Screams. Wails. Shrieks…
As Ruby slowly regained her consciousness, the world around her clarified at an equally languid pace. The darkness retreated ever so slightly, revealing the scene in front of her. A white figure made frantic gestures at another, her exasperated calls drowned in the cacophony of the stadium.
Said white figure—which Ruby now recognized as Weiss—jerked her head rapidly towards her, her long ponytail trailing behind her head.
"Finally, you're awake!" she yelled, struggling to overcome the crowd's screams.
Ruby blinked rapidly, her voice a hoarse whisper. "Wh-wha… What's going on?"
Blake walked up to Ruby, taking a glance over her shoulder before responding. "We've got Nevermores incoming. Probably an entire flock, by the sounds of it. We're stuck here with a couple thousand civilians until we can get air support." She reached down towards Ruby, grasping her limp hand.
Blake… Weiss…
Wait…
Yang?
She shot up from the chair, shoving her teammates aside. She darted her head around, searching for the distinct, familiar mane of bright yellow hair. However, as her gaze fell upon the center of the stadium, her eyes widened and throat retched.
Surrounded by an ever expanding pool of deep crimson, Mercury Black's broken form sprawled on the light gray metal of the tournament arena. The spotlights hanging above remained on, bathing the scene in a serene, yet macabre light. Red footprints ringed the carnage, trailing off to a pair of carbon-black scorch marks.
Suddenly, the previous minutes all came flooding back. The cheers. The punch. The screams…
Why? Ruby asked herself, mouth agape and hands numb. How… how could she have?
"Come on, Ruby! We have to calm these people down!" Weiss shouted, snapping her out of her musing. "There are no shields on the stadium's landing bays, so as soon as those things show up, they will—"
A deafening screech rang out from above, silencing Weiss mid-sentence. They snapped their heads upwards, spotting a dozen Nevermores perched on the colosseum's edge. Peering into the arena with hungry, red eyes, they stabbed at the protective barrier, waves of pure energy shooting across it as it buckled under their assault.
Alarms wailed across the colosseum, underscoring the hellish thrashing of the energy shield above. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed across the arena, calm and toneless in spite of the chaos.
"Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: 10. Remain calm, and wait for escort into a safe area," the recording droned on. The overhead shield flashed an ominous red, as scores of Nevermores plunged their beaks into it. High above, hundreds more circled in the night, waiting like vultures to swoop on their prey.
"Those shields won't hold for long! Get inside the hallways, now!" Blake shouted out, urging the panicking crowd to safety. She glanced back up, turned around, and cursed. "What the hell's taking the military so long?"
"Don't worry," Weiss replied, extracting her scroll from one of her belt pouches. "I have contacts who can get hold of Atlas High Command." She held it in front of her face, typing frantically with a shaking right thumb.
"Better make it quick!" Ruby cried, pointing upwards. "Look!"
The Nevermores formed a ring of black around the top of the stadium, broken only by the glowing flares of their eyes. The barrier screamed and convulsed, every flash deeper and redder than the last.
As she looked back down, her eyes met with Blake's. The two stared at each other, nodded, and took out their weapons. As Crescent Rose unfurled with a series of whirrs and clicks, a single, sharp slash revealed Gambol Shroud's blade.
"I'll take the right, you take the left," Blake yelled over the din.
"Got it!" Ruby shouted back, dashing off in a swirling cloud of rose petals. Blake broke off as Weiss trailed behind Ruby, screaming at an operator in angry Atlesian.
"Just stay inside those tunnels!" Ruby yelled. "We're calling for help! Stay put, and we'll all make it out alive!"
With a practiced spin and twirl of her scythe, she stabbed Crescent Rose into the concrete. She tilted her head into its scope, craning up towards the black mass of Grimm and setting her sights on a Nevermore's forehead. The creature bellowed, its four, enraged eyes zeroed on the huntress.
As the last of the crowd drained away into the tunnels, the arena grew eerily quiet. Ruby lifted her head from her sights, looking around the near-barren colosseum. Scattered about the empty seats, a ragtag group of defenders remained behind. Hunters, police officers, soldiers, and even gangsters, weapons raised and heads trained on the flock.
Here they come.
With a final spasm and retch, the overhead shield collapsed. The Nevermores dived over the edge, unleashing harrowing cry that echoed across the arena. The defenders below opened fire, a symphony of rifles to intercept the monsters in descent.
If all hell hadn't broken loose before, something Emerald had too much trouble believing, it certainly had now. The roars of both gunfire and the Grimm pierced her ears, even as she plunged her fingers into them. The ground shook, the crowd's screams only adding to the chaos.
Cinder's plan had been perfect. All possible outcomes meticulously accounted for with a separate procedure of their own. Even the most outlandish possibilities had been considered, much to Mercury's amusement. Such precautions were a necessity when working with unknown variables, however predictable they may seem to the untrained eye; that much Cinder had drilled into them for months.
So much for that,Emerald thought. Her employer had probably left Amity's airspace, escaped with the short mute Neo under the guise of two nurses, just as planned. She had no idea where they were now. Last night's discussion came rushing back into her mind.
"And what if it doesn't work? What then?"
"Think of it this way: If it doesn't, then you have no right to know."
Her scroll began to vibrate in her pocket, as if summoned by her thoughts. She took it out and flicked it open, revealing Cinder on the device's transparent screen. Fidgeting, she brought it to her ear.
"N-now what? How am I gonna get off this thing!?" Emerald shrieked into the scroll.
"What a waste. Such potential…" Cinder meandered. "I thought we were clear about this, Emerald. Apparently, I wasn't clear enough." Her voice, deceptively sweet, was packed with unfathomable venom.
"W-wait, you're coming back, right?" Emerald sputtered, her voice cracking despite her attempts against it.
"Now, I'm sure you remember what I told you about conserving our assets. We're thin on manpower as it is, only… exacerbated… by Roman's untimely capture. We're in no room to account for liabilities, and after the show you just put on, it may be just better to leave you behind. To tie up loose ends," she continued, as Emerald's shoulders sagged deeper with every word. "After all, you already did half the job for us."
"But I didn't kill him! That… that…" she stuttered, grasping for words.
"Oh, darling, you think like the sheep. So good at deception you actually managed to fool yourself," she said, making it sound like a heartfelt compliment. "Yang may have pulled the trigger, but you gave her the gun. She acted on your behalf. Remember that." The signal was cut, a monotonous beeping left in its wake.
As she put down the scroll, the cries and whimpers of the crowd washed over her once again. Yet, she paid them no mind. Her knees trembled, buckled, and collapsed onto the cold, hard steel.
Outside, three successive explosions rocked the hallway. The overhead lamps flickered and died, plunging the crowded passageway into darkness. The cries turned to shrieks and the whimpers turned to shouts.
So this is how it ends, huh? Emerald mused to herself, tears starting to form upon her dark red eyes.
Ruby took aim and worked Crescent Rose's bolt, ejecting a spent armor-piercing round and chambering in the next. She spun to the left, bringing a Nevermore's eye under her crosshairs. She halted, breathed in, and fired.
The beast howled, rearing its head back as it began to rise, sweeping its enormous wings back and forth. Yet, as it turned back towards the sky, a rocket snaked through the air above Ruby. The fireball swept across its back, the creature screaming as it spiraled into the arena below.
"Hell yeah!" someone whooped from behind. She yanked the bolt back again, tossed away the empty clip, and slotted in another.
Across the entire colosseum, Nevermore after Nevermore collapsed, lifeless and smoking. Yet, every one that fell was replaced by two more, swooping in from the neverending flock above. They dove over the defenders, raining down flurries of massive, sharpened feathers. Low human screams mingled with high Grimm shrieks, an infernal discord that pierced Ruby to her core.
As she zeroed in on a Nevermore on the far side of the stadium, three pink flashes arced across its flank. It stalled in midair, staggering as a golden disk sliced across its wing. The beast crumpled into a smoking heap, revealing two huntresses standing amongst the bleachers, backs to each other and weapons raised.
Nora! Pyrrha! She breathed a sigh of relief. Glad to know we have reliable company.
Rapid footsteps off to her right tore her away from her scope. Raising her head, she saw Blake, bounding past her towards Weiss.
"Any news on that squadron?" she shouted over the hellish din.
"All available fighters have already scrambled elsewhere!" Weiss grunted back, blocking a hail of razor-sharp feathers with a solid wall of ice. "We may have thousands here, but there's millions down there who need more help than we do!"
Blake cursed under her breath, sprinting off back from where she came. Turning back to her sights, Ruby squeezed the trigger once again, and another Nevermore wailed in pain.
They must have a few fighters to spare… right? she wondered. With a flock this big, we won't be able to get anyone off!
As she swung her rifle onto another Grimm, a gust of air knocked her off balance, and a mighty crash dropped her onto her knees. A long shadow then draped across the concrete, blotting out the colosseum's lights. Snapping her head around, she locked eyes with a screeching Nevermore, eyes widened and throat clenched.
As the beast's beak shot downward, Ruby dashed to the right, leaving a fluttering cloud of petals in her wake. The massive creature squirmed and howled, its beak lodged into the ground. With a running start, she hopped onto the Grimm's back, raising Crescent Rose above its exposed neck. As she brought it down with a throat-splitting scream, the Nevermore jerked its massive head backwards, sending Ruby careening down the length of its spine.
"Lucky hit…!" she gritted, twirling her scythe and stabbing it into its back. The monster roared, sweeping its wings back and forth.
Just as it began to lift, three blasts of Dust slammed into its right wing, encasing it in a thick layer of ice and staggering the beast back to the ground.
"Now!" Weiss screamed, Myrtenaster glowing a dull blue.
Ruby grinned, bounding and leaping across the Nevermore's back. Slicing through the air with a scream to match her owner's, Crescent Rose plunged deep into the beast's nape.
Once more, the Grimm cried in pain, the howl turning into a gurgle as the blade bisected its throat. Ruby stood up and angled the barrel downwards, a malevolent grin splayed across her face as she squeezed the trigger. The beast retched and gurgled, each successive round burying itself deeper and deeper into its skull. Finally, a dry click answered her next pull, as the monster below her gave its last, dying spasm.
"You were always fond of overkill," Weiss sighed as she walked towards the smoking corpse, free hand on her hip.
"Guess so…" Ruby panted, her grin evaporating alongside her fading adrenaline. She coughed as the Nevermore sizzled beneath her, inhaling a gulp of thick, black smoke.
As she clambered off the carcass, Blake leaped over it, rolling to a stop between her two teammates. She gazed off to the side, ears perking up under her ribbon.
"I heard something. Southward, headed here fast," she said, eyes narrowing. Both Weiss and Ruby stared, dumbfounded.
"You don't mean…" Weiss returned, her gaze meeting Ruby's. Over the din of the battle, they heard a low, rising hum.
No… More Nevermores? Ruby thought, trembling. Then, as the hum grew to a loud, steady shriek, her eyes widened.
An engine! Jet fighters!
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a demonic cacophony erupted from behind. The Nevermores above her exploded in scores, as a torrent of missiles flooded the arena. Bright streams of tracers scythed through the air, each Grimm they encountered eviscerated in a cloud of smoke and blood. Several grey streaks shot through the smokescreen, followed by an ear-piercing boom.
Cheers swept across the stadium as the barrage ended, corpses raining down in smoking heaps. Ruby and her teammates stared, mouths agape, as the remains of the flock rose out of the colosseum and into the night. As the whine of the jet engines receded into the distance, the PA system crackled back to life.
"This is Ebony-1, Atlas Air Force, to everyone currently within Amity Colosseum," said a guttural, female voice. "All civilians and students are urged to move towards the transport bays for immediate evac. Any personnel of the Atlas Armed Forces are under direct orders from General Ironwood to remain in the colosseum until the area is secured. Ebony Squadron out."
As the loudspeakers switched off, the far-off whine rose to a scream. More streams of Dust rounds slammed into the lumbering Nevermores, met again with whoops from below.
Ruby's eyes drifted as her breathing slowed, settling on the central platform beneath her. Where Mercury's body once lay, scattered chunks of flesh remained. A trail of blood led off the edge and onto the metal below, where a Nevermore's half-decayed carcass laid smoking.
Head hung, Ruby turned to her two teammates. "Well, looks like our work here is done," she breathed. "We need to get back to Beacon."
Blake and Weiss shared a quick glance before nodding. They stepped into the hallways, leaving the stutter of scattered gunfire behind them. The three walked in silence, their echoing footsteps the only sounds in the emptied tunnels.
Why… Why did it have to come to this…
They went down the last flight of stairs, coming up to the rear of the crowd. Through the sea of heads, Ruby spotted the bulking frame of an airship, much larger and angular than the conventional transport. It lowered itself onto the docking catwalk, the mass of people surging forth as its ramp descended.
The three made a staggering journey through the crowd, bumping past those too slow to keep up with the tide. As they shoved past a pair of tall, suited men, Ruby heard a murmur from behind.
"Hey, aren't those the pals of the crazy bitch back there?"
Blake spun around, eyes flaring and fists clenched. Ruby grasped her arm, tugging her back as the crowd pulled them apart. Yet, before she could turn back, several cries rose from the people around them.
"Nevermore!"
The lumbering beast hovered between them and the transport, the sweeps of its wings growing ever larger. Ruby tried to grasp her weapon, but was hemmed in between two panicking women. Weiss, to her left, extracted Myrtenaster and aimed it at the Grimm, firing off a trio of ice blasts. Yet, as they arced over the crowd, the Nevermore reared back its wings, and brought them down with a monstrous blast of wind.
A volley of feathers knifed through the air, slicing into the masses beneath as shrieks rose from all around. The woman to Ruby's right screamed, a thick, plumed shaft jutting out from her belly. The blasts of ice finally reached the Grimm, enveloping its tail in a solid layer of ice. It stalled and plummeted, its screech joining that of those who fell to the distant ground below.
She stood still, legs locked, boots surrounded by an expanding pool of crimson. The smell of blood overpowered her, a tidal wave that surged over her senses. The screams, curses, and shouts all blended together into a harrowing wail, her mind numbed under its hellish cry.
From ahead, a single shout pierced the din. "Transport's almost full! Get a fucking move on, you lugs, or another one of those things is gonna show up!"
The crowd lumbered forth once again, Ruby staggering forward as the people behind pushed. Her slogging brought her through the middle of the carnage, corpse after corpse skewered on the tilted, bloody feathers. One of the bodies moved as she shambled past, a weak, trembling hand grasping her leg with surprising strength.
"Please…" the voice croaked, an old man impaled to the ground through his chest. His eyes were fixed on Crescent Rose, stowed on its sheath on Ruby's back. "It hurts… it hurts…"
"Ruby! Come on!" Weiss called out, stepping onto the catwalk leading to barge, Blake in tow. She stepped forward, tugging her leg away from the dying man. As she stepped onto the transport's ramp, half a dozen soldiers cut off the crowd, curses and cries coming from behind. An alarm in the barge began to wail, the ramp starting to lift as hydraulic pistons retracted.
The inside of the barge was packed, a wall of heads and torsos surrounding her as she was jammed into a corner. The deck beneath her feet shuddered, and the airship's engines came alive with a roar. Acceleration pressed her into the metal, Crescent Rose's sheath jamming into her back.
Murmurs and whimpers filled the stunned silence of the hangar. Lulled by the quiet, Ruby's mind began to wander. She thought back to Mercury, killed onstage by her own sister.
I...
She thought back to the woman, pierced at her side as she simply watched.
I… I…
She thought back to the old man, begging with his final breaths for a quicker end.
I couldn't save them… I failed…
Her vision blurred and her throat tightened. Her knees crumpled as she slid down the hull onto the floor. Eyes stinging, she cupped her face in her hands, and wept.
