Chapter 8: Playing with the Big Boys
The three White Fang members slowly circled Sise and the students, effectively flanking them, weapons held at the ready. The lion faunus' golden spear was lined with clockwork, the blade itself making up the vast majority of the spear's size. The woman's flail-sickle combo were being twirled about lazily as she leaned back while walking. Meanwhile, the final faunus' hands were now holding a double-bladed sword, twirling it cautiously as he kept his gaze firmly locked onto Tsuki.
"Why don't you take off that mask, Octavius?" Sise asked quietly, greatsword held tightly in his hands. The ram faunus froze- and then slowly reached up, pulling the mask off and clipping it onto his belt. He was pale, with sharp angular features and fiery orange eyes.
"It's been a while, Tsuki." Octavius said back calmly, casually twirling his blades.
"So it has."
"You look tired. Giving these kids a hard time?"
The veteran huntsman said nothing, eyes shooting over to Octavius' partners cautiously.
The ram faunus sighed. "I was hoping it wasn't you when Imp told me a masked huntsman was here."
The woman nodded. "He hated that."
Octavius sent her a look before continuing. "Couldn't stay away, huh?"
Tsuki shrugged noncommittally. "We gave up on you a long time ago. This is just a field trip."
"Ah… and these are your students then? Where's the fourth."
Sise sent a look around- Nash, Gail, Daria- but no Rainier. "He stayed back there at the campsite."
"How… unlikely."
"Take that as you will."
"We done?" The lion faunus grumbled. "We've got places to be."
Octavius nodded, returning his mask to his face. "We're done."
And as one Cerberus dashed forwards.
Gold grinned manically, Dragon's Fang sizzling with heat at his side. "Sorry to bust in on your me-time, samurai, but I've got some business to settle. The little attack with wolfie? That was cute. But now it's just you and me- and someone dying. Spoiler; it's not me.."
Shinai frowned, eyes narrowing. "Not-"
"On your watch, over your dead body, yeah, yeah- I AGREE!" The criminal charged forwards, swinging down at the samurai. Shinai backstepped, Gold's sword planting itself into the ground with a hiss. Kyani immediately struck out with his katana, the Vegas backing away just in time to dodge the swipe.
Gold dashed forwards again, blade dragging across the ground, manic smile planted on his face. "Ooh-hoo-hoo! En garde, kid!"
Shinai side stepped the criminal as Dragon's Fang came up for a slash, curved blade shooting for the samurai's core. The huntsman brought his katana up quickly, forcing the heated blade away with a quick parry, sparks flying up into the air of the cave. The two exchanged blows for a few moments, Gold's blade swung from side to side with heavy slashes, parried away with quick swipes from Shi En's blade. Gold grinned and planted his boot firmly into Shinai's midsection, following quickly by pushing his weight onto the samurai's own, glowing blade jabbing down into the student's midsection.
Kyani immediately brought his boots up and planted them into the criminal's chest, sending him stumbling away and giving the samurai the space to rise back to his feet, point of his katana held towards the criminal.
"I gotta admit, I'm disappointed someone like you's throwing your life away for Beacon," Gold said quietly, reflexively tapping the tip of his blade against the stone floor. "So much promise and for what? The option to die for an old man. You even know who Ozpin is? No. I bet you don't. Things I could tell you, kid."
Shinai didn't respond, simply watching his opponent carefully.
Vegas shook his head, tsking. "It's a shame I'm not gonna get the chance to watch the wolf kill you himself, but… this'll feel so much more satisfying!" With a bark of a laugh, the criminal leapt forwards, Dragon's Fang held high in the air.
Tsuki's greatsword swung out with ridiculous speed, swiping the lion faunus' greatspear away and simultaneously parrying Imp's sickle out of the air, sending it flying back into the depths of the forest.
Nash reached out and swept Daria off of her feet, holding her in the air and avoiding the stab coming from Octavius, one half of the ram's blade burying itself into the dirt. Without losing any momentum, he turned, the other half of his sword swiping at Nash's armor, a deep rivet carving into the red armor of the mech. Nash growled and tossed his leader into the air, sending her into the depths of the trees above.
She reached out with one hand and caught a branch steadying herself, looking back down at the fight proper. A hand reached out and squeezed her shoulder, and she sighed. "Rainier, we-"
The hand tightened and she looked down at it- and the green painted nails. Daria swiveled in her spot, staring at Imp as the woman grinned in amusement. The White Fang member dropped down from the foliage, dragging the DRGN leader down with her, smashing her face first into the ground.
Sise momentarily looked to his charge, a growl escaping his lips, and that was all the distraction the hulking White Fang needed, greatspear swiping upwards and catching the veteran huntsman underneath the chin, sending him slipping into the air with a frightening amount of force. He spun with his momentum, feet finding themselves planted onto the bottom of a tree branch, and he pushed off, soaring back down to the forest floor, his greatsword Theia swiping for the lion faunus' midsection.
As if the veteran huntsman was moving in slow motion, the faunus simply stepped just out of range of the swing, Tsuki's impacting with the dirt and sliding a few feet away, spinning to his feet quickly.
The lion faunus growled and looked off to Octavius, the ram leaping into the air and landing atop Phalanx's shoulders, looking to jab his sword into the more vulnerable neck joints of the mech, before a hulking hand reached up and ripped him down by a leg, smashing him into the ground, sending dirt flying into the air.
"First restraint, open!"
Tsuki let out a yell of frustration. "NO- NASH!"
The head of Phalanx blinked and looked over to the veteran huntsman- before finding the faunus' blade buried into his shoulder. The mech released the White Fang and took a few steps back, Nash working furiously inside of Phalanx to get the arm functioning again.
Octavius rose to his feet, flames spilling from the eyes holes of his mask, smoke rising off of his body as he twirled his blades, jacket dropped to the ground. Like a bullet, he was back next to Nash, leaping and spinning in the air, sword ripping into the metal visor of the mech, drawing a yelp from the young huntsman.
Sise growled and turned his attention back to the lion faunus, the hulking White Fang's eyes glued to the huntsman's own.
"Are we gonna fight or what." He growled.
Tsuki's eyes took in the clustered battlefield- and Gail slowly pushing herself onto her knees, a quiet groan spilling from her lips, and the lack of Rainier; still in the trees?
The veteran huntsman twirled his blade and held it to the side, half of the green sliver in the center glowing softly. "Come on then."
The two dashed forwards, blades meeting with a heavy clang.
Shinai sidestepped the attack, ducking low beneath the blade slash, and swiping upwards with his katana. The strike rang true and Gold growled in frustration, twirling in place as he slashed again.
The samurai parried it away, the glowing blade pushed towards the ceiling, Vegas' eyes following it. Shinai leapt with the momentum of his swing, boot finding itself planted beneath Gold's chin and sending the criminal stumbling away. The samurai completed the turn, landing firmly onto the ground, Shi En held to the side, before dashing forwards again, purple eyes narrowed onto his opponent.
Reaching him, the samurai slashed quickly, Vegas narrowly parrying the slash away and throwing a quick left punch. With his free hand, Shinai caught it by the wrist and turned, using his momentum to throw Gold over his shoulder, and send him flying through the waterfall, back to the pond outside.
The criminal quickly leapt to the rock Shinai had formerly been meditating on, finding his feet and watching with narrowed eyes, waiting for the samurai to follow him back out.
Poof
With a cloud of purple smoke, Shinai appeared behind Gold, boot striking out and catching the criminal in the small of the back, sending him back into the pond, steam rising from where the superheated blade had fallen in.
Kyani didn't waste any time, vaulting up and backwards to the land surrounding the pond, katana held at the ready as he stared at the surface of the water, purple eyes narrowed.
With an uproarious splash, Vegas came crashing from the pond, glowing blade held point first at Shinai's heart as the criminal came soaring down, a scowl on his face. The samurai simply tilted his body, letting Dragon's Fang sear itself into the ground. Kyani kicked upwards, boot finding its mark on Gold's nose, the criminal stumbling away, free hand flying to his face.
Shinai pushed his advantage with a flurry of swipes, using the momentum from one to immediately slash the other direction, tracing an 'X' in the air as Shi En gleamed in the sunlight.
Finally, Vegas brought his own blade up, catching the katana against the hilt and using his superior strength to wrench it from the samurai's hand. The criminal grinned as he dashed backwards, catching it out of the air. "What do I tell ya? I'm a natural with these-"
Shinai raised his gauntleted hand into the air, two fingers stretched out. With a swift jerk of his palm, the katana ripped itself free from Gold's hand.
"What in the-"
He didn't get a chance to continue the thought as the samurai began to swing his hand about, Shi En following his motion and swinging around the criminal, silver blade slashing to and fro across Gold's form. Vegas stumbled away from the onslaught, golden eyes furrowed in confusion before they narrowed onto the samurai's gauntlet and a scowl reclaimed his face.
Gold charged forwards, narrowly dodging the blade as he swept down towards him, and lunged, hands extended out towards Shinai's arm.
The two greatblades clashed, the lion faunus pushing Tsuki down towards the dirt, growling animalistically. The veteran huntsman grit his teeth together, before swiveling his body, sending both blades into the dirt, a back elbow sent towards the White Fang's jawline. The hulking faunus ducked it like it was telegraphed, picking Sise up bodily and charged forwards, heaving the huntsman into the forest-
The duo smashed through the nearest tree, splinters flying into the air as they charged away from the melee for the moment.
Octavius watched his partner go, growling. "Imp!"
The woman looked up from where she was holding Daria's hair, the short huntress' face in the dirt. "Yeah?"
"Where-"
He was cut off as a hulking hand wrapped around his midsection, Phalanx's arm back in working order.
"Don't you ignore me." Nash growled lowly- and then vaulted into the air, taking the two of them high above the treetops, the thrusters on the mech hoisting them away.
Imp blinked as she watched the two combatants disappear. "Huh," She shrugged and turned her attention back to Daria- whom was staring up at her with disdainful brown eyes. "Oh come-"
The White Fang wasn't allowed another word as she was roughly thrown away from the short huntress- poised where she had been was Rainier, tanned face curved in a rare scowl. He didn't stop to exchange pleasantries as he dashed after Imp, Wolf's Claws impacting with the woman's chest and sending her vaulting into a tree, a crack heralding it crashing to the ground.
Rainier was by her side in an instant, a blur of silver, as he leapt and spun, mechanical leg impacting with Imp's stomach, sending her into the ground with a cringeworthy crunch. He didn't stick around though, vaulting high into the air after Nash and Octavius.
Daria groaned as she scrambled to her feet, jogging over to Gail. "Gail, I need you to get up."
"One second…" The archer muttered as blue aura crackled over her form.
"Gods…" The leader hissed in irritation, sending her gaze back to the slowly rising body of Imp.
Octavius growled as he ripped away at any leverage he could get in Phalanx's arm, twinblades falling to the ground. Nash looked down at him as they reached the clouds, his thrusters shutting down.
"Imma plant me a dumbass tree." The mech spat as they twirled in the air, heads pointing back to the earth. With a 'whoosh', Nash's thrusters resumed activity, vaulting both combatants down towards the ground.
In a blur, Rainier met them in the air, metal leg colliding with the back of Octavius' skull, a cannon shot joining the satisfying crunch. Spinning with the blow, the wolf faunus latched onto the back of Phalanx, swiveling around the thrusters spewing fire. He leaned towards the hatch in the back, tapping.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Good!"
The trio hurled back down towards the forest floor- and Octavius was limp, no longer fighting. As they reached the tops of the trees, he raised his head.
"Second restraint-" The rest of the words were lost as they smashed through the trees, a cacophony of shattering lumber, a massive dust cloud flying into the air.
Daria stumbled away from them- and the spot Imp had been- eyes wide as she stared at the mass of combatants; and the longsword buried through Phalanx, pointing out the other side.
The back hatch of the mech spluttered and opened and closed erratically, even as Nash rose to his feet slowly, sparks flying from the wound, a frustrated, synthesized growl escaping his lips.
Beneath him, miraculously not crushed, was Octavius- mask shattered, revealing his grit teeth and grimace. Flames were spilling form his eyes and the corners of his mouth, smoke rising from his body like evaporation.
Crumpled beneath him was the twisted body of Imp, bones pointing in very wrong directions, motionless. He looked down to it.
"Damn." He muttered, bringing his boots up and pushing the mech, and the faunus riding it, away from himself, using his twinblades to rise to his feet. Rainier dropped from Phalanx, striding around it to glare down at Octavius.
"More White Fang, of course." The Vacuoan muttered.
The ram faunus stared at Rainier for a few moments. "You must be related to the White Wolf. A Platina this far east? Hm."
Rainier growled. "YOU do NOT get to say that name!" He spat, voice going hoarse with raw emotion.
Octavius sighed. "Imp?"
There was a whir of movement as both sickle and flail flew towards the two huntsmen, flail narrowly missing Rainier, sickle puncturing a few inches into the mech.
The wolf faunus glared at the flail on the ground, following the wire it was attached to, to the hand of Imp, the woman smiling, mask shattered at her feet, green-yellow eyes glinting with amusement. Her smile tilted manically and she pulled on the string with a finger, drawing Rainier's eyes back to the flail.
A series of clicks filled the clearing as the spikes on the flail flew outwards, dozens of needles flying through the air. The huntsman attempted to leap away, narrowly avoiding some, but taking one to the mechanical leg, and one to the chest, tumbling out of the air. Phalanx rather nonchalantly watched as several of the spikes bounced off of his armor. A hand wrapped around the wire and pulled it towards him, Imp flying through the air to land in his other hand.
"Nice tri-" He began, only for a blade to stab down into the neck of the mech, sparks flying out as Nash gave a yell of surprise.
Octavius glared at the mech. "I'm getting tired of you." He muttered, dashing around the Phalanx and carving the head out in a circle, the helmet falling to the ground. Leaping onto its shoulders, he reached in and pulled out Nash himself, the boy struggling in vain as the faunus held him up.
"NASH!" Daria screamed dashing forwards, leaping into the air, ringblades gleaming with energy as she fired volley after volley of laser discs at the White Fang. He simply dropped from his vantage point, letting the discs burn into the defunct armor of Phalanx. The short huntress skirted around it, blades held at the ready, only to run into a well placed kick to the chin, Octavius lying in wait, still holding Nash by the scruff of his neck.
"Kids these days," The faunus muttered. "Predictable." He tossed the boy to the side and planted a boot onto the back of Daria's neck, twinblades raised high in the air.
Shinai let out a sound of surprise as he tried to swivel his body away from the attack, succeeding only partly as Gold's sword arm wrapped around him. The free arm came up and wrapped around the samurai's gauntleted one.
Vegas grinned and a burning sensation began to spill from the place the criminal was holding, drawing a growl of pain from Shinai, a finger drawing Shi En out of the air and back towards the combatants. Watching the blade soar back towards him out of the corner of his eye, Gold waited until the last moment to spin them away, taking the samurai to the ground and letting the katana fly flush into the pond behind them.
Straddling the huntsman, Vegas- still holding onto the samurai's arm- lifted Dragon's Fang and plunged it down, narrowly missing Shinai's head as he moved it to the side, the superheated blade burying itself into the earth.
Still, Gold didn't let up, using the proximity to the samurai to wrap his sword hand around the huntsman's throat, the same burning feeling taking root from the criminal's other hand as well now.
"Oh, samurai! Most satisfying Rust I think I'll ever get!"
Pain spreading through his throat, Shinai turned his head away- towards the pond, and grimaced, using the strength left in his hand to gently pull the katana back towards him.
With hardly a sound, the katana rose out of the water and rolled to the samurai's hand. Shinai very skillfully turned Shi En around in his hand until its blade pointed towards Gold- and with another finger wiggle, it shot into the man's side, sending him tumbling away; as much as he could, arm still impaled into the ground as it was, hands releasing the huntsman.
Shinai sucked in a breath as the burning abated, hand shooting to his throat to massage it for a brief moment before shooting to his feet, where Gold was struggling to move back into a position to rip Dragon's Fang from the ground.
He didn't get the chance.
Kyani raised his boot and stomped down hard right onto the criminal's shoulder, Vegas' sword arm fully extended. The criminal let out a yelp of pain as his hand grasped at Shinai's foot, pushing him away as and gripping his shoulder frantically.
The samurai didn't react, face falling back into its well-accustomed stoicism as his hand reached out to the side, Shi En flying back to his hand. Standing over his enemy, he twirled the katana and plunged it downwards. Gold's hand shot out to snatch the samurai's sword arm out of the air, like he'd done in their last encounter.
Instead, Shinai skillfully pulled his arm back, katana twirling in his hand to sit parallel to his arm, and grabbed the criminal's outstretched arm.
Poof
The samurai Death Blossomed away, Gold still held in his hand, and reappeared next to an enormous oak tree. Twirling as his feet touched the ground, he slammed the criminal into the tree trunk, Vegas' body wrapping around it before Kyani let go, letting the older fighter tumble away, shaking his hand as he watched impassively.
Gold groaned in pain as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, Dragon's Fang still hissing warningly at his side. "Come on!" He hissed. "Just finish him! You're better than him! He's just a fucking kid!"
"Apparently not."
Vegas' eyes lit with unrestrained fury at Shinai's flatly delivered quip, and shot to his feet, charging forwards, sword swinging wildly.
The samurai simply continued to step backwards, casually ducking and swiveling around the frantic swings.
Gold roared in rage and swung Dragon's Fang one last time, putting all of his strength into the attack- only for Shinai to bring Shi En, still held backwards, and parry the strike away.
Vegas seethed, hunched over, glaring up at the impassive huntsman. "Fine! I'll do this your way!"
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out… a handful of red shards. He grimaced and pumped aura into them, the shards beginning to glow, and then he slammed them into the ground.
Whoosh
An enormous glowing blue curve of energy flew through the air, ripping through the back of Octavius' shirt and sending him- and Phalanx- falling to the side. He rolled with the fall, grunting as he spun back to his feet, glaring from where the attack had originated from.
Tsuki was scowling right back, blue-green eyes livid, Theia held up- the metal segments had slid to the side, revealing a smaller, glowing sword buried in the middle, pulsating completely with energy. The man's hat had been lost, alongside his coat, but he hardly seemed to care.
"Dammit Gaius." Octavius growled out.
The aforementioned lion faunus came barreling out of the forest after Tsuki, roaring in rage as he swung his greatspear down. He wasn't given a chance to connect as an enormous arrow flew through the air, sending him flying to the side. Another one flew true- but this time it was a dark blue, glowing with energy as if like hardlight. All eyes averted to the side; where Gail was standing defiantly, greatbow held in hand. Next to her was a mirror image of herself made of solid, blue light, following her movements in a few second delay.
Octavius scowled, and turned his attention back to Tsuki. "Same old trick."
The huntsman shrugged slightly, before lifting the greatsword high into the air, swinging it down- following his movements was a wave of energy flying through the air towards the faunus. The ram dodged to the side with a whir of movement, smoke following in his path.
"Third restraint- open!" He barked and blazing hot energy burst from him, the other combatants raising their hands to block it. Tsuki scowled and raised Theia high into the air, the inner sword glowing frantically- and the turned the blade towards the ground, impaling it several feet into the dirt.
A glowing blue-green shockwave rocked the forest, exploding outwards from his blade and sending the other fighters tumbling away, the energy ripping away at their clothes.
He scowled- and then opened his eyes wide, head turning to the side as two fangs buried themselves into his neck.
Imp stared back at him with twinkling eyes, as something pumped into the veteran huntsman's body. After a moment, she backed off, wiping at her mouth as his hands flew to the wound, turning on his heel to her.
Surely enough, two few inches long fangs hung from her mouth, lips smiling around them. "Surpriiise."
Tsuki shook his head as his vision went blurry, legs threatening to give out from under him, stumbling in place.
"What did you do to him?!" Daria barked, scrambling over to the huntsman.
Gail slowly drifted to her side, eyes wary as she impaled her greatbow back into the earth.
"We sent a message." Was her short response.
Octavius watched the trio, aware of Nash sitting a few feet away, eyes wide in fear, and the groaning, recovering body of Rainier on the opposite side.
"What the hell does that mean?!" The team leader yelled back, shooting to her feet, ring blades in hand.
The ram faunus shook his head. "No one else has to die, girl. Just him. A message to Ozpin and the red one; leave the White Fang be."
He inclined his head to the side, Imp following after him, waving cutely to the students as she skipped after the ringleader.
"YOU ARE NOT-"
"DARIA!" Rainer roared, getting her to turn to him. "Let them go."
"Rain-"
"I'm not losing anyone else! Let! Them! Go!"
Octavius stared at the wolf faunus- Rainier glaring right back, furiously. The ram nodded shortly, then continued on his way.
Gaius groaned as he rose to his feet at the other side of the clearing, golden eyes staring at the battered huntsman. With a grunt, he took off after his compatriots, sheathing his greatspear onto his back.
The three White Fang disappeared into the forest, never looking back at the students once.
Nash scrambled over to Daria and Tsuki. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god-"
"Nash!" She barked. "Calm down! Give him some space!"
Rainier stumbled over, mechanical leg protesting as it whirred around the spike buried in it. He fished out his Scroll from his pocket. "I'm calling the pilot- we need to go. As soon as possible. Gail, can you help me get him up?"
She nodded quickly, limping over to his side as the two hefted the unresponsive huntsman up.
"Daria, I need you to keep calling people- Ozpin, Glynda, bloody Shinai, I don't care."
The leader nodded. "Nash, come on."
"But…" The boy muttered. "Phalanx?"
"We'll send someone back, we need to go. I need you to try calling anyone as well."
"Oh… okay."
The blonde boy rushed forwards to join his teammates as Gail lead the way back through the forest.
A handful of explosions rocked the previously peaceful clearing, Shinai sent flying away while Vegas had been braced for the impact and simply slid a few feet away. The criminal didn't waste any time before dashing forwards, grin finding itself back to his face as he bore down on the shaken, recovering samurai.
Kyani hissed in a breath as he scrambled to his feet, narrowly parrying a slash from Dragon's Fang away from himself, before Gold brought the blade back up almost cleaving down the front of the samurai. Shinai scowled and grabbed the dull end of the criminal's blade, wincing at the burning pain emanating through his glove at the feeling.
Manically grinning, Vegas lifted his boot and planted it into the midsection of Shinai, sending the samurai sliding meters away, doubled over in pain. Like a bullet, Gold dashed forwards, turning on his heel backwards, planting the bottom of his foot into Shinai's face, sending the huntsman twirling away, Shi En still held in his hand.
"What's wrong, samurai?! You were talking all that good shit a few minutes ago!"
Shinai simply righted himself, wiping at his mouth and turning his katana's blade back towards the criminal, purple eyes narrowed.
"Breathe it in, samurai! This is it. Your last moments. I dunno if you Temple people pray to a specific god, but you better find him real quick." And with that, Vegas began to lethargically saunter his way over to Shinai, taking his time, grin smug and manic at once. Kyani grit his teeth together and twirled his blade, lowering himself back down in his stance, foot sliding through the dirt to find itself behind him.
Gold yelled and dashed forwards, as Shinai did the same, Shi En hoisted to bury itself under the criminal's ribs, Dragon's Fang poised to impale the huntsman through the back.
Before a sonic 'boom' filled the courtyard, a golden gunshot ripping through Gold's arm, an explosion sending the two combatants away from each other.
As Shinai and Gold rolled to their feet, both eyes turned to the rocky outcropping above the waterfall-
Standing, glowering with fury, was Oracle.
And, face pulled up in a rare snarl, was Lance.
And, looking absolutely incensed, was Ulysses, Avenger's chain falling to the ground, ready to be swung at a moment's notice.
And also Professor Port, Axe-Cannon held at the ready, bushy eyebrows disapproving of the scene before him.
Vegas stared at them, golden eyes filled with rage as he slowly began to tremble in fury. His attention snapped back to Shinai, his breathing rising and falling faster and faster. "NEXT TIME, SAMURAI! NEXT TIME!" He roared furiously, spittle flying from his lips, before dashing away, to the opposite direction of the outcropping, into the forest.
Shinai didn't make a move to stop him, arms going limp as his adrenaline waned, Shi En's blade resting against the dirt as he huffed, watching the golden criminal disappear into the darkness. He turned tired, purple eyes back to his team, letting out a sigh.
Oracle nodded back, letting out a deep breath she'd been holding.