Chapter 25
Kagutsuchi Arena- Joint Tournament- Last Day
Pyrrha looked down at Penny's decapitated shock of killing someone was quickly replaced by the realisation that her opponent was not human, and she realised it didn't matter; she'd killed someone, Ruby's friend.
'Penny… I killed her…. How can I face Ruby? How could I lose control like that? All that training, discipline, and I lost to fear…'
This was not a battle of life and death, this was a competition of skill and control, and she had lost.
Suddenly she heard cries and screams, she looked up, and saw Grimms, Nevermore, dozen of them, circling the arena, and then swooped down at her, instead of running or fighting, Pyrrha closed her eyes, and something ran into her.
"Pyrrha, are you alright?"
Pyrrha opened her eyes, and saw Ruby, holding her.
"Are you hurt?" Asked Ruby.
"No, I'm fine?"
"Pyrrha!" Yelled Jaune, running towards them, along with Ren, Nora, and team SSSN.
"Grimm all over the place, do we fight or run?" Asked Ren.
To Ruby, the answer was obvious. "We are huntsmen, and huntsmen hunt."
All of them nodded, took out their weapons, transformed into gun mode, and fired at the Nevermores. Other huntsmen joined and protected the audiences, and the teachers helped led them to safety. Pyrrha, using her Semblance, pulled dozens of empty seats off the plat, and threw them at the Grimms, Jaune, Ren, and Nora covered her, and Ruby, ran around, saving the civilians, it was then Pyrrha felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Headmaster?" Said Pyrrha, bleeding from her eyes and nose from overusing her power, when she saw who it was. "I… I killed-"
"It's time, your destiny awaits."
Audience's Seats
Looking down at the chaos, Cinder felt a sense of satisfaction.
"Looking good." Said Mercury behind her. "I'm done for today, right?"
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes, a payback. Someone owes me something, and I would like to return it before they died."
Cinder understood perfectly. "Do as you wish. But be at the rendezvous point before first light."
"Right, see ya." And with that, he left.
"Do you need me for anything else?" Asked Emerald.
"Find that Nox. Kval, or whatever his name is, just updated its whereabouts."
"Roger that."
Underground Tunnels
Qrow took a look around and noticed two more paths. He decided to go right and made an arrow mark on the wall.
'These tunnels are bigger than I thought.'
With what happened yesterday, he should be up in the city, helping, and protecting the capsules. That was what Glynda said, but he knew better, he was more useful down here, looking for "them,", and Oz agreed.
So far, all he found were dead ends, every path had signs that it had been walked through, which, combined with the darkness, made it hard for him to trace it back to its source.
'And as expected, my flashlight died!'
However, even though all he found were dead ends, and his only light source was his scroll, he was steadily making progress, he could feel it.
'The White Fang… working with them…'
He spoke to the Kakas, and they told him about the White Fang. The worst case scenario. First thugs, and now terrorists, great.
"Oh, dear. It seems a bird has been nosing around in places it doesn't belong."
Qrow immediately drew his weapon and turned around, but he saw no one.
Clank~
"Will you listen to my troubles and let me vent a little?" Said the voice, now from behind him.
"What-"
Clank~
"Thanks. You know, the reason I brought you all here was that I was bored. To bring some excitement back into my life, you understand me, right? Now, however, I'm getting a little irritated of you people."
Qrow turned again, now facing another direction.
'Too dark, the light from my scroll isn't bright enough. But that voice and tone… is that Intelligence guy!'
Clank~
"First those entitled "villains", and then the muddling hero wannabe teenagers, and now you."
'Teenagers? He's not talking about Ruby and Yang right?'
Clank~
"There's nothing I hate more than when people don't die when they're supposed to. You get me, man?"
'He keeps moving!' Thought Qrow. 'And that sound, it sounds like chains.'
"Now, the closer I get to my goal, the less potential for error I need. So, yeah, I've decided it's time to have you people exit the stage now. Sorry."
"Typical villain. If you wanted me dead, you should have just killed me in the dark, instead of monologuing."
"But I like hearing myself talk. I mean, I have such a pleasant voice."
Qrow transformed his weapon, Harbinger into its gun form, and fired into the darkness, but from the sound, it was blocked by something.
"Oh, you knew where I was, did you just play stupid just to keep me talking?"
Only half was true. Qrow didn't only need Hazama to ramble on, not just to locate him, but also to get more information, But it was not easy trying to lock him down, as Hazama seemed to move from place to place at high speed by jumping.
Just then, something shot out of the darkness, Qrow immediately knocked the projectile away, but then, Hazama flew out of the darkness, knives in both hands, Qrow blocked the knives, and then pushed Hazama away.
"My luck has finally turned. You're working with them, aren't you? First I'm going to beat the snot out of you, then I'll start the interrogation. And trust me, you will beg me to let you talk." Qrow said with a smile.
'But, where's the chains he was using?'
Instead of defending himself, Hazama took off his hat, and his facial expression changed.
"Hazzy, switch with me, would you? I need a little exercise, a warm up, before the real fight." Said Hazama in a different tone of voice.
"Sure, Mr. Tarumi, just don't damage our body too much, okay?" Hazama responded to himself.
'What?'
"Are you doing some kind of one man comedy show, or are you really just insa-"
Qrow didn't finish his sentence, as a chain shot at him again, but Qrow effortlessly tilted his head and dodged the attack.
"Rude! I let you finish your rant, you should at least-"
And a second chain was thrown, but also missed as Qrow sidestepped.
"You have to do better than that-"
It was then Qrow realized the chains were flying around him, surrounding him, he immediately ducked under it, and rolled out of the chain circle, only to see a boot in front of him. Tarumi kicked Qrow in the face, knocking him back and hitting and bouncing off the wall; Tarumi pursued, but Qrow recovered in time and fired a shot at Tarumi; Tarumi dodged to the right, but Qrow was waiting for him, transforming his weapon into a Bladed Tonfa-like weapon and slicing across Tarumi's face.
"That's hurt!" Tarumi screamed angrily, blood streaming from the cut on his face. And then his face softened and he smiled. "Just kidding. This body doesn't feel any pain. But you, you don't look so hot, pal."
It was then that Qrow realized how tired he was.
'What? How?'
Suddenly Tarumi was in front of him, Qrow attempted to jump back, but was hit in the bully by the chain, Tarumi then tripped Qrow's feet, and he fell face first on the floor. Qrow tried to get up, but Tarumi stepped on his head hard, his nose crushing against the stone floor, and Tarumi stepped on his head, again, and again and again…
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosion, and then a storm of dust swallowed them, and Tarumi jumped back.
"Well, that was fun, but all good things must come to an end."
"Running away?" Qrow said as he stood up, his hand on his broken nose.
"If I were you, I would run too. Man, you really are bad luck."
Qrow heard something behind him, a familiar sound, that he had heard hundreds of times before, and he felt the tunnel trembling, he turned around, and while he still couldn't see anything, he knew what was coming.
"Fine, I'll let you off just this-" Qrow turned back to Tarumi, only to find him already gone. "Yeah, you better run!"
Outside of the Arena
Blake and Weiss, doing everything they could at protecting the audiences that are coming out of the arena. Grimm, burst out of every manhole in the city, attacking everything.
"Too many Grimms! We can't-" Said Weiss
"Just keep killing them!" Replied Blake, and suddenly she saw something, two missiles flying right at them, at the crowd! Weiss immediately summoned two swords and took aim at the missiles.
BOOM!
One of Weiss' swords destroyed one, but the other sword missed the other missile, Blake fired at it, but it was too late, but just before the missile made contact, a giant white knight like figure appeared before her, and with a sword in hand, it cut the missile in half!
"Huh?" Said Weiss.
The white figure turned and looked at Weiss for a moment, before the missile exploded, taking the knight with it.
"Arma… Gigas." Mumbled Weiss.
"Weiss! Incoming!" Said Blake suddenly!
Weiss turned and saw the source of the missile, an Atlas Paladin. As the mech, drove down the street, firing its weapons at the escaping crowd, Weiss created five Glyphs to protect the civilians, but it wasn't enough. Blake tried to disturb it, but it was clear, whoever was piloting the mech aimed to kill as many people as possible. As people were getting gunned down, something hit the Paladin like a shooting star! Knocking the mech over.
"Booyah! That's how you take down a stupid walking tank!" Said Yang, standing on the mech.
"Yang?" Surprised Blake. "I thought… they let you out?"
"Nah, broke down the door."
The Paladin tried to get up on its feet, but Yang punched its right leg, again and again! Blake took advantage of the opportunity and bound the mech's legs together with her Gambol Shroud's ribbon, while Weiss stabbed and frozen the same leg Yang was punching, and the Paladin's balance finally gave out and it fell! Yang jumped up into the sky, joining both fists together, and with all her strength, brought her fists down like a hammer, crushing the right leg completely!
"Guys! The Paladin is still doing something!" Said Weiss.
Just then, the cockpit door flew opened, and a person jumped out, looked straight at Blake, and ran off. Blake, for a second, couldn't breathe, and then, the mech exploded!
BOOM!
Weiss, Blake, and Yang instinctively protected themselves by focusing more aura in front of them. After the smoke cleared a little, Weiss looked around to see if anyone was injured, it was then, she noticed she was alone.
"Blake? Yang?"
Same Level
Jin purposefully let out a huge wave of negative emotions, which with Yukianesa, was easy. Every Grimms in the area, as predicted, stopped whatever they were doing, and ran towards Jin.
ARCTIC DUNGEON!
A wave of ice, emanating from the sword, spread out in every direction! With a single move, Jin froze every Grimm in the area! While sparing the civilians.
'Incredible. So this is the power of Yukianesa.' Thought Winter. "Are you sure about using so much Aura?"
"Are you sure you shouldn't go help your troops? Or that younger Schnee?"
"I trust them to be able to take care of themselves." Said Winter. Then noticing Jin looking away from her, Winter looked to where Jin was looking and saw a red-haired man running towards a building, and behind him, a black-haired girl, and away behind her, a blonde-haired girl.
'Aren't these two Weiss' teammates?' Thought Winter.
Jin moved in on them, only to be blocked by flying Grimms, which the Arctic Dungeon couldn't reach.
"If you're going to follow, me, at least make yourself useful." Jin said as he drew his sword. Winter rolled her eyes and summoned more Nevermore.
Atlas Flagship- in the airspace upon the crushed site
Torchwick and Neo casually walk around the bridge, looking at the multiple monitors, instead of fighting the horde of Grimms, the soldiers on the ground are fighting the haywire Knights, even the newly arrived ships were having trouble, fighting the crazy robots from the inside and flying Grimms on the outside. Looking at the soulless robots, Torchwick thought of an idea.
"Neo, head to the rendezvous point, I have an unfinished business to take care of."
And with that, Torchwick walked toward the transport craft, along with a whole army of Knights.
Kaka Village
Elder Totokaka had gathered all of the Kaka kittens inside her hut, the adults, and even the older Kakas are defending the village from Grimms, Tao, to the surprise of many, defended the village like a true Guardian, but even so, while they are holding, for now, it was only a matter of time before they are overwhelmed. Just then, a bird like Grimm, flew past Tao while she was fighting something else, and headed for the elder's hut, Totokaka, stood before it, ready to die protecting the kittens, when a shadow appeared upon the Grimm, slashed down, cutting the Grimm in half.
"Cat person!" Tao exclaimed happily.
"Don't relax just yet!" Said Jubei. "More are coming!"
Then, another person landed before them!
"Torakaka!" Tao expressed her delight at seeing her mentor and friend.
"Tao." Tora spoke in a gentle tone."Don't worry, I'm here now, I'll protect the kittens, you can go all out now."
Tao smiled, and began to run at high speed in the same place, until there were two of her…
"Interesting Overdrive." Commented Jubei.
The two Taos jumped into the middle of the horde of Grimms and began to rip them to pieces with her metal claws. Jubei revealed his own metal claws, identical to the Kakas', and joined her.
Ronin-Gai
"Boss! More Grimms appeared on the north street!" Said the Red ninja.
"I'm on my way!" Replied Bang.
'Curse you Grimm! While I want nothing more than to check on Miss Litchi, I, Bang Shishigami, have a duty to my people!'
"FU! RIN! KA! ZAN!"
And with that battle cry, Bang glowed gold, and entered Overdrive, and ran towards the north street so fast, his ninja subordinates could only see saw a trail of golden shadow.
Kagutsuchi- Upper floor
Ruby ran around at high speed, looking for her teammates. When she couldn't find Weiss and Blake outside of the Arena, she checked on Yang at the hotel first, only to also miss her, the CCTS was down again, so she couldn't even contact them through Scrolls, so now she had to do it the old fashioned way.
"Yang? Weiss? Blake?" Yelled Ruby. "Yang! Weiss! Blake!"
Finally, Ruby stopped, resting her hands on her knees. She has been running around, looking for her teammates, and saving everyone who needed saving along the way, her bullet cases are empty, her Aura drained, and her throat hurts.
"Come on, guys, where are you?"
"Well well well. Look who we have here?"
Ruby turned and looked and saw a large mech, and an army of robots.
"Hello, Little Red."
Way to the Cathedral
Ragna ran as fast as he could towards the cathedral, killing every Grimm in his way.
'Why are there Grimms in the city? Damn! Now of all times!'
Park- Several hours ago...
Ranga came to the park because he sensed fighting, and Tarumi, but when he got there, all he saw was a broken Tager, and an injured Makoto.
"Hey, Bloodedge!" Said Kokonoe through his Grimoire.
"Kokonoe… What?''
"Noel has been captured by Tarumi. I need you to go and re-"
"Wait what? captured? "What the hell have you been doing, rabbit?"
"Rabbit? Whatever, like I was about to tell you, Tarumi went back to the alter with Noel. I'm like, 80% sure."
Way to the Cathedral- Present
CLANG!
Ragna stopped when he heard intense fighting, and a lot of footsteps, in front of him. Annoyed, he stopped and looked around for another way, it was then, a familiar small figure flew towards him, back first. Ranga caught Ruby by pure reflex, and before them, an army of robots, and a huge robot behind them. The huge robot front opened, and revealing… someone…
"Hello, reaper."
"Do I know you?"
Ragna letting Ruby down, didn't even look in that person's direction.
"Stop with the tough guy act, you know damn well who I am. I'm Roman Torchwick."
"And?" Ragna genuinely had no idea who he was, or heard of Roman Torchwick. "I'm busy right now, so whatever you want, take a rain check."
"I believe, if you owe something, you should return it with interest."
"What? Who owes what? This girl?" Ragna looked down at Ruby, shaking her head.
"Oh no no no, it was you who gave me something, a broken jaw, and now, I'm going to pay it back with interest!"
"So that's what it was, should have just said so, instead of wasting so much of my time!"
"I know all about you, your Drive, life steal right? Well, let me enlighten you a little since you're obviously not very bright. You see, robots-"
With one swing of his sword, Ragna send a dark wave of energy, and blew half of the Knights away. Torchwick ground his teeth with both fear and anger, and closed the hatch.
"Kill him!"
To be continued