I owe you for the hand," I began my own plan of attack while Cinder glared at me her smile of victory remaining steady.
Then, the doors behind us flung open. Revealing a massive man in a green trench coat, with me hearing Oscar say 'Oh no' at the sight of him, just as he closed the doors to what I could hear was a shoot-out, hope they're doing okay out there.
"The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds." He began with a deep voice, turning to look at us again. "No one's getting in, and no one's getting out."
Then the door went ajar slightly, Erika poking her head and arm through. "You do realize we can still hear you - yah!" Several bullets lodged themselves in the door, forcing my sister to retreat from the doorway
"Goddammit, sis..." That was embarrassing, even trying to pinch my nose didn't work. "Moving on! seriously, is this your plan? Gather some goons, trap us, blow up the tower, take the Relic? Not bad, accept a fucking five-year-old could conjure a smarter plan!" I barked, finding my night to be a joyful one
Cinder sneered. "You hold merit of confidence despite the clear results at Beacon, you won the battle but how many lives perished, left ruined by man's incompetence and need to cling to manipulative powers. It is why those that wield power truly control the fate of others, something you could know yourself if you refused to play the hero of this little fairy tale of yours." Cinder was serious? Oh Gods she was.
"Oh don't think the pleasurable idea of exacting revenge with Cognitum never sprung in my head, but enough of that, how long do you think its gonna take for Albatross, my annoying sister, and Amber to take down those White Fang outside then disable the bombs? Cause let me tell ya, that guy ain't human!" I pointed out before I looked to the new guy. "Not gonna lie, I don't have anything against you, so you're cool in my books."
"The feeling is mutual." He replied, okay, I like this guy, even if he's built like the Hulk and is probably here to kill us
"Raven, tell me, how long have you been with them?" Aww, I wasn't done yet!
"Aww, don't take it personal little bird. Your sister was a recent addition. The Lion on the other hand..." Cinder then guested to the now ashamed Leo. "Entrance into the Vytal Festival was a real treat, but Leonardo has been sending all sorts of information to Salem for a very, very long time. Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Stop it..." Leo looked completely broken at the prospect but I held no sympathy for him, not after what he's done
"You really did sell them out, every Huntsman and Huntress in the kingdom, because you were on the Mistral Council." It was true, and I couldn't begin to understand Qrow anger.
"I-" Not a word could come from the coward, Qrow's sorrow turning to malice
"I couldn't find any of them. Because you let her kill them!" If that didn't nail it home for the Headmaster then nothing would
"Now, don't beat yourself up about it, Lionheart. I'm sure Hazel and Tyrian would have found them on their own eventually." I'm guessing that's the guy behind us. Then, Cinder smiled sickly. "Especially that other Rose, I never really got the chance to hear her scream, what a treat that would have been..."
What? Summer's killer was still around? I thought it was Salem or a Horseman, she never did tell any of us who it was despite having all her memories restored. If she knew this then, was that also why she left, to track them down?
"Whoops, I think you might have broken her?" Mercury commented on the now shocked Ruby, hearing the term thrown in her face like that, it was beginning to grate me. Ruby clutched her head a moment, trying to keep her emotions under wraps but I saw it, the faint silver glow spark in her irises. "Seems even he's in shock too?"
"No... because you're wrong." That made Ruby's stop trembling beside me. I glowered at Cinder, drawing both my blades. "Summer... she would never die to the likes of your pathetic, degenerate excuse for a God, so take your empty threats, and go fuck off back to Salem's feet, since you love tasting the dirt she walks on soooo much."
"You little brat!" Cinder snapped. I just rubbed the back of Ruby's hand with my thumb to soothe her as I drew my hand to my heart
"What? You're nothing without her because you can't do anything right without her every word guiding you like a rat in a cage." I ridiculed back, seeing her remaining eye burst into flames. "Then there's Mercury, and Emerald, the two prodigies of your making, because one just likes to kick people around, who lacks any sense of aspirations outside of one-dimensional violence and the other is a complete sheep to you because she's scared of Salem."
"You sound as though you have no equal, but I'd be surprised if you held this same air of confidence without that suit." Raven spoke up so I chuckled in her face
"Wanna bet? I've been thrown across the board for over a year, I've had to struggle against overbearing odds to survive, and any brief moment to breathe was given form to more chaos, and yet I'm still standing here, not for myself but for the people who gave a damn and helped me, if there's one certainty in every choice I made, it was for them!"
"Unlike you, Raven, who betrayed everyone who gave a damn about you. You find our strength for fighting Salem weak, that's just because you have no one left to turn to..." Now for the icing, sorry about this Summer. "Some team member of STRQ you were. Some 'friend' you were to Summer, the woman who probably still cares about you when you don't deserve it!"
I could feel the energy in the air now, Raven was burning with hatred. Yet another force stirred in our crowd, Jaune having not removed his eyes from Cinder in particular.
"He's right... what is wrong with you, all of you?" He needs this, a time to let out all that pain he's been bearing, even if I wasn't here to see it, what Cinder did to Pyrrha, it wasn't something as easy to fix as Penny. "How can you be so broken inside; To take so many lives, and then come here to rub it in our faces like its something to be proud of!?"
"Jaune..." Nora looked worried now so I put my arm out to her, shaking my head only once. He had to do this otherwise it'll kill him someday
"-All with that damn smile on your face!?" He yelled at Cinder, making her smile drop before it turned to confusion
"Oh screw this! You want a fight, then let's go you bell-ends!" I challenged beside Jaune, blades erupting into flames. "I got your back, bud." He just kept his rage focused on her
"Everybody, stay calm!" Qrow tried to usher us yet it was too late, the peace was breaking and the fight was inevitable.
"I'm going to make you pay for what you did, you hear me!?" Jaune cried, drawing together his augmented blade infused with his shield
"Kid!" Qrow yelled, before turning to the others who held their weapons
"Well, say something!?" He spat at Cinder, who was still baffled by the turn of events
"Who are you again?" Cinder dropped the dime now, so I patted Jaune on the back, chuckling a little as I nodded to Ruby and the rest
"Don't you remember Cinder?" I then patted Jaune once on the chest, the device activating on his armour, making the gold shimmer white with energy, the armour even became sharper at the edges, turning the smooth ends to sharp pauldrons, and chest armour had a gleaming ruby fixed to the core. "He's the guy who gonna kick your ass with me, a bit of friendship bonding."
"Sky..." Jaune looked at me, finally clearing away his tears as I let him go, holding my guard for the ensuing chaos
"Ruby, take it away!" I clicked my fingers and she declared before us all
"Iota, Weiss, Ice Prison!" At the command many glyphs overtook the floor, on instinct, the enemy moved to evade her assault, Cinder drawing her flames to take out my sister if not for Iota's own ice rushing to conjure a wall between them and the fire, then the glyphs erupted, blue ice erected in many jagged walls reaching higher than anyone could jump, thereby dividing us
Now it was merely me, Jaune and Cinder facing the right grand staircase, her eye flared with rage, conjuring two glass blades. "Take her hand for me, and try to hit her chest for Pyrrha, eh?" I suggested, seeing his once frantic, near saddened state become calm, angered in the heat of determination to avenge Pyrrha
"Right." Jaune took the vanguard, drawing his sword high. Cinder smiled devilishly, effortlessly blocking it with a curved swipe, then another horizontal swipe
"Is this all you can do? Honestly easy to understand how easily forgotten you are." She was trying to worm under his skin yet failed to realize what she had walked into
Jaune glared right back. "I'm not trying to hit you." Cinder's eyes widened, both blades shattered under the force of my cross slash, then two ice blasts to counter her flames, herself drawing another two scimitars with a yell. "Sky, Iai Slash!" Oooh, I like it!
Taking the flaming swords to my forearms I dived back, ice erupting from my soles like thorns, she reduced them to puddles, Jaune swiping from right to left, blades clanking while in one fluid motion he brought his right foot under Cinder's left, tripping the overconfident witch for his returning slant to trim the metal plating hidden behind her bangs, earning a furious look from Cinder.
I was ready, drawing my right blade by my hip, ice expanded from the gauntlet, reconfiguring a longsword of ice and frost for me. Like a glint of sky blue the ice tore across the entrance hall, her swords had blocked the sudden, horizontal strike but not before the force threw her back, colliding with whatever lay beyond the wall as we gave chase.
"Keep it up, buddy, just like Pyrrha taught you!"
"I'll give you the openings and you take her down!" Jaune relayed as we leapt through the flaming hole
[Ruby's POV]
I lunged back from Emerald's chains, keeping her from ensnaring me long enough to fire numerous rounds that kept herself at a fair distance. A chain snaked for Yang's right leg while she brought her arm across on Mercury's high-kick. I flew into the fight, spinning Crescent Rose to deflect the hook. Emerald retracted the chain, instead, firing a series of shots while I and my sister pushed off each other's backs.
Sky's augment then took effect with my smile. My barding slowly materialized a more metallic sheen to my bracers and chest, reinforcing points with black metal while my knuckles vanished under a layer of black too, red studs for my knuckles while a rose insignia appeared on the backs of my palms.
"This is so incredibly awesome~! Ahem, focus, Ruby, don't let Emerald stay far away!" With her mind focused she twirled into roses, appearing above Emerald for a spinning saw strike, the sharp ring of our weapons driving us back
"Ruby, look out!" I was too busy lining my sights to Emerald's wrists that the force of buckshot struck my shoulder, Mercury returning a roundhouse kick to my arms, slapping Crescent Rose to my face while another solid strike to my gut sent me tumbling across the floor next to Yang, herself barely able to keep Emerald from wrapping her arms up with those chains.
Then Yang stood beside me, as we left Ruby and Erika to fight Emerald, as Mercury smiled, pointing to Yang.
"Come on blondie, thought you had more spunk than that when we fought at the Festival," Mercury then looked to me. "I was hoping we'd also get to go another round."
"Well... I promise not to disappoint, but I'm not the same as I was back at Beacon, bet on that, it's been a long time," I assured him, Yang standing with me shoulder-to-shoulder, both of us bumping fists
[No POV]
Outside, chaos ensued, the White Fang pushed to safe-guard the explosives but with the combined efforts of the trio, they were almost outclassed, their saving grace being numbers. Albatross moved like water, crossing swords with almost minimal effort. Erika kept their backs secured, herself more than capable with Infernal's powerful slugs and elemental shield on the fly. As for Amber, being a rare Dragon Faunus meant the ability to spew flames so that put a damper on Faunus Nightvision advantages and general approach of her fiery attacks.
"So, seems I owe you lien for your boyfriend's hunch on the White Fang's involvement?" Albatross hummed, casually approaching Amber as his right hand backhanded another Faunus to the floor, several teeth falling out. Amber chuffed, shaking her armored head
"Your jokes are as amusing as always, now, let's see how good this so-called 'Leader' of the White Fang truly is, although, I feel my skill may meet it match," Amber analyzed the courtyard ahead
"Mmmhmm, best leave him to me," Albatross gave her a pat on the arm and took a step toward a man dressed in black and red. "Like the choice in colors, dashing, though people always criticized me for it, saying it was 'edgy', honestly, it's just coloring."
"I've heard of you," This brought Albatross to a pause. "A man, dressed in black with a matching sword, I heard you've given the White Fang in this region more trouble than I'm willing to say. The Black Swordsman."
Albatross blinked, rubbing the back of his head. "Really? I've already got alot of titles that I really don't know what to do with them." His chuckle wasn't shared, so his sharp, hazel-scarlet eyes finally locked to the mask. "And you, leader of the White Fang, once a group working for equality turned corrupt by the world that rejected them, I understand being isolated the way you have, but killing innocents won't turn the tale."
"Like you could ever understand our sacrifices." Adam soon drew his red katana from its scabbard, red bolts crackling up the blade
"Heh, fair enough," Albatross pulled the sword and scabbard from his back, attaching it to his belt then drawing the midnight black blade with its own white aura. "Let's dance."
To Be Continued...
The fights are set and next time we get a whole metric-ton of fights. I really want to improve what should have been during Volume 5 and I hope I do alright. Like, I may love RWBY to death, but I won't defend a series when I can see its flaws. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always. Seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Haven No More Act II - Dragon King Mode
The battle to own the Relic has started, and the roster is tightly packed. Sky and Jaune vs. Cinder. Ruby and Yang vs. Emerald and Mercury. Albatross vs. Adam. And much more tension in-between.