Good news: my brain cooperated. Better news: work was slow enough that I got three-quarters of this chapter done there. Best news: in the additional free time, I got a couple outlines done, along with a first chapter for a brand new fic that may or may not be hitting the site sometime soon.
Bad news: I waited until the last minute to patch this up, but that's to be expected at this point. Working from a phone has its disadvantages, I've found.
Also, I have two chapters worth of reviews to go through, so let's do that.
To Jajo Camello, yes, all the points about putting limits on Pyrrha's Semblance has its merits. And yes, there are other broken abilities. My main problem is that the show never showed any shortcomings to Pyrrha's abilities, while they at least have Weiss' summoning semblance only work on things she's personally beaten, for example. Making Pyrrha concentrate for it would make it significantly weaker, but she's been shown to have perfect control even as she's performing complicated acrobatics.
To everyone else, I'm glad to receive such a warm welcome back. I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon, and hopefully, I'll have this story done soon.
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Internal Hemorrhaging
Even with a weightless mace, Cardin couldn't keep up with Mercury's inhuman speed. The agile assassin used every surface, the desk, the walls, even the ceiling, as a vantage point to whittle away at Cardin's Aura with bullets or launch forward and deliver a devastating kick. Each footprint of the advanced prosthetics left flickers of static in its wake, and every kick that landed on Cardin's arms threatened to leave his arms numb. Cold crept into his arms as his Aura reserves dwindled away.
"Better hurry up," Mercury said. "Clock's ticking, and I'd rather not be here when this place blows."
Cardin's eyes went to the bomb. The thought of taking it and running crossed his mind, but with Mercury hot on his heels, he wouldn't be able to study it. Cardin ran through other options, but running empty-handed solved nothing, and his arsenal was ill-equipped to handle an agile fighter in close quarters.
Cardin feinted towards the bomb, and Mercury leapt to intercept him. Turning sharply on his heels, Cardin sprinted for the broken door, but a kick to the ribs knocked him aside. He rolled on the floor, gasping for air, and crouched up against the far wall.
"You know," Mercury said as he stood over Cardin. "Anyone else from Beacon would be trying to tell me I should let myself die to save everyone else."
Cardin groaned and rose to his feet. "I'm not stupid enough to think you'd listen to that."
"See, you get it. And honestly, that's why you're the one person in this entire city that I actually don't want to die."
Cardin circled around Mercury, keeping his mace raised to block an attack. The assassin seemed to study him, only turning his head to watch him. When Cardin had Mercury in between him and an open stretch of wall, Cardin lunged, pushing his Semblance into his weapon. Mercury leapt away, but Cardin kept going, driving his mace through the wall. He rolled through the jagged and staggered into the lobby.
Russell and Dove had been forced back by the Grimm, barely managing to confine the snapping, snarling horde to the hallway. Dove was frantically reloading his sword while Russell flung Dust-coated daggers.
Mercury strode out of the wrecked door frame, kicking aside the last remnants of the wooden door. He gave a passing glance at the hallway brimming with Grimm before stalking towards Cardin.
In the few seconds he had, Cardin unfurled the chain and flung the spiked ball down the hall. Mercury gave him a kick square in the breastplate for his trouble, kicking him across one of the long tables.
With the Grimm knocked aside, Russell rushed in and shut the door. While Dove and Russell engaged the few remaining Grimm, Mercury circled around Cardin, firing slugs from his heels. The blows tore apart the tables, blinding Cardin with wood fragments. Gripping his mace tight enough to hurt his fingers, Cardin backed away and his behind several desks. Mercury kicked his way through them and strolled nonchalantly through the wreckage.
"If you want to get your teammates in on this, go ahead. With these legs, I can take you all on."
The few computers still intact in the room flickered to life all at once. Watts' words came from speakers across the room, giving his voice a cavernous quality. Cardin struggled to hear what he said, which condemned the Dukes and their schemes from the sound of it, as he kept an eye on Mercury. Each step his opponent took brought him closer to the chain Cardin had sent through the hall.
When Mercury stepped into the right spot, Cardin flicked his wrist. The chain lying on the floor skidded to the side and coiled around Mercury's leg. A gunshot rang from Mercury's heels, and he flew up out of the trap. Cardin sent the chain after him, but Mercury leapt away, always one step ahead of the metal links.
The distraction gave enough time for Russell and Dove to finish the last of the Grimm and join the fight. Russell did a spinning leap through the room, bisecting Mercury's jumping space, while Dove fired at Mercury, trying in vain to track his speed.
His teammates' support was enough for Cardin to get some links coiled around a leg. Before he could pull it tight, a shockwave shook the building. Windows shattered in a shower of glass, and the support beams groaned. Cardin wobbled on his feet and fell sideways, losing control of the chain. It slackened enough for Mercury to wriggle free.
Mercury closed the distance between them. A powerful kick sent Cardin crashing through a desk, leaving him with a sliver of Aura. The haft of his mace flew from his grasp and clattered on the floor.
Mercury kicked the chain aside as he advanced on Cardin. Bullets shot into his back, but he ignored the light blows to his Aura.
"Get up and keep going. I'd rather make this a clean death for you."
As Cardin watched death approach him, Cardin saw an ominous black shape, captured on a computer screen. Glowing red wings spread out over a jagged crater filled with broken bodies. Over the speakers, Watts' voice proudly proclaimed the death of every Duke in Vale.
Cardin tilted his head up towards him and tapped his nose. "Just aim here. No Aura to protect me. That way, it would be over in a flash."
Mercury stared at him with suspicion. The last word clearly registered with Russell, as he moved his shadow towards Cardin. As Mercury aimed the gun in his leg, a flashbang, pin already pulled, popped up in front of him.
Cardin closed his eyes and rolled. The light was intense even through his eyelids, and the loud bang left his ears ringing. Staggering onto his feet, Cardin scrambled for his weapon, but he was too disoriented to find it.
Mercury was sitting on the floor, howling in pain and clutching his eyes. His other arm swung wildly around him
Running out of time before his opponent recovered, Cardin held out a hand and shouted for Dove to toss him the sword. Cardin's first instinct was to aim for the neck, but as he raised the sword over his head, he caught the glint of metal through Mercury's torn jeans. The sword grew ponderously heavy as he swung it down at Mercury's thighs. The last of Mercury's aura deflected the blow away from flesh, guiding the blade through the metal linking man to machine with surgical precision. The artificial leg fell away with a shower of sparks and a spurt of lubricant. Mercury's Aura ran out in the middle of the second leg, and Dove's sword veered aside, slicing through flesh and bone before biting into the floor.
The decapitated legs twitched like crushed insects. Cardin watched as the phial of poison emptied itself, its lethal fluid mingling with the oil and Dust residue on the floor. For good measure, Cardin kicked the legs across the room, just in time to duck behind a desk as the legs spent the last rounds inside of them. Dove and Russell rushed in front of Cardin, blocking the incoming bullets with their Aura.
Too racked with pain to even scream, Mercury writhed on the floor. Cardin nodded towards their fallen foe. Dove held down Mercury's arms while Russell searched his shadow for bandages.
Meanwhile, Cardin ran back to the security office. The bomb was still in its seat, the timer reading just over five minutes. Cardin picked it up with twitching fingers, holding his breath as he examined the bomb. Neat bundles of wires coiled around a phial containing volatile Dust compounds. The wires ran between the timer and the detonator, but without knowing what they did, Cardin didn't dare cut them.
As Cardin was contemplating how best to dispose of the device, the intercom cracked to life. "How disappointing." Watts' voice drawled out of the speakers. "After all the trouble I went through to design and install those legs, you sliced them clean off. I knew I should've surgically implanted that poison."
Panic shot through Cardin like lightning. He set the bomb on the chair and sliced through every wire with the sword, praying to the Brothers that it wouldn't set anything off.
The timer stopped. Cardin held his breath, waiting for something to change, but nothing happened. Watts gave him a slow clap. "Nicely done, you disconnected the timer before I could speed things along. Oh, if only I had some other way to detonate it."
There was no mistaking that menacing, sardonic tone of voice as anything other than a promise of certain death. For a heart-stopping moment, Cardin can only stare at the device, struck dumb by the futility of everything they had just been through. Then he had a wild, crazy idea.
"Russell!" He sent the bomb skidding across the floor. Russell's eyes widened in confusion. As Cardin braced for the explosion, Russell snapped to attention, and his shadow raced to grab the bomb. The device sank into the darkness without a sound.
For a moment, the three teammates stared at each other, too relieved for words or cheers. Even the howls of Grimm banging at the doors couldn't cut through the exhausted joy. Then there was a soft, muffled boom that echoed from the floor under Russell. When Cardin asked what had happened, Russell coughed, spraying flecks of blood across the room, and fell over.
Cardin and Dove sprinted to his side. Cardin pressed two fingers into Russell's neck. The skin felt clammy to the touch, and his pulse weakened by the second. Dove stretched out the gauze and searched Russell frantically for any wounds, but all the damage laid beyond their reach.
As Russell slipped away in their hands, the shadow on the floor shivered. A billowing cloud of acrid smoke filled the room. As it cleared, a pile of scorched detritus, the ruined collection of keepsakes and equipment Russell kept squirreled away with his Semblance.
Textbook covers, their pages burnt to ash, sat in a limp heap. Glass shards littered the floor, the remnants of their portable Dust supply consumed in the blast. Weapon maintenance tools, a shattered games console, burnt rations and popped water bottles, scorched scraps of clothing, a battered camera, ruptured Dust batteries, and a photograph of the four of them, arms over shoulders, smiling at the camera, holes eaten away by the flames, all of Russell's broken possessions spilled out before them.
"Well, that was unexpected," Watts said over the intercom. "I'll let Cinder know that you have yet again cheated death."
The intercom shut off with an audible click, and this time, it felt as though they were truly alone. Cardin looked around, worried there might be another trap, but all was silent inside the CCT. Dove gently laid Russell out on the floor, folding his arms over his chest as though arranging him for his coffin.
"Did you know this would happen?" Dove's voice was hollow and cold. His eyes had sparks of anger glimmering in them.
Cardin shook his head. "I didn't know what would happen. I panicked." He sifted through Russell's smoldering pile with one foot. "It could've been worse. At least the rest of us didn't die."
Dove's jaw clenched. He took a step towards Cardin, one arm poised for a punch. Cardin watched him without moving. For a moment, they stood a couple feet apart, still breathing heavily from the fight. Heaving a sigh, Dove lowered his fist and turned away.
"Let's just fix this tower and go home." He turned back to Cardin with a frown. "Any ideas?"
Cardin thought for a bit and cursed. "We should've dragged Sky along."
"Third floor," Mercury said in a weak, thin voice. "Watts has a transmitter hooked up to the maintenance terminal, it's how he's controlling everything. If you're lucky, he hasn't gutted everything yet."
Cardin took the stairs four at a time, pushing his Semblance and his body beyond their limits. Gasping for air and head swimming, Cardin frantically searched for the transmitter, and found it. A flash drive shaped like a chess piece stuck out of one of the computers. He yanked it out and tapped the screen to life.
Whatever Watts had done removed the login protocols, giving Cardin full control, but as he dug into the computer's files, he found gaping holes in every system.
Carrying Mercury on his shoulders, Dove clambered up the stairs. "Any luck?"
"I think we're screwed. The data scrub didn't finish, but there's not much left."
Dove watched the screen. "Think they might have a back-up somewhere?"
"Probably, but who knows where it is, let alone if Watts hadn't wrecked that as well." He gestured at the screen and its sparse collection of program icons. "I can't even access the file storage."
"Let me take a look," Mercury said. Dove gave him a murderous look but said nothing as he pushed his chair into place. Mercury swiped through broken programs and called up a command prompt. Tying in lines of code, he found the item directory. Line after line of program had red 'corrupted file text, but a few black items remained.
"Cinder had Emerald and I learn this stuff." Mercury chuckled. "I was better at it."
Cardin leaned over his shoulder as Mercury's finger flew across the holographic keyboard. The prompts fly too quickly for him to read, but the occasional word jumps out at him, enough to convince him that Mercury isn't finishing what Watts had started.
"Well, the backups were hit, but I think I can patch them with what's left on the current version."
Mercury typed in another prompt. Many of the red-texted items turned black, but some corrupted files remained. Mercury looked them over and said, "The HTTP protocols are still out, so no texts or long-range calls, but the systems handling local calls is here. I'll try bringing it online."
Cardin brought out his Scroll. The no signal symbol at the top right vanished, replaced with an arrow he hadn't seen before.
"You got something?" Dove asked.
"Let's try it out."
Cardin called General Ironwood. He was automatically received by the ship's answering system. The video feed was a black wall, but Ironwood's voice came through crisp and clear over the sounds of aerial bombardment.
"Thank goodness you're alive, Cardin. I thought you dead with the rest."
"The rest?" Cardin echoed. He remembered Watts' broadcast. "What happened?"
"A flying Grimm, a Wyvern, destroyed the Dukes' private shelter, along with all the Huntsmen with them. I assume I have you to thank for the CCT coming back online?"
"Yes. The local stuff is all we could get."
"It will do. I'll get back in touch with Ozpin and come up with a plan. Head over to-"
"Ozpin's dead."
The words stopped the general in his tracks. Ironwood swore, censored by the thick, metallic slam of his prosthetic arm breaking something.
"I don't have Glynda's number. Hell, I don't even know what's going on at Beacon." Ironwood took a deep breath. "I assume you're still at the CCT?"
"For now. I'm planning to regroup with some other students at Junior's nightclub. I had it fortified."
"I had a team en route by Bullhead. They should be there in a couple minutes. Do you know where Ruby is?"
"Haven't checked yet. She wasn't at the nightclub when we left."
"The Wyvern's headed straight towards us. I can't fight it and the Nevermore at the same time. Have Ruby stop it at any costs, and we might turn this around. Can you do that?"
"I'll try."
"Well, you have twenty minutes. Vale - no, all of Remnant is counting on you."
Cardin supposed the pep talk was to encourage him, but it just made him roll his eyes. "No promises. I'll call back if we won't make it."
Cardin brought up Weiss' number. The call was picked up within the first ring.
"Cardin, nice work! We heard from Junior that you went to fix the CCT."
"Is Ruby with you?"
Weiss seemed troubled by the question. "We lost contact when we went after Adam-"
"You went after him? Were you crazy?"
"We got him. That device he had was a fake. Yang's down with a head injury. Blake and I are here, but our Auras are nearly spent." Weiss checked her scroll and said, "The tracker isn't getting a signal. Are you sure you have everything back up?"
"The CCT is wrecked. What about JNPR?"
"We haven't seen them."
Cardin ground his teeth. "Get Ruby over there as fast as possible. I'll try to find Jaune's team."
"But wait, what about-"
Cardin hung up and dialed Jaune's number. It took a few extra rings, but just before Cardin lost hope, Jaune answered in a tired voice.
"What's up?"
"Where are you guys?"
"Stuck in the concert hall," Jaune said. After a pause, he added in a voice on the verge of breaking, "Pyrrha's dead."
"Sorry for your loss," Cardin said with as much tenderness he could manage, which, given his usual disposition and the current state of affairs, wasn't much. "Russell didn't make it either."
A long moment goes by without a response. Cardin checked his Scroll for a signal and asked, "Are you still there?"
A slow, deep breath hissed through the speaker. "I'm here. What do you want?"
"We need to meet up at Junior's. If you haven't noticed, there's a giant Grimm Dragon destroying Vale. We need to stop it before it takes down Ironwood's ship. Can you fight your way there?"
There was some muted discussion in the background. "Ren can sneak us past the Grimm, but he'll have to rest afterwards."
"Save Ren for later. Meet me by the fountain out front in three minutes. I'll have a Bullhead."
Cardin stared at the console, still processing the deaths of the Dukes. "Did that broadcast reach everyone in Vale?"
"Probably." Mercury typed something in and brought up a log of CCT usage. "There's an emergency broadcast system that he hacked into. Any device in signal range played it."
"Can we use it?"
After more typing, Mercury said, "That system's intact, I think. Try that microphone at the other seat."
Cardin sat down and tapped the microphone. Mercury ran through the settings some more and nodded.
"Testing," Cardin said, and almost immediately, his Scroll rang in response, causing a feedback loop that faded and distorted his voice as it repeated over and over.
"Citizens of Vale," Cardin said, falling easily into the style of public speaking his father had ruthlessly drilled into him, "This is Duke Cardin of Winchester, speaking from the CCT. No doubt you have heard the news regarding the deaths of my colleagues and the Huntsmen they had guarding them."
He paused, uncertain of what to say next. Though he couldn't see them, he could imagine countless terrified faces looking up at him, through the screens of their Scrolls, grasping for the thinnest thread of hope.
"Unlike the other Dukes, I chose to fight for this city, and that is why I am still alive. I will keep living, keep fighting, until the Grimm have been driven out of the city and the ones responsible have been brought to justice. In the meantime, as the last surviving member of the Council of Lords, I hereby issue the following orders to all Huntsmen and other combat groups defending the city. Subduing or killing Cinder Fall and her associates takes priority over killing Grimm. The Grimm can be dealt with later, but should Cinder achieve her objective in Vale, all will be lost. Contact Ironwood for any further instructions or requests for reinforcements."
Cardin cleared his throat, fighting to keep his breathlessness and dry tongue from muddling his speech. "To the citizens of Vale, have hope. My being here, talking to you, has already ruined one of the terrorists' plans. Before the day is done, I will ruin the rest."
He waited until Mercury cut off the broadcast before slumping back in his chair. "Well, how was it?"
Dove shrugged. "I guess it'll work. We should get going."
When the three of them went back downstairs, they found five Atlesian Specialists scoping out the lobby. One examined Russell, puzzling over the lack of wounds, while another checked the security room.
Their leader, a short, stocky man with close-cut auburn hair and a green charm affixed to his coat, spotted them first. He drew his weapon, which strongly resembled a fishing pole, and held it loosely by his side. "Halt. Atlesian Special Forces, third recon squad. Identify yourselves."
"Cardin Winchester, Beacon student and Duke of Winchester. Ironwood sent you?"
The Specialist relaxed his guard. "Name's Clover. I just got new orders from Ironwood. I'll escort you back to your safe zone for reinforcements before we hit the Wyvern. The rest of my team will stay to guard the CCT." His eyes narrowed when he saw Mercury on Dove's shoulder. "He's a confirmed terrorist."
Cardin stepped between them. "Mercury is with us now. He's the reason we got the CCT up, and he has valuable intel on Cinder."
Clover studied the bandages around his stumps. "You're planning to carry him through this mess? It would be safer to leave him here with my squad. They'll keep him out of harm's way."
Cardin looked back at Mercury. His eyes darted to the other Specialists with a trace of fear, but he nodded firmly.
"I have a Bullhead waiting," Clover told them as they walked out the front doors. The Specialists sealed it shut behind them. "You'll have to show the pilot where to land."
"We have a quick stop to make before that. There's a group of four - of three students by the concert hall northwest of here."
"We don't have time for that."
"One of them has a Semblance that makes everything they touch invisible to the Grimm. If we want to reach the Dragon quickly, that's our best option."
Clover nodded and helped them into the Bullhead. A few Nevermore from the swarm blotting out the sky swooped down at them, but the pilot banked between a couple buildings, and the Grimm broke off.
"How did you even make it here?" Dove asked.
Clover tapped the charm on his coat. "A bit of luck, and a whole lot of dangerous flying. Buckle up, there's more up ahead."
The Bullhead went through a series of intricate twists and turns, dodging a torrent of sharpened feathers. The ones that connect slide off the slick metal exterior, and one left a long scratch in the front window.
Cardin's Scroll rang, and it nearly flew into the ceiling when he answered it. "Ruby is with Jaune," Weiss said. "She mentioned you were on your way?"
"Thanks Weiss. Get ready, we'll need your help taking down the Wyvern."
"Wait, what?"
Cardin hung up and looked out the window. "Should be just up ahead."
"I see them," Clover said. He leaned into the pilot's compartment and said, "Clear an LZ. We have four friendlies to extract."
Team JNPR fought in a triangle around a cracked fountain. Ruby was perched atop the bisected figure that had once sprayed water, using the elevated spit as a sniper's perch, aiming for the larger Grimm in the rear.
The guns on the Bullhead's underside whirred to life. Bullets poured down into the Grimm surrounding the fountain, and within seconds, the area was clear. The Bullhead dropped down with sickening speed, and the hatch flew open.
"Get in, move it!" Clover shouted. "Before more show up."
As they took off, a Creep slammed into the side, digging in with its claws. Clover popped the door and kicked it in the jaw.
Once they made it back to Junior's, they didn't waste time on explanations. Cardin yanked Weiss into the Bullhead as Ruby shouted for her sister, while Dove hopped out and went over to Sky. As they took off again, climbing towards the seething mass of Grimm in the sky, the goons and conscripted militia manning the walls and windows looked up with haunted eyes. Cardin leaned out to them and saluted them, and he saw a few backs straighten below him.
Changelog
3/3/2020 – a few grammar fixes, and tweaked the end of the chapter to get Weiss on board. Left without her by mistake, whoops!