Alright, now it's the moment you've all been waiting for: it's finally time for the main Volume 5 chapter to come into play. And we're going to have a lot more superheroes and villains this time around. But first, we're going to have a little perspective for the RWBY characters. After that... well, it's going to be fun.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, the Flash, Supergirl, Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow.
After getting Qrow to safety in Mistral, Team JNPRR followed the Huntsman to his meeting with Professor Lionheart, hoping to get support in finding the Spring Maiden. Instead, he couldn't help, which was disappointing to the team.
But what was more shocking was when Qrow brought in a young man named Oscar Pine, who revealed that he was bonded with the soul of Professor Ozpin. What followed was... surprising to say the least.
Speaking through Oscar, Ozpin revealed that he had been cursed by the Gods themselves to constantly reincarnate over a thousand years, and that he had established the Hunting academies to protect the Relics.
After that, he established his plans to train Team JNPRR, noting that Ruby was poor at fighting without her scythe, Jaune had yet to unlock his Semblance, and scolding Pyyrha for her foolishness in trying to take on Cinder alone.
However, one conversation led to another and the group ended up explaining to Ozpin as to how Pyyrha made it off Beacon tower in the first place, which Qrow confirmed, as well as Ruby's brief abduction on the way to Mistral. Oscar quietly listened as they spoke of the Flash, then Ozpin spoke again.
"Strange." Ozpin commented. "I've met someone exactly like that before."
"Well, why is that so strange?" Jaune asked. "For you, I mean."
"Because I met him centuries ago." The man replied. "If he's here now, then that raises a number of questions as to who he is and what he can do."
"But he saved us." Ruby protested. "I'm sure he's on our side."
"I agree." Oscar's head nodded. "More worrying is the man who abducted you, the one with the same powers. You said he knew Salem?"
"Yeah, he mentioned her." The young redhead replied.
"Hm." Ozpin sipped his coffee. "That's not a good sign. Red and yellow lightning..."
"That mean something, Oz?" Qrow asked.
"I've seen that during the Great War, in the final battle." He shook his head. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but now... it appears we may face another potential problem."
...
In a hidden room in Haven, Arthur Watts and Leonardo Lionheart were speaking with Salem through one of her Seer Grimm about the arrival of Qrow Branwen and the revelation that he knew where the Spring Maiden was hiding.
He had asked that Salem hurry to stop them, but that just ended up with the Seer Grimm choking him. After that was finished, the had reached the point of discussion about Qrow's companions, and what else that could mean.
"And considering the young one is there, it seems Eobard was unsuccessful."
"Indeed. Mr. Thawne still hasn't reported back." Watts said. "It appears something has delayed him."
"It is of no consequence." Salem dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "He will return or he will not, but the plan will proceed."
"Of course." Watts bowed. "The machine he brought is all but ready."
Lionheart looked between the two, confused about everything, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Salem switched topics, ordering Cinder and her team to get the Spring Maiden while Lionheart would contact Hazel. Watts, by contrast, was told that Tyrian would need a new tail.
"What happened to his old one?"
"Guess." Watts pinched the bridge of his nose.
"The silver-eyed girl?" Cinder's glare answered Arthur's question. "It will be done." He bowed.
"Good." Salem's visage vanished before Watts looked at the still kneeling Lionheart.
"It seems Qrow was right, Lionheart. The students aren't pushovers."
...
Back in Salem's keep, the Grimm Witch turned to Cinder, who was looking out the window.
"You are free to speak your mind."
"I don't understand. Working with bandits now?" Cinder asked. "Lionheart, the White Fang, Thawne. We're strong enough to take what we want by force. Why do we need them?"
"Never underestimate the usefulness of others." Salem said simply. There was a brief pause before the Grimm witch spoke again. "You really don't like Eobard, do you?"
"I don't trust him." Cinder said simply. "He shows up out of nowhere and offers to help. Then he vanishes without a trace, coming and going as he pleases. Why are you so willing to listen to him?"
"Because I've seen him before. Centuries ago, in fact." Salem noted the Fall Maiden's confused look. "A story for another time. But you will have the power I promised you when the time is right. But it does come with a cost. If Ruby Rose has learned to harness her gift, then you must take care to protect yours. There's only so much I can do to aid you."
Cinder glanced at her covered arm, then bowed to Salem before turning to leave and walking towards the door. "And Cinder," she turned back to Salem. "Before you go, inform Tyrian that I wish to have a word with him."
A smirk crawled up Cinder's face before she nodded and left the room.
Later
A lot had happened in the last few weeks: Team JNPRR had been practicing with Oscar and Ozpin, training to become even better fighters, with even Pyyrha having difficulty with this new training.
Meanwhile, Qrow was out attempting to gather more Huntsman and Huntresses to aid them, but found all of them to be missing in action. Good news had come in the form of Yang and Weiss, who had sought out Raven Branwen and learned quite a bit about Salem from her before she transported them to Qrow.
After the reunion, more training and discussions about how they had grown, Qrow got a message from Lionheart, who claimed that he wanted to meet with them to discuss the retrieval of the Spring Maiden. Ozpin and Qrow were wary, and decided to bring everyone else as well.
The group had gathered in the main hall, where Raven revealed herself and opened a portal, allowing Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Raven's lieutenant Vernal to come through. Hazel appeared behind them, sealing the doors and proclaiming that the White Fang were prepared to demolish Haven.
"No one is leaving."
In short it was the perfect ambush. With the Teams surrounded and fighting against two Maidens, the odds were heavily stacked against them. Then seconds later, the odds got even worse.
A streak of red lightning flashed into the room, resolving itself into the same man in yellow that had kidnapped Ruby earlier. Everyone tensed at the new arrival, Raven, Vernal and Lionheart included. Hazel was as stoic as ever, but Cinder just looked annoyed.
"About time you showed up."
"I've been busy." The monstrous voice replied. "And I decided to call a couple friends of mine."
At those words, a middle-aged blonde man wearing a suit walked out of the shadows to the side, casually looking around the room without a care in the world, focusing on the 'good guys' as he stood next to Reverse-Flash.
"Wow, you weren't kidding. This is what you're having trouble with?" He gestured to the alliance behind him and Reverse-Flash before gesturing forward. "A drunk and a bunch of children?"
"Humans are weak." Everyone but the suited man and Reverse-Flash flinched as a voice appeared directly in their minds, then gaped as a giant gorilla also emerged from the shadows. "And none are innocent. This will not take long."
"Allow me to introduce my compatriots." The speedster gestured to the suited man. "Damien Darhk," he then gestured to the gorilla, "and Grodd."
"So, some sort of businessman and a talking gorilla." Qrow snarked in spite of himself, causing Grodd to growl. "Is this what you-hurk!"
Qrow gasped and was lifted into the air, to the shock of everyone except Reverse-Flash, Grodd, and Darhk, who was the one lifting the Huntsman with his magical power and a smirk on his face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you." Darhk said casually. "Could you repeat that?" Teams RWBY, JNPR, and Oscar readied their weapons, prompting their enemies to do the same.
Thawne didn't wait: in less than a second, he and Ruby vanished only to appear on the other side of the room with his hand around her neck. "It's good to see you again, Miss Rose." The monstrous voice growled as he tossed Crescent Rose aside.
"Ruby!"
Yang, Weiss and Oscar started towards the speedster, only for them to freeze at Darhk's gesture. Team JNPR wasn't able to help, as they all started writhing in pain, clutching their heads as horrific images and sensations filled their minds.
"You think you know suffering?" Grodd's voice echoed in their heads. "This is true pain."
The rest of Salem's group looked at each other in surprise, while Raven, Vernal and Lionheart were more fearful. The three supervillains had effortlessly incapacitated Ozpin's servants, that it seemed like they weren't even needed.
"So," Darhk clasped his hands together with a cheerful tone as the Huntsman choked to death above him while the others either stood frozen or writhed in agony. "who wants to die first?"
At that moment, a streak of yellow lightning burst into the room, getting Reverse-Flash away from Ruby and throwing him at Darhk, before hitting Cinder, Vernal, Raven, Hazel, Emerald, Mercury and Lionheart, in that order.
With all that happening in less than two seconds, the newly released Qrow registered the Flash's appearance when he paused right in front of them, hurling a bolt of his own lightning at Grodd, who roared in pain as he was knocked back as well.
"Are you guys alright?" The red-clad speedster turned to Qrow, offering him a hand up.
"I'm fine." Qrow took it as Ruby and Yang ran forward to help. "Thanks to you."
The Flash's actions had freed everyone else from Darhk's magic and Grodd's mental torture. The team didn't have long to celebrate, as the distorted laughter of the Reverse-Flash echoed through the hall.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised you're here." The yellow-clad speedster stood up. "Though it is getting really annoying."
"You're predictable, Thawne." The Flash replied. Everyone else raised their weapons as the Grimm allies recovered.
"So, you're the Flash." Cinder said as she stood up. "I don't think we've ever had a chance to talk like this."
"I'm sorry." A look of confusion crossed the hero's face. "Who are you again?" The Fall Maiden's face darkened.
"You shouldn't have come alone, Flash." Hazel growled, with Cinder punctuating it by igniting a flame in her hand. To their surprise, the speedster smiled.
"I didn't."
A blue-white portal opened behind the gathered members of Team RWY, JNPR, Qrow and Oscar, causing everyone to turn in shock. A blue and red blur flew out of the portal first, crashing to the ground with enough force to unleash a shockwave that sent the villains flying again.
The new arrival was a blonde woman, clad in a red and blue suit with a knee-length red cape, and a stylized 'S' on her chest. But she wasn't the only one: several other individuals emerged from the breach, most clad in unusual outfits.
...
Author's note: (Besides Flash and Supergirl, the list includes Green Arrow, Black Canary, Ragman, White Canary, Heat Wave, Citizen Cold, ATOM, Citizen Steel, Amaya, Zari, Killer Frost and Vibe. For your reference as well as mine)
...
"Kill them all!" Cinder shouted.
The speedsters didn't waste any time, as Flash and Reverse-Flash immediately came into conflict, vanishing from everyone's sight in a streak of red and yellow lightning. The others quickly followed suit, with Cinder immediately unleashing her power against Supergirl.
To her surprise, the Kryptonian barely reacted before Cinder was abruptly sent flying across the room into the wall. Vernal attempted to shoot her, but screamed in pain as heat vision turned one of her weapons to slag. Hazel looked at her with a weary eye.
"You must be the Kryptonian." Hazel said. "Thawne left us something to deal with you."
A humanoid red android fell from the ceiling, its hands spinning rapidly and forming a gust of wind that sent Kara flying back. The Girl of Steel recovered enough to get a good look at it.
"Red Tornado?"
"Actually we call it Red Tempest." An arrogant voice emerged from the machine. "A fascinating design really, and extremely powerful when amplified by Dust." The machine began hovering with the use of Gravity Dust. "Would you care for a demonstration?"
Supergirl didn't reply; instead she flew into the machine, punching Red Tempest in the face as they flew towards the roof. The android responded with bolts of lightning and altered gravity, and the two flying bricks flew through the roof like it was made of paper towel.
"Well, now that that's out of the way." Cinder walked towards Jaune and Pyyrha, her remaining eye glowing with fire. The young Huntsman noticed her, but was blasted aside by a burst of fire as the Fall Maiden approached her target.
"I'm going to finish what I started." Cinder snarled, a flaming sword forming in her hand. Pyyrha held her sword and shield in a ready position.
Meanwhile, Qrow was fighting against his sister, while Vernal was taking on Weiss, slightly handicapped with one of her weapons destroyed. Yang and Ruby were forced to duel Mercury and Emerald, Ren, Nora and Citizen Steel were dealing with Hazel, while Sara, Green Arrow and Ragman were fighting Damien Darhk, while the rest of the heroes were forced to deal with Grodd.
Eventually, Sara was knocked away by Darhk, and landed near Qrow. However, Ragman had managed to grab the sorcerer for a moment before hurling him into Lionheart. Oliver used that distraction to hit Raven with an explosive arrow, who quickly transformed in order to recover.
"Well, this is going fairly well." Sara groaned as she rose to her feet, looking to Qrow, who gave her a shrewd look. "And there's another problem, then."
"They said the White Fang are already outside." Qrow said. "They're going to demolish the school."
"Not on our watch." Sara said. "Mick, Snart, Dinah, Ragman, you're with me."
The five of them broke off to retreat outside, the rest of the Legends and Team Flash had Grodd in hand, with some already aiding the others. Mercury took a bad blow from Yang, landing near Darhk and Lionheart.
"We're outmatched." Lionheart cursed. "This was not supposed to happen."
"Fortunately, we have a contingency in play." Darhk replied calmly. "Grodd and I weren't the only ones Eobard called. And they're already waiting for the signal." He hit a button on his watch. "Which I just gave them."
"More 'friends'?" Mercury sighed. "We barely know you. Who else did Thawne bring?" Darhk's smirk wasn't pleasant.
"He just called them: old friends from Earth-X."
Adam Taurus wasn't exactly in the best of moods right now. This was supposed to be a simple operation: his allies would do their task while the White Fang demolished Haven Academy and bug out before anyone realized what was happening.
Then a pair of figures shot out of the ceiling of the building, clashing in mid-air as bolts of lightning, fire, ice and lasers streaked through the air, while two streaks of lightning, both yellow and red, weaved through the courtyard and into the city. Then Blake showed up, with an army of Faunus and Mistral's own police forces ordering them to halt.
Furious, Adam tried to detonate the bombs, but found them to have been disarmed. And after that, things got even worse, when five strangely dressed figures emerged into the courtyard, turning their weapons at the White Fang as well.
"So much for dealing with the bombs." Sara muttered, drawing a pair of batons. "I guess this is just clean up."
Now, it seemed that the tides were turning against them, right up until an army of gas-masked soldiers appeared from nowhere, with red and black styled symbols on their arms.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Dinah stared in disbelief. "I thought we were done with this!"
"Kill them all!" One of the soldiers shouted. "Avenge the Fuhrer in the name of the Fatherland!"
"Great, who invited them?" Snart sighed, turning his Cold gun on his hated foes.
"I hate Nazis!" Mick growled, burning several soldiers with his flamethrower.
"I'm not even going to ask." A vaguely demonic voice emerged from Ragman's mask as his robes casually intercepted bullets shot at him, before lashing out at the soldiers.
The Nazis attacked, but to Adam's surprise and annoyance, they were completely indiscriminate, targeting anyone and everyone around them. Faunus retreated to cover as the officers traded fire with them.
Through this, Adam quickly could tell that this mission was lost and moved to run, only for Blake to intercept him. Enraged, the bull Faunus charged, only for his ex-lover to easily avoid and strike him in the back, causing him to stumble to the ground.
The White Fang began scattering as the Nazis targeted everyone, their hatred in particular seemed to be the group of colorful individuals who had arrived outside, along with their allies in the office.
Unfortunately for them, the heroes made short work of them. Streams of fire and ice brought the soldiers down, Sara brutally beat down one before hurling a pair of throwing knives into two others.
Black Canary's Cry sent a dozen Nazis flying, while Ragman's robes intercepted bullets and hurled several Nazis aside. Still, they were slowly being overwhelmed, at least until the office fight began spilling outside.
Ray flew through the Nazi ranks at microscopic size, firing off energy blasts before un-shrinking and uppercutting one into the air before grabbing another and throwing him aside. Nate waded through gunfire like it was nothing, casually tossing the soldiers aside while Oliver quickly put arrows in several others before turning back to deal with Darhk.
Back in the office, things were also going fairly well. Cinder's fight with Pyyrha was interrupted when she was blown away by a gust of wind from Zari. Amaya helped Ruby fight Emerald, while Yang sucker-punched Mercury after he took a hit from Killer Frost.
Then Hazel realized that Oscar was Ozpin, and pulled out lightning dust crystals. The fight shifted against the heroes at that point as the berserker rampaged through them, with only Nora having a chance thanks to her Semblance.
Then Weiss turned against them.
The Schnee ex-heiress abruptly turned and swung at the ice metahuman who had been aiding her, with Frost barely blocking the attack with a large icicle blade. She used her glyphs to send Killer Frost flying, before striking at Jaune and Pyyrha.
"Weiss!" Yang shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"Pathetic." It was Weiss' voice that emerged from her lips, but the inflection and tone were all wrong. "You all feel connections to each other, and it will be your downfall."
"Grodd." Cisco said, turning to the gorilla in question. "He's controlling her!"
ATOM flew back into the room, but was knocked aside by a summoned Knight, which was frozen solid by Killer Frost. Yang fired a couple blasts from her gauntlets before she launched herself in Grodd's direction, narrowly avoiding the sweep of the Knight's sword as it broke free, but was swatted away by Grodd himself.
"Her life is mine." Weiss said, spinning her weapon into a reverse-grip. "And it ends now."
"NO!" Ruby screamed as it became clear what was going to happen.
Weiss stabbed herself in the stomach, Grodd's control vanishing as the blade pierced her body. Weiss' eyes widened in horror before she collapsed to the ground, her weapon still in her torso.
There was a brief moment of silent shock, then Ruby abruptly screamed, her silver eye powers activating and lighting up the room. Cinder recoiled in pain, and strangely enough, Darhk did as well, though his reaction was less severe than Cinder's.
The bright light vanished when Emerald struck Ruby from behind, forcing her powers to halt. Still having some Aura left, Ruby was quick to spin around and retaliate, sending Emerald flying into Mercury.
Suddenly, the young redhead froze in place as Darhk approached, his previously calm and smug visage now replaced with tranquil fury. "That... was... unpleasant." The sorcerer snarled as Ruby was lifted into the air.
...
Time stood still.
At least, that was what it looked like for the two speedsters, who were battling each other inside and outside the building, weaving through the combatants as the Flash chased his nemesis, occasionally trading blows as their chase eventually made its way through Mistral proper.
The two arch-enemies were evenly matched; while Barry was ultimately the faster of the two, it was Thawne who was the better fighter, having more experience in hand to hand combat.
The speedster duel continued all throughout Mistral, as Flash and Reverse-Flash exchanged a dozen blows and ran to the opposite ends of the city in the time it took everyone else to blink.
Up and down the sides of buildings, through the roads and streets, even through the rivers and waterfalls, their duel continued, the two bitter enemies refusing to concede any advantage to the other.
Their's wasn't the only conflict that had spread beyond Haven Academy grounds: Supergirl and Red Tempest continued their fight over and through the skyline of Mistral. The Dust infused android was proving quite difficult for Kara, even more than Red Tornado.
Kara tried to minimize the destruction as much as possible, keeping their fight above Mistral's skyline, but Watts (who was controlling Red Tempest), had no such reservations. The two became briefly entrapped in a tug of war between Supergirl's heat vision and Red Tempest's lightning, which was ended when she closed the gap and punched the android in the face.
The impact caused a momentary loss of control, and the robot hurled blasts of fire, ice and lightning all around it, including the ground below. Red Tempest redirected those blasts back at Supergirl, distracting her from the damage that had been done and forcing them in Haven's direction.
Fortunately no one had been hit, but the projectiles had broken a small bridge over the edge of a waterfall, and it was close to falling off. One pedestrian had already been knocked off the edge. The two speedsters were close by and noticed this.
Barry didn't hesitate.
The Flash diverted from his pursuit and immediately got the people off the bridge before it fell. Turning his attention to the one in midair, he immediately ran down to the bottom of the cliff and created a wind funnel, allowing her to fall safely to the ground.
With the bystanders safe, Barry sped away, searching for Eobard's trail, but unfortunately it had gone cold. The speedster paused for a second, looking around, then was hit by a moment of inspiration before vanishing once more in a streak of yellow lightning.
...
Pyyrha stood on the platform that entered into the vault, standing near the elevator as Yang spoke to Raven. A lot had happened in the last few minutes. When Weiss had stabbed herself, Ruby's silver eye powers had activated, hurting both Cinder and surprisingly, Darhk.
Unfortunately, the sorcerer had thrown Ruby aside before her powers could fully activate, though that didn't last long before Snart and Mick forced him back. Grodd was quick to retaliate, which Raven, Cinder and Vernal had used the distraction to enter the vault, heading down the elevator shaft below.
Fortunately, Jaune had discovered his semblance: the ability to recharge the aura of another, which he used on Weiss, healing the self-inflicted damage. The fight had continued on above, with Grodd and Darhk still dominating the fight initially.
Blake had also appeared briefly, showing the battle still raging outside. But then everyone had felt the ground shake below. Ruby wasted no time in ordering both Yang and her down into the shaft, which their enemies were blocking. However, the hero called Vibe had created a blue-white portal that led straight to the bottom chamber, completely bypassing the defenders.
When they emerged from the breach, Cinder was nowhere in sight and Vernal was lying dead on the floor. It quickly became clear that Raven was actually the Spring Maiden, considering that she was standing in front of the now open vault.
Pyyrha watched as mother and daughter spoke to one another, not saying a word. It was clear that Yang was feeling a lot of pent-up emotion over this, and it wasn't her right to interfere.
Raven accused Yang of being scared, briefly directing that accusation to her as well. Considering what she had seen of Cinder's power and knowing that Raven was the Spring Maiden, Pyyrha couldn't deny that she was.
Yang admitted it as well, then turned it against Raven by accusing her of being afraid of Salem, pointing out that her plan to steal the Relic would only make the bandit leader an even bigger target in the Grimm Witch's crosshairs.
To that end, Yang proposed that she take the Relic and that Raven take the chance to run. Considering her personality, it was surprising to see Raven so close to breaking down, but it seemed like Yang's words were getting through and that they would actually get to take the Relic without a fight.
Unfortunately, that option was about to be taken out of all of their hands.
In one second, Pyyrha had been knocked away, nearly tumbling over the edge. Yang and Raven were also thrown aside by the yellow-clad speedster who wasted no time in entering the now open vault.
Reverse-Flash paused long enough to carefully remove the relic from its resting place, as if mocking them, then he vanished once more in a streak of red lightning, returning through the portal and running past the three of them, before making his way up the elevator shaft.
Moments ago
The number of Nazis had died down, but it seemed that they were still coming from somewhere. To make matters worse, a pair of Atlesian Paladins marched out, their weapons armed and ready. They would tear most of the Faunus forces and Mistral's police to shreds.
"Giant robots. Really?" Sara sighed. "Where are they getting these things?"
"I'm on it."
Ray flew past, narrowly avoiding missiles from the two Paladins before shrinking himself down near one and blasting a hole inside it. The ATOM's actions within the mech quickly caused it to shut down.
The second Paladin turned its attention to the rest of the Faunus army and Mistral police, but a blur of red smashed into the robot and all but shattered it into a million pieces. Red Tempest pushed itself up from the remains, completely undamaged from the massive impact.
At least until Supergirl's heat vision began burning into it, with the android struggling to keep its structural integrity. A stream of fire and ice followed as Citizen Cold and Heat Wave joined in as well.
Dinah's Canary Cry added itself, alongside Ray's ion blaster fire, Cisco's vibrations, and Killer Frost's ice blasts. The combined energy heated up Red Tempest before it was eventually torn apart, the volatile Dust combusting as it overloaded.
The superheroes paused to take a breath, but the peace didn't exactly last long. There was a brief scream as Sun and Nate were sent flying behind them, followed by Grodd's angry roar.
Ray's ion blasts struck the meta-animal, but the gorilla was more annoyed then hurt and roared angrily. He growled again as Blake unleashed a flurry of slashes, then snarled when his first attack merely hit one of her shadow clones.
Unfortunately, ATOM made a mistake and flew close enough for Grodd to grab him. The gorilla promptly hurled him at the cat Faunus' true location and both hit the ground painfully.
While this was happening, the remaining superheroes were quick to deal with the platoons of Nazis that were still pouring into the area, while Cisco went to close the breach that they were emerging from.
It didn't take long for that to happen, and with the Nazi advance halted and Mistral's police and Menagerie's Faunus working to deal with the White Fang, it decreased the number of threats they would need to deal with.
Naturally, Damien Darhk decided to change that. Darhk's magic sent everyone but Oliver flying, as the Green Arrow moved closer to fight the sorcerer while everyone slowly got back up.
"You killed me before Mr. Queen." Darhk pulled a dagger out from his jacket. "And I'm going to enjoy returning the favor."
"You know, I would say the same." The sorcerer managed to catch the knife aimed for his neck. Green Arrow gestured to Sara. "But I believe she deserves the honor this time."
Their potential duel was halted when Reverse-Flash ran past, completely ignoring the conflict around him and instantly entering the elevator shaft that led down to the vault.
It didn't take long for him to return.
The streak of red lightning blitzed through the office and into the courtyard, before being rerouted by a streak of yellow lightning that had come from the city. Flash and Reverse-Flash were both sent flying before skidding to a halt across opposite sides of the courtyard. Something fell from the exchange, which Ozpin and the rest quickly recognized was the Relic.
"Isn't that-" Sun started, but was interrupted by shouting.
"Grab the relic!"
It was a moment of chaos as the people in the know rushed for the Relic. Supergirl intercepted Hazel as he dashed to the whispering lantern, the Kryptonian easily sending him flying with a single punch.
Suddenly, Kara's hands clutched her head, her mind being slowly overwhelmed by Grodd's mental attack. Cisco, Amaya, Zari and Frost immediately moved to attack Grodd, and the gorilla found himself struggling for a moment.
Nate tossed Mercury aside while Ray blasted Emerald away, before Darhk halted both of them in place. He casually walked to the Relic, freezing Ruby, then Jaune as the two leaders attempted to engage him.
He was standing over the lantern when he did stop, quickly moving to halt an arrow from Oliver. The archer was too close, and engaged Darhk in hand to hand combat, while Sara was the one who managed to grab the Relic.
It didn't last long in her possession, as Hazel had recovered and punched her in the chest, before picking up the Relic himself. He dropped it and clutched his ears as a deafening sound hit him, the Canary Cry being enough to knock him away into the path of Nora.
Emerald promptly returned the favor to Dinah, lashing out with her chains against the metahuman. She wasn't able to capitalize on this, as Ragman threw several Nazis at her before grabbing a hold of Mercury as he attempted to recover.
Adam, who was unaware of what was so important about this Relic, was engaged in combat with Blake and Sun. Meanwhile, Weiss and Qrow were dealing with the Nazis that still remained, while Grodd threw Cisco and Frost aside.
Throughout all this, Supergirl was still struggling against Grodd's mental attack, Flash and Reverse-Flash were still clashing throughout the courtyard, and Ozpin/Oscar was still recovering from his fight against Lionheart and Hazel.
Eventually though, Eobard had an opening.
Reverse-Flash snatched the relic before anyone else could grab it, running away before entering a strange portal that appeared out of nowhere. The Flash followed immediately, entering the rift less than a second before it closed, leaving the rest confused and shocked. Darhk, however, had a brief flicker of annoyance on his face as he managed to briefly overpower Oliver in combat, knocking the Green Arrow aside.
"Of course he leaves." Darhk muttered as he walked away.
A couple Faunus moved to stop him, but Damien casually tossed them aside with magic as he approached the still rampaging gorilla, who was still struggling against the totem users, being buffeted by a gust of wind. A quick swipe hurled both of them away as well.
"Well this has been fun." Damien pulled out a small device from his suit pocket. "But I think it's time we take our leave. Grodd?"
The telepathic gorilla growled before turning to follow the dark magic user. A breach opened in the middle of the courtyard and the two entered, which promptly closed behind them.
Zari, Amaya, Sara and Oliver looked at the space where the portal had been with annoyance, then turned back to the battle in the courtyard. Seeing that there were still Nazis fighting, Green Arrow drew an arrow while Sara pulled out her staff and Amaya was surrounded by the glow of an elephant.
The four of them charged into the fray.
...
With their allies straight up abandoning them, it was clear to Salem's cronies that this was a losing battle. Lionheart had already retreated, no doubt attempting to flee for his life. And with Darhk and Grodd gone and Eobard missing (the latter of which had taken the relic), the young members of Teams RWBY and JNPR were calling for their surrender.
The White Fang were being arrested, the superheroes were mopping up the last of these Nazis, the Paladins and Red Tempest was a pile of scrap metal on the ground. Yet despite everything, Emerald held out hope that Cinder would emerge from the vault and turn this around.
That hope died when Yang and Pyyrha rode the elevator up from the vault with the Fall Maiden nowhere in sight. Emerald all but collapsed as the reality set in, despite Mercury's attempt to get her to focus.
Then her Semblance went into overdrive as a giant image of Salem appeared in the middle of the room, looking extremely unnatural. The abomination screamed and attacked, giving the criminals time to escape.
"What-what was that?" Blake shuddered, looking at everyone else.
"An illusion, but an accurate one." It was Ozpin who answered. "That was Salem."
Hazel sprinted through the forest with the still unconscious Emerald in his arms, Mercury struggling to follow as well. They soon reached the clearing where Watts was waiting with their airship out of here.
"I take it the mission didn't go as planned?" He snarked as they approached, tossing aside the control implants that he had used to direct Red Tempest.
"Cinder's dead." Mercury said simply. Watts suppressed a snort.
"I find it hard to call that a negative." He ignored Mercury's impotent glare to focus on Hazel. "What of the relic?"
"Thawne took the relic and left us." Hazel snarled, gently setting Emerald down. "I knew we couldn't trust him." A streak of red lightning turned their attention to the edge of the clearing beside them.
"Oh ye of little faith." The speedster had pulled his mask off, his appearance and voice now normal. Hazel snarled and stalked over to him.
"Where's the relic?" The warrior demanded. "What have you done with it?"
"Calm down. The relic is safe."
"Then where is it?" Watts asked. Eobard pointed to a tree that was just at the edge of the clearing.
"I hid it in there." Thawne replied. "The tree's hollow." Watts and Hazel looked at each other.
"When did you do that?"
"About two hundred years ago." Thawne waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Give or take 10 to 15 years. See for yourself." Hazel walked over to the tree, while Mercury looked at the time traveler, an expression of annoyance written on his face.
"You know, your magician friend and his pet gorilla just straight up abandoned us." Mercury crossed his arms before gesturing to Watts. "And that robot you two put together didn't exactly do much. Now Cinder's gone."
"Grodd and Darhk have their uses." The speedster replied as Hazel punched a hole in the tree. "And as for Red Tempest, considering that it kept Supergirl busy, I'd say it was a resounding success." Their conversation was interrupted by Hazel's voice.
"The relic's not here."
"What?" Eobard was standing next to the hiding place in the blink of an eye, looking through the new hole in the tree. The relic was gone. And if that was the case, then that only meant one thing.
"Flash!" He growled, barely containing his rage.
189 years ago.
Reverse-Flash emerged into a clearing, nearly two centuries before a specific airship would use it as an impromptu landing pad. The red-eyed speedster looked around and a smirk grew on his face.
Nothing was present and more importantly, the Flash was nowhere to be seen. Eobard laughed. His nemesis had followed him into the Speed Force and the two had clashed throughout all of Remnant's history.
The future speedster had finally managed to lose Barry during the Great War of Remnant, more specifically in the final battle of Vacuo. Now, Reverse-Flash knew the best place to hide his prize so his nemesis would never find it.
Hidden inside a fairly hollow tree, having been phased through so that nobody would be able to notice it. The speedster had been tempted to bring it back himself, but this way would ensure the Relic's safety in the unlikely event Barry managed to find him again.
With his prize secure, Eobard sped away, entering into the Speed Force. Mere seconds after he left, another time portal appeared, and the Flash emerged from it, immediately running over to the relic's hiding place and taking it.
Cisco had contacted him through the Speed Force, having been able to vibe where Thawne was headed and giving Barry the location needed. With the relic finally secure, the Flash immediately entered into the Speed Force as well, his destination in sight.
...
Present time
The battle of Haven Academy was finally winding down: the White Fang had all but surrendered and Salem's lieutenants had retreated. The two Paladins had been utterly destroyed, along with the Red Tempest android.
Darhk and Grodd had retreated, but the Nazis had refused to surrender, which was just as well as the Legends, Team Flash and Team Arrow weren't looking for it. With their heavy hitters gone, the heroes made short work of them, leaving the ground littered with Nazi corpses.
Of course, the Remnant natives obviously had tons of questions, both to each other (Blake and Sun still didn't know why Team RWY and JNPR were here), but also for the superheroes, who weren't looking forward to it.
But Qrow and Oscar/Ozpin had a much bigger concern right now: specifically, the location of the Relic of Knowledge. Reverse-Flash had stolen it and he and Flash had disappeared through some kind of portal.
When asked where they had gone, the woman called Killer Frost had said dismissively; "Either in the past or the future. Ask Vibe." Which, to Ozpin, suddenly made a lot of events much clearer now, but that just raised new questions.
A portal appeared in the center of the main hall, and a streak of yellow lightning emerged. The Flash came to a halt in front of Qrow, holding the Relic of Knowledge out to the Huntsman.
"I believe you were looking for this." The speedster handed it to Qrow, who gently took the Relic.
"I'm not even going to ask." The Huntsman sighed.
"Well, I have to." Yang sighed. "Who are you people?" She gestured to the superheroes around them. "Where did you guys even come from?"
The members of Teams Flash, Arrow, Legends and Supergirl glanced at each other, with a number of them sighing, pinching their noses or just shrugging. The Flash was the one who broke the silence and turned back to Yang.
"Where to begin..."
Honestly, I'm not sure how well this turned out compared to the Beacon chapter. Haven just had less stuff going on, and while I wanted to add more heroes and villains, I think it might've become a bit too cluttered. Oh, well.
You know, it seems like Eobard Thawne has made himself an enemy of absolutely everyone in the multiverse and throughout time. It's... actually kind of impressive, really, to have pissed off so many superheroes and supervillains like that, to the point that even Nazis don't really like him!
And now he's got a few more people who absolutely despise him on Remnant, on both sides of the war. And yeah, both he and Barry have now basically embedded themselves into the timeline of Remnant thanks to time travel.
Now, some might be wondering why the Nazis from Earth-X would be willing to listen to Thawne considering he abandoned their leaders. The thing is, anyone who could tell them otherwise is either dead, imprisoned or a rebel they wouldn't listen to. Granted, I'm not sure how much authority Reverse-Flash was given, but he could probably get a number to agree to conquer a different world.
Red Tempest was admittedly something of my own creation, based off the Red Tornado, Red Inferno, Red Torpedo, and Red Volcano from DC (unless there is already a Red Tempest somewhere...). Honestly, I needed something that could actually challenge Supergirl, since she would be enough to take on the entire Haven attack force alone, even with two Maidens on their side, and I didn't feel like using Kryptonite.
Now unfortunately, this will be my last chapter of this story for a while now. I may gain another plot bunny eventually, but there most likely won't be another chapter until at least Volume 6.
Also, an FYI for anyone who doesn't know: I have a Patr[e]on account under hunter 139 now. Patrons will get their names thanked in every subsequent chapter, and those who pay more will get to read a chapter a week before I post it, or a sneak peek of an upcoming chapter.
Still, with all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.