Chapter 38
Author's Note: I don't believe I've had a note at the beginning for quite a while. I'm truly glad to see the progress the story has made thus far and am always elated to see people are still interested in it. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and hope that this new year brings you all the best. Enjoy the chapter and stay safe!
"Weiss! How much longer?!" Yang yelled over the sound of gunfire.
"I don't know! I've made it passed the interior of the building, but I assume I still have a ton of dirt and rock to go through!" Weiss explained. At this point, she was sitting next Yang, behind cover.
"I'm kinda surprised they haven't just blown us to hell yet…" Yang said as she ducked down to reload.
"They been using explosives on us for quite a while and it hasn't been working. Plus, they know that we're trying to escape…I'm sure that someone has come to the realization that we would just survive another blast and they would ultimately just help us with getting through the wall." Blake stated as she, too, reloaded her weapon.
"At least their finally getting the message…" Yang said with a smirk before unloading her weapon on the enemy once again. "Oh yeah! Who's keeping count?! I'm dropping one after another!" she exclaimed after another successful counter-attack.
"This isn't a game, you brute!" Weiss yelled.
"I like that idea!" Clark yelled, changing the subject.
"What idea?" Ruby asked.
"Explosions!" Clark yelled as he threw two of the ammo magazines at the two groups of White Fang, respectively. He quickly stuck his head out and fired at the two magazines on the ground causing a massive explosion. The ground beneath the White Fang began to crack and crumble in a few places.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Weiss said as the White Fang jumped out of the way of the crumbling ground as the cracks became slow to form. Team RWBY and Clark watched the cracks get closer to them until they, fortunately, stopped in their tracks.
"Damn…that wasn't cool." Yang said.
"Sometimes you have to just take a leap of faith and hope everything works out." Clark said smugly.
"I don't think we should go for that kind of leap, though…" Ruby stated as she looked through the crumbling ground to see that there was some sort of underground lava source below them.
"I think he's right guys. I don't know about you two, but we're getting low on ammo over here." Blake said as she looked through the duffle bag they had on their side.
"We don't have too much left either, but still…" Ruby stated.
"Doesn't matter anymore. Besides, you'll be happy there's a hole there later." Clark said.
"How do you figure that?" Weiss said as she stood up to examine the hole.
"You'll just have to wait and see." Clark said as he, too, stood up and made his way to the wall that Weiss had been digging through. He pulled his scroll out and noticed that he going in and out of having a connection. "Weiss, I have a small, intermittent connection. "Check your scroll to see if you can contact your support on the outside." He stated followed by Weiss quickly checking her scroll as she got as close to the partially destroyed wall as she could.
"I can just barely send a message…" Weiss stated as she quickly typed on her scroll.
"Does this support of yours have any explosives on board?" Clark asked.
"Probably, he's in a disguised gunship." Weiss replied.
"Then tell him to begin firing at the rock from the outside so we can speed this whole thing up" Clark stated.
Weiss glanced in his direction, "Do you really think –" she said before being cut off by the loud ring of a weapon being fired. A dark red stained the wall next to her as she slowly backed up. A thud sounded through the room before Blake stood up with her weapon in her hand, aiming directly at the White Fang soldier who was peeking around the wall. Yang grabbed one of the ammunition magazines and through it into the hall, to which Blake took the opportunity and fired at it while it was still flying through the air. It exploded with the same force as earlier except it quickly caused the ceiling and walls to crumble leaving the other side of the hallway as the only accessible path to them. Blake remedied that by picking up another ammo magazine and throwing it into the hall before aiming the rifle with one hand and firing at it. The resulting explosion completely cut them off from the rest of the base.
Yang, Ruby, and Blake quickly ran over to the scene to assess the situation. "Get the medical kit out, now!" Ruby yelled as she began to work with her semblance to keep the blood from spurting of so fast. Yang quickly placed down the medical kit as Blake walked back to search through the duffle bag that held their ammunition.
Yang began pulling out the stitches and antiseptic as another set of hands pulled out a small syringe and filled it with morphine. Yang looked over to see the needle being injected into his body. "Hurry and stitch him up." Weiss said as she quickly sent the text to Klein.
Yang did not hesitate to pour some of the antiseptic onto her hands and onto the wound before sticking beginning to stitch up the wound in Clark's neck. It didn't take much time as Clark was already unconscious. Blake returned to pull out another syringe from the medical kit. "Weiss already gave him some morphine." Yang said.
"I know." Blake stated as she pulled out a vial of Omni-dust and stuck the needle inside of it.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked. Blake didn't respond but quickly sent the needle into a vein in Clark's arm and squeezing the substance into his body.
"Are you insane?!" Weiss yelled as she grabbed Blake's arm too late.
"No…this is going to make him better." Blake said.
"How in Remnant could you think that? Omni-dust is pure energy! What's next…injecting Uranium into his body?!" Weiss asked sarcastically before a series of coughs brought her attention back to the recently still body lying on the ground.
"Clark?! Are you okay?" Ruby asked as she tried to examine his wound, only to realize it wasn't there.
"How did that happen? Can Omni-dust heal people that fast? Why isn't this already a thing?" Yang asked.
"It only works for him…because of his semblance." Blake stated.
"He never told us his semblance. What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"I've slowly pieced it together as we've been together. We thought it was teleportation, but that wouldn't make sense. If it was, we would simply disappear in one are, and appear in another. Then I thought he was manipulating time, and I believed that right up until he was just shot. Now I see, he has the ability to manipulate the very atoms themselves. Am I correct, Lionel?" Blake asked as she looked to her left to which the rest of the girls followed her lead.
"When did you suspect it was me?" Lionel asked as Ruby, Yang, and Weiss looked back at the ground to see nothing but a puddle of blood.
"From the very beginning…I have a really good sense of smell." Blake said.
"True, but no other faunus has ever figured that out." Lionel said.
"And no other faunus has had the privilege of being trained by you for so long." Blake responded.
"Indeed." Lionel said as he finally turned around to look at the girls. "I think it's about time we left." He said as he walked up to the wall that Weiss had been working on getting through.
"It seems we'll need more Omni-dust." Blake stated smugly.
"Yeah, yeah…I've still got some wrinkles. I'll be back to normal when we return home." Lionel said as he placed his hand on the wall before a surge of energy rushed through the rock and dirt. Before anyone could ask what he was attempting to do, it shattered as it was launched forward, creating a sizeable hole.
"It was you the whole time? Is that why you were being such a nuisance?" Weiss asked.
"I was trying to keep a low profile. Adam honestly believes that the Alpha will work with him but doesn't realize that secrets are being kept from him. He didn't know who I was and I didn't want that to change." Lionel started as a hum echoed in the distance. "...it would seem our friend has arrived." He finished as the gunship quickly approached the hole in the side of the cliff.
"Time to go home, everyone!" Yang said as they all jumped into the ship.
"Klein, please take us home." Weiss said with a sigh.
"Of course." Klein stated.
"But first…" Lionel started before pointing his finger into the room they had just exited. "Fire a missile into that room and quickly retreat to a safe distance." He stated.
"With pleasure!" Klein stated as he turned the gunship to a slight angle and fired a single shot into the room. The missile broke through the floor without exploding and continued on as the ship flew away from the scene. The mild whistling noise it made continued for a short time until a massive explosion destroyed the entire cliff, momentarily revealing some of the many layers of the base before they were all engulfed in flames. The ground of the forest seemed to shake like a waterbed before the entire base had been completely obliterated.
"How did that one missile do so much damage?" Weiss asked.
"Told you we'd be happy that we left that hole there." Lionel said.
"That doesn't answer my question." Weiss stated.
"They were using thermal energy to keep their base operational. We just destroyed their reactor, which, in turn, destroyed their base." Lionel explained.
"And the Alpha?" Ruby asked.
"Unfortunately, he's quite a bit stronger than a measly explosion." Lionel stated.
"Now what?" Blake asked.
"We return to Beacon and warn everyone about the inevitable Grimm War." Lionel stated as he took a seat.
"This is quite troubling, indeed." Ozpin said as he slowly paced with his coffee in hand.
"What do you propose we do, Lionel?" Ironwood asked.
"I wish that I could give you a better answer…but, we are going to war. The only way to do this is to kill the Alpha, once again." Lionel stated.
"From everything you've explained this far, I'm going to assume that it is easier said than done." Ironwood responded.
"In a manner of speaking. He's has a ridiculously powerful aura, the ability to control minds and enslave people's bodies, and is intelligent…but is otherwise a normal Grimm." Lionel stated.
"And can be killed like any other Grimm." Ozpin finished.
"Yes. The previous Grimm War had most of the soldier holding off the Grimm while the Knights, Saviors, and a select number of powerful Hunters targeting the Alpha." Lionel explained.
"So…don't fix it if it's not broken?" Ironwood asked.
"Unless you have a better idea. The Alpha isn't an enemy who can be outsmarted…he's will know when someone is sneaking up on him, his sheer strength makes your ships and weapons obsolete, and he has literally all of the Grimm as well as many mind-controlled individuals under his command. So you have to beat him in a way that doesn't require strategy, technology, or numbers." Lionel explained.
"Which is…?" Ironwood prodded.
"Hit him really hard!" Yang exclaimed as she punched her fists together.
"She took the words right out of my mouth." Lionel stated with a grin.
"This absurdity is getting us nowhere. Do you know how many live are on the line?" Ironwood asked in annoyance.
"I'm significantly more aware of that than you. I've already stated that I have given you all of the information regarding the Alpha that I have within my possession. With that in mind, would you happen to have any plans?" Lionel asked.
"How is it possible that something can be that powerful? That defies all logic and reason." Ironwood stated.
"Possibility? Logic? Reason? He doesn't care about any of that." Lionel said.
Ironwood sighed, "Lionel, listen to me –"
"No, Ironwood. You listen to me. If you manage to come up with any better plans, feel free to share with the rest of the class. I have an intimate understanding of how this creature operates and I have shared that understanding with you all. I have been unable to devise a better plan than simple brute force. However, I am certainly open to more possibilities and ideas." Lionel said as he turned his back to the two headmasters.
"Where are you off to, Knight-General?" Ozpin asked sarcastically, already knowing the answer.
"We're going to train. I'll keep you updated if I hear anything else." Lionel stated as he and Team RWBY stepped into the elevator.
"Are we gonna get to fight the Alpha?" Yang asked.
"Yes." Lionel stated.
"And how do you propose we go about doing that? Do you really think we'll have enough time to train before this creature attacks?" Weiss asked.
"I didn't necessarily mean physical, though there will be some endurance needed." Lionel said.
"I've got endurance for days!" Yang stated.
"That's good. Because I have two ideas. A plan of attack…kind of. And a backup plan…sort of." Lionel said.
"That's helpful." Blake stated.
"Don't worry. I'll explain when we get back to my training ground." Lionel stated as the elevator doors opened.
"What kind f training did you have in mind exactly?" Ruby asked.
"It may sound frightening at first...and it will probably be terrifying and painful at first as well. Or maybe not...it seems to never have a consistent effect." Lionel explained.
"What are you talking about?"Weiss asked.
"Omni-dust. You can train your body to use it if it's injected just like me." Lionel stated, waiting for a response that never came. "What do you think?" he asked as he turned his head to see the girls. Ruby and Yang seemed to be less affected by what they had heard than Weiss and Blake were, but were still noticeably shaken. Blake and Weiss, on the other hand, had their eyes wide and looked as though they might be ready to fight at any moment.
"You can't be serious!" Weiss yelled.
"Honestly, what if you're wrong? that could kill us." Blake inquired.
"I don't think we have a choice in the matter. Besides, people hear that and assume that it's just crazy talk. The Knights have been experimenting with Omni-dust for centuries. There's actually a method to manipulating your body to use Omni-dust. Trust me when I say, this is not a lottery, there is no luck involved. You will be fine...it's jus a matter of how much you'll have to endure until you get to that point." Lionel said.
"Even if we assume that this was a good idea, you make it sound like we would have to work for many years in order to procure this skill." Weiss said.
"No...but it may feel like it." Lionel said with a sigh as he remembered his time learning this talent.
"Could you please stop being so cryptic? What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"Omni-dust is energy and lets off an electromagnetic pulse like all other forms of pure energy. These pulses react with the electromagnetic waves in your brain and drastically alter your perception. Everything you know will be turned upside down when the Omni-dust enters your body...until you can learn to control it." Lionel explained.
"So it's basically a really strong drug?" Yang asked.
"Until you can control it...yes. When you learn how to use it properly...it becomes really strong steroid." Lionel joked.
"Sounds good to me!" Yang stated
"Are you sure?" Weiss asked.
"Like he told Ironwood, we don't really have many other options. And trusting Lion has been the best plan every time up to this point. So, why not?" Yang asked.
"Everyone's different. The way he made it sound, it can really mess you up if you aren't mentally prepared." Blake said as she pondered the thought.
"How much?" Yang asked Lionel.
"There has never been a single time where someone came out from this ordeal and had any debilitating mental issues. However, if you can't handle it, it can definitely leave you...different. As I said, everything you know and believe is completely washed away until you can learn to control it." Lionel explained.
"Then I'll make sure I do it right." Yang said.
"We're actually going to do this, aren't we?" Weiss asked.
"I don't see any better options. But why 'us' specifially?" Blake asked.
"I'll explain that when we return. But for the time being, will you at least humor the notion? Trust me, it has to be you four who do this or else many people will die." Lionel said.
"Fine...let's see." Blake said.
"If it means I can help everyone, then I'm in." Ruby said.
"The worst part is, I know you're probably right. So the only thing keeping from wanting to do this is my own fear...I hate being scared." Weiss said as she looked at her team. "But I'll do it." she finished.
"Then we'll begin as soon as we return. I'll also explain everything there." Lionel stated with a smile.