Chapter Fifty-Five: Pyrrhic Victory
When Ren had suggested stopping into a nearby café for smoothies, Jaune had hastily tried to veto the project. Those 'health smoothies' Ren kept leaving out for the team had probably taken twenty years off the lifespan of his tongue. Ren never told them to drink, never forced the beverages on them, but every time Jaune took the offending smoothies over to the sink, poised to dump them down the drain and exorcise the remains with the garbage disposal, Ren would give him a flat, bland stare, as if weighing his soul and finding him unworthy of existence.
Driven by guilt and anxiety under that oppressive stare, Jaune would take one sip, cringing at the bitter taste, then another, and another, until he reached the bottom of the glass, his tongue felt as though he had licked the inside of a car battery, and Ren finally stopped staring at him. Nora, a garbage disposal herself, pounded the smoothies and let out a satisfied belch each time, and Pyrrha seemed immune to the taste. But Jaune? How anyone could find grapefruit, ginger, garlic, and lemon, along with an entire bag's worth of bitter greens, and a carrot to sweeten it up, an appealing combination of flavors? And a carrot, sweet? One would think that, having been around Nora for so long, that Ren would have some idea of what sugar is.
This café, however, catered to health nuts and sugar addicts alike. Jaune found himself crying tears of joy as he spooned honey-sweet mango mush into his mouth. Ren stared at him with soul-judging disdain, but for once, Jaune did not care. Who cares how much fruit juice and honey was in his smoothie? Fruit is healthy.
"Shouldn't we be watching the concert hall?" Pyrrha asked as she sipped on a protein shake. From its grainy texture and musty smell, she may as well have been eating protein powder straight out of a bag.
"We are watching the concert hall," Nora said as she drained her sixth smoothie. She held two empty cups over her eyes like binoculars and said, "We're watching it through our sweet, sweet smoothies."
Considering that the one she had just swallowed was called Beet Juice Detox, Jaune wasn't about to test her claim. Instead, he leaned forward, looking out the window at the front of the shop.
"I can see the hall from here. Doesn't look like anything unusual is happening."
Pyrrha checked with him and frowned. "We can barely see the building from here. Maybe we should take the smoothies to go?"
"But if we're carrying smoothies," Nora asked, "How are we supposed to fight? If we stay here, we can sprint out the door, leave the smoothies here, and have them when we get back. If we take them with us, we'll either have to carry them while we fight, or leave them out to get stolen by the squirrels!"
"Besides," Jaune added, "By sitting down, we'll be well rested and ready to fight if the time comes."
Pyrrha frowned and thought for a moment. "Isn't the event going to be on the news?"
"I think so," Jaune said. "Why?"
"Then we can watch on our Scrolls." Pyrrha opened hers and browsed for the channel. When she found it, she stood up, knocking over her smoothie.
"We have to go. Now."
"Why, is something happening?"
Pyrrha showed him the news. Dozens of Huntsmen were down, pale and shaking on the floor, as Grimm and rogue Knights advanced on the survivors.
"So much for seeing anything," Ren said. He drank the last of his health smoothie and drew his weapons. Jaune rose, fumbling with his borrowed blade and his shield, while Pyrrha vaulted over the table. Nora slammed her shake down and shouted over at the waiter, "Save our spot, we'll be right back!"
As they approached the entrance of the concert hall, Team JNPR gathered outside, struggling to stay together as people poured out in a panic.
"What's the plan?" Pyrrha asked.
Jaune watched the fleeing crowd for any sign of Cardin. He was nowhere to be seen, but in the tumult of people pouring out, he would be impossible to see.
"We should help. There's wounded Huntsmen I could heal."
"In that case," Nora said, brandishing her hammer, "I think we need a new way in."
Ren crossed his arms. "Nora, we shouldn't go smashing down the walls."
"No silly!" Nora pointed towards the roof of the building and said, "There's an even better way in!"
Jaune saw the gaping hole in the roof where she was pointing. Over the building, two Bullheads hovered in place, and White Fang members rappelled down the sides. As he watched, the loud crack of a sniper rifle sounded from a distant building, and one of the Bullheads fell as an engine ruptured into flames.
"Team RWBY can cover things out here," Jaune said. "We'll go in and help the Huntsmen."
"I believe you said that already," Ren pointed out.
"Yeah, but I didn't say the bit about RWBY the first time. Just go with it."
Nora twirled her hammer in her hands and told Pyrrha to ready her shield. Once she was crouched, shield held behind her back, Nora shouted "Fore!" and swung her hammer. Pyrrha flew through the air in a puff of pink smoke, vanishing as she fell through the hole in the roof.
"Ren, you're up!" Nora whirled like an orange and pink tornado, picking up momentum with each rotation. Ren sighed, jumped into the maelstrom, and shot up as Nora flung him like a sling. Ren twirled gracefully in the air and dove head-first into the hole, firing down as he disappeared from view.
Nora turned towards Jaune with a manic smile on her face. "Alright, your turn!"
"Um, actually," Jaune said, pointing at the front doors, "I think the crowd's getting thinner. It would probably just be faster going through the front."
"Nope!"
Jaune turned and ran for the doors, but Nora yanked his shield off his belt, stuck it under his shirt, and hit the button to extend it out. His Aura lit up the people and sidewalk around him as Nora slammed the hammer into his back, adding extra force with the detonation of one of the chambered grenades. Jaune flew like a ragdoll through the air, limbs flailing wildly, screaming loud enough to make people gawk up at him.
Before he could figure out how he was going to land inside the building, a Bullhead, nestled between the rafters, blocked his view. He slammed face-first into its hull. As the Bullhead pulled up, carefully navigating around the broken architecture, Jaune slid down the front windshield and tumbled to the floor like roadkill.
Luckily for Jaune, he had a soft landing surface. Not so luckily for him, his landing surface was the Ursa, already angered by the half a dozen spears wedged in its chest and arms and the gouges in its face. It shook itself and swiped at him with its enormous paws, but Jaune rolled over, clutching at its coarse, thick fur. The shield stuck in his shirt stopped the claws from ripping apart his back, but his shirt tore off, leaving him bare chested as the shield clattered on the floor.
Reaching for his sword, Jaune leapt off just as a claw tore through the space he had clung to. While the Ursa howled in pain from its own attack, Jaune ran forward and rammed the sword deep into one of its paws. While it reared up, Pyrrha darted in and plunged her spear into its neck. The embedded weapons fell in a heap as the Ursa's body vanished into smoke.
Jaune used the brief respite to survey the concert hall. There was no sign of Cardin or any other Dukes, but the back of the hall was still packed with people pushing and shoving their way towards safety. In the seats, a few people groaned and sobbed, too injured to flee, and more bodies lay still and silent.
Around the stage, many of the Hunstmen had stopped moving, but a few still sat up, propping themselves on their weapons and visibly struggling against the poison coursing in their veins. One rogue Paladin had gone down, torn apart with clean slashes, and the other was stuck on its back, firing in futility at the ceiling. Many of the Knights still stood, firing at anything that moved, but with a single wave of her hand, Pyrrha snapped all their necks. One Beowolf still stood, but Ren and Nora pushed it back, working in tandem to carve it up as Nora's hammer knocked its limbs aside.
Jaune fumbled for his Scroll and called his locker. "What's your guys' codes?" he shouted into the melee.
Several pin numbers later, Team JNPR's lockers plummeted through the hole in the ceiling, crushing some of the fallen Knights to scrap. Jaune wriggled into his breastplate, while Pyrrha's armor flew across the room, wrapping itself around her. Nora and Ren reloaded their weapons and took extra ammunition from their lockers.
The last two Huntsmen came over, examining their weapons and gear with a trained eye. "Any .44 caliber rounds you kids can spare?"
Pyrrha lobbed over a box of ammunition, and the Huntsman reloaded his axe-rifle.
"Keep your eyes peeled," the other Huntress said as she formed a spear with her Semblance. "There's a scorpion Faunus somewhere. He's waiting to get the drop on us."
A loud groan tore Jaune's attention away. He rushed over and put his hands on the dying man. "Just hang on, I got you."
Jaune pushed his Aura into the man, but it was met with resistance. The man already had most of his Aura, and he could barely fit more.
The dying Hunstman shoved his hands away. His eyes were unfocused and cloudy, but he stared at Jaune. "Don't waste your Aura kid," he wheezed. "It's poison. Nothing Aura can do about it."
"Then what should I –"
"Get that Taurus bastard," he said. "He has some kind of device to control Grimm. If he has them attack the city now, we're done for."
The other Huntsman came up and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do for them. Stay alert and stick with us. We could use the help."
The Huntress collapsed, spears vanishing as she fell. With shaking hands, she peeled back her shirt, exposing a purple splotch on her chest. "When did?" Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she hit the floor.
The Huntsman whirled, axe over one shoulder, scanning the room and the ceiling for any sign of the scorpion Faunus. Moments later, he let out a groan and joined his comrade on the floor.
"Kids, get the hell out of here," the Huntsman growled through gritted teeth. "It has to be some kind of illusion Semblance."
Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged a look. "We're all seeing the same thing," Jaune said, "So it has to be the other one Ruby mentioned. Pyrrha, whirl around a bunch of debris."
A tornado of bullet casings and Knight fragments whipped through the room, scouring all the empty space around them. Directly above them on one of the broken rafters, shards of light drifted down from a broken illusion. A cloaked figure with yellow eyes giggled down on them.
"Looks like you win hide and seek," Tyrian said. "Now, why don't we play tag!"
He leapt down, lashing out with his bladed bracers. Pyrrha stepped in front of Jaune, blocking the strike with her shield. Tyrian's tail lashed out, aiming for Pyrrha's shoulder. She spun away, and her spear darted at the Faunus' shoulder, biting into his Aura. From behind, Ren fired two clips from his automatic pistols, while Nora charged forward, hammer raised high. Tyrian blocked the bullets with his arms, tanking the barrage with his Aura. When Nora swung at him, he leapt up, landing on the head of her hammer. Undaunted by the extra weight, Nora whirled in a circle, flinging Tyrian into the stands.
"Ooh, yes, this is going to be fun." He raised his voice, calling out across the concert hall. "You can go now. I want to have fun with these four, and I don't want anyone ruining it for me. Got that?"
No reply came, but the silence seemed to satisfy the madman. With a cackle, he strode across the tops of the seats, waving around his tail and brandishing his weapons. "Alright kiddies, who wants to play with Uncle Tyrian first?"
Pyrrha shifted her weapon to rifle mode and shot at Tyrian. The Faunus blocked each shot with a lazy flick of his wrist. Ren added his own gunfire, but Tyrian ignored the smaller caliber rounds as they bounced off his Aura.
"Now let's see, how do I pick?" He pointed at Jaune first and went, "Eenie, meenie, minie…" His finger drifted over to Pyrrha, and he shouted, "Moe!"
He sprang off the chair, leaping too fast for Pyrrha to track with her rifle. Her frantic shot went wide. Using her Semblance, she barely got her shield up in time to block Tyrian's blades. Once she got her footing, Pyrrha flung Tyrian aside by his weapons, flinging him into a pillar.
Laughing to himself, Tyrian staggered out of the concrete indentation and held up his hands. "You're the invincible girl, aren't you, the one that can control metal." His stinger curled around him and sliced through both bracers. His weapons clattered to the floor. He stroked the point of his tail with one hand, letting its poison leak onto his fingers. "Why don't you try controlling this?"
As he rushed towards Pyrrha again, the rest of Team JNPR closed around him. Jaune swung his sword at the tail from behind, while Ren and Nora each aimed for a shoulder. The tail zipped back, striking towards the top of Jaune's head. He rose his shield out of reflex, catching the tail just in time, only to sink under the sudden weight as Tyrian leapt on top. Using the shield as a springboard, Tyrian leapt behind Pyrrha, trailing his tail through the air. While Pyrrha was distracted with blocking the tail, Tyrian punched her from behind. Aura flared as Pyrrha stumbled forward, off-guard for a moment. Jaune rushed forward, blocking Tyrian's attacks, while Ren and Nora circled around him, staying out of the tail's range.
"Flower power!" Jaune shouted as he helped Pyrrha back onto his feet.
"Are we still going with that name?" Ren asked as he rushed at Tyrian. The Faunus had a wicked grin on his face as he lashed at Ren, but his joy vanished as Ren vaulted overhead, propelling himself higher with a burst of automatic rounds. Nora slammed her hammer into the floor, launching herself up after Ren. They twirled together in the air, Ren swinging Nora and giving her momentum. He hurled her at the floor, launching himself higher.
With a mighty crash, Nora fell on top of Tyrian, crashing through the wooden floor of the stage. There was an empty space underneath that stood up to Nora's shoulders. With Tyrian still trapped underneath, Nora switched Magnhild to grenade launcher mode and emptied her canisters underneath the stage. She leapt out, and a cloud of pink smoke enveloped her as the stage buckled under the combined blast. Floorboards stood at odd angles, and a pink haze obscured everything.
"Did you get him?" Jaune asked, turning quickly to watch the room.
"I think so," Nora said. "There wasn't anywhere to run."
Pyrrha twirled her weapon, shifting it back into a sword and sheathing it. "We should get moving. If Cardin's right, it should be getting a whole lot worse out there."
Jaune nodded and led them towards the door. Just as they were about to leave, Ren shouted "Get down!"
Tyrian's tail darted through Pyrrha's hair, just missing the back of her neck. Her sword left its sheath, wielded by Pyrrha's polarity, and cleaved the air around her. The sword bit through Tyrian's Aura and forced him back.
"You think that a couple of grenades is enough to kill me?" With a wicked cackle, he said in a crooning voice, "I'm hurt. We were having so much fun, why would you want to leave?"
Jaune gritted his teeth and set a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. Some of his strength flowed into her. "Finish it," Jaune said. "We can't waste any more time here. We have to help the others."
Pyrrha looked nervously at Tyrian and nodded. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Pyrrha reached out to all the metal in the room, the Knights and Paladins, the rubble from the rafters, and the weapons and armor of the fallen Huntsmen. A cloud of metal loomed overhead, clinking as pieces bounced off each other.
Tyrian giggled as he beheld the coming storm. He leapt at Pyrrha, but Nora cut him off with wild swings of her hammer. He nimbly leapt around the strikes, only to be attacked by Ren. A punch to the throat had Ren on the ground, coughing feebly as he struggled back to his feet.
Jaune struck with his sword, but Tyrian parried it, letting the blade sink into his own Aura to wrench it aside. While Jaune fell forward, Tyrian slammed a knee below his breastplate, driving the breath out of Jaune's lungs. He fell gasping for air with Ren. Nora rushed Tyrian from behind, but the tail whipped back at her, forcing her away.
As Tyrian reached for Pyrrha's throat, ready to drive his stinger into her shoulder, the cloud of metal struck. Tyrian leapt back, doing handsprings and tumbling around the metal lumps. Pyrrha clenched a fist and formed a solid sphere the size of a car. With the force of a meteor, it hurtled towards Tyrian.
The Faunus gave one glance at the two students crumpled on the floor and chuckled. He sprinted, dove as the iron ball made its first pass, and rolled up to Ren and Jaune. Nora swung her hammer, forcing him away from Ren, but he scooped up Jaune in one arm. Holding him like a shield, Tyrian charged at Pyrrha. She sent smaller streaks of metal after him, but as Tyrian waved Jaune around, the streaks were forced back before they could hit the human shield.
Laughing maniacally, Tyrian waved his tail and let it creep up to Jaune's neck. "You really like this one, don't you? Why don't we see what happens if I give him a little tickle with my stinger?"
As the stinger inched closer to Jaune's skin, Pyrrha reached for Jaune's armor, losing control of the airborne debris. She wrenched him out of Tyrian's grasp, but the serial killer let him fly away. He sprinted for Pyrrha, tail poised behind his back. Pyrrha's eyes widened and her shield zipped up, but Tyrian wrapped a hand under her shield and wrenched it higher. His stinger zipped under Pyrrha's guard and jabbed towards her exposed thigh.
Jaune screamed. He rose and swung his sword at the tail. The stinger plunged into Pyrrha's leg, seeping its toxin into her veins. Pyrrha grunted and sank to the floor, putting pressure around the wound in a vain attempt to contain the poison. Within seconds, a bright purple stain spread around the wound.
Before the stinger could pull free, Jaune's sword bit into the base of Tyrian's tail. Aura flared, but Jaune pushed all his weight behind his blow until it bit through. Blood sprayed across Jaune's armor, and Tyrian howled in pain. The tail hit the floor, writhing like a centipede and jabbing its stinger into the splintered wood around it.
Jaune bellowed and swung wildly at Tyrian's head. The Faunus snarled, stepped past the cut, and punched Jaune in the face. His Aura held, but blood dripped from his nose as he flew back.
"You hurt me!" Tyrian roared, pointing at Jaune. "You will pay for this! You'll see! I'll have my Goddess kill you all, slowly, and make you suffer!"
Tyrian fled the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Nora fired a grenade after him, but he charged through the blast, vanishing through an exit door.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune raced up to Pyrrha and fell to his knees, grabbing her by the hand. Aura poured out of him, surging up her arm, but it did nothing to ease the paleness of her face and the clamminess of her skin.
"Jaune," Pyrrha mumbled. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Pyrrha, and you're going to be fine too. Just hold on, we'll get an ambulance." He whirled around and shouted at Nora. "What are you doing, call for an ambulance!"
Ren rose to his feet with Nora's help. "Look around, Jaune. There's wounded everywhere, but no ambulances. Something must be wrong outside."
"Just call an ambulance! She doesn't have much time."
Nora dialed the emergency number, but the line was busy. Tears filled Jaune's eyes as he turned back to Pyrrha. "You'll be okay. I'll save you."
Pyrrha's fingers curled around his own. "I was a fool. I should have told you sooner."
"Don't talk. Save your energy." Jaune's breaths came in ragged gasps, and his eyes darted around the room, unfocused and wild. "Where is that ambulance?"
"Jaune, please, listen to me." Pyrrha's voice was soft, as if she was speaking from the other end of a tunnel. Jaune went pale and bent closer, pushing more Aura into her.
"You'll be fine. I won't let you die. Just stay with me, Pyrrha, stay with me."
"I should have told you sooner. I should have, but no, I can't tell you now. That would just be cruel."
For the first time, Jaune seemed to hear her. He smiled and said, "You can tell me anything. What is it?"
"I –" She stared at Nora, eyes wide and frantic. Nora gave her the signal to go on.
"Just take it slow. You're going to be alright." He muttered it to himself over and over, echoing himself.
Pyrrha took a deep, shaky breath and squeezed Jaune's hand. "I love you."
Jaune froze. "You – you what?"
"I was too scared to tell you at first, too scared that you would think that I was too good for you, or that you would think I was leading you on or getting you tangled in my problems. It happened a couple times back in Mistral, friends of mine left me because I was too popular, too busy with tournaments and photo ops, swarmed by reporters and paparazzi. Then you started dating Blake, and I was so torn up about it. I hated her so much for it, and hated myself for not being able to tell you."
Pyrrha groaned and slumped back on the floor. Jaune rushed to her side and propped her head up onto his knee.
"After a while," Pyrrha said, voice faint, "I started to wonder if I really did care about you, of if it was just some childish crush. I thought I was mature, that I learned how to deal with my emotions and keep myself calm in front of hostile reporters and prying questions, but just seeing the two of you together made my blood boil. I felt so stupid. If I really cared about you, I would've been happy for you. Instead, I couldn't even look at you."
Jaune swallowed. "All that time, the crying, the bathroom? That was all my fault?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "My fault, not yours. I was stupid. I should've told you sooner."
"But why?" Jaune asked. "Why me? I'm absolutely hopeless! I came into Beacon without any training, nearly got myself killed in initiation, and I let Cardin push me around!" Jaune's face fell. "I only asked Blake out because he told me to. How could I be so pathetic? It really is all my fault."
"It doesn't matter. You're happy together, right?"
"Well, I mean, I think so?"
"You care about her enough to put your own life on the line?"
Jaune thought back to the Breach, of how he had tried going in there after Blake, only to be stopped by his teammates. "Yeah, I do."
"That's how I know," Pyrrha said, straining to speak as she grew weaker. "I knew that madman would go after me if I tried to save you, but I did it anyways. That's how much you matter to me."
"No. No, that can't be right, Pyrrha, you can't just throw your life away like that. I'm not worth it. You're so much stronger than I am, and I can barely even fight. If I hadn't been so helpless, you wouldn't have had to save me."
With a trembling hand, Pyrrha put a finger over Jaune's lips, silencing him. "Can you do me one favor?"
"Anything."
"Bring your face a little closer."
Jaune bent lower, until his face was an inch away from hers. Pyrrha's hand reached behind his head and pulled him down the rest of the way. Their lips touched, Jaune's warm and uncertain, Pyrrha's trembling and cold.
As Jaune stayed there, wondering what he should do next, Pyrrha's hand drifted down to his cheek and gently pushed him up.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. "I should've told you sooner."
Her body went slack in his arms. Jaune shouted and pushed Aura into her, but the light of his soul met no resistance. With nothing to cling to, the Aura radiated off of her.
As Jaune shouted and wailed over Pyrrha's body, Ren and Nora hauled him onto his feet. Jaune wriggled in their grasp, struggling to go back to her, but they held him back.
"I know how much this hurts," Ren said, "But we have to go. If it's anything like Kuroyiri, we can't stay here."
"But the ambulance isn't here yet! We can still save her!"
Jaune wrenched one arm free and punched Ren in the cheek. He took two steps towards Pyrrha, but Nora wrenched him around by the other arm and drew him in a tight embrace. Jaune struggled until he felt the tears dripping down his neck.
"She's gone, Jaune. She's gone."
Jaune drooped in her arms. If Nora wasn't holding him up, he would've hit the floor. Nursing a bruised cheek, Ren put a hand on his shoulder. "Our classmates are out there, and they're going to need our help. Let's get going."
Jaune blinked, stood up, and rubbed the tears from his eyes. He found his sword, lying on the floor next to the severed tail, and wiped the blood off its edge. With one last look at Pyrrha, laid out on the wooden floor like an entombed warrior, Jaune followed his teammates out into the streets.
Author's notes down here this time. It's late, I'm tired, and I still can't get this thing done on Friday night. Ah well. So, funny story, in my original outline, I had planned on sparing Pyrrha and sending Ren and Nora to the chopping block. Whoops. I thought about having some sort of butterfly effect where Cardin's actions led to a change in Pyrrha's mindset that didn't give her a hero complex the size of a continent, but it didn't seem to fit in the story.
And I'm still sick. Yay me.