Two White Fang grunts stood on guard, both of them clearly bored, one of them spoke to his friend.
"Hey, do you ever wonder-"
But he never got to finish the sentence as they were both hit with the full force of an entire building.
"Holy shit did Ruby just throw a building!?" Yang yelled disbelievingly.
"Later!" Blake yelled back as they started to engage the trains rear guard.
The White Fang were fighting back as furiously as they could, obviously Felix had told them that they were coming and they had prepared accordingly.
But no amount of planning could have prepared them for whatever strange power Ruby was using.
She was ploughing through them like they were cardboard cut outs. She swung Crescent Rose wildly, cleaving through the grunts like paper while the lucky ones were only sent flying.
It really made Yang's job much easier, the only thing she didn't appreciate were the 'one liners' Ruby now liked to yell as loud as her lungs would let her.
"ALL OF YOUR COOKIES WILL DISOLVE IN MILK!"
Like that for example, Yang winced as she heard it, was that what her puns sounded like to people?
"Everyone get into position, we're leaving now!" Torchwick's voice came up over loud speaker.
Oobleck scoffed. "That's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end."
"Well, it sounds like they're going somewhere." Yang replied.
"I believe we only have one option..." Oobleck nodded grimly.
"We need to stop that train." Blake finished, she then looked around. "Hey, where did Ruby go?"
The question was answered by Torchwick swearing like a sailor over the intercom.
"What the hell is the hold up!?"
They all ran around the corner in order to get a view of the train and found that the hold up was Ruby holding onto the caboose of the train, preventing it from shooting off.
"Hurry... I'm not sure... how long... I can... keep... talking... like... this..." Ruby said with a strained voice.
They all jumped up onto the train and Ruby let it go and jumped up to join Yang and the others, the train went off like a shot, and this allowed Yang to get a better look at her sister.
It was very strange to say the least, to see all of the red she usually wore replaced with blue, and now Ruby was far taller than Yang which was just plainly unfair and something she hoped was just temporary. And finally Yang could make out the faint blue outline of armour on Ruby, much like there was at the docks all those weeks ago.
"Hurry, children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" Oobleck declared as Yang made sure that Pyrrha was secured on her back.
But then Yang noticed something. "Err... Professor?"
"Doctor..."
She pointed down the hatch into the train. "What's that?"
Oobleck knelt down to have a look. "That my dear... appears to be a bomb."
Yang's eyes widened as she flinched back, Blake did the same but Ruby instead leaned forward into the hatch.
"Andy is that you?" Ruby asked the bomb and frowned when it didn't answer.
It was at that point that Yang spotted dozens of White Fang members started to climb onto the top of the train.
"Well, I didn't expect them to go-" The bomb underneath them started beeping as Oobleck spoke. "-easy on us." He stood up. "Time to go!"
As they ran to the next cart, Oobleck stopped Blake.
"Blake! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!" He ordered
"On it."
Blake jumped down onto the connectors ready to cut the connection, but as she did, the connection came loose on its own.
"It decoupled itself!" Blake yelled up.
"What?!" Oobleck said.
"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train." Yang said.
At this the detached cart exploded, shaking the tunnel.
"That's not good..." Oobleck stated the obvious.
"Err, neither is this!" Yang said as she looked down the new hatch to see yet another bomb.
"Another bomb?!" Blake said.
"No. No. No." Oobleck muttered as he went up the next few carts opening the hatches and looking in before finally yelling back to team RBY and the unconscious Pyrrha. "They ALL have bombs!"
The bomb under their cart then charged up and started beeping and the cart then detached itself, forcing them onto to the next cart.
"This doesn't make sense." Yang said.
"Get the humans!" One of the White Fang members yelled but before Yang could engage, Ruby gave a battle cry of her own and charged the bad guys with Crescent Rose, batting them away like little plastic toy soldiers.
Although this was probably for the better because Yang still had Pyrrha strapped to her back and charging in would most likely be a bad idea.
It was at this point that Yang noticed Grimm pouring in from the holes caused by the explosions and following the train.
Son of a bitch.
"He's leading Grimm to the city!" Oobleck cried out as the horde of Grimm steadily increased.
"What?"
"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"
"That's insane!" Blake said disbelievingly.
Another train car detached itself.
"We have to hurry!" He turned to Yang and Blake. "Take Pyrrha down bellow and and keep her safe while trying to stop the bombs." He instructed.
"What about you doctor?" Blake asked.
"I shall assist Ruby and join you very shortly." He told them.
Yang nodded. Time to get to work.
After all this is what they trained for right?
After while seemed like miles, Nora finally stopped to rest.
She had no idea where exactly she was except that is was some kinda abandoned office building, as such it looked really creepy. She was currently on the forth floor and hoping that she'd evaded that monster that took out her team.
But still she was out of stamina and needed to rest.
So she opened a door to a small office set Tex down and sat on an old abandoned chair.
Honestly Nora had no idea that she could get this out of breath. Maybe she should add more stamina building exercises to her workout.
But she supposed that is what happens when you run for miles and hours in a place you didn't know from a terrifying bad guy.
"You all right kid?"
Nora jumped at the more staticky voice of Tex coming from her body.
"Yeah... just a little out of breath." Nora breathed out.
"Not surprising. You just ran twenty miles in three hours, I'm surprised you're still standing upright."
"Are you like a robot or something then?" Nora asked.
"Well technically I'm an A.I in a robot body, there is a difference." Tex told her.
"What about that guy that was trying to get you and hurt Ren, is he an A.I as well?"
"Sorta, he's an A.I controlling a human." Tex explained. "And you can call him the Meta."
"Weird name." Nora mused "Meta, does he play lots of video games?"
Tex gave a one shoulder shrug in response.
With that they lapsed into a silence, Nora caught her breath and Tex pushed herself into a more upright position.
"Do you think we lost him?" Nora asked after a while.
Tex shook her head a negative. "No, odds are while we have a head start they'll catch up quickly. And once they get into our immediate area then they can track us using sensors and radar."
"That doesn't sound good." Nora frowned.
"Nope." Tex agreed. "And it means that we need to get moving."
"Right now?"
Then a loud noise echoed across the factory, a very ominous growling.
"Now."
"But where do we go? I have no idea where we are and how far we are from help." Nora voiced her concerns.
Tex was silent for a moment before answering.
"Well based on my recon of the area from before the mission, we should only be one or two miles from the city centre, if we get to their before the Meta catches us then hopefully the police or Atlas or someone will be there to stop them."
Nora simply nodded and picked up Tex, keeping the agent secure under arm.
She then left the office room and as quietly as possible she tiptoed down the corridor, checking every corner for a sign of the Meta.
And Nora could tell that he was close by, his inhuman growls echoing down the corridors and his footsteps coming down like earthquakes.
Nora could feel her heart pounding in her chest so loudly she feared the Meta would hear it and burst through the walls to end her.
Stomp, stomp, stomp...
"Hurry, get into that locker NOW!" Tex whisper yelled.
And Nora obeyed, scrambling into a footlocker that was in the corridor for some reason and waited.
Not moments later she could barely make out the Meta coming down the from the corridor she had just been about to go down.
The Meta gave another inhuman growl as he scanned the area and Nora's breath hitched as his gaze fell on the locker she was hiding in.
Nora prepared to bolt as he walked with an agonisingly slow pace until he was directly in front of the locker.
Nora leaned back and held her breath as the Meta continued to look at the locker for an unbearably long amount of time.
He leaned in closer...
CLANG!
The Meta turned and stalked off in the direction of the noise, undoubtedly caused by a rat or something.
Nora breathed a sigh of relief. and slowly left the locker, she and Tex looked at each other in silent agreement.
That was far too close.
They resumed movement, this time with renewed haste at knowing just how close the Meta was.
A few minutes later and she thought that she'd lost them again.
But then the floor exploded.
Nora was sent to the ground and watched as the Meta climbed out of the floor.
"Run!" Tex yelled and Nora complied.
She got up, and held Tex as close to her as possible and sprinted as fast as she could push herself.
She didn't dare turn around, but she could tell that the Meta was running after her.
He was getting closer and closer and closer.
Thinking fast Nora reached into the broken end of Tex and pulled out several wires.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tex demanded but Nora didn't answer as she got what she wanted.
An electric shock.
She felt the rush for electricity surge through her and quickly turned around just in time to hit the Meta full force with Tex's body, sending him flying through the wall.
She then resumed her mad dash intent on using the opportunity to escape.
Eventually she came to a window overlooking the outside but Nora didn't stop, if she did then the Meta would catch them and that was a no go.
So she jumped out of the window, smashing it to pieces, Aura protecting her from getting cut, and landed roughly on the ground.
Even with Aura it hurt like hell, but she couldn't slow down as the Meta also jumped and landed right next to her, literally shattering the concrete.
Nora moved, sprinting down streets and alleyways, staying barely one step ahead of the monster chasing her until eventually she reached the courtyard.
People were going about their days completely relaxed, some looked at the exhausted Nora with concern but she still moved forward.
"Nora?"
She looked over to see Penny and Lopez, both seemingly here for some shopping.
Nora opened her mouth to say something, but before she could even get a word out, the world exploded.
Blake looked at the newcomer cautiously, and in the corner of her eye she saw Yang set Pyrrha down carefully.
The newcomer was very short and had a brown, pink and white colour scheme.
"We'll take her together." Blake said and Yang nodded. They couldn't afford to separate while Pyrrha was injured.
Yang unleashed a shot from Ember Celica which prompted mystery girl to flip backwards so as to avoid the blast, landing in a crouch. Yang walked up to mystery girl, Blake keeping an eye on her flank, as the newcomer stood up, there was a brief stare down before Yang threw a simple punch towards Neo's face (She was dressed like the ice cream and Neo was easier than mystery girl anyway), which was deflected with a white flash of unknown origin from Neo, caused Yang to stumble back, Blake went in for a kick which Neo dodged and she opened her umbrella.
Yang dashed forwards, unleashing a flurry of several punches, resetting each time instead of redirecting her blows, in support Blake let off several shots with Gambol Shroud.
But Neo simply dodged all of the attacks, 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 continues moving forward as her last three blows bring her to a knee, where she attempts a roundhouse kick, allowing Neo to deliver a spinning hook kick, knocking Yang to the ground.
Blake reacted by turning Gambol Shroud into katana form and released a flurry of slashes and stabs, but Neo quickly evaded them and on Blake's last strike she left herself slightly overextended which Neo exploited by gripping her arm and delivering several harsh kicks to Blake's stomach.
Yang got up and tried to intervene with a powerful punch to Neo's head, but Neo instead pulled Blake toward her and caused Yang to hit Blake in the head instead, sending the Faunus into the train wall, completely knocking the wind out of her.
"Blake!" Yang cried and at the same time Neo gave a silent giggle.
This caused Yang to give an angry cry as she charged Neo with another punch but Neo countered through a pull in redirection of force technique, she pulled Yang's arm in with her own left arm, and performed a well-executed axe kick to hit Yang on the chin, before Neo kicked Yang in the stomach with a perfect side kick. Neo then started pushing Yang back via her umbrella, now on the offensive.
Yang tried to counter her movements with Ember Celica but Neo was able to effortlessly push Yang back against a wall, until the latter shot a blast directly towards the former's feet. Neo, however, backflipped effortlessly, and landed on a metal container, and sat down to await Yang's next attack.
As Yang approached her, Neo smiled, taunting her, before Yang unleashed her next attack. Neo countered, and began kicking Yang back. Yang unleashed another blast from Ember, which Neo blocked.
Blake got back up and joined in and a hand to hand spar began, Yang then grabbed Neo's foot, and pulled her closer to throw her, only for Neo to counter, grappling Yang and using her momentum to throw her into the ceiling, knocking her unconscious. Neo then unleashed a flurry of blows that Blake struggled to counter before Neo cornered her at a wall and managed to pin Blake to it by the throat.
Blake watched in horror as Neo gave a sadistic smile and a hidden blade immerged from her umbrella.
Neo brought it right to Blake's throat and then to the confusion of everyone the blade bent.
And it wasn't just the blade, the whole umbrella suddenly started crumbling into a metal ball, Neo let go of Blake and turned around and Blake saw what the cause of it was.
It was Pyrrha, clearly barely conscious, crushing the umbrella using her semblance.
Neo stalked over to Pyrrha, her face furious but before she got even half way, Oobleck dropped in and Neo froze.
The good doctor didn't hesitate to deliver a blow to Neo but she somehow shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Is everyone alright?" He asked.
"Peachy." Blake muttered as she walked over to Pyrrha who had again fallen unconscious.
Yang also woke up with a groan. "What happened?"
"Pyrrha saved me, crushed the umbrella." Blake said shortly as Yang picked up Pyrrha again. "Doctor, where's Ruby?"
"Your team leader is finishing up the remainder of the enemy with Zwei." Oobleck replied.
Blake nodded. "Right then lets go and stop Torchwick."
But to her surprise Oobleck shook his head a negative. "I'm sorry, but it's too late for that, all we can do now is brace ourselves for collision."
Blake and Yang's eyes widened as they understood what he meant.
Not moments later the train hit it's target and the world exploded.
Notes:
And that's the end of that chapter.
Well not much to say in terms of actual notes other than Nora being chased by the Meta was influenced by my own experiences in Alien Isolation, one of the best horror games ever. I'd also like to give credit to the RWBY wiki for help with the Neo vs Yang and Blake fight.
As always I'd like to thank everyone for reading and give extra thanks to those that comment/review, you guys and gals are all excellent.
Next time everything come to a head and plotlines converge. There'll be Grimm, the Meta and Caboose! I guess you could say that it'll be the Maine event. But till then I'll catch ya'll on the flip flop.
Review replies:
ReaderWarrior: To answer your question, Maine is coming fresh after getting his ass kick by Sarge, while Sigma had just been empd, the appeared in Remnant together a few months ago. And it's good to see your enjoying Ruby-and-Caboose.
Brain.H.H: Yeah, I probably could have had them say something clever, but my brain took a leave of absence when writing that sentence so I just went with hating Felix, Now I wish I'd thought of Phoenix or helix. And yes, she does indeed have a glowing armour as well, even if it is fainter than Wash's.
Anonymous Bird: Well, glad to see everyone enjoyed the chapter.
Sanszilla2984 (guest): Yep, making Caboose made is a really bad idea.