Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 11

Acceptance

Okay, this is my favourite chapter in this volume. The one I enjoyed writing the most. Hope everyone likes it.

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Play Music: http/youtu.be/KrFQ7iK7EwA

[Fairy Tail OST- Black Flame]

"Is that all you've got?!" Yang taunted as her boot weighed down on Connor's chest. He could feel more teeth having been knocked loose by the last punch, and his mouth was full of his own blood. His ribs, while still intact thanks to the aura shielding, hurt tremendously and Yang's foot was stood right on them. He could see Jim, Kane, Ruby and Irileth all stood up out of their seats, ready to rush to his aid if Ozpin called the match. Ozpin however was sat quite calmly sipping his coffee, staring at Connor as if to act disappointed. It was as if his eyes were telling Connor to get up and fight, that he was stronger than this, but he didn't say it.

Growing frustrated by Ozpin's silence, Connor decided it was time to man up. He gritted his teeth and pulled back his fist, then slammed it into the side of Yang's boot. It had no effect however, other than to make Yang snicker at his feeble attempt to fight back. "That's a pathetic excuse for a punch." She mocked as he continued to throw light and ineffective punches at her boot to try to knock her over.

Connor knew he needed to punch harder, but his physical strength alone wasn't enough. Yang was a tank, able to take quite a beating before admitting the skill of her opponent. He needed just a little bit of aura, a little bit of his semblance to help him. It was hard to draw out energy without the Kalos Crystal, but he had to try. Suddenly he felt power surging through his fist and he looked at it to see it was glowing brightly with the golden light of his aura.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/Zjb109KA6Po

[Fairy Tail OST- Cobra's Theme]

He then grinned confidently for the first time in the fight and exclaimed, "How about this for a punch then?!" He followed up his words by slamming his shining fist into Yangs ankle, hitting her with enough power to knock her off his chest. She stumbled back, surprised by his sudden growth in power, but didn't fall as he had many times already.

Connor took the chance of Yang being stunned by his sudden counter attack to rise to his feet and wipe the blood from around his mouth. He threw Yang a cocky grin and watched out of the corner of his eye as the look on Ozpin's face changed to one of serious interest.

"Woah, he looks pumped." Jim commented, seeing the fiery look in Connor's eyes. "He was so nervous before, what's changed?"

"Connor..." Kane mumbled to himself, gazing in wonderment at his teammates sudden change of attitude. Then Kane did something that no one would have ever expected him to do, and yelled at of his voice, "Connor! Kick her arse!"

Spurred on even more by Kane's words, as everyone in the stands stared at him in surprise, Connor rushed towards Yang with renewed motivation and threw another punch. Yang managed to dodge to the side, but as she felt a brush of air on the side of her head, she knew that the punch was a lot stronger than the last. She felt the rush of air through her hair as his fist barely missed her face, and reacted by throwing a punch towards the side of his body again, aiming for the same spot he had hit before.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Connor had stepped out the way of the punch lightning fast and Yang missed her target. He then moved forward and hit Yang in her side, impacting with enough force to knock her on to the ground. She quickly pushed herself back up, not relenting in the slightest.

Connor then launched even more attacks at Yang, not letting up for a second. The battle ramped up, and the tension in the crowd rose as the two of them began fighting on an entirely new level. Connor expertly dodged Yang's punches with the help of his semblance and returned fire, Yang only being fast enough to avoid some of the attacks and ended up being hit a number of times. Connor's punches weren't as hard as Yang's, but with his golden aura powering them, they were still formidable.

The fight continued for a few minutes, both of the combatants fighting hard against each other. The crowd was on the edge of their seats for a while and finally stood up in excitement when Yang and Connor both hit each other in the face at the same time and went down onto their knees. Connor rose up first, taking the opportunity to back off from Yang. Next Yang got up, looking even angrier than previously.

Connor quickly found out why. He watched in terror as a lock of Yang's golden hair fell from her head and floated down to the floor, her eyes turning a darker red in the same instance.

"Oh no..." Ruby worryingly muttered, her and the others still stood up behind the barrier. "Her semblance is fully activated, this is gonna be bad."

"Those red eyes are her semblance right?" Jim replied. "I thought it was already activated."

"Not fully." Ruby responded, her worry increasing by the second. "Yang usually only fully activates it in really bad situations. If she's gonna use it here...Connor might not be able to withstand it."

"Damn." Kane cursed, frowning at Yang as she glared furiously at Connor. "Is she really that strong?"

Back on the battlefield, Yang smashed her fists together in her rage. As she did so, her hair spontaneously combusted, flames licking every lock. It didn't burn though, in fact her aura seemed to be super powering the flames as well as keeping them from harming her. With no warning, Yang shot forward and smashed her fist into Connor's cheek, the punch ten times more powerful than before. Connor reeled back, feeling all the teeth in that side of his mouth being knocked out and his jaw fracture, but couldn't avoid Yang's next attack. She smashed him straight in the belly, sending him flying across the sparring arena until he hit the wall of which Ruby was seated just above.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/Loi4bYzXvAw

[Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme Slow]

Ruby looked down at at his broken, bleeding figure, tears welling up in her eyes again. Just a minute beforehand, she'd thought he might have had a chance at winning. Now however, it looked as though he wouldn't be able to stand.

Connor was breathing heavily, blood dripping out of his mouth, his vision blurred. He'd never been hit so hard in his life, never felt so much pain. Even being shot by Murlough wasn't as painful. On top of that, he felt like some of his ribs had been broken even with the aura shield protecting him. He didn't want to feel this pain anymore, he was ready to give up. "I'm sorry Ruby..." He thought to himself as his head began to hang.

"GET UP CONNOR!" Someone screamed from the crowd. He recognised the voice to be Jim's.

"DON'T LET HER BEAT YOU!" Kane then shouted at him. Connor began to lift his head, his confidence rising.

"Don't give up Connor!" Irileth next yelled down to him, not quite as loud as the two boys, but loud nonetheless.

Then came the one that inspired the most bravery in Connor, the one voice that could pull him from the pits of hell. Ruby Rose.

"I know you're strong enough!"

Hearing her voice, Connor called on all his remaining strength and rose to one knee, a tear falling from his eye in homage to the girl he was fighting so hard for. Behind him he could hear the crowd yelling alongside his friends, all the students shouting at him, telling him to get up and fight. He'd never felt so motivated, so supported, in his entire life.

Even Ozpin stood straight up out of shock to see Connor getting back up after such a beatdown, dropping his coffee cup and hearing it smash on the floor, but ignoring it. He wasn't one for cheering or shouting like the rest of the crowd was, but he was inspired by Connor's determination all the same. When he had first arrived at Beacon, he had no friends and no intention of making any, he was alone. Now, he was being cheered on by the entire student body, who were giving him their full support.

When Connor was back in his feet, the crowd cheered unbelievably loud. He looked right into Yang's eyes with raw determination, as her look of anger turned to one of shock. He felt the power of his semblance growing, his aura strengthening. The glowing light that was over his hands snaked its way up his forearm, up to where his sleeve was rolled up, and glowed even brighter and more powerfully. The same golden light circled out his body in thin spirals, his semblance's power strengthened exponentially. Ozpin stared in amazement at Connor's rising power level, a part of him unable to believe what he was seeing, the other part of him so proud of the boy he had rescued from the darkest depths of sorrow and despair.

After about a minute of building up, the golden light was shining brilliantly all over his forearms and across his body in the spiralling energy. He launched himself at Yang, punching her straight in the belly, and yelled, "Don't ever underestimate me again!" Yang was then sent flying into the wall on the other side of the arena, and smashed into it, then landed on her hands and knees.

Connor didn't stop there though. As soon as Yang was on her feet, Connor was right in front of her and unleashed a barrage of attacks, punching so fast and so hard that Yang had no chance to react. He landed hit after hit on her in multiple places, whittling down her strength. Everyone in the crowd stood on their feet, continuing their cheering as Connor laid into Yang, ensuring his victory.

Just as Connor felt Yang's aura levels lowering near rock bottom, she lashed out one last time, hoping to get one more good hit before she went down. Luckily for her, her fist went straight into Connor's right shoulder as he punched forward himself. His fist stopped short of Yang's face, his arm shook a little, then went limp. His other hand immediately went to where Yang had hit his shoulder, and then he fell, wincing in pain once again. Her last blow had broken his arm, despite the protection of the aura shielding system, it had been a super powerful last attack.

When Connor hit the floor, his eyes were closed. He lay on the cold ground, unmoving. The crowd went silent, even Connor's closest friends who had been cheering him on just moments before were completely void of cheers. Ruby stared at him, tears welling up once again as she gazed at his still form. Jim and Kane also stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend how he had gone from a powerhouse to being laid out on the arena floor with one blow.

Seeing that Connor wasn't going to get up, Ozpin raised one hand in the air to signal the end of the match. The crowd turned and look at him at the back of the stands, some of them resenting him for giving up on Connor, others knowing why he had done it.

"No!" Ruby cried out to Ozpin, unwilling to accept the battle was over. "He can still fight, he'll get up, he'll-"

"Ruby!" Jim snapped, making her jump. When she turned to face him, tears had started to stream down her face as she wondered why she had shouted at her. "I'm sorry, but he's done." When Ruby opened her mouth to say otherwise, Jim interrupted her again. "Even if he could get up, which he can't, it'd be stupid to let him keep fighting. If he goes on...he'll get himself really badly hurt. This is for his own good."

Ruby knew he was right, she didn't want to see Connor hurt, but she knew how he'd feel when he woke up. He'd feel as though he'd let Ruby down. Yang would probably not only call off the wedding, but also put a stop to their relationship. She began to sob as the tears came hard as she hid her face in her hands.

Ozpin decided he needed to announce an official result to end the match, and so he declared, "Yang Xiao Long is the victor."

Yang let out a large sigh, relieved for the match to finally be over. It had been a lot harder than she'd expected, Connor had put up quite a fight. "You won't...be marrying...my sister...anytime soon." Yang told Connor's unconscious body, taking deep breaths between her words.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/GkO0RyOyxcg

[Fairy Tail OST- The Promised Land]

"I...get...it..."

Yang snapped her head up and looked on Connor, who just a second ago had been laying knocked out cold on the ground, pushing himself up with one arm. He was struggling with it immensely, sweat running down his neck, but he kept going. Yang and the crowd all stared at him in disbelief, as he tried to rise back up after being knocked down so harshly.

"I...get...it...Yang..." He said, taking a break between each word to catch his breath which was slipping out of him in the pain. "I get...why you...hate me...so much." He was quickly getting his breath back, being able to speak a little longer before stopping. The speed at which he was getting his strength back amazed everyone. He managed to push himself up a little, then it became too hard and he settled an uncomfortable looking sitting position.

"You just wanna...protect Ruby right?" Connor guessed. "Just like I do. You want to protect her...from harm, by being...the only one she can...rely on...her big sister."

Getting emotional at Connor's remarks, Yang yelled, "Shut up! You don't know anything!" But even so, a small tear found its way to the corner of Yang's eye. He'd hit the nail right on the head.

"I want to protect...her too..." Connor told Yang sincerely, losing his breath again and having to speak slower. "I live to protect her...I love her..."

"I can protect her!" Yang shouted back at him, a mixture of angry and emotional. "I don't need your help! I don't want it!"

"LOOK AT ME!" Connor yelled back at her with passion. When Yang looked, he'd pulled off his eyepatch and revealed his skinned over eye socket to everyone in the room. She felt as if the ghost of his right eye was looking right at her, right into her heart. "I've sacrificed things for her Yang! I've lost things to protect her! My eye, my hand, I lost them protecting Ruby...and I'm willing to lose so much more...for her."

Connor then summoned all of his remaining strength as Yang and everyone else watched. He managed to get into one knee and from there stood up, slightly hunched from his injuries, but still standing. Legs shaking, he started to walk towards Yang, who had tears welling up in her eyes now that Connor had figured her out. As he walked, her said to her "Yang, let me take care of her now...please." He then stopped just in front of her, and waited for his answer as she wiped the tears away, not wanting anyone to see her cry.

"You think you've got me all figured out don't you?" She said to him, once she was ready. "Fine...you can have her...but if she ever gets hurt because of you..."

"I know." Connor finished, looking Yang right in her eyes, which had now reverted to their normal colour. He then did something that surprised Yang immensely, and hug her with his one good arm.

"Thank you." He told her, as she returned the hug. She knew what he was trying to get across, it wasn't a hug of love or even friendship. It was one of acceptance, and she returned that feeling.

"He's hugging Yang...?" Ruby muttered in disbelief. Yang had only ever hit Connor, and now she was embracing him.

"Lucky bastard." Jim let slip out, but fortunately no one heard him.

It was then that she felt Connor go limp in her arms, she held him out in front of herself and shook him, saying his name. However, he did not respond, he had lost consciousness again.

In an instant Ozpin yelled down the corridor, "Get the doctors in here, he needs go to the infirmary!" Right on cue two doctors ran into the arena with a stretcher. As they went down the combat area where Yang had laid Connor down, the others rushed in to see him. Ruby held his hand as they lifted him into the stretcher, flashing a grateful smile towards Yang. Jim went with Ruby as they started to carry him away, Irileth held Kane's hand, even as he struggled to get out of her grip.

As the doctors climbed up the stairs, Mars stood in the doorway in his pale green cloak, leaning against the door frame. He looked proudly down at his former student, brushing a hand through his greying green hair and thought to himself, "You really have grown up a lot...haven't you, Connor?"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END