Chapter 21: Mission
Yang was excited as she threw the dorm room door open. "Guys!" she yelled. Weiss jolted, Ilia lifted her head up, and Blake closed her book "My Uncle Qrow wants to talk to us!" She said.
"Must you be this loud?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, it's important. We have to meet him at the cafeteria — now! He's waiting for you guys." Blake, Weiss, and Ilia stood and followed Yang as she led them to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was empty, as breakfast had long ago ended. All that waited within was an older man and a small, black and white corgi.
"We're here!" Yang declared, running to hug her uncle.
"I'm glad to see you again." Qrow smiled. The corgi barked and forced Blake to take a step back, grabbing Ilia's shoulders and forcing the other faunus in front of her like a shield.
"I am too. So, why are we here?" Yang replied.
"Yang, I'm aware you and your team are... interested in Red. So if you have any insane plans for your team mission, just let us in on them before you dart off and end up starting a war or something." Qrow said.
Yang glanced at Blake, and gave a small nod. The raven haired girl seemed a bit surprised. "I... didn't think it was wise to tell him." Yang admitted.
"Sir, we have to let you know. We overheard from our intel gathering that Red is moving towards Mountain Glenn, alongside the White Fang." Blake said.
"That's why White Fang activity, alongside Torchwick and Red's has dropped to almost nothing — they're not here." Qrow said. "I'm guessing you four are going to be sneaking off to Mount Glenn, even if we do try to stop you." he sighed and the corgi at his feet barked.
Yang opened her mouth to speak, but her uncle raised a hand. "That's why I convinced Tai that this fella should stay with you, Yang, while he's away from Patch. From what I know, a few months ago Zwei had an encounter with a doberman that matches the description of Red's dog. Maybe he'll catch her or the dog's scent and lead you there."
Blake's eyes narrowed. "Do we really need the dog to be with us?" she asked.
"Yes. If Zwei has anything that can track Drei, he'll lead us to Ruby." Yang said.
"Fine. But I want that thing gone as soon as our mission ends." Blake agreed at last.
"Thanks, Uncle Qrow!" Yang lunged forward to hug the man.
"This time be safe. You'll be with a huntsman, so you'll have backup." Qrow said and laughed "God, you've grown up so much from the little girl you were. I'm proud of you, firecracker."
Yang smiled and Zwei came to her side, giving a bark to Qrow. "Look after em' boy. Find Ruby." Qrow told the dog.
An announcement came from the speaker, calling them to the auditorium.
"Showtime." Yang cracked her knuckles.
Blake nodded "Let's go."
"Showtime." Sable smiled. Cinder had done her part, and uploaded a specially crafted virus. At the same time, Sable had a friend of hers craft a false mission that would only be available to Beacon students.
Orchid had been happy to help, and the custom mission had been made in a matter of hours. The rabbit faunus had contacted Watts, the man who made the virus Cinder implemented, and they arranged it for the false mission to be part of the virus.
Now Sable watched, on edge. There was no way Yang's team could resist the lure of the mission. She knew they knew of where the White Fang's base was — Sora had come back from a rally saying a cat faunus had attacked Roman and Neo, matching the description of Yang's team leader.
Now here she was, at her desk and staring intently at the status of the program.
'Search and destroy. Such is the irony of it. They go there to destroy Grimm — and White Fang members. But in reality, they're searching for Red so I can destroy her.' Sable thought and let out a small laugh.
Then, her eyes lit up as the status changed.
Mission Type: Search and destroy
Mission Status: In progress
Sable pulled out her Scroll, sending a text message to Cinder.
'Trap has been set. They've taken our bait.'
"I've already talked to Qrow about this. I have a feeling if I dissuade you from this, you'd end up in the southeast anyway." Ozpin said, regarding the mission that BSIL was looking at. "So instead of you breaking the rules, let's just bend them." he gave a smile and suddenly the mission was approved for their team.
"Qrow talked to you about this?" Yang asked.
Ozpin said nothing. "Rely on one another. But remember: if your Huntsman does not feel satisfied with your skills, he may send you back." He told them before walking off.
"Time to go!" Yang said.
They approached their ship, and a familiar head of green greeted them. "Hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"
"Did Oobleck grill you guys too?" Yang wondered aloud.
"Yes, Yang. And I gave him my honest answer." Blake replied tiredly.
The girls talked for some time about their reasons for becoming huntresses, until the conversation finally lulled enough for the girls to slowly fall asleep. Yang, however, remained awake, alongside Weiss.
"Weiss, are you still awake?" Yang whispered.
"Of course I'm awake, dolt. What do you need?" Weiss hissed quietly.
"C-can I talk to you about something?" Yang whispered, gesturing for Weiss to come outside with her.
Weiss sighed, but followed her teammate outside. As the two walked, Weiss noticed that Yang seemed incredibly nervous, until Weiss could take it no more.
"Yang Xiao Long, why are you so nervous?" Weiss demanded. Yang flinched upon hearing her name.
"T-there's something I wanna talk to you about, Weiss." Yang stuttered.
"Out with it, then! I want to go to sleep." Weiss snapped.
"I-I r-really like you, and I want you to go out with me!" Yang exclaimed.
Weiss stood there, staring at Yang like she'd grown a second head.
"Y-you what?" Weiss replied shakily.
When Yang repeated herself, Weiss seemed to sink further into her daze. After a few minutes, Yang gently took Weiss' hand.
"W-will you have me as your girlfriend, Weiss?" Yang asked.
Weiss' hand slipped out of Yang's grasp.
"I don't know, Yang. We haven't known each other long enough. Not to mention my status. My father would be livid to find out I'm dating you." Weiss said, chin tilting downward. Yang's hand reached out, as if to cup her teammate's chin, but she dropped the hand.
"So… no?" Yang asked, trying to keep her dejection from showing.
"I'm sorry, Yang. It's better this way for us." Yang could see a hint of sorrow in the heiress' blue gaze. "In a perfect world, I'd say yes. But this is far from a perfect world." Weiss turned and walked back into the ruined building they set up camp in, Yang trailing behind.
"I understand…" Yang mumbled. "Good night, Weiss."
"Good night, Yang." Weiss replied, crawling back into her sleeping bag.
~~~The next morning~~~
Drei picked his head up. Roman cast a glance at the doberman. Something was putting him on edge.
"Drei?" Roman asked softly. The canine gave a soft grumble. "What's wrong?" Gold stared at green. Roman could see unease on Drei's face. The dog whined and looked around before resting his head once again on his front paws.
"Torchwick, we found some chick walkin' around in the tunnels! It looks like she fell through the streets up top!" someone shouted.
"What do I keep you idiots around for? Capture her and bring her here!" Roman snapped, and the White Fang member hurried off to tell his comrades.
Lighting a cigar, Roman took a drag. For some damn reason he felt Neo's warning a bit back had rang true. It'd better not be Blondie. He thought.
"Let me go!" At the shout, Roman sighed in resignation. It was Yang. Of fucking course it was Yang. Red eyes met green and the criminal sighed.
"For God's sake, Blondie. You just never know when to quit looking for your sister!" He leaned on Melodic Cudgel. A spur of the moment idea hit him. "Because Red ain't here!" Yang's red eyes widened in surprise. "I knew you'd come running after Blake was at the rally, so I told Red to stay hidden. You won't find her." He said.
Yang only growled at him. "Temper, temper." Roman mocked. "You see, this is why she never wanted to be around you." He chided her as if she was a little kid.
"Shut up, I know my sister!" Yang spat at him. Roman laughed.
"Are you sure about that one, Blondie? Last I checked you still have the delusion that Red loves you. Trust me, I've raised her for the last six years, and I can say with absolute certainty that she doesn't love you!" He told Yang.
As Yang opened her mouth to reply to Roman, another person walked out of the shadows. Yang's eyes lit up, believing it was Ruby, but that light died when a boy walked out of the shadows and strode right up to Roman.
"Roman, we got people topside. What do you wanna do, boss man?" the boy asked, his massive gauntlets clicking and hissing as the boy flexed his fingers.
"Take care of them, Apollyon. Kill them if you want." Roman replied dismissively.
"NO!" Yang exclaimed. Apollyon smirked, and moved back into the shadows.
"I'm gonna go get my stuff, then maybe head top-" Apollyon was cut off when a wall blew up in his face, slamming him into the train car behind him.
"Guys?" Yang asked, seeing the smoke clear to reveal the rest of Team Basil plus Oobleck and Zwei.
"Yang!" Blake called. At that moment, Yang engaged Ember Celica and began firing at the White Fang members holding her. "Are you alright?" the faunus asked. Yang nodded.
"Yeah." The brawler said and turned to Torchwick and Apollyon. "What are you planning?" She snarled.
"None of your business, Blondie. I thought you were more concerned with finding Red?" Roman told her. "Apollyon, we need to head off." He told the boy, turning around and taking off at a run to the train.
When Torchwick and Apollyon reached the front of the train, Apollyon passed the intercom to Roman.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this train is leaving the station! Keep yourselves in the ride at all times, and thank you for riding with us today!" Roman laughed, full-throttling the train's engine.
"Where are we stopping, Roman?" Apollyon asked.
"We aren't. Bust it up." Roman ordered. Apollyon complied, slamming Despot into the controls of the train. "Apollyon. Shit's gonna go down, when it does I need you to take Red, Neo and Drei with you and go as far as you can away from this place. This isn't their fight, and I'm sure Blondie and her team are going to be coming any time now, so help out and assist in handling some of them." He told the boy.
His Scroll buzzed with a message from Neo.
'Kids are here again.'
Roman sighed and texted back
'I know. Deal with em for me.'
'And Ruby?' Roman cursed himself for forgetting that detail.
'I'm sure she'll be eager to finish what she started.' He told her before shooting a text to the aforementioned girl. 'Kid, your fucking sister and her team are here. Go deal with Yang.'
'AGAIN?? Alright. Heading your way.' The younger criminal texted back and Roman stomped his cigar out.
"Here we go again." He sighed to himself.
"I'll take care of the blonde.. Neo can take the Schnee, you take ribbon girl, and Red can take ponytail girl." Apollyon shouted, rushing into one of the other cars.
The moment Apollyon disappeared from sight, Roman sent a message to Ruby.
'Apollyon is gonna take care of Yang. You take care of the chick with the ponytail.'
'Who is that? 'Fang member?' Roman wanted to slap himself. In the chaos of the last few weeks he forgot to mention Apollyon to Ruby.
'No, he's someone just like you. Took him under my wing a few weeks ago and forgot to mention it to you.' He told Ruby.
'Well this "Apollyon" better not kill Yang. I want to do it. I have a promise to keep, after all.' Ruby replied.
Roman internally cheered, happy the girl had decided to take responsibility at last.
Torchwick sighed, and placed his Scroll back into his pocket as Blake entered the car. The man sighed once more, and readied Melodic Cudgel..
"I'll be sure to make this hurt." Torchwick mocked, prompting Blake to rush him.
'Keep them all busy, kids. We need this to work.'
~~~
"Heya, Yang. Long time no see!" Apollyon exclaimed, waving to the brawler.
"You? How do you know me?" Yang asked, eyes flashing red as she engaged Ember Celica.
Apollyon's lips formed a silent 'o' and the boy laughed. "Sorry, you might not know me since I changed my name. I grew a little too, so that might have thrown you off. We sat next to each other in your uncle's class at Signal." Apollyon replied.
Yang blinked, confusion crossing her face. The expression faded to understanding, and then anger. "You? I never took you to be one to join with Torchwick!"
Apollyon shrugged. "It was easier than living on the streets. I'm sure Red would agree with me if she were here."
Yang's jaw clenched at the mention of her sibling. "So he swayed you like he did Ruby. I promise I'll stop him. This isn't the right path, I'm sure Professor Ozpin would be understanding if I told him you were taken by Torchwick."
Apollyon began to laugh. "Wow, you really ARE stupid! Well, now I know that Red got all the brains of your family. Yang, I wasn't taken by anyone. I joined him because there wasn't really another choice in the matter."
"There's always a choice. Ruby was young and didn't know that choice existed. I'm stopping Torchwick and showing my baby sister that there's a better way to live." Yang said "You have the same choice. You can come to Beacon with me." Yang told him.
"Another choice, Yang? No, there was never another choice. It was to join Torchwick, or die in the cold. Would Ozpin have picked me up, dusted me off, and took me under his wing? Would Ozpin have taken the time to treat me like a father treats his son? No. Roman took me with him, and I would rather die than leave him. Red made the choice to stick with Torchwick, and she isn't coming back with you. And I won't come with you either." Apollyon spat, Catastrophe and Despot hissing and clicking as the boy closed his fingers.
Yang sighed and got into a fighting stance. "Alright. I didn't want to do this, but I'll have to." She launched herself forward with an arm pulled back, aiming for Apollyon's head.
And the girl suddenly found herself on the ground, with Despot holding her torso in a vice-grip.
"You remember sparring at Signal, Yang? I wonder if you've gotten any better." Apollyon mocked, tossing the girl like she was a ragdoll. Yang let out a furious yell, and charged at Apollyon, who simply smirked.
"Come at me, firecracker." Apollyon hissed, dropping into his own fighting stance.
Both teens bellowed their battlecries and began to beat each other senseless, with as much strength as their bodies and weapons would allow. Eventually, both teens punched each other so hard that they flew apart, breathing heavily.
"Give up, blondie! You can't beat me!" Apollyon shouted.
Yang shouted something in response, but the ringing in Apollyon's ears was far too loud for him to decipher it. The boy could see the black at the edge of his vision, and he figured it was only a matter of time until both of them were on the floor, out cold.
"Yang, dear, you remember Catastrophe and Despot, don't you? I made them with you in mind!" Apollyon shouted, his voice echoing unnaturally in his ears.
Yang's eyes widened as Catastrophe unfolded and revealed several thousand Lien's worth of armaments, all pointed at her.
"Open wide, bit-" Apollyon yelled, before letting Catastrophe's cannons roar.
Yang ripped up a piece of metal from the floor, and attempted to shield herself with it, with a reasonable amount of success. Every blast from the guns dented the metal sheet a bit more, and each impact left Yang a little more bruised.
"How much ammo does that thing have?!?" Yang wondered aloud. Suddenly, the guns went silent, and an uncomfortably large blade burst through the metal shield behind Yang, missing her shoulder by an inch.
"Out of ammo, are you?" Yang shouted.
"Not quite! But guns this big sometimes jam, as I'm sure you understand. Especially when they fire shaped charges." Apollyon exclaimed.
Yang's head snapped to the metal shield she was leaning on, and the realization dawned on her. Apollyon hadn't been trying to break it. He was covering it in bombs, and was planning on killing Yang with the shrapnel.
"See ya in the afterlife, Blondie!" Apollyon shouted, detonating the charges.
Yang was thrown backward, what little remained of her aura being depleted by being forced to deflect the shrapnel from the charges themselves, alongside her little metal shelter.
Yang's ears rang, and her vision was blurry. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion and Yang herself felt like she was moving through molasses as she tried to stand up.
When Yang looked over towards the train, Apollyon was crouched beside her, his lips moving like he was trying to talk to her.
The blonde shook her head, and the ringing in her ears subsided. "W-what did you say?" She asked, trying to focus again on Apollyon.
Apollyon patted Yang's cheek, then lifted her up with Despot. "You ever wonder how it feels to be a watermelon that gets smashed on the sidewalk?" Apollyon inquired.
"Heh. You're doing a good enough job of making me feel that way already." Yang said weakly.
"I've been told I have that effect on women. And men. Usually because I thoroughly introduce them to Despot and the sidewalk." Apollyon replied.
"Sidewalk, eh?" Yang grunted.
"This is my first train fight. I'm sure the metal would be just as happy to get to know you, Yang." Apollyon said, hefting Yang above his head.
Right as Apollyon readied himself to slam Yang onto the floor one final time, Ilia came flying out of another train car, Ruby following close behind.
"Apollyon, I assume?" Ruby snapped, Ilia forgotten.
"Yep. I assume you're Red, here to make due on your promise?" Apollyon replied.
"Roman told you about Yang and I's… problem, I'm assuming?" Ruby stared at her sibling, silver eyes cold.
"Ruby, what promise?" Yang asked.
"I promised to Roman and Neo I'd be the one to deal with you. I hesitated the first time. I hesitated the second time. But as they say "third time's the charm"." She said
"Ruby, why are you doing this?" Yang asked.
A glimpse of something flashed in those silver eyes, something that Apollyon knew well. The boy dropped Yang and stepped away from the injured girl.
"All yours, Red." Apollyon muttered, moving away from the sisters.
"R-Ruby, please! You don't need to do this!" Yang groaned, trying to stand up.
"You want to know why I'm doing this?" Ruby asked, voice dangerously soft. "Once upon a time there was a little girl in red, whose mother was a hero. She went on a mission one day, several years ago, and never came back. The little girl in red was young, and didn't understand why her mother was gone. She turned to her father and uncle, but they had buried their pain under an ocean of alcohol. So she turned to her older sister who burned brighter than the sun, but her sister had no time for her. Dejected, this little girl had nobody to give her the affection she craved. So one day she packed her bags and said her goodbyes, and headed off into the world. A man and a woman had stumbled upon her, and the woman convinced the man they should take the little girl in. The man was reluctant, but eventually agreed. The little girl was scared at first, but the man and woman cared for her, and taught her to be strong. The little girl learned there was more to life than being a hero like her mother. She called the man and woman family, because they gave her the love she needed. Her new family taught her an important lesson as she grew up with them: Heros die." Ruby took a step forward. "So Yang. You wanted to be a huntress, to help people. You want to be a hero like Summer." She raised Dark Glory and merged the blades as she grabbed Yang by the chin. "Then play the part and die!"
Yang tried to struggle, but her chin was forced up and Dark Glory's blade slashed her throat, cutting deep. Blood started pouring from the blonde's throat as she fell backwards.
"Yang!" Ilia yelled, having caught her breath and lunged forward. Ruby tsked and ducked under the faunus' strike.
"Apollyon. Leave this one be — she's too weak. Not to mention an eye-witness makes a tale so much better." Ruby smiled. In a burst of rose petals, she vanished.
Neo smirked as Weiss sent another series of slashes and thrusts her way. The mute easily blocked or evaded each attack, before lunging forward and parrying a slash with Hush.
Too easy. She couldn't help but think. Behind the two, Drei was throwing around a black and white corgi.
Suddenly with a yell, Neo saw a blur of red deflect a thrust. Ruby landed at her side. "I did what I had to." The mute felt a burst of pride at Ruby's words. She nodded and opened Hush to deflect a fireball sent by the heiress.
Ruby used her semblance to go behind the heiress, who turned around and knocked her backwards with a fireball. Neo watched in horror as the girl started falling backwards. Putting her fingers to her mouth, she gave a whistle. Drei saw the danger before running at Weiss with a snarl. Neo ran to Ruby and pulled her up, and they watched in horror as Drei was flung by a black glyph off the train and Weiss' weapon tip glowed blue for a moment before it faded.
"DREI!" Ruby screamed and rose petals swirled around her. But before the criminal could launch herself at the heiress, an impact sent them all flying into blackness.
A/N: Took a bit longer for this chapter to come out. I was a bit uncertain about how to do this. But then when I asked over a Discord server, someone swooped in to save the day! He'll be editing my chapters from this point forward, and is the owner of Apollyon. I'll let him introduce himself and talk a bit now.
Howdy do! I'm Abraxis, owner of Apollyon. Artemis found me on a Discord server, and I asked her if she wanted help editing, and here we are. Apollyon was an OC I had bouncing around in my head for a little while, but under the name of Limbo. I'll give you a description of Apollyon, and then I will take my leave. Can't be stealing the author's show, after all.
Real Name: Unknown
Alias: Apollyon
Age: 15
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Onyx
Height: 6' 1"
Skin Tone: Fair
Aura Color: Dull Jade Green
Semblance: Nox Equilabrum.
Weapons of Choice: Pair of large gauntlets named Catastrophe and Despot. Catastrophe is covered in ranged, high explosive armaments while Despot is equipped with dozens of sharp things designed to shred flesh, bone, or whatever else the boy needs to punch his way through.
I really hope you guys and gals like Apollyon, and I really hope you guys enjoy Guardian's book! Have a wonderful day/night, and keep yourselves safe!
(Word Count: 4072)