(So this isn't as long as my last chapter, might not even be as long as most of them. However I felt that 'forever' was probably not the best waiting period for a literary work, and frankly, I've made you all wait long enough. I'm trying to get myself more disciplined in my writing, and I'll see if that helps the pace. Not sure yet, however I want to make an effort…
Ah, okay, now I have something serious to talk about for a moment, and I'm sorry because this is heavy and depressing, however I need to say it because it's been happening and it's important. Not to me personally, but to other authors, and potentially to anyone who makes fan-works. RWBY watches Death Battle, RWBY React Watch Believe Yikes!, I think those were all the words, and RWBY Watches Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, have all disappeared from Fanfiction dot net. Why? A group called Critics United started targeting them, and essentially bullied them into leaving. And AO3 has, apparently, for some reason, rules against React fics… so it's not hosting them or providing it's 'legal protection' for them, as the author of RWBY Watches Jojo has confirmed in his latest posting on that site, informing that his story is apparently against the rules and he'll have to remove it. Considering AO3s many words stating their devotion to protecting fan-works, and recent fundraiser for their legal team, I have to say that I'm feeling somewhat… betrayed by these apparent rules. And angry. Angry at them, angry at Fanfiction dot net, angry at Critics United, and angry at pettiness in general.
Now, I'm not sure where these fics will wind up… I have hope that the authors won't just let them die. However that this has happened is evidence of something ugly and stupid and apparently true. Evidence that one group with a chip on it's shoulder can get rid of old, highly followed, well-beloved, and frequently favorited fanfics, because they don't like it. Because they 'disagree' with it and are extremely particular about what they believe are this site's rules. I disagree with what I've seen of their interpretation, and DEFINITELY disagree with what I saw happening in the comments of RWBY Watches Death Battle after one of their members left a review, the deluge of people with nothing better to do but insult someone who took so much time and effort to make something for us to love... What they've done and apparently been doing fills me with disgust… …
Anyways, what I'm saying is that this is writing on the wall. When one group can do that, then that means no fanwork is safe on this site. Just because works like mine haven't been targeted doesn't mean that they won't be. It doesn't mean that major, long-standing, well-beloved works with hordes of follows and favorites won't be. And while I'll likely post a copy up on AO3, I no longer trust them either to host my fanfiction safely, for the reasoning mentioned above. So if you could share any other fanwork hosting sites, or ideas for 'safe' places to host fanworks and fanfictions, please inform me. I don't want to see more fanfictions thrown to the wind because of some people who apparently have nothing better to do with their lives than harass creators.
And now that this informative segment and rant is done… I actually recommend you take a moment to deep-breathe and/or get something to drink like I'm doing… … Okay, okay... peaceful river, happy thoughts, my favorite soda... alright. NOW… on to the story.)
Neo loved Roman Torchwick. She did. She had known that she loved him since the very first time she'd laid eyes on him, years ago. She hadn't even tried to deny her feelings, to herself at least, the sudden blooming of unfamiliar emotions inside of her. They were too clear and overpowering to be rejected, and really, were actually incredibly enjoyable most of the time. And as the years went on, and Roman provided adventure after adventure for the little ice cream girl, those feelings only grew stronger, and more intense. Her love for him bloomed, her love for the only person in the whole of Remnant that she actually cared about, ever increasing.
She was loyal to Roman in a way that she would never be loyal to anyone else, beyond just hired help, beyond just his strong right hand. She loved the arrogant, self-centered, cocky son of a bitch more than probably even he realized, and with every ounce of her heart and all the breath in her body. She would do anything for him. Gladly sacrifice of herself for him. Had already done so much more for him than he would ever realize. And if it came down to it? She would die for him.
With all that said, she was going to fucking kill him when she got back in the ship.
Now she didn't know if Roman had forgotten that they were on top of the fucking ship or what, but when he did his deep angle down, Neo suddenly found herself doing what most people would do when the floor beneath them shifted from flat to a steep diagonal. Namely, sliding. To her doom in a drop off the ship.
Neo's eyes went wide as her heels started to drag, and in an act of quick thinking, she slipped the sword out of her umbrella, and plunged it into the metal of the airship, kneeling down and gripping it tightly to, well, not fall to a drowning death in the bay of Vale as the abrupt angle completed its tilt.
Her would-be opponents, eyes widening as they to suddenly became the victims of gravity, also started to slide. Captain Oakwood, seeing Neo's sword plunge, blatantly stole her idea as he stabbed his own sword into the metal of the airship, piercing deep, and held his left arm out, Ciel catching onto it and pulling herself close to him. They both crouched down then, trying to keep themselves from sliding and close to the sword, as the ship tilted down and stayed tilted.
And there soldier, student, and assassin stayed, down near the edge of the ship, blades dug in to keep them from sliding and falling, as beams of red flashed out and lit up the sky, the beams tinting everything bloody red for a moment as they went straight down towards the Giant Nevermore… and struck the water as the Nevermore's wings flapped backwards, just barely avoiding the attack, while jets of hot steam burst up from the liquid where the laser beams hit.
"Oh no you don't!" Shouted Roman inside of the cockpit, jamming his finger on another button as the airship, still tilted down, retargeted the evading Nevermore.
"Let's see you dodge this!" He continued, pushing another button on the panel, causing the slotted 'death sphere' launchers of the Airship to 'hiss' open at either side again, and launch their targeting spheres, red balls of individually tracking death launching down towards the big black-feathered monster.
The Nevermore, in response, 'CAWED'! in aggravation, before giving its wings a mighty flap and shot straight up, rising up high as the spheres went down towards it, following it up into the sky, before it 'flapped' back through the air, did a turn mid-air, and dove straight down into the ocean water, a might thundering splash accompanying its movements, as the red spheres followed… and burst into fire against the surface, coating the surface of the water with burning fire-Dust, giving a hint as to the make-up of the Spheres, but dispersing non-explosively against the liquid.
"I didn't actually mean it you oversized feather-factory!" Shouted Roman in frustration, as he 'pulled' back with the airship, and kept it tilted, even pushing it down a little further, eyes scanning the water now alight with flames… as the people on the top of his airship continued to deal with his choice of angling.
Alabaster was… disappointed. Yes, that was a good word for it. Disappointed, with how things had developed.
The initial stage of his encounter had gone to perfection, with the Troopers aiming and firing at him from two curved arches, only to find their efforts completely futile. After all, Alabaster had already judged their positioning, noted their aims, and interpreted their angles of fire in his introductory 360 degree turn. And he had taken all of this information, and thus come up with the perfect counter to his opponent's combat formation. Ballet.
Yes, ballet. Or Battler-Ballet, as he had once internally dubbed it. Graceful steps, accompanied by elegant rising arm movements blocked shots with his tonfa. Gentle 'leaps' turned into dodges as he glided away from where soldiers aimed, only to find their weapons already firing and the bullets hitting their allies across the way. Rapid tip-toe steps 'dodged' shots aimed at his feet, and graceful bows let bullets fly over his head to strike either air, or other Troopers, both perfectly fine with the pale hireling. His favorites though where the pirouettes, where he carried himself from one side of the line to the other, spinning on the toe of a single foot as his tonfa came together, and only 'blurred' out to block errant, nearing shots, the hireling building momentum with his pirouettes as he prepared to enter the 'attack' stage of his little performance.
It was more than a little enjoyable for him, getting to dance like this, as he twirled and stepped, and got his opponents to misplace their shots into one another. In a way, he was thankful that they'd taken the formation they did, so as to make this the most efficient way to soften them up and keep them distracted while Miss Neopolitan had her fun. He was on the clock after all, so if there had been a better, more useful way to accomplish his goals and keep them focused on him, he would have had to take that way instead. But this situation allowed him to enjoy himself, relax a little, and let the soldiers see his grace, style, and poise while they tried to kill him. He doubted that they appreciated any of those things just at the moment.
"Ah!"
"Gah!"
"Ugh! Damnit hold sti- Agh!"
Their training had never covered a situation quite like this, and unlike more experienced soldiers, they lacked the confidence to divert from their training to use methods more effective for the situation. Atlas's troopers weren't good at changing tactics regardless of their experience, something that Alabaster had learned quite some time ago now. As a result, their discipline was breaking, and they were experiencing confusion, fear, and pain in equal measures. Confusion as to why he was dancing rather than fighting, fear as to how it was working, and pain at the part where their bullets were hitting each other instead of him. Only their aura and armor had kept them alive from their own fire. And it was nearing the point where Alabaster would go about changing that with a lovely pirouette kick…
But alas, it was not to be. Something happened before Alabaster could do that and start to get to the killing part. Something signaled by the changing of their cries to-
"Agh!"
"O-oh Dust!"
"No!"
"Ahhhhhh!"
The hireling stopped in the middle of his latest long pirouette, balanced on the toe of his right foot with his left leg up and Night Clubs touched together at his center, to see that the entire ship had suddenly gone into a tilt. And the soldiers who were formerly shooting at him, and thus each other, were now scrambling for grips as they began falling to their doom down the end of the ship.
Alabaster blinked, then sighed, stepping out of ballet form to place both his feet together, flat to the metal, and bring his hands behind his back, tonfa flipped so their shafts went up the length of his back and were hidden from front-view sight, more out of habit in this case than anything else. Calmly, he channeled his aura into the soles of his shoes to activate the Air Dust in the soles, and the Dust within began to 'suck' him to the surface of the ship, air pulling from the soles. His balance was incredible, but he doubted that even he could keep it when the drop was getting this sheer, without that extra bit of Dust-based aid.
And so he stood, waiting, calmly… as gravity did his work for him and the soldiers of Atlas made their slide to burning watery oblivion. Physics proved their laws as the soldiers fell, trying to claw and pull at the surface of the ship as they slipped and slid. The one who had been back behind Alabaster when their fall started were having a bit more luck in that regard. The ones who had been in front and thus further down on the airship? Well… they were finding their hands, feet, and entire bodies separating from the surface of the ship, and their forms going from slipping, to plummeting, straight down towards their dooms, tumbling through the air to the water, still set alight with fire by Torchwick's spheres.
When the first soldiers hit the burning water their screams were surprisingly audible. Alabaster wasn't sure whether to be impressed with their lung strength, or with his hearing. Regardless, it was fairly apparent that falling into a patch of flaming ocean was quite painful, if the screeching was anything to go by. Alabaster had to kind of sigh at it though, furrowing his brows and looking with a dull 'really?' look directed towards the watery pyre. The only bit of fun he'd get to have up here and the whole thing was working itself out already. How very anticlimactic.
Even as the hireling was bemoaning the sudden cessation of his enjoyment however, one of the soldiers from the firing arch behind him, early enough in his sliding, had the good sense to let go of his rifle, let it fall away from him, and pull out his sword and stab it into the surface of the airship, several feet down from the hireling. He hadn't seen Neopolitan and the Captain down at the other end of the ship, so this was less emulation, and more actual inventiveness on the young man's part. He wasn't quite as strong as the Captain, or nearly as strong as Neopolitan, but his blade was impressively high-tech, and seemed to do the trick, digging in enough to slow his descent, then bring him to a stop as it 'skreeched' against the metal.
Three other troopers lucky enough to be falling from further up than him, seeing his method apparently working, discarded their own rifles to pull out their blades and dig them into the hull of the ship. A fourth had the idea to holster his rifle at his back before pulling out the blade, and coming to a dragging halt, a little behind the others.
Alabaster looked down at this display with his right eyebrow raised and a slightly appreciative look on his face. That was very quick thinking on the part of the soldier who'd made the stab. And when that soldier looked up, face and eyes obscured, but a growl on his lips and a glare through his visor, Alabaster could see that he had a defiant spirit in addition to a quick mind. It was that defiant spirit that saw said soldier reaching with his left hand to his side-arm and pulling it out, the other soldiers stuck in on the surface of the ship getting the idea and drawing their side-arms, aiming them upwards towards Alabaster.
The pale hireling couldn't help but let the right side of his mouth curl up into a smirk at that. This young man, whoever he was, lacked the technical skills to face him. But not the spirit or inventiveness, and through both had not only helped himself remain in the fight, but others as well. Alabaster would have to thank him for that, before killing him.
Of course, although these notable and currently fortunate troopers had had the quick thinking and sense to plunge their short swords into the surface of the ship, quite a few hadn't been so lucky, as Alabaster had addressed earlier. And that number that had separated with the ship and fallen, down towards the burning ocean below, did so past a certain trio who were still stuck down near the end of the ship.
That trio had to deal with the plummeting soldiers, falling past them down to their deaths in burning water. The troopers, by the time they got to that point, were soaring over the heads of, and far to the left and right of, the three temporarily paused combatants on the end of the ship, well out of reach for any rescue attempts from their blade-dug positions. As the troopers fell past and hit the burning water, their screams carried up, and while they were audible at Alabaster's level, they were almost deafening that close to the tip of the ship. For Ciel Soleil and Captain Oakwood, it was a stomach-churning experience, as they watched the men die, unable to move to try and rescue them without falling themselves, and heard the cries of young, inexperienced soldiers as they died in fire. It made Ciel want to puke. And Oakwood? He felt a knot in his stomach that was so damn guilty, he almost did.
As for Neo, she was almost grinning her head off, silent laughter shaking her shoulders. It was absolutely hilarious watching the troopers fall through the air, twisting and turning, limbs flailing like ragdolls tossed off the edge of a cliff! And those screams! They were wonderful, so filled with pain and terror, she swore she could almost hear the fire crackling against their skin! And whenever they went silent, she could actually envision it being because they got sucked under the water by their armor to drown while their skin was still on fire from the dispersed Fire Dust. It was marvelous! It brought a sparkle to her, currently pink and brown, eyes and she couldn't help but turn to peek, catching glimpses of the soldiers flailing in fire-covered water… It was almost enjoyable enough for her to forgive Roman for tilting the ship. Almost. Maybe she could convince him to do something like this again, with less tilting and more tossing people overboard. They could have a romantic dinner and just… snuggle over the burning patch of water watching goons toss people into a lit sea… What a magical evening that would be…
As Neo contemplated her ideal romantic outing with Roman, Ciel Soleil turned her wide-eyed view from watching the soldiers, her comrades, fall to painful deaths, to the grin that was on Neo's face, and the light of joy that was in her eyes. When the student of Atlas, one of the highest ranked potential Huntresses in her class, saw that one of the many emotions she had worked constantly for her whole life to suppress inside of herself rose inside of her. It cracked her guards, shattered her inhibitions, and boiled its way straight up to the surface. Rage. Blind, hot, burning rage.
Gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes as they flashed with a fierce golden light, Ciel steadied herself against the Captain's arm, gripping it tighter with her right hand, as she lifted up her left arm up to point towards the ice-cream girl, fingers in a 'claw' with the tips pointed towards Neo. The symbol on her forehead began to glow along with her eyes, shining as every golden stud in her outfit started to shine as well, and a set of five small golden balls formed on the tips of her fingers, tiny suns, balanced on each.
Suddenly, all that energy seemed to 'funnel' into her left hand. It happened in an instant, barely a second of actual time passing, but the truly quick-sighted would have been able to note her forehead ceased it's glowing only for her eyes to glow brighter, then her eyes to stop glowing, only for her top sleeve-studs to glow brighter, and so on, the light shining brighter for the next section up as it stopped shining further up, from every direction, all the way to her hand, where suddenly the five small golden balls doubled in size, and quintupled in brilliance, a ferocious golden light shining from Ciel's fingers.
That caught Neo's attention, the light catching the corners of her eye, before she turned to look at the source of said light… just in time to see the balls 'burst' from Ciel's fingers and streak through the air straight towards the ice-cream girl. Her heterochromatic eyes went wide, turning a unified white at the same time, and she quickly swung her detached umbrella forward and 'popped' it open, just in time to take the strikes from the balls as they connected together when reaching her, forming one big sun.
BOOOOOM
Shatter
The explosion turned light to fire and flame, red and orange burst outwards from the strike point in every direction, and the backblast of the heat could be felt by both Ciel, and Captain Oakwood, who gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut against it. He knew that those with Hunter and Huntress training were impressive, but damn! That could have blown a hole in the roof of the airship!
And if it had been a direct strike against the metal, it probably would have. But as it was, the surface of the airship around where the energy ball had struck Neo's opened umbrella had just been scorched black and partially melted, as was evidenced when the fiery smoke cleared to reveal… a complete absence of Neopolitan. Ciel blinked, then narrowed her eyes. That wasn't right. As strong as that had been, that shouldn't have been enough to obliterate Neopolitan completely by any stretch of the imagination. Could she have dod-
Whatever else Ciel was going to think was stopped as a high-heeled boot planted into the back of her, and Captain Oakwood's heads, rattling both their brains, loosening their grips, and sending them tumbling down the ship towards the burning water beneath it. All with Neopolitan, who had used her mirror-shatter defense to reposition herself up further along the ship and just let herself 'tumble' in a fall downwards until she planted her boots on the back of both Atlesian's heads, looking rather pleased with herself.
The ice-cream girl's feet moved quickly after the double-strike to 'catch' the blade of Captain Oakwood's sword with her heels, balancing her feet on the weapon as she stood up straight, standing with her right side to the ship, and brought her closed parasol up to rest on her right shoulder, sword-handle back safe and snug in the weapon, left hand moving to rest on her hip as she looked down and smirked at the falling pair. Yes, she wanted to milk more fun out of them before she killed them, but she was sending them to a satisfyingly painful death. And it was always fun when her enemies practically handed her the keys to their own destruction.
"Come on come on, where are you, you washed up piece of avian filth!?" Asked Roman angrily, scanning the water with his eyes, sensor displays showing him the now decidedly turbulent surface of the water, the section lit on fire 'spreading' out on top of the waves, the undiffused Fire Dust particles drifting out from the sphere impact zones, still burning.
His eyes continued to scan, carefully, his visible orb narrowing as he kept watching the water… only to spot a black shape forming beneath the waves at a spot next away from the burning. A shape that burst out of the water with another great 'CAW!' flapping up out of the bay and straight into the front end of the airship from below and smacking it hard with its bone protected head, and sending violent vibrations through the whole ship as the end went from tilted down, to tilted way too up for comfort, and the Nevermourned shooting up past the ship it'd just knocked, into the sky. Leaving Roman stumbling back away from the console onto his exterior, and giving everyone on top of the airship, a brand new problem.
The end of the airship rose up and 'smacked' into the falling forms of Ciel and Captain Oakwood, hitting their auras and increasing their headaches, as they suddenly found metal beneath them again. Neo, for her part, went wide-eyed once more as the whole airship shook, and tilted back in the entire other freaking direction, essentially not only shaking her, but putting her on the wrong end of the sword she was using to balance.
Naturally, she fell. And just as naturally, she 'flipped' her umbrella around, darted up with the hook, caught the hilt of the stuck sword, and 'swung' herself up into a crouch back on the blade, once again with her heels catching it and using it to help keep her balance. She then turned her gaze up with narrowed eyes, looking with annoyance at the pair of Atlesians who were now sliding back down towards her, AND the Nevermore as it rose into the sky over the ship now tilted for falling in the 'other' direction. The one that wouldn't quite lead it to terrifying doom in a burning watery grave, but could send one smacking into the slightly larger portion of the ship, and/or the bridge, if they weren't careful. Or more accurately in this case, lucky.
She focused her vision down from the Nevermore though, on the Captain and the Student as they started to rise to their feet on the downward slope, the ship already starting to tilt back forward slightly as its own stabilizers went into effect, letting them keep their balance easier as they started to use their moment to head down towards her with less disoriented stumbling, and more murderous purpose. Neo smirked again, eyes glinting dangerously as she brought her parasol up to rest between her hands, left hand gripping near the end while his right moved to tighten near the center. Time for round two…
To, Acerman: Thank you, though I have to admit I thought that it would be Beacon that got saved in the end and Vale would be occupied by hostile forces and the girls would have to work over the next season to get it back using Beacon as a base and the students and incoming Hunters and Huntresses as a fighting force... definitely not the direction they went in. The one they did go in, hit me like a punch to the heart and gut followed by some smacks to the feels. We'll see what happens in this world though.
To, Zhalo Shadowcell: Soon is a relative term. But it's updated now! Sooooooo yay! And stuffs... hope that kinda sorta maybe counts.
To, Janus: Ohhhh, thank you! Reviews like yours make me grin! And I hope the story stays enjoyable for you and brings further smiles and, if not gushes, pleasant feelings and thoughts.
