A/N: I do not own any of the characters associated with the RWBY series. All rights of those characters belong to Rooster Teeth.
Setting: Marigold's Hall
Sword clashed with sword as Remus and Violet continued to battle each other. The duel appeared to be a standstill at first but Remus was gaining the upper hand. These were his weapons so it was natural for him to be better using them.
Violet was parrying his strikes, but they were gradually becoming faster and faster. As a response, she pulled out an Enigma with her left hand and threw it at Remus's leg. The Enigma had ice dust and when it hit his leg, it became covered in ice, stopping his movements temporarily. Violet saw her chance to strike him and she did, cutting at his chest to injure and slow him down. However, there was a dangerous flaw to her plan. One thing she accounted for in this scenario was Remus being protected by his aura, and she didn't know his aura levels were already depleted.
"Argh!" Remus yelped in pain.
The sword ripped through his winter jacket and a small cut was left on his chest. The wound was shallow but still stung the enraged Cobalt. Violet gasped at what she had done and stepped away. She couldn't believe she injured Remus like that. Her pause gave him the time he needed to cut away at the ice with Romulus and free himself.
Violet was back to square one and she needed a way to beat Remus without using any lethal force while had all the intention to kill her. She was in a very problematic position.
The hallway they were in now was narrower than the previous one so Remus couldn't zip around Violet to attack from behind.
She was still stunned by the fact she may have scarred her friend, so Remus ran towards her and swung his sword. Snapping out of her daze, Violet took a small, quick step backwards to avoid the blade, only for it to cut through a part of the dress near her right hip. After moving back, Violet quickly stepped into his space and wrapped her right arm around his. Now neither of them could use Romulus properly.
Violet delivered a knee to Remus's stomach then a strong punch to his right shoulder, hoping her hit was strong enough to force him to drop his weapon, but he held onto it fiercely. She tried to punch him again, but saw Remus try to punch her with his left arm. She stopped trying to strike him again with her left arm then brought it up to block his attack.
Remus retaliated with a punch instead of his usual palm strike. That proved to Violet he wasn't in his right mind and she needed to snap him out of it.
She lifted her right leg to knee him again, but he responded by lifting his right leg to block it while simultaneously attempting to punch her in the face. She jerked her head back and Remus placed his hand on her chest, pushing her away to break her hold on him. Violet used the distance he created by pulling out two of her ice Enigmas then tossed them his way.
The throwing knives were enveloped in ice dust as they approached their target and Remus swung his sword to deflect them. However, once the Enigmas hit his sword, they froze it over along with his hand and arm. Violet believed now was the best time to disarm him so she quickly approached him and swung her half of Romulus against his frozen one, but she couldn't predict what was about to happen next. Remus wasn't stunned by his sword and arm being frozen and tried to swing Violet with it like it an icy club, but instead of parrying her attack, the frozen half of Romulus that Remus was holding was sliced through by the half Violet was holding.
The frozen sword was cut in two by Violet who was utterly shocked with this outcome. She didn't mean to destroy her teammate's treasured weapon and wondered if this would be enough to get Remus to snap out of his rage. His response was to swing his frozen arm and the remaining half of his weapon at a guilt-ridden Violet who simply bobbed her head away from the strike.
She looked at him with such a sad expression. Seeing Remus of all people filled with fury and completely ignore the destruction of Romulus was a hard thing to watch. All the times Violet thought back to her time with him, he'd mostly had a pleasant look on his face, sometimes confused, but never angry. That was the Remus she has known for more than two years. The one before her was a tainted version of him influenced by her family and she wanted it all to end. Violet wanted her Remus back.
As Violet looked on in pity, the angered Cobalt smashed his hand against the floor to shatter the ice on his arm. He dropped the hilt of Romulus so he could fight Violet hand-to-hand. He stepped into Violet's space and tried to punch her in the face. Violet still held onto her half of Romulus and paused because she going to counter with it and cut him deeply. Injuring her young friend anymore was something she didn't want to do. This doubt allowed Remus to hit her in the face then followed up with a roundhouse kick to her left arm. The kick pushed Violet into the large glass wall overlooked the garden which was reduced to ash and she crashed through it.
Setting: Courtyard
She wasn't injured thanks to her aura and she landed on her feet from the two-story fall. A quick inspection of the area showed the flames were finally quelled by the castle guard. All that remained of the once lush courtyard was ash. All the colorful and beautiful flowers were gone with a burnt smell filling the air combined with the silence of the area was rather profound.
Another thing she noticed was the rumbling sound coming from the foyer of the manor. Violet turned around to see a golden tornado rise then disperse, letting her know that Zelts was forced to fight again. She just hoped he was having a better time than she was.
Violet retracted Romulus's blade and placed the staff between her waist and waist bag because she didn't want to use it anymore. Instead of using his weapon, Violet used the ones she knew best: hers.
Remus leaped through the glass to follow her. He landed on his feet but knelt down to get into a running position. The open field of the courtyard gave him the room to run as fast as he wanted and Violet needed to be mindful of that. She already had four ice Enigmas in her hand to slow him down and she didn't wait for him to start running.
The Cheshire Enigmas with ice dust were her best bet at stopping Remus without harming him. She'd activate the ice dust before throwing them so they'd only cover him with ice instead of stabbing into him them freezing over. She needed this to work because her waist bag didn't carry an infinite amount of throwing knives and Violet bet she'd run out Enigmas before Remus run out of fists.
Violet threw the knives down at the ground around her to coat it in ice. Remus ran straight for her. Still influenced by Madness, the enraged Cobalt had no sense of strategy so he charged straight ahead with no regard for the ice. However, he did jump before reaching it, using his running momentum to help him jump farther in the air. He was about to land near Violet and prepared to attack her. She responded in kind with more ice Enigmas, holding five of them in her hand. She threw two of them at Remus as he came down and he made no move to dodge. They struck and froze his chest and right shoulder, but he ignored it all just to land another blow on Violet.
The Violent Flower was prepared to finish him with the other three knives until she saw a familiar face enter the battle. Flying through the air and kicking Remus in his frozen chest was Ash Blood. He kicked him again with his other foot and sent the Cobalt hurdling to the charred ground.
The bat faunus landed in front of Violet with his back towards her then addressed her as, "Violet."
"Why are you here?" Violet asked, getting straight to the point. "You work for Ebony now so what's-"
"She asked that I find you and make sure you're safe," he answered before she could finish asking. "I never expected to find the others here. And you fighting Remus no less. What brought this on?"
The only answer Violet could give was, "My family's manipulation."
Remus got up and slowly faced the others. His eye was still orange and showed no signs of returning to its amber color anytime soon. Blood could already tell his old friend wasn't in his right mind.
The enraged Cobalt's eye widened when he finally got an actual view of Blood. Somehow, the angered face he held got even more infuriated and he started grinding his teeth.
"BLOOD!" Remus shouted.
It was the first time he actually said a word since being induced by Madness. Violet didn't know what brought such a blood curdling shout, but Blood had a good idea why his friend reacted that way. The last time Remus saw Blood was when he betrayed and attacked him, Silver, and Zelts with Ebony by his side. The bat faunus was sure Remus had some conflicted feelings about his friend and they were coming to a boil at this very moment. In a way, Blood felt like he should just let Remus take him out, but he couldn't let guilt get in the way of what he needed to do.
Blood flew toward Remus very quickly. Violet followed behind but was a little slower compared to his flying. Remus was the fastest person Violet has ever met, but that was on land. In the air, Blood was unrivaled in terms of speed and combat.
When Blood reached Remus and punched him lightly in the stomach. Remus tried to kick him away but Blood easily stepped back of the way and delivered two more blows to his face before flying upward. Violet threw two more ice Enigmas at Remus when Blood moved out of her line of attack. When Remus was hit in the chest and left leg by her knives, Violet figured out he was slowing down thanks to Blood and his semblance, Paralysis.
Every time the bat faunus struck an opponent, their body slows down and they get slower and slower with each hit until they're just motionless. Blood was the perfect counter to Remus. His semblance completely shut down the Cobalt's high-speed style of fighting. Blood flew towards Remus's backside and delivered several jabs to his back, slowing him down even more. This was what Violet needed to end this fight.
Remus tried to turn around to face Blood but he was extremely sluggish with his action. He grunted in rage with how slow his body was responding to his brain. Before he could even turn his head halfway around, Blood already flew away and coming from his front was Violet. She reeled her right arm back and when she was close enough, Violet delivered a strong elbow strike to his jaw. The blow knocked Remus off his feet as well as knocked him out. He laid in the charred ground unconscious and Violet looked down at him with sorrowful eyes because this was something she never wanted to happen.
The first time Violet and Remus see each other after two and a half months and they had to battle each other, resulting in Violet taking him down.
This predicament and this outcome were not what she expected nor wanted. Everything that brought this horrible fight about started because of her family did something to her friend to make him act like the way he did moments ago.
"I hate them… all of them," Violet thought about her family.
Violet knelt down beside her friend and placed her hand on his jaw, making sure she didn't do any real damage. Remus was hurt and unconscious, but she saw no extensive damage. He was going to be fine. She was relieved to know he was going to be alright even if he was a little battered.
She moved her arms underneath Remus's legs and back in order to lift him up. Violet planned on taking him with her to the others. Just as she was doing this, Blood was approaching Violet from behind.
"Don't you come closer," Violet told Blood in a stern voice.
He was stopped walking, not surprised why she'd say that, and stood there. She turned around while Remus was in her arms and looked at Blood with serious eyes. He completely understood why she would look at him like that. He would have the same look if their roles were reversed.
In Violet's eyes, Blood defected from Clair and aligned with Ebony, the person who assisted in the destruction of Fortuna. He brought and left her to the mercy of her family. Now, he comes to her aid.
Blood was sending mixed signals and Violet wanted a clear answer to his motives.
"What is this? You're with Ebony and now you're here helping me? Just what kind of game are you playing" she asked with a slight sound of desperation in her voice.
Blood furrowed his brow with a troubled expression. He didn't know what to tell her or if he could explain the truth. Would informing Violet of his deal with Ebony compromise his standing with the charming Vantablack? Would spilling mean putting Clair in danger?
He didn't know but he wasn't going to take that chance.
"I can't tell you. I can't. Just trust me when I say I'm here to make sure you guys get out of here alive," Blood told her.
"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Violet retorted. "I can get all of us out of Atlas without your help."
"You know that's not true. If not your family, then the kingdom of Atlas itself will prevent you from leaving. And we both know they'll use force first. What then?" Blood told Violet.
"I was more worried about my family than the Atlesian military. They'll be a cake walk once I get with the others," she countered while keeping her eyes on Remus.
"Sorry, but your plan is already in shambles. Zelts and Silver are already dealing with Atlas personnel at the front door. They'll be beaten and arrested unless you let me help you. I know you don't trust me right now and I don't blame you, but trust me when I say that keeping you guys safe is my main priority right now."
Blood's plea didn't fall on deaf ears. Violet's claim to take on the entire military may have been a bit rash now that she thought about it. There really was no way for her or any of the others to get out of Atlas on their own. She might need Blood and Ebony's help after all, and if his desire to help them was true, then maybe he could assure Ebony won't do anything funny to them. Violet needed to keep all her options open if she wanted to return to Vacuo with her friends.
"We'll talk about it later. Right now, we need to get to the others and end this," Violet told Blood.
She walked to the foyer of the manor while carrying Remus. Blood followed her from behind, making sure to keep a safe distance so Violet wouldn't feel the need to be alert.
Setting: Throne Room
The door to the throne room opened with Azura coming through. The expression she had on her face appeared to one of satisfaction. Her arm with the cut was wrapped with a torn orange cloth and in her hand were several gold and silver rings. In her other hand was the fedora that belonged to Marigold. She walked away from the door to return to the others at the foyer.
Inside the throne room, the crystal throne was broken apart and laying on the ground behind it was Marigold. His shirt was burned along with his face and there was a small pool of blood beneath him.
His current condition was a complete mystery.
Setting: Foyer
The only person still standing in the foyer was Zinnia Underland. She stood atop the stairway with an unconscious Silver and overexerted Lily wrapped in her whip sword to prevent them from escape or retaliation. Neither of them was in a position to resist anymore. All Zinnia had to do now was wait for Winter to finish her fight with Zelts though the raging golden winds she could see from inside the mansion told her this battle wasn't going to end soundly.
An intense battle between two strong fighters was taking place outside the Underland Manor. The open field in front of the mansion was stirring with wind and kicked up snow along with white Grimm-like summons running across and being wiped out by the force of nature. This was not a fight any person could or should step into without being caught in the conflict.
Winter Schnee, the conjurer of the summons, had her back against a large glyph to prevent herself from being swept up by the windstorm. She brought her arm up to prevent any frost from getting in her eyes and keep her eyes on Zelts, conjurer of the storms, who kept swinging both his wingblades to relentlessly bombard his opponent with wind. This was part of his tactic to suppress Winter until he could land a finishing blow.
Zelts may have had both his wingblades again and he was slightly boosted by Conversion, but his aura wasn't protecting him anymore and the energy from his semblance was being drained with every swing of his blades. This current course of action couldn't last for long. He needed to a way to strike Winter down with one powerful blow without getting hit by her.
The raging winds ceased so Zelts could preserve the last of his energy. Winter capitalized on this moment and summoned several white Beowulf to her side. She's been using her semblance a great deal just to keep herself from being tossed around by the wind, but she still had much more than Zelts and it was more than enough to protect her from harm.
The Grimm-like summons ran towards Zelts in coordinated patterns that were so unlike their Grimm counterparts. Zelts ran toward Winter in a straight line, not looking at the summons approaching his left and right flank but keeping them in mind. The two packs were closing in and Zelts responded by raising both his wingblades to counter them. Claws coming from his sides were ready to rip him to shreds but their assault was prevented by both halves of Heart of Gold blocking the their two-fronted attack. Zelts was able to halt their attack but they were ready to strike again and so was Zelts. He quickly spun around to create strong gusts of wind that repelled all the summons. They were launched all around Zelts before fading away like snow.
The Knight continued to beeline for Winter who summoned a huge swarm of small Nevermore. Small groups separated from the mass of flying birds hovering over Winter and they made their way to Zelts. Winter needed to stop him before he did any more damage to the mansion and its residents.
Zelts swung the wingblade in his left hand at the incoming swarm, launching a powerful gale force with an electric current running through it. The mass of summoned Nevermores dispersed and flew around the windstorm though some of them were caught in the wind blast and destroyed. The swarm flew far out of Zelts's range, but were circling back to attack him from behind. A second swarm came and did the same thing the first one did and Zelts repeated his action by swinging with the wingblade in his right hand. The small white birds retreated with some of them getting destroyed and circled back to his right side.
Winter watched Zelts get closer and closer to her position with her own swarm of summoned birds but she waited till he was close enough for her to enact her plan. She stabbed her rapier into the ground in order to concentrate then conjured a glyph, but this glyph didn't appear around her, but beneath Zelts's feet.
He was finally in range of her semblance.
This glyph acted as a barrier that prevented Zelts from moving to Winter or even beyond the glyph. He was stuck where he was just as the two swarms of Nevermores were flying in close to pelt him relentlessly. The large group that was flying around Winter separated into two group with one heading for Zelts with the other still flying around Winter.
The three groups of summoned Nevermores dived down on Zelts at the same time from three different sides. Winter saw the area be enveloped with her summoned birds, but they were completely consumed by a new golden tornado with electricity running through it. Her birds were swept into the vortex and were all fading away. The shocking cyclone dispersed as quickly as it came and Zelts was not in his previous position.
Winter had a concerned expression on her face. She lost track of her opponent for a moment until she looked up to see that Zelts was in the air. He used his tornado to eliminate her summoned hordes as well as help him fly upward.
His eyes were intense though he lost that golden shine he received from Conversion. The last of his boosted strength was fading but he planned on using it all now. Zelts was dropping down to where Winter was for his final attack.
The Schnee elite responded by sending the very last of her summoned birds directly at Zelts and he raised both his wingblades up and brought them together to form Heart of Gold's complete shield form. It has been a long time since Zelts used his weapon to its full capacity. The birds were bombing the large shield and shattering into white particles on impact. The attack was ineffective against his Heart of Gold.
Zelts separated his shield back to wingblades and raised his right arm to bring it down on Winter with all his might. As a last attempt to halt his assault, Winter conjured one more glyph in front of her to serve as a shield. He swung his right arm down with all his might and the remaining energy given to him by Conversion and he shattered the glyph with his large blade. His swing didn't end at the glyph as he came down on Winter.
She leaped away from Winter after her glyph was broken through and Zelts's wingblade still connected with her though he only cut down on her right shoulder and arm. Winter landed a few feet away from Zelts who slammed his wingblade into the snow. Winter's aura shattered and her arm was badly bruised, however the boost strength Zelts had vanished in that one stroke.
The Knight of the Wind past his limit, but he wasn't going to drop just yet.
He lifted his left arm to raise the wingblade and leaped toward Winter to deliver the final blow and Winter did the same. The two collided and stopped before the other. Zelts and Winter stood in front of each other with their faces only a few inches away. The two of them were breathing heavily though Zelts was breathing much harder than her. Winter's hair bun came undone and her long white hair fell down past her shoulders and over her face.
The battle between them came to an end.
Winter's rapier pierced through Zelts's left abdomen just above his pelvis. His wingblade missed its marking, going around Winter's arms and missing her body. She was the only one to land the finishing blow.
Injured and no longer having the strength to continue, Zelts lost his grip on his weapon, dropping both his wingblades into the snow. Winter took a step back to pull her sword out of her opponent who fell to his knees. His side was bleeding and it was dripping out of his shirt and shredded remains of his winter jacket. Zelts clasped his hands over his bleeding wound while Winter looked at him.
"He was more trouble than I thought, but what's done is done," she thought to herself.
Winter approached Zelts in order to arrest him and take him into custody. She planned to do that with Silver and the rest of their team.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a feminine voice told Winter.
The Ice Queen turned around to see who was talking to her. She recognized the person based on the description General Ironwood gave her and she didn't know why this person was here.
Still laying in the snow, Zelts lifted his head to see who was here and he saw someone he never expected to see again.
Ebony Vantablack stood before Winter and Zelts with a knowing smile. Her silver eyes were locked with Winter's blue eyes. Neither Zelts or Winter knew what was going on, but Ebony knew and she knew how this was going to end.
Violet doubted her Enigmas would be able to match up with Remus's Romulus. In reality and unknown to Violet, her two kukris would've been able to withstand his energized sword. Onyx requested Ghost to retrieve the special metal alloys for her weapons in volume five and used them to forge her kukris. The alloy they are made of are a Vacuo variant of the Atlas alloy used for their weapons like Aster's. How it matches its Atlas counterpart is up for debate but it's just as durable.
Silver is the team's marksman. He has the best aim and is the best long-ranged fighter on VRSZ. His semblance grants him maneuverability in the air and complete control over his own gravity and the gravity of those he touches. Silver can't fly with Gravity, but he can levitate. He picked up Violet's dust arsenal and has a variety of dust bullets for any situation. He is a street fighter and he knows it. He'll do anything to win and he takes pride in that fact. The weakness of Silver is the fact he is a weapon's specialist. He does his best with his weapons in hand, but his hand-to-hand fighting ability is lowest among the team. He tries to make up for it with dirty tactics to turn the fight to his favor. Silver is very similar to Violet being a jack-of-all-trades.
