Chapter 24

Carrying both Ruby and Weiss over her shoulders, Noel ran.

'Get them to safety, then go back for Tsubaki. It's fine! Tsubaki was valedictorian, the top of her grade. It's fine.' Noel kept trying to convince herself.

"Noel!"

At the sound of a familiar voice, Noel immediately turned toward it, and saw Makoro, Blake, and team JNPR "Makoto!"

Makoto rushed to Noel's side, and immediately checked for injuries. Noel let Ruby and Weiss down, and Blake and Team JNPR immediately examined their friends.

"Ruby! Weiss! What Happen!" Asked Blake.

"We… It was Hazama! He attacked us! Makoto, Tsubaki is still back there! Buying us time to escape! We need to go back! We need to help her!"

"Alright." Said Makoto. She turned to the huntsmen. "You guys take the two of them to Litchi's place. Noel, go with them."

"NO, I'm coming-"

"Hazam is after you!" Makoto said, with her hands on Noel's shoulders. "I'll be fine, I'm going back for Tsubaki, not to fight."

"But-"

"You know how fast I can be! Take care of the kids!" Winked Makoto, already running off.

"Okay." Said Jaune. "Let's get them back!"

Jaune and Ren each picked up one of the girls, and they moved toward Orient Town.

"They look like they're low on Auras, was the person you fought that strong?" Asked Pyrrha.

"Yes, I think, but-"

"He has the ability to drain Aura." Said a female voice.

All of them stopped in their tracks, looked to their right, and saw Rachel.

"Oh, is she—, what's her name again?" Asked Nora.

Blake was too worried about her teammates to care. "We don't have time for this, Let's-"

"Your friends' Aura has been drained by Hazama."

That caught their attention.

Rachel walked in front of Jaune. "Put them down."

"What? We need to get them to-"

"I can help them right now."

Everyone looked at each other, and at Blake, Blake gave them the okay, and Jaune and Ren put down the girls.

"Your hands." Said Rachel to Jaune.

"What?"

"Hands, both of them, now." Said Rachel, a little harsher.

Jaune immediately did what she said, and gave her his hands. Rachel takes his hands, and placed them on Ruby and Weiss' shoulders.

"What…"

"Remember the feeling that day, the day you first used your Semblance."

"What? How-"

"Remember."

Jaune stopped talking and closed his eyes.

"Now, imagine your Aura flowing like a river, and flowing through your hands, to your friends." Said Rachel.

And slowly, a white stream of energy began to flow from Jaune to Ruby and Weiss.

"Wow…" Amazed Nora.

"It… is that… Aura?" Said Ren.

"That's enough." Said Rachel suddenly, and she pulled Jaune's hands from the girls, and the girls began to stir.

"They are alright now."

Blake immediately checked on her teammates. "Thank you!" Blake exclaimed, only to discover Rachel had already left.

"I...I.…" Mumbled Jaune.

"Congratulations, Jaune, you unlocked your Semblance." Said Pyrrha.

Ren patted him on the back, and Nora punched him in the shoulder, a little too hard.

"I think we still should still take them to the clinic." Adviced Noel.

"Good point, better safe than sorry." Said Blake.

Kagutsuchi Park

Makoto looked around, while there were signs of battle, the park was quiet.

'Tsubaki… where are you?'

"You're too late."

Makoto looked behind her and saw Tager.

"You- Professor, you saw the whole thing?"

"Of course not." Said a voice in her ear. "If I did, I would have Noel Vermilion already. When Tager got here, Noel was already gone, only Tarumi and that Zero Squadron girl are left."

"And where's Tsubaki now?"

"No idea. They'd just teleported."

"Let me guess, did you just watch? Why didn't you help her? I told you, the reason I joined forces with Sector Seven was to help my friends!"

"And you can help them all you want. I'm after Tarumi."

"Then why didn't you fight? Hazam is this Tarumi, right?"

"No, it's more like, Tarumi is sharing a body with Hazama. And I will kill him! I just gathering intelligence, and when I do strike, failure is not an option."

"Damn it!" Mokoto angrily punched her palm.

"My advice to you, go back to your remaining friend, unless you want to lose her too."

"Kokonoe! There's no need for that." Scolded Tager.

"It's alright, Tager. she's right." Said Makoto. "I need to focus on what I can do now…" 'And how to break the news to Noel…'

"She's not my top priority, but I'll keep an eye out for her and call you immediately if I find something."

"Thanks Tager."

"Anyway, it's time. If you really care about Noel Vermilion's safety, you'll deliver her to us." Said Kokonoe.

"I know."

Outside Litchi's Clinic

Blake knocked on the clinic's door, and the door flew open.

"Doctor! You're back-" Said Linhua, who was immediately disappointed when she saw them.

"Hi, we need some help. Our friend-"

"Doctor Litchi isn't back yet. Go find another doctor."

"What? The doctor still isn't back?" Said Noel. "But she has gone a full day now!"

"Noel? Linhua?" A voice from behind them said.

They turned, and saw Litchi, and behind her, two more people. A young boy, and a really tall woman.

"What the hell…" Said Jaune, pointing to the tall woman, "Is that a-"

"What?" Asked the boy. "Do you have a problem with my sister?"

"Wait… Carl?" Said Noel.

"Noel?" replied the boy.

Inside Litchi's Clinic

Not long after, Makoto returned, and to the disappointment of Noel, she couldn't find Tsubaki.

"Don't worry. I got friends looking for her. And tomorrow, we'll look for her together."

Noel calmed down, and agreed to rest a while before heading out. As Makoto talked to Carl, Blake approached Noel.

"That boy, do you know him?"

"Carl? Yes, he was in the military academy with us."

"What! That…" Jaune looked over at Carl. "But he's like… twelve!"

"I think he's thirteen now. He skipped a few years and was in the junior high division. He's a real genius, specialising in robotic engineering."

"So he made that robot?" Asked Nora. "That's so cool! I never met a robot scientist before!"

Nora walked over to Carl. "Hey, did you make that robot? Can it transform?"

Carl seemed confused. "Robot? What robot?"

"Huh?" Said Nora. "That robot!" Nora pointed to the tall woman behind Carl.

"What!" Carl was enraged. "Rude! How dare you! My sister! A robot? You're the robot!"

"What? She's clearly-"

Before the argument could continue, Jaune stepped in.

"Now now." Said Jaune to Nora. "I'm sure there's an explanation to all this."

Carl's "sister" also bent over to Carl. "What? But sis, she- okay, I'll forgive her."

"Forgive!" Said Nora, still angry. "I didn't-"

This time Ren stopped her, and at the same time, Linhua came out of the treatment room.

"We're done now, it's your turn now." Said Linhua to Carl.

As Carl and the automaton followed Linhua into the doctor's room, Blake waited until the door closed. "I didn't hear that sister talk."

"What?" Asked Jaune.

"He was talking to her earlier, but I didn't hear a single word from that sister."

"So what, he's loony?" Said Nora.

"I'm just telling you what I didn't hear."

"I heard nothing too." Confirmed Makoto.

"But… That's Carl we're talking about." Said Noel

"He called that… I mean his sister." Said Ren. "Does your friend have a sister?"

"Yes." Said Noel. "I mean, I never met her, but Carl talks about her a lot, Ada."

"Noel…" Said Makoto. "You graduated early, so you didn't know, but Carl dropped out."

"What? Why?"

"He told me something had happened to his sister. And that… mannequin. Doesn't she look familiar?"

"What are you saying?"

"Doesn't she look like Deus Machina: Nirvana?"

"Dea vana what?" Asked Nora.

It was then that Litchi came out.

"I did a quick checkup, both girls are fine as far as I can tell." Reported Litchi, and Blake let out a sigh of relief. "Just to be safe, I advise letting them stay here overnight."

"Doctor Litchi, may I ask, how do you know Carl?" Asked Noel.

"Oh, ugh…"

"He's a friend." Reassured Makoto. "Back in our academy's day. We were worried about him."

"Well, I guess it's alright. I met him on my way back from Kaka Village. I asked him to come back with me because he has some injuries."

'Then there's no need to be so hesitant now is there.' Thought Blake. 'Weiss said that she helped that Arakune. Maybe it has something to do with that.'

"You guys can head back now." Said Blake. "I'll stay here, Pyrrha, you have your final match tomorrow, you need all the rest you can get."

"She's right." Said Jaune. "Let's go back."

"Call us if you need help." Said Ren.

"I will."

And with, that, team JNPR left, and Blake sat, and rested on the sofa with Noel and Makoto, and a few hours later, they also left.

Way to Kagutsuchi Port

After walking for a while, Noel noticed something wrong.

"Where are we going, Makoto? I thought we were looking for Tsubaki?"

"I'm getting you out of here!"

"What? What about Tsubaki!"

"I'll handle Tsubaki! But first things first, I need to take you to safety."

"What? But-"

"You can't help anyone if you get yourself caught too!"

Noel stopped. "And where are you taking me?"

Makoto looked down. "I… It's Sector Seven."

"What? That terrorist group that the Librarium thought me and Jin was apart of?"

"Yeah, turns out, it was me all along, Makoto Nanaya, femme fatale double agent!" Makoto joked, but she was the only one laughing.

"I'm sorry, okay. I really mean it." Said Makoto, apologized.

"Why?"

"Long story short, working with intelligence really opened my eyes to a lot of things. But, I'm not for S7, only working with them. Me, and a lot of NOL officers."

"I… why didn't you tell me? I could have helped!"

"Well, you must admit, you're not a very good liar."

After walking a little more, Makoto started talking again.

"Noel, did you notice? How many NOL Ars Magi have you seen for the last few days?"

"Non… but I… I thought they were all helping with the crush?"

Mokoto stopped. "After I left you a few days ago, I did a little digging around. Kagutsuchi branch was almost completely deserted, like we are on a serious skelaton crew here! The same goes for the hospital and the cathedral."

"But then who's running the tournament?"

"Mostly civilian contractors, the media." Makoto started walking again, and Noel followed.

"I checked the cathedral, where all of the injured soldiers were supposed to be, and I found no one. And then, I found a creepy altar on the top of the cathedral. Like, what the hell, just by looking at it gave me a really unpleasant vibe. I sensed a lot of negative Aura, like, a lot." Makoto stopped walking. "I think, all of the missing Ars Magi officers, soldiers, were sacrificed."

"Sacrificed? What do you mean sacrificed?"

Makoto said nothing.

"But how? And by who?" Asked Noel, couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Hazama."

"Hazama? But why?"

"I don't know, but, I do know this, he's the one who sends all of the injured soldiers to the cathedral. He's after you, Noel."

After a little more walking, they reach the park from yesterday.

"Okay. Tager should already be here." Said Makoto.

"Tager? The Red Devil? He's your contact?" Surprised Noel.

"Trust me, that nickname is just for show, he's really a big softy. Don't get me wrong, he's still one of the best soldiers in Sector Seven." Makoto said, looking around. "Now where-"

It was then both of them saw a huge object flying towards them, and both of them immediately dodged in opposite direction, only when the object hit the ground, they realized what it was.

"Tager!" Said Makoto.

Tager was unresponsive, arms and legs bent and broken, and Hazama, standing a few steps away, smiling.

"Noel! Run!" Makoto immediately pulled out her weapons, but before she could even move, Hazama's chain had already bound to her right arm, and with a pull, Hazama flew towards Makoto, Noel tried to intercept with a few shots with Bolverk, but he was too fast. Hazam kicked Makoto in the face; Makoto blocked the kick, but was then dragged forward by the right arm and kicked repeatedly until her Aure gave out!

"Stop!" Said Noel, pointing her guns at Hazama.

"Sure." Hazama lifted Makoto by the nape, in front of Noel, with his snake chain head on her throat. "Came with me, and I'll let both of them go, alive, promise. Oh, a word of warning, for your sake, don't even think about shooting me like last time, I'll rid your furry friend's throat out!"

Without a choice, Noel disarmed.

Kagutsuchi Arena

When Ruby and Weiss woke up, the tournament had already started, so the three of them rushed to the arena immediately.

"The match has already begun!" Said Ruby.

"Then you go first." Said Weiss. "We'll catch up."

Ruby nodded, and disappeared in a storm of red rose petals, and reappeared in the audience's seats entrance. But something was wrong. The first thing Ruby thought was weird was how the crowd was quiet, and the second was that Pyrrha was just standing there, not moving, and when Ruby turned her gaze where Pyrrha was looking, she let out a cry.

"Penny!"

To be continued