An hour had passed since the initial fighting. The academy grounds were now filled with prisoners under the watchful eye of the Metro's guardians while the civilians that survived the attack were brought here for treatment. While the Atlesian soldiers and the Rangers were securing the rest of Beacon Academy, medical personnel from Atlas and the those from D6 arrived on point to assist with the seriously injured.
Colonel Miller spouted orders, organizing the portal's entrance to D6 as a rally point for those all around. "Get blankets for the wounded and get some Rangers to secure the perimeter! Alert me if those mechs arrive!"
As a platoon of Rangers departed from their commander, Hunter walked up to him with a Kalashnikov in hand. "Colonel Miller, do you know where Khan is?" He wondered.
He shook his head. "No, I'm too busy trying to kept this place organized."
"Anybody willing to help us out?"
"A detachment of children are being deployed to help us out."
"Ah, the hunters-in-training. They will help us out."
Miller was surprised. "You think a bunch of children will help us out."
"They're the only ones I can think of that could take on the Grimm and the mechs. Your men were lucky my brother managed to save your asses. Besides, you need them. They should know this place by the back of their hand."
"I hope your right, Hunter. We're taking too many hits in this fight. Why are you looking for Khan?"
"He disappeared in the middle of the fighting."
"I think Uhlman found him somewhere in the mess hall. Go check that out."
Cinder Fall knew she couldn't keep this up. This Atlas soldier was striking back at her with the help of Ozpin. Despite her powers trying to turning that man into a Grimm, she was surprised he would take a bullet to spite her. If only Salem could get her hands on such soldiers.
The Atlesian specialist viciously struck at her while her blades parried each vengeful strike, but her stamina couldn't keep up. She couldn't call her minions to assist her when they were having troubles of their own dealing with the headmaster.
The girl stepped back dodging another set of attacks, but to her surprise she heard an object whistling behind her back. Pain seared into her shoulder and screamed. Her hand reached for her left shoulder, only to see the projectile entered her body from behind. She turned around and found an old man with a strange weapon in his hands. "How dare you? You will die!" Her hand reached out for him with the spot underneath him screaming with fire. As soon as the flames surrounded him, Cinder smiled. Fool should have known better than to interfere.
Then that smiled disappeared as she heard his voice. "Casto no lapide asterium manto, alaum raum om." Just as her flames arrived, they dissipated back into nothing. His hands were clasped together as if he was praying, but he looked up from his hands and stared into her soul. "A pity that you have become a puppet in your mistress's game. I would even pity you further for turning a piece of yourself into a monster, but I have a feeling you did that willingly."
When he took a step forward, Cinder called upon her powers to end him. More fires burned around him, but the same words were spoken before those fires were killed. "Who are you?"
"I am a being beyond your comprehension." The old man replied. "What did you do to Artyom?"
Who was he referring to? Who was this Artyom? Then she looked over her shoulder to see the layer of goo surround his body. She expressed a smile towards him. "He will belong to my mistress, but he killed himself to prevent the change. There is nothing you could do about it." Her back felt the sharp edge strike into her body before she fell onto one knee. The woman in stood in front of her view of Artyom with those eyes filled with burning rage looking down upon her.
"I would say it is a fitting fate that you will deserve. Especially for you."
Cinder turned her full attention onto the old man. "What are you going to do? Kill me?"
He shook his head. "No, but they will and they have more reasons to kill you than I." Beside him, dozens of tall dark figures appeared in a blink of an eye.
All of them were looking down on her, but what she saw was darkness; however, this was far different from what Salem could bring. Those eyes filled with pure darkness made her afraid, but the voice they said altogether didn't help either. You… harmed… him… Salem was convincing, but the tone of their voices inside her mind didn't help her when they continued. Instead, they disturbed her. Surrender… or die…
She would not allow that to happen. Cinder Fall rose from her wounded position and charged at the strange creatures. It was too late when she blinked her eyes. Their hands were all raised towards her, but what they were doing made her wonder.
Die…
Reality disappeared from vision in just a moment. She found herself sitting alone in a tunnel with nothing, but darkness to accompany her.
Horns roared on the far side of the tunnel. When she stood up, feeling the pain in her back and shoulder she saw light on the other end of the tunnel. Was that a train? Did those creatures send her to a train tunnel? Fools.
When the vehicle of transportation became closer, Cinder was shocked. There were lights, there were shadows, but there was no train that gave it off. She stood there afraid of what was happening to her; however, it was too late when she made contact with the ghosts of the damned.
Shadow hands lunged out to her and gave the potential Fall Maiden an iron grip. Her aura flared up, trying to defy the moment, but she felt herself being drained at each second. She screamed at the pain, but that was not what terrified her. No, it was the screams of dead. Cries of people who have died before and could never rest. They had found her and they were not letting go. Memories of those who have been here before rushed through her mind in small bits.
Cinder Fall was no more for she was lost to the Metro…
After the Dark Ones made Cinder disappear before her very eyes, Winter looked to the other two individuals that accompanied her. The emerald girl and the grey boy were knocked out before the presence of the headmaster, who stood tall while his hands rested upon his cane. However, she looked past Professor Ozpin and saw Artyom's body laying there surrounded in black goo. The specialist's concern for her friend made her rush to his side.
Behind her, she heard Khan's voice. "Don't! It's dangerous." The old man walked past her as he made his way towards the body of the fallen Ranger. "Let me take care of this."
She followed after him as he knelt beside Artyom's body. "He's gone."
He shook his head. "No. He did the smart thing. Artyom managed to deny this Grimm one thing, his soul. However, we must be quick to save him from joining the dead." His hand reached into his pockets and pulled out a small bottle from before he ripped the cork with his teeth. "First, we must get rid of this thing." Then he poured the concoction onto the liquid.
Winter Schnee watched in awe as the god of light's liquid began to burn away the black goo around Artyom's body. It tried to reach out to him, but the rate of the burn made sure it never reached Khan. Now she saw the Ranger beaten, but unbroken with his revolver in hand. However, she recognized the Crimson coming from his head. "We should send him on a medical Bullhead."
Khan raised a finger. "No. There is something else troubling him, but I don't know how to contact his consciousness."
"What do you mean?"
"This isn't the first time I've done this before. That Grimm was unique and keeping Artyom in this state."
The headmaster joined them, but his hand was placed on her shoulder. "Specialist Schnee, we need to leave." He began.
Winter looked up at the older man with anger. "No, I'm not leaving Artyom like this."
"Winter, you are now the Fall Maiden. Your protection is my priority at this moment." He replied. "I don't know if he can be saved."
Glass shattered, bringing Winter and Professor Ozpin to see Khan, but with a empty broken bottle in his hand. "Don't abandon him, there may be a chance he will live."
"A chance? Khan, he nearly took his own life."
"Yes, but he may know something that you need."
A Dark One appeared before them as it knelt beside Artyom's body across from the trio.
"What is it doing?" Professor Ozpin wondered.
Khan turned his full attentiononto the young man resting quietly underneath the academy. "Helping him."
Artyom opened his eyes and found himself surrounded in darkness, but someone stood before him and he recognized her face. "Mother?"
The woman smiled as she took a step forward to greet the Ranger. "Hello Artyom, I've been waiting for you."
"Where am I?"
Her appearance drastically changed. The clothes turned into darkness as the woman's skin turned white as the moon, but her eyes became red crimson blood. She allowed an evil laugh to escape as she confronted the Ranger. "You truly thought I was actually your mother? Either you're naive or gullible."
Artyom gritted his teeth as he was filled with rage. This woman dared to insult her memory by dressing up as her. "Who are you?!" He demanded.
"I am Salem, the mastermind who sought for your skills. Never have I seen someone defy my apprentice in such a manner." The strange female answered calmly. "Most would have succumbed to such skills that Emerald and Mercury have honed. Yet, you've impressed me."
He tried to strike her, but something was keeping him back. Looking at his hands and legs, shadows tightened their hold on him. "You think I will join you?"
"Yes. I think you will." Salem replied. "You're desperate for a future and a motherly-figure. You miss her, I don't blame you for feeling saddened by her death. Serve me and I will be the mother you can truly have." Her eyes stared into his, but her smile remained. "I hope you consider your options, Savior of the Metro."
The young man shook his head. "No, I will not join you. I will not join someone who sends monsters to kill humanity."
"Monsters? I believe you are mistaken. I am here to bring the world anew. Mankind and the faunus have proved time and again that they are simply fighting the flood that I bring. The Grimm are the future of Remnant while humanity hides behind their kingdoms. They oppose me, because they think such brave actions of courage will save them from the darkness." To her surprise, the man before him was laughing. The woman's hand held Artyom's chin in her grip. "You laugh before the very person who could bring you power and glory. I can end you on the spot and will beg for mercy."
"You think you could destroy humanity?"
"Yes. There is nothing stopping me from that goal."
"You know nothing, cyka." Artyom stated in a clear voice. "Where I am from we had weapons that could erase nations in a blink of an eye. You think these monsters of yours can scare me to serve you? You are wrong. Humanity will survive and and face those odds. I've seen humanity destroy our own afterlife and yet we still live on. That courage is just what makes us human and facing a bitch like you despite the odds is what makes me Russian."
She shoved Artyom away and released her grip on him. "It's rather sad that you will never see your mother ever again."
"Don't talk about my mother, you insult her by standing before me."
"What are you going to do? Fight me? Your soul is being taken whether you like it or not. That self-control will cease to exist and nothing will stop you from becoming into a Grimm. It is futile to have the courage to defy me of all people." She spoke. "It is sad your skills are wasted on this moment."
Save… life…
Salem looked around, curious about the voice that entered her realm. "Who goes there?"
Release… Artyom…
"I demand to know who disturbed me?!" Behind her back, Salem saw a towering dark figure walk up with its hand raised up towards there.
Release… Artyom…
"Never. It is the worst mistake you have made against me, now suffer the consequences."
The Ranger couldn't believe his eyes, but a Dark One was out trying to save him. Why? Humanity and the homo novus were enemies since Exhibition, but why would they do this for him.
Out from Salem's palm, black tendrils shot out and attempted to strike at the Dark One, but the creature shadow stepped forward and dodged the attack. Nothing was stopping it, not even the leader of the Grimm. Its hand shot out as the evil woman shrieked in pain. "I will return and none of you will stop me.
As the woman's appearance disappeared from Artyom's mind, he began to open his eyes and groan in pain. There were voices calling out to him, but his hearing couldn't hear precisely what they were saying. However, his vision began to clear up and find the person looking over him. "Winter?"
Author's Note: Seeing everyone's reactions to the cliffhanger was an enjoyable sight to my eyes.
Gamerman22: Don't worry, the Metro has a tendency to bring bullshit to the table.
A flying Ikaruga: I'm happy for your review.
Perseus12: Maybe…
Ronmr: Thank you.
TheShadowOfZama: If there is one thing Artyom can handle, dealing with monsters. Both mentally and physically.
TheMany: What afterlife? Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory got wiped out in the Metro universe. There is nothing left for him.
OverKing: Look up Overly Sarcastic Productions on Youtube for a video called Halloween Special: Dracula. There is something that might happen…
Guest: Hunter did create the Grim, but someone modified them in his absence…
Deadly Instinct: Yes, that is a foreshadowing.
delta2177: Nope, Russians are far more determined than the Japanese. I mean, they went over mountains with tanks and raised hell during the ending days of WWII. They even had plans to take over Japan's most northern home island with patrol boats slapped with Katyushas and tank turrets. Hell, when the Japanese tried to kamikaze their T-34s they didn't even land a hit while the Russians shrugged off the attack like it was nothing.
Guest: Or is he?
Psihopatul: Yes, I am happy.