A/N: Almost to the end!
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Blackness.
That was all Richter could see, an empty void of nothingness surrounding him. He couldn't hear anything, he couldn't feel anything, he was just…there. The place was all too familiar for him, it was a place he often ended up in when the injections and experiments had become too much. At first, Richter resisted the oblivion, the feeling of having your senses taken away was unnerving, but as time went on under Cinder's "Care." He began to tolerate it and in time, toleration became yearning. For the blackness shielded him from the misery he had been in, even if it was only for a limited time.
However, the short ex-huntsman was confused, why was he here now? He usually remembered why he had returned to the ebony depths, but right now he was drawing a blank. He felt the answer just out of his mind's reach, teasing him.
The answer came in a scream, but not his. It was Ruby's.
And then it all came back to him, the blackness receded from his vision like a curtain opening for the first act of a theatre production. Richter found himself lying in a prone position, his dark-brown eyes searched the room for Ruby and her team. He found Yang, Weiss and Blake towards the middle of the room, trying to gather their senses just like he was. His search continued until he found Ruby and when he did he felt his blood start to boil.
Standing over her prone petite form was Darion. The transformed psychopath's sword was embedded in Ruby's right thigh. Richter couldn't see her silver eyes as she had them tightly shut in an attempt to cope with the pain she was in.
Darion leaned on his sword, earning a groan of pain from his red-cloaked friend. "Do you feel it closing in around you Ruby Rose?" He taunted. "The inevitability of your demise?"
Ruby's team had seen her predicament as well, they rose to their feet, but before they could do anything, Darion removed his sword from Ruby's leg, earning another cry of pain from her. The transformed psychopath pointed the tip of his sword at the three huntresses, firing a decent-sized aura blast that knocked them away from their beleaguered leader.
That was when Ruby struck.
Fighting through her pain, she grabbed Crescent Rose and hastily aimed it at Darion's chest, firing a recoil shot to increase the distance between herself and him. Once she gained that distance, she immediately planted the blade of her scythe into the metal floor and began firing sniper rounds at the psychopath. Darion blocked or deflected the rounds with his blade.
Richter rose to his feet, running to regroup with Ruby's team. His red-cloaked friend had got herself out of immediate danger, but with her leg injured, she wasn't going to be able to move well at all. She was merely buying time and they had to do something. Yang was apparently thinking the same thing as she bent her knees in preparation to leap into the fight when Weiss held out her right arm to obstruct her path.
"Wait!" The heiress said.
Yang quickly turned her head towards the white-haired huntress. "Ruby's in trouble!"
Weiss' eyebrows furrowed. "I know that, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this right."
Blake readied her weapons. "Do you have a plan?"
The heiress turned her gaze onto Richter. "Can you transform?"
Richter answered her gaze with a questioning one of his own. "I can."
Weiss tightened the grip on her rapier. "We're going to need your help." She informed him, a smirk played upon her lips. "Think you can keep up?"
Richter snorted in response. "Just tell me what to do."
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Ruby continued firing her sniper rifle as Darion began to advance on her. The red-cloaked huntress was favoring her left leg heavily. She could feel the wetness of her blood as it ran down the outside of her right leg. Running was out of the question with this injury, all she could do was stick to ranged combat. Although once her current magazine exhausted all its ammo, Darion would probably attack her while she tried to reload and the next injury would be worse, much worse.
Suddenly, five circular glyphs with the designs of a snowflake appeared above and behind Darion. Ruby recognized them immediately, Weiss' glyphs. She saw Darion let out a grunt of annoyance as the glyphs fired sharp shards of ice at his back. He flew straight up into the air, dodging them easily and turned to face the rest of Ruby's team.
"When are you idiots going to learn you can't win." Darion said.
Weiss responded by conjuring three more glyphs at Darion's back, "You'll have to forgive us if we don't take your word for it." She said to him.
Darion's lip curled in contempt, he quickly turned and fired three shots in rapid succession, each one shattering one of Weiss' glyphs before it could fire on him. He then turned back towards Weiss and the rest, firing a blast of aura from the tip of his blade that was about a two meters wide in diameter. Weiss responded by stabbing her sword into the ground, erecting a protective cluster of ice around the group just before the blast made contact. The cluster managed to hold just long enough to withstand the blast and then it shattered.
As countless shards of frozen water fell to the floor, the sickle-form of Gambol Shroud emerged from the broken cluster. It flew towards Darion, who batted it away contemptuously to his right. The transformed psychopath then dodged in that same direction to avoid Yang's punch. He slammed the pommel of his weapon into the back of Ruby's sister's head, slamming her against the western wall. Ruby could only watch helplessly as Yang fell limply to the floor.
The red-cloaked huntress saw a blast of black-white aura approach Darion from his right side, but he flew up to dodge it. The winged psychopath then swooped down on top of Richter, the one responsible for the blast, landing a good cut on her cherished friend's right shoulder. Blood flew from the freshly-made wound as Richter found himself propelled face-first into the floor.
Ruby caught a glimpse of Weiss forming one of her time glyphs under her. A golden glow appeared around the huntress as the gears in the glyph spun faster. Once the glyphs disappeared, Weiss rushed towards Darion, pointing her right index and middle finger at him. A circle of glyphs formed around the winged psychopath's current position and Weiss used her enhanced speed to leap into one. The heiress dove from glyph to glyph at high speeds, moving so fast she was merely an ivory blur as she hit Darion each time she moved to a new glyph. The psychopath was staggered back and forth from the hits, unable to get a bead on the heiress.
Or so Ruby thought…
Darion suddenly reached out with his left hand and amazingly, caught Weiss by her right ankle. How the psychopath managed to do that, Ruby was not sure, but she saw her surprise was mirrored on the heiress' face. Darion slammed her spine-first hard into the western wall, deep cracks appearing at her point of impact. Weiss closed her eyes and clenched her teeth in pain. His hand still gripped on her ankle, Darion tossed the pale huntress to the ground, where she bounced once and ended up on her belly.
There was no time for the psychopath to gloat as Blake came down from above him with her sword. He blocked the vertical slash with his own blade, but the faunus huntress had come down with such force that it grounded him. As Darion's feet touched the floor, he dodged to his left, narrowly avoiding a second slash from Blake's sheathe. He flapped his wings, gaining about half a dozen meters of distance from the faunus, but Blake didn't relent. She switched Gambol Shroud to pistol-form, firing about six or seven shots at Darion. The psychopath blocked them all with the flat of his blade and then advanced towards Blake, striking at her with an overhead slash that would take her head and right arm off.
Blake took a step back, swiftly shifting her weapon back to sword-form. She deflected Darion's swing to her right, but the psychopath quickly recovered and swung again, this time at the opposite side of her. Blake once again repeated her deflection maneuver, this time diverting it towards her left.
Ruby frowned as she watched Darion continue to force Blake to retreat. Although her faunus teammate was keeping herself from harm and deflecting Darion's powerful swings, she could see the effort was taking a toll on her. Blake was drenched in sweat and her mouth was hanging open as her body demanded more and more oxygen to keep going at that pace. The red-cloaked huntress bit her lip in frustration, she was currently in the process of patching up her right leg, which she was accomplishing by ripping off pieces of her cloak and using them as makeshift bandages. It wasn't much, but it was something while her aura went to work. Until then though, all she could do was watch, and she hated every second of it.
Blake suddenly lashed out with her sword, performing an upward slash. Darion reeled from the faunus' sudden offensive strike, a small cut appearing on his left cheek. A thin trail of black smoke rose from the wound and Darion growled in annoyance. With a sudden surge of speed he pushed the tip of his sword forward, pushing it right through Blake's chest.
Darion's lips curled upward into a smirk, but it soon became a frown as Blake suddenly vanished in a flash of black. Appearing just behind the destroyed clone was Richter. She watched her childhood friend jump up and plant his feet firmly on the blunt back end of Darion's sword, pinning it to the ground. He then ran up the sword, onto the psychopath's right forearm, and delivered a fierce boot to Darion's chin with his right foot. Richter transitioned immediately from the kick into a backflip and as he completed it, he aimed Dyrnwyn in pistol-form at Darion's face and pulled the trigger. The bullet didn't pierce the psychopath's aura, but it did daze him. Darion stumbled back a few steps, holding his head with his left hand.
"Richter!" Ruby heard Blake call out, she watched as her faunus teammate threw Gambol Shroud in sickle-form to her old friend, who caught it with his right hand and stretched it taut. Blake did the same thing on her end. A moment later, Weiss maneuvered herself behind them both, extending her right hand. Yang leapt onto Gambol Shroud's ribbon, bending it back towards Weiss, who conjured up one of her black snowflake glyphs with her right hand and trapped the ribbon.
Ruby grinned at what Richter and her team were planning to do, it was the same technique they had used to take out the nevermore, before they had even become a team. The red-cloaked huntress finished patching her leg and reached for her rifle. She needed to be ready to support them.
Weiss released the glyph, slingshotting Yang towards the staggering Darion. The blonde huntress let out a battlecry as she sailed across the air, planting her right hand hard between Darion's eyes and firing Ember Celica. The strike was so strong it sent a shockwave through the room and Ruby did her best to brace against it as she loaded a different kind of magazine into Crescent Rose. It was a more rare type of ammunition, one that could maybe turn the tide in this battle.
Darion came sailing by on Ruby's right, to her surprise, the psychopath was still conscious and he stabbed his sword into the western wall, slowing his impromptu flight. Ruby took careful aim with Crescent Rose, looking down the scope. She could take a headshot right now, but she wasn't sure it would be enough to kill him, not to mention he had been able to block a lot of their stuff with that damned sword of his. The red-cloaked huntress took a deep breath and held it, steadying her aim, if she couldn't destroy Darion, she would do the next best thing.
Ruby pulled the trigger and Darion suddenly howled in pain. The bullet ripped through the psychopath's right forearm and tore it to shreds, effectively amputating his right hand. Copious amounts of black smoke belched forth from Darion's stump of a right limb, what was left of his right hand still gripped the sword embedded in the western wall, now out of his reach. Ruby smirked at the damage she had done.
If she couldn't destroy Darion, she would disarm him.
"Now!" Weiss called out, looking pointedly at Richter, she formed a time glyph in front of him. Ruby observed as her childhood friend ran onto the glyph, a golden glow surrounding him as it temporarily sped up his movement. Bending his legs at the knees, He shot forward like a bullet, stopping instantly right above Darion, who's body was now parallel to the ground in mid-air.
They made eye contact then, the two former allies. Ruby saw contempt and disgust in Richter's eyes, the same ones that looked at her with compassion and love. It was a little jarring to see Richter's eyes that way, even if it wasn't directed at her. It was almost like he was a different person. Darion's eyes on the other hand were filled with outrage and fear, because he knew without his sword he was at the mercy of Richter.
And judging from the look he was giving Darion, he would receive no mercy from Richter at all.
Just like in Vale, Ruby's childhood friend reached up and ripped off his face to reveal the altered form beneath. He roared in his distorted voice and his transformation sent a pulse of aura so strong it seemed like it shook the entire mountain. Rearing his right hand back, Richter brought Dyrnwyn forward in a vicious diagonal slash that cut into Darion's chest. A moment after, an angry glowing orange line appeared where Richter had cut. Darion saw it and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
"NO!" He shouted.
And then the orange line of aura detonated.
The explosion was so strong that car-sized chunks of debris fell from the ceiling, the ground shook violently as Ruby anchored Crescent Rose and held on for dear life as the shockwave knocked her off her feet. Pieces of rock and metal fell to the floor all around her. She looked over to her team to find them bracing themselves against the explosion in a similar fashion. The red-cloaked girl wondered how the hell the entire mountain didn't come down on them with an explosion like that, one sturdy piece of stone for sure.
Then it was over, Richter landed in a crouching position. Ruby watched as her childhood friend grimaced. Flesh regenerated back over his face, the horns receded into his forehead and his orange glowing eyes dimmed back to the familiar dark-brown. He took a few deep breaths before looking at her.
Ruby dislodged Crescent Rose, using it as a makeshift cane as she limped towards Richter, "Did we do it?" She asked him. Richter turned back around to where they had last seen Darion in response.
There was a crater about a dozen meters in diameter where the psychopath had crashed after Richter's attack. Smoke billowed up from the center of it. Ruby narrowed her silver eyes, she wanted to see Darion's lifeless form with her own eyes, to confirm he was really gone and neutralized as a threat. The smoke cleared after a handful of seconds, revealing Darion's mangled form. His chest had a very large gash from his left collarbone to the right side of his abdomen. Tiny flames the size of her fingers littered his arms and legs, but the most telltale sign for Ruby was the unblinking eyes, staring into the ceiling.
Darion Shiver was dead, they had stopped him from using the Sirensong to summon a horde of grimm and saved the day.
"We did it." Richter confirmed, she looked to her left to see her childhood friend smiling at her.
Relief and elation surged through Ruby and she leapt at Richter, wrapping her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. "We did it!" Richter gasped in surprise and had to take a step backwards to rebalance himself, but he quickly recovered. Ruby felt his arms wrap around her back, pulling her into a hug. He gave her a quick squeeze then set her down, smirking and motioning his head for her to look behind him.
The red-cloaked huntress complied and she caught a flash of yellow before she found herself scooped up and pulled into a bone-cracking embrace, courtesy of her older sister.
"Are you okay? How's your leg?" Yang asked worriedly once she released Ruby from her iron grip.
"It's fine, I just have to be careful how much weight I put on it." Ruby reassured her older sister.
Blake was staring at Darion's body, "You really did a number on Darion Shiver."
Richter gave a small laugh in reply, "Yeah, might have overdone it a little though." He said, his voice sounding strained, he placed his left hand on his right shoulder, where Darion had cut him. Ruby noticed that the cut was shallower than she remembered. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? Or did Richter's altered form have some sort of healing ability?
"I can't believe that worked." Weiss said, rubbing her forehead with the back of her left hand to get the sweat off.
"Yeah." Richter agreed, turning to look at Ruby with a grin. "You've got one hell of a team Ruby."
Yang nodded in agreement, placing her hands on her hips, a wide smile on her face. "Yeah, we're pretty great."
Weiss smiled, folding her arms, "I'd like to think we're quite exceptional."
Ruby glanced at Blake to see her lips curled upwards slightly in a smile. She was always the quietest of the team, but the red-cloaked huntress could tell that her faunus teammate shared in their enthusiasm.
"All that's left now is to destroy the Sirensong." Ruby announced turning towards the pillar in the center of the room.
"We even got time to spare." Yang added.
The group began to make their way to the pillar. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby noticed Richter falter a step, he quickly recovered, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead with his left hand.
"You okay?" Ruby asked him, she didn't like seeing him transform, it seemed really….painful.
Richter looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You're leg got sliced up bad and you're asking if I'm okay? How about you?"
"I'm fine, I know this wound will heal with time. You on the other hand, rip your face off to transform into a demonic monster with crazy powers, that's bound to have side effects." Ruby replied, giving him a stern look. "I haven't forgotten last night."
She saw her childhood friend look away in embarrassment. "Okay, point taken." He responded.
"What about last night?" Yang suddenly acquired, Ruby nearly jumped as she looked to her right and saw her elder sister looking at her suspiciously.
"Nothing." Both Ruby and Richter said at the same time, they gave each other a quick panicked look, neither expecting the other to have said anything. Slowly Ruby turned back towards Yang, her elder sister continued to stare suspiciously at them.
Yang's lips curled upward into a knowing smile. "Nothing huh." She shrugged, the smile still on her face. "Okay then."
Ruby mentally cringed, Yang knew something was up, no doubt she was hatching some elaborate scheme to get her to reveal what happened the night before. But under no circumstances could her older sister find out what happened between Richter and her last night. Especially the kiss, Ruby feared for the safety of Richter's face if Yang found out. She tended to be a little, protective. Ruby liked Richter's face, particularly if it was bruise-free.
Richter himself had continued on to the pillar, he got on his knees and began sliding his hands across the floor. The others watched him curiously while he worked. Ruby limped her way towards him.
"What are you doing?" The red-cloaked huntress asked.
Richter didn't look up. "There's a hidden generator under this floor somewhere, it keeps a force field up on the Sirensong as long as it's in that pillar, to protect it from any collateral damage." He explained. "We have to disable that first if we're to get to it."
Blake crossed her arms, "So, once Richter disables the force field, who wants to do the honors?"
Yang slammed her right fist into her left palm, an evil grin on her face. "I wouldn't mind smashing it."
"No."
Everyone turned towards Weiss, the way she had said that single word brooked no argument. "It's my family's fault that we're in this mess in the first place." The heiress stated, "A member of the Schnee family was responsible for creating the Sirensong." She drew her rapier, pointing it towards the pillar. "It should be a Schnee family member who destroys it, to atone for our mistakes."
Ruby was about to say something, but looking into Weiss' eyes she saw the conviction in them. Her partner needed this. The fact that so much trouble and so many people back in Vale were hurt, all for a device her father had funded must really be eating at her. Destroying the Sirensong would be closure for her white-haired friend.
Ruby silently nodded her approval to Weiss, who nodded back with a slight smile, waiting patiently for Richter to find the force field generator hidden in the floor. The mission was almost complete.
And then it all went wrong. So very wrong.
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A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than previous ones, but free time has been in short supply, so I figured I would put this out there now. I had a lot of fun writing the teamwork part of this fight and I hope it was as much fun to read. There is more to come in the next chapter, which I will try to get out within five to seven days, but no promises.
Thank you for reading.
