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The Mad Spring Maiden
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Innovation or death.
There is no room for complacency.
Only evolution.
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In the under-dwelling of Professor Henry Stein's lab, Bean was strapped to the same chair used so many times for Grimm experiments. In attendance, was also the leader of the Mistral Kingdom, Prime Minister Argent.
"I assure you, doctor—Bean will be deployed as soon as our armies establish a foothold on Vale soil," he said.
"M-m-must see Victoria soon. Bad-d-d feeling."
"I know, Henry. I miss her, too."
While the doctor lost himself in his instruments, Argent made his way to the desk mired with paperwork. In its corner, untouched by any of the clutter, was a small picture frame. A bright, smiling bride carrying an equally elated groom in her arms. In terms of height, Henry was much shorter than Victoria.
Argent used to joke about the size discrepancy, which earned more than a few stern words from his sister.
…
They had failed her.
Some days, Argent wondered what madness drove them to such measures. A reckless experiment to fuse Human and Grimm. And to counterforce the influence of the dark creature, they made her inheritor of the Spring Maiden.
It was supposed to be revolutionary. An undertaking that would change Remnant forever. A way to control the Grimm. And it would give Victoria a power she so rightly deserved.
Salem's whispers in their ears…
I will grant your beloved a strength no one would dare question. Enough to silence naysayers. A force wielded to command respect.
"Madness," Argent muttered aloud. "Pure madness doomed my sister. Nothing but our own self-righteousness."
The Prime Minister looked to Bean.
He wondered if the boy would be able to communicate with Victoria—or if he were simply repeating the same mistakes of the past.
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X
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After the punishing experience of Vulcan's ambush, Neo vowed never to make the same mistake again.
As soon as the Spring Maiden came to view and tilted her head in their direction, the petite girl activated her Semblance. A great mirror conjured beneath her team's feet, and they fell through. Lightning shattered the glass until it was nothing but sparking shrapnel.
The five reappeared some distance away, just barely out of the Spring Maiden's sight. Only when they squinted their eyes, could they see the woman in her full form.
The upper half of her face was masked with bone so familiar to the Grimm. It also carried a wistfulness similar to a veil. Long, black and silver strands of hair flowed out like some vengeful spirit. Her "garments" were a macabre version of a wedding dress constructed of bone and sinew. Across her body, screws stuck in place, which acted like tesla coils.
Her wings were pieced together with various gears and weapons. They scraped with a cringing sound, folding with unnerving twitch. Though they could only be described as "wings", they were skeletal by design, so flight was impossible. Her frame itself was thin and fragile, almost malnourished in a sense.
All matter of plant life sprouted from her passing footsteps. In the cloudless sky above, spears of lightning rained down. Bright and divine, they struck at random. Nothing safe from the walking personification of creation and destruction.
"AHhHhHAAAAHhhHhHH!"
The Spring Maiden let out a heart-wrenching scream. It was a sound that overpowered the senses. Made those near it grow frail and unstable on their feet.
"—THAT?!"
Mercury couldn't help himself from yelling.
"THAT is the Spring Maiden?! How the hell are we supposed to down THAT freak of nature?!"
"I didn't plan to find her like this," Emerald muttered with one hand on her chin. "Raven's intel said she was the key to saving Cinder, and I knew she was in Vale. But I didn't know she was around here." She paused. "But you knew—didn't you, Mazzie?"
The engineer continued to peer at the walking catastrophe in the distance without any indication she heard Emerald. Something flashed in the small woman's eyes. A light of purest grief.
"I have a job contract for Team ENMY… I formally request you terminate the individual formerly known as Victoria Stein, the current Spring Maiden."
"…Is this really what you want?"
"I… I…" Masa's expression paled and shifted. "It is the heartfelt request of this one's host that her dear friend finds peace."
"I knew it," Emerald murmured quietly. "Team ENMY accepts the contract. It's not like we have a choice. Running away from her is impossible now."
"This one will assist you in any way she can."
"That'll be something to see."
"—Hey, are we really doing this?!"
"Keep it together, Merc. We've taken down a Maiden before."
The young man looked at her, then back at the shrieking, electric, banshee monster.
"I don't think you can really compare that thing to the last Fall Maiden!"
Emerald ignored her partner.
"Yang! Call out her weaknesses…Yang?"
Hearing no response, Emerald turned, and saw Yang had fallen to her knees. Neo was shaking her out of worry.
The young girl's eyes were wide with something Emerald couldn't describe. The crimson in Yang's irises glowed especially bright. Tears ran freely and constant down the girl's cheeks.
"Yang? What's wrong? What are you seeing?"
"Em…!" Yang barely able to eke out words through her sobs. "I've never…! Seen anything like this…!"
Her hands clutched over her heart, which ached with torturous anguish. A sorrow so deep and continuous rent her emotions, until she could only breakdown crying.
In Yang's vision, she saw deep gashes of red all over the Spring Maiden's body. They blared and fluctuated wildly. It was nothing like the veins of yellow light she saw in others. This was the Reaper Semblance in its original. Images of the body cut apart and put back together. Death plagued every fiber of the Maiden's being.
There was nothing resembling defense or the hiding of weakness. But its opposite.
"She…!" Yang hiccupped painfully.
"She wants to die…!"
…
They went silent at those words. Each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. A wound stricken to their cores. It rooted them where they stood.
…
"Then we put her out of her misery," Emerald spoke softly. She coughed and tried her best to maintain her composure. "Mercury, take the skies."
"—Yeah."
"Neo, taxi me and Yang in. We'll come at her from the shade."
"(—Okay.)"
"Yang… I need you here."
Emerald pulled Yang by the collar, and the girl stood with an effort—not bothering to wipe away the tears still streaming down.
"—I'm here. I'm ready…"
"Hey, Masa. What kind of help were you talking about, exactly?"
The engineer faced the equipment still lying at their basecamp.
"Penny. Execute ReOrder Program 3-9."
[Executing, Doctor.]
Suitcases flew from the hummer's trunk like military air lockers. They landed at the feet of Team ENMY. Body parts ejected from each container and assembled into the figure of a familiar girl.
The android snapped to an energetic salute.
[This Unit is Combat Ready.]
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X
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As soon as Mercury and Penny flew a certain distance of the Spring Maiden, ephemeral bolts and screws floated down from the sky. They had a feathering glide to them, which lent an impression of gracefulness.
The translucent objects glowed and charged.
"—Shit! Slide, slide!" Mercury called.
They backed off just as a web of electricity traced among the conductors. The thunderous wave blew the two away, as if it were an explosion. Despite dodging the attack preemptively, they still suffered some effect of shock and stun.
In the wake of the crackling surge, the Spring Maiden tore a weapon from her wing, like ripping off one of her own feathers. She chucked an axe, then a sword, then a spear in violent succession. Although the manner of the throws was berserk, they were lent a deadly accuracy and speed.
Mercury shook off the numbness and force activated his Semblance to its fullest. He gathered desperately what winds he could to deflect the first projectile. For the second, he barely parried. The silver light sprouting from his heels diminished significantly at that.
Penny released an array of swords, catching the spear aimed for her in steel wires.
[Combat Reassessment Required.]
"No 'combat reassessment required'!" Mercury refuted. "Just keep playing decoy, tin can, so the others can blindside her!"
[Acknowledged.]
At that, Penny pressed her thrusters to engage the Spring Maiden once more. Her swords danced and weaved towards the target. Mercury trailed in her wake.
The wings of the Spring Maiden shifted and assembled a number of rifles and shotguns. They creaked forward, taking aim. Then, gunfire rang out in volleys. The barrage detonated midair, painting the skies with smoke.
Penny's swords were shot away with piercing plinks. She was forced to cover herself when a second wave of rounds was fired.
To save the android from the shower of artillery, Mercury activated his Semblance once more to repel the attacks, while whisking Penny to a safe distance.
"Crap, this is really eating up my Aura."
[Decoy maneuvers: required.]
"Yeah! I know! But Yang will never let me hear the end of it, if you get turned into a pile of scrap again!"
…
Meanwhile, as the two fliers earned the attention of their target, the rest of the team reappeared in its shadow.
Not twenty feet away, three figures burst into an all-out sprint from the cover of shattering glass. Neo swung around from the left side. Emerald went straight, staying in the Maiden's blind spot. Yang looped from the remaining right, powering her fist along the way.
With tears still flowing from her eyes, the burning warrior never blinked for a moment. Her arm pulled back, and pitched forward with a riproar of force.
In the next second, her world flipped upside down. Yang wasn't sure what happened, but vaguely felt a hand wrap around her wrist. Then, her body was thrown of its own volition.
Was that…
Aikido?!
Her back bounced hard against the dirt. And while she lied belly-up, the Maiden delivered a downward axe-kick to the midsection. All the air in the girl's lungs expelled and her insides crumpled.
It was Neo's turn next. She slipped into the thin space where her prey could not attack from. The stiletto sword in her hand postured for an upward thrust through the ribs.
Just when the point was about to find purchase, a shield materialized in its way. The sword was deflected with ease, and the recoil caused momentary imbalance. To finish it, the shield bashed Neo straight in the face. Her nose leaving a trail of blood on her backstep.
Emerald tried repeatedly to hallucinate something, anything at all within the target's mind. When nothing came of it, she could only opt to assist the physical assault.
She released the chains on her weapon and tried to loop them around the Spring Maiden's neck. The woman only caught them in her hand and gave it a rough tug. The small motion was enough to drag Emerald out of control towards her enemy. A wing full of blades waiting to meet her.
"—GUYS!"
A concentrated volley of ordinance hit the Spring Maiden from all sides. Projectiles from Yang, Neo, and Mercury coalesced there. Combined with Penny's beam cannon, they drowned the target with overwhelming fire. When Emerald regained control of her body, she too added her bullets with desperado flare.
…
Once they finished emptying their rounds, a tense wait followed. Smoke and hot dirt clouds from craters obscured their target. All eyes rested on the single square yard of space.
For a second, they entertained the thought of it actually being defeated. But then, they knew better.
"—My 'that-was-too-easy' senses are tingling…" Emerald whispered.
As if to answer her paranoia, dark mists pooled where the mad Maiden fell. Her limbs that had been shot off, the bullet holes that riddled her body, everything was being regenerated with inhumane vitality.
"No… freakin' way," Emerald muttered.
"What do we do now?" Mercury asked.
"We hit her again! Rinse and repeat!"
At hearing Emerald's words, alarms went off in Yang's head.
"We can't do that!" she shouted.
"What do you mean?"
Yang looked down at her arm, remembering the sensation of when she was thrown with effortless technique. Not only that, but she saw the perfect counterstop used against Neo. And then, there was the way it avoided being entrapped by Emerald. Those were not feats of mere coincidence, but pure skill.
It was a glimmer of insight, and a far-fetched theory in any other circumstance—but Yang, and even her teammates understood it on some level.
"…The same moves won't work twice," Yang gulped. "There's a brain of a genius martial artist in there—I can feel it. If we try the same trick again, we might die."
The Spring Maiden displayed berserk behavior. But her body and finely tuned instincts remembered the fighting style of her "previous life". Rather than a foe they could prod for weaknesses, every encounter would be a tightrope walk. This is what Team ENMY knew innately.
"—Right. So, we smack her with the dirtiest tacs we got," Emerald reassessed.
"And if she keeps regenerating?" Mercury questioned.
"There's gotta be a limit—we just have to drive her to it."
"Sounds like you've had better plans."
"You got your own idea? Cause I'd love to hear it."
"AaAHhhHHHHhHHHH!" the Spring Maiden shrieked.
"Nope. Your call, Em."
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X
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…
The battle waged on for an hour now.
Though the length of time may not seem much from the outside, or in real time. But in terms of fighting, an hour was an eternity.
Going the distance in a championship boxing match meant twelve grueling rounds of torture. Even then, there were breaks in between.
Of course, for Team ENMY, there were no breaks. No moments of reprieve to catch their breaths or reformulate plans. They ran out their stamina and rode on adrenaline. While fatigue tried to set in, each member brushed it off, like a demon on their backs.
The hours of training they put into their bodies, one could never count them all. But as obvious as it was, one could train the body. One could not however, train mentality.
While Mercury, Yang, Neo, and Penny swarmed their target from varied angles, they broke off and rejoined formations seamlessly. Some direction was left to the fighter's discretion. The rest, was carefully coordinated by the team's "brain".
Partway through the introductory fight, Emerald's role transitioned. She dedicated herself solely to guiding the other's movements. A taxing job to say the least.
With her hallucinations rendered ineffective against the Maiden, half the Team's tactics were out the window—among some of their best.
Even so, the leader pressed on. She stressed every braincell and milked every synapses fire. Having to deploy a different strategy for each encounter, which usually lasted the span of a few seconds, was overclock for the shotcaller.
But Emerald had thrived since becoming Team ENMY's leader, more than she herself realized.
"—Masa! Did you finish uploading Penny's commands, or what?! The next engagement's waiting on YOUR ASS!"
"Penny's commands are ready for execution, this one confirms."
In addition to hallucinating directions to her teammates, Emerald had to do the same for Masa, who controlled Penny's more complicated movements. As ingenious as the engineer was, even she couldn't fathom how quickly the leader adapted their brand-new ally into so many maneuvers. It was a testament to something only hundreds of life-or-death experiences could develop.
The Spring Maiden released a discharge of electricity in all directions. Yang and Mercury were about to be caught in its effect, when Penny and Neo swooped in. Out of the thin air, the hook from Neo's parasol snagged Mercury's hip, and pulled him into a portal. Likewise, Penny wired Yang's arms, sky hooking her away—just as shockwaves cascaded below.
"Thanks, Penny!" Yang shouted.
[Acknowledged.]
"—Alright, people!" Emerald's voice resounded in their minds. "Blinders are going up in three…! Two…!"
At that moment, sight and sound cutout for Yang, Mercury, and Neo. In the pitch black, a lone spotlight shone on the point of their destination and the path leading to it. Nothing else could be seen, smelt, or heard under Emerald's Semblance. Their senses were completely isolated.
I hate it when she does this, all three members thought simultaneously.
Regardless, the moment their feet hit the ground, they blitzed through the route they were assigned to. The Spring Maiden likely somewhere in the darkness, chucking more weapons or firing off lightning bolts nearby. The attacks could miss by miles or by a few millimeters, and they would never know. She could be standing beside them, chasing them, a blade swinging in their direction, and the three would not know.
They had only one thing in that cut-off world, their destination—and their belief in Emerald.
Because the body subconsciously reacts to everything around it, a loss of time or lag can be caused in performing a task. To eliminate this error and free her team of distractions, Emerald developed this hallucination, which the others trained extensively under.
Not many teams could boast such a bond with their leader. To the point, they willingly gave up their senses, to put themselves at the other's complete disposal. It was the worst "trust fall" exercise. But Emerald's teammates had what could only be called, faith in their shotcaller.
They were a team of Alpha-Egos, but their leader was the biggest one of them all.
Mid-run, Yang felt an invisible blade cut close to her cheek, but she still ran. Neo felt a hard breeze blow just above her head, but she still jumped. Mercury could almost tell something was in front of him. He could feel the air prickle against his skin, but Emerald's hallucinated path dictated he fly straight, so fly straight he did.
They reached their positions, and their senses instantly returned. When they looked back at the path they traveled, it was covered in craters, fire, and devastation. A blind dash through a minefield was what they just performed. And they found themselves surrounding the Spring Maiden in a perfect triangle enclosure. A formation impossible to gain through normal means.
"—JUGGLER!" Emerald ordered.
Suddenly, Penny's swords, which were tunneled into the ground beforehand, shot up into the Maiden. The stream of blades poured out like a tapped spout. Each strike elevated their target higher and higher into the air, until the Spring Maiden was forcefully held helpless in the sky.
Killer instinct kicked in for Neo, Yang, and Mercury.
The petite girl launched herself to the level of the winged monstrosity. A flurry of sharp kicks, followed by a singular, ear-screeching stab, sent the Maiden higher into the atmosphere.
As Neo drifted down, Yang rose like a rocket. Arms poised, locked and loaded. Two body shots were delivered to the Maiden's liver and kidney. And then the combo ender with a sharp uppercut that cracked straight through the target's ribs into her guts.
Yang let gravity do its work, and Mercury switched in. No combo, nothing fancy. Only a brutal rising kick that landed like a spear to the flightless bride's center mass. The chest cavity caved in. Mercury swore her heart stopped beating.
While their prey still hung in the air, the three landed.
Their Auras charged to critical mass. Their Semblances ignited, like shining jewels—and they pulled the trigger.
Yang blazed like a sun going supernova. She leapt once more to unleash her strongest haymaker. On contact, the fire from her fist encompassed the Maiden in a halo of flames, while depleting the surrounding space of oxygen.
Wings unfurled from Mercury's heels, as he rode a storm to their enemy still set aflame. By reintroducing oxygen from his wind-swept kick, he created a backdraft between his and Yang's ultimate moves. A greater plume of fire combusted at its peak.
Mirrors danced in the sky, like shimmering ballerinas. And with a tap of Neo's parasol, the knives of glass flocked like angry of birds. They crashed like a thousand years' worth of bad luck onto the Maiden.
And then, it was Emerald's turn.
There were several options available to her. One of them, would be to restart the juggle strat and hit the Spring Maiden with the next powerhouse combo.
…
But Emerald refused to move.
She only continued to watch the grievously damaged body plummet to the earth. Her stare kept its unfailing composure, in spite of her next words.
"This isn't going to work."
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X
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"Masa! Have Penny string her down," Emerald commanded.
"…Understood."
On Masa's instruction, Penny wrapped the Spring Maiden's mangled body in a tight bind. The black mist of Grimm billowed around the pile of flesh once more, initiating the regeneration process. Although, given the damage, repair would take significantly longer this time around.
Meanwhile, Emerald's teammates landed and gathered to her.
"What are you doing?! We gotta take her apart before she can heal!" Mercury started.
"It wouldn't have worked."
"Oh, now you're saying that?"
"I was wrong. Sue me."
"You…! What, are you saying we did all that for nothing?!"
"We bought valuable time," Emerald shifted mindsets. "Let's use it, instead of yelling, shall we? Unless—Yang? Would it have worked?"
Yang never let the Spring Maiden out of her sight, and the Reaper Semblance never ceased to cause her anguish.
She shook her head.
"It wouldn't have worked," Yang confirmed. "I don't really get how, but…she's too powerful. We can't overload her healing like we can with Bane-users."
"Yeah. Well, inheriting a Maiden's powers and being fused with Grimm will do that to you, I guess."
"What can we do? She's…!" Yang fought the pain needling her chest. "She's crying out. She won't stop, and—"
Emerald grabbed the back of her neck, and pulled her close. They tapped foreheads.
"Calm down, Yang. Stay focused. And breathe. I need you to keep it together."
"Uh huh."
"Now, I need you to show me what you see."
"…Alright," she consented.
Yang turned around. She took in the monstrous figure in its whole.
The Death in the Spring Maiden was more prominent than ever. It made everything hurt just to see. But she couldn't bear to look away or shut her eyes in the slightest.
"Em? Did you get a good look—"
Emerald clutched her head, weeping in the uncontrollable way Yang was. Panicked, she wiped away the tears that only continued to flow.
"God! That sucked! W-w-what the hell, man?!" she grimaced in-between shudders.
"Yeah. I think this is what my mom and Qrow see all the time."
"No wonder they're so fucked! Shit…! SHIT!" Emerald said with an angry sadness and heaving breaths. When she composed herself enough, the girl strode to where the Spring Maiden was bound.
""EM?!"" Yang and Mercury both worried, but the girl held up a hand to signal them back.
"Masa, get over here."
The engineer made her way from her safe spot to Emerald's side without hesitation. Only a shallow light reflected in her eyes—and the woman who was once her dearest friend.
"What do you require of me, Miss Emerald?"
Emerald thought back to what Masa said about her Semblance. How she lied to herself. How she fought the truth of her own identity.
…
"I figured out why I lie."
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NOTE
Double-chapter Release.