RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.

CHAPTER 27

"Oh! You're that boy I ran into back in Mountain Glenn," Shiro smiled happily. "How naughty of you to lie about knowing where she was!"

"Greene, you still alive?" Chaos ignored the pale woman. Alex groaned in pain and attempted to stand. "Good. We'll settle our differences later. For now, just take your pals and get going." Alex stared at the Bloodline in complete confusion, Chaos was being unusually collected. Dimitri moved over to Alex's side and gave him a small shake.

"Let's do as he says just this once," the Russian whispered.

"Right... Let's get everyone to safety," Alex nodded.

You're sure about this? Chaos asked silently, his eyes darting to his side where the phantom boy stood.

What are you doing you filthy brat!? You- The woman's voice cut off.

I thought you said you were handling that. The ex-Lord thought.

I am trying. The boy replied. Sending more power to you is making it harder for me to keep her in check.

You still haven't exactly explained what that means.

You'll see once you use it.

That's certainly unhelpful and cryptic. Chaos rolled his eyes.

Just focus on protecting Melody. The boy's voice suddenly became serious and flat. Watch our right, she's attempting to get around us. Shiro suddenly found her path blocked by a wall of sharp shadowy blades. The spikes closed in around her and stabbed forward, forcing the pale woman to jump out of the way to avoid being impaled.

Don't be so aggressive. The boy warned. It's clear that she will be able to win if we overextend ourselves.

How do we win, then? Chaos asked. Shiro paced back and forth about twenty feet away, growing noticeably more impatient.

"Chess..." Melody spoke up hesitantly. She still hadn't moved from her spot on the ground behind the Lord. It seemed like her legs had simply given out from stress, and she shook in a mixture of shock and confusion. "I-"

"It'll be fine, just stay put," Chaos said in an uncharacteristically kind tone. Shiro attempted to take advantage of his momentary distraction, rushing forward in an attempt to get at Melody. Her path was once again blocked by dark spikes, causing her to let out a frustrated noise.

"Come on! Either hand her over or make a move," Shiro called exasperatedly. "I still have to find two more after her."

What's the plan? Chaos asked the boy.

We can't go on the offensive as long as Melody is still in danger. If we had a way to keep our opponent completely occupied, we might- Wait, do you feel that? The boy stopped and looked toward the sky. Alex and the others stopped in their tracks, gazing at the sky as a bright purple blip became visible in the sky. The dot sped towards them, growing larger and larger. Even Shiro turned to look at the approaching speck, sensing the surge of energy coming from it.

The glowing form slammed into the ground nearby, sending fragments of melting concrete sailing away. A man stood from the settling debris, dressed in a trench coat and pure white armor and mask. Four crow's wings, made of dark purple flames, burned at his back. Chaos' felt a thrill of fear pass through his heart. The last time he and this man had met, the snow-haired Lord had been defeated in a most spectacular fashion. Judging from the shocked expressions on Alex and Dimitri's faces, they recognized the newcomer as well.

"Jerloh! What did I say about rushing ahead!?" A woman's voice yelled. A group consisting of four students, the voice's owner, and a child ran towards the academy.

"Hey, Arthur, Anika, and their friends were worried about their school, so I got us here as quickly as possible," the man shrugged.

"I know, but- Chaos!?" the middle-aged woman, dressed in what the ex-Lord recognized as an EDC General's uniform with a set of armor over it, leveled an Anti-Material Rifle at the Bloodline's head.

"Marcie!?" Alex and Dimitri called out in unison at the woman's voice. Her gaze fell on the two soldiers, meeting their eyes. A look of complete confusion passed over her face.

Everybody's concentration broke as Chaos summoned another wall of spikes to block Shiro.

"I hate to break you all up," the snow-haired Bloodline yelled, "but could you either help me or get the hell out of here!?"

"Hey," Shiro looked at Marcia and Jerloh, "this guy's your enemy, right? Why don't you lend me a hand instead?"

"Don't listen to her!" Alex yelled. "As crazy as it is, Chaos is actually on our side!"

"That's not true," Shiro smiled, "does this face look like it could hurt a-" A bullet grazed her cheek. Anika had broken off from Pyrrha and the rest of her team and leveled her rifle at the pale woman.

"I trust the Major way more than you," the EDC sniper smirked. "You don't stand a chance against us. It would be better for you to just give up."

"Is that so?" Shiro's voice became dangerously flat.

"Anika, move! She's-" Arthur attempted to warn her, but it came a moment too late. Shiro flashed forward and snapped her fingers in Anika's face. A blaze of fire erupted for a split second, blinding the others. Pyrrha had reacted the fastest, using her shield to block the light. A blackened trail inhabited the spot Anika had been just a moment before. Horribly disfigured piles of metallic slag littered the scorched area. The remains of the sniper's rifle and armor.

"Anika!" Emerald called out, hoping in vain that the girl that had become her friend was still alive. Arthur began to shake in silent fury. Shiro ran a hand through her hair, recomposing herself.

"Sorry about that," the pale woman said happily. "She was just so rude that I lost my temper for a moment. Let's start over from where we left-" Shiro was suddenly thrown by an invisible force, smashing her into the side of a cement wall, which collapsed on top of her. Jerloh stepped forward, his palm out towards where the woman had flown.

"Marcie, we'll have time to understand what's going on later. You and the others go help Alex, Dimitri, and whatever wounded they have. I'll... help Chaos."

"Are you sure?" the EDC General asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I think I've got this," the Terror Inheritor answered, his voice laced with a shaking rage.

"Kick her butt, Daddy," Lex spoke up. Pyrrha suddenly noticed that the small girl's eyes had an exceptionally stony look to them.

"That's a promise," Jerloh nodded and walked over to Chaos and Melody as the others moved to assist Alex's group. "You know, 'I'll help Chaos' was probably the one sentence I thought I'd never say."

"If it's any consolation, I never thought I'd fight alongside you, either," the ex-Lord answered, crossing his arms.

"Well, just don't try anything, or I'll have to put you back in the ground," Jerloh shrugged.

"Chess wouldn't do that! Right?" Melody spoke shakily, eying the crow-winged Bloodline with distrust. The aura of fear he gave off certainly wasn't helping her feel comfortable around him. Even Chaos twitched uneasily in his presence.

"Nice to see you made a friend," Jerloh nodded kindly.

"She's-" Chaos stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. "Nevermind... I suppose she is..." Despite the dire situation, Melody's expression lit up for an instant. "Drop it, we've got more important things to deal with than chatting like idiots."

"Yeah, I think we're in agreement for once," Jerloh nodded, catching sight of a disheveled Shiro pulling herself from the rubble. "So what's this gal's deal?"

"She- She wants to capture... or kill.. I'm not really sure. She wants me," Melody supplied.

"I see. Okay, Chaos. I'll provide ranged support and protect your friend- What's your name?"

"Melody."

"Nice to meet you. I'll protect Melody if you can handle being up close and personal to our mutual enemy," Jerloh clarified.

"That won't be an issue," Chaos answered, stepping forward. "You had better make sure that nothing hap-"

"Don't get your pants in a bunch," Jerloh cut him off, drawing a pair of heavy-looking revolvers from his waist. A single-edged sword with a crescent-shaped hook cut from its blade floated out from its sheath on the Bloodline's back, hovering an arm's length to his right. "I'll make sure Melody doesn't get a scratch."

"You'd better."

Is it time? Chaos asked the boy, who had not strayed from his side since the ordeal had begun.

Yes, now would be the time to use your new-

How dare you! You goddamn- The boy snapped his fingers to silence the woman's voice.

As I was saying... Now is the correct time to make use of the increased power I have granted you.

Good. How do I use it? Chaos demanded. Now would be better than later.

Very well. Close your eyes. Clear your heart and mind. The boy instructed. Chaos did as he was told, feeling more than a little foolish at depriving himself of vision when his opponent could be upon him at any moment.

What exactly is this power? The ex-Lord inquired.

You've seen it before. The strength that the Guardians found to fight the Order. To fully become one with their abilities. The boy explained. As you know, this will not leave your own body unscathed.

That's fine. Chaos replied.

Then, awaken, Inheritor. Become discord, anarchy, and pandemonium. Become the embodiment of chaos you were born to be.

Shiro brushed the last bit of dust off of her body and stepped out from the pile of rubble. She was beginning to get frustrated. After coming all this way, she just kept getting stopped by- What was that? Her eyes snapped to Chaos, who stood in place with his eyes closed, letting off a massive amount of energy.

Long thin shadows rose from the ground and stabbed into the Bloodline's arms, causing a dark haze to gather around his hands. The ex-Lord's gauntlets cracked like plaster and fell to the ground, revealing Chaos' pale skin underneath. The shadows had visibly stained his veins a pitch-black. The dark haze solidified around his hands, creating a pair of clawed "gloves", with each finger ending in a razor sharp talon. Black mist began to seep from seams in the Bloodline's armor. Chaos opened his eyes, his irises glowing a blood-red hue.

Shiro smiled. "It doesn't matter what you two do, you won't be able to beat me." To her surprise, a wide grin also spread across Chaos' face.

"I think it's time we put that to the test," the ex-Lord replied. Shiro rushed forward, hoping to strike him down before he could do anything. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly worried that this pair might stand a chance against her. That was something she could not allow. Shiro suddenly registered Chaos' shadow shifting oddly around his feet. The Bloodline took a step back, and a horrific creature burst from the ground at his feet.

The Shade Chaos had created looked like a two-meter tall puppet from hell. It had long lanky limbs, its legs dragging unnaturally across the ground as it moved. Foot-long blades decorated its hands instead of fingers. Wide lifeless eyes and a gaping mouth watched Shiro, though she appeared unperturbed by the dark horror. She made a mental note of the thin, almost invisible, black threads connecting the Shade to Chaos' shadow.

The Shade let out an unearthly howl, somewhere between a war cry and a scream. Both it and Chaos moved in to attack at once, claws swinging wildly through the air. Shiro jumped back out of the flurry of slashes. As long as she could avoid them, she- She suddenly remembered the presence of the second Bloodline. A round from one of Jerloh's revolvers slammed into the pale woman's side, exploding on contact into a small blast of flame.

Shiro's smile had not faded for the duration of the fight so far. She still appeared just as confident as ever. As the Shade moved to attack her again, the pale woman released a powerful blast of frigid wind, knocking the creature to the ground and pushing sending Chaos scraping along the cement. She took the opening to grab the Shade by its head. The creature let out one last fell shriek before its internal glow was sucked dry. Shiro dropped its lifeless husk, which dissipated into black mist. She moved to avoid more shots from Jerloh, the bullets ripping into the cement where she had stood.

"Thank you for that," she called sweetly. Claws identical to the puppet-Shade's sprung to life around Shiro's hand, only they were made of fire. The pale woman paused to admire her new weapons.

"What the hell was that?" Chaos demanded, pushing himself to his feet..

"That's my semblance. I can drain energy from things and take some or all of their power," Shiro explained happily. "I wasn't sure before, but I think I'd actually like to take your ability after I'm done with our silver-haired friend."

"Yeah..." Jerloh muttered. "Let's not feed her any more Shades."

"No shit," Chaos snapped. If all Shiro had to do was touch them to drain their ability, the Bloodlines would need a better plan to defeat her. Killing her would be difficult with her almost instantaneous healing. The ex-Lord suddenly remembered why he had hated fighting Auras with Regeneration Secondaries back on Earth.

You're thinking of this in the wrong way. The boy said, reappearing a short distance from Chaos.

What do you mean?

"Defeat" does not always mean "kill".

"Terror, can you cover me?" Chaos asked through gritted teeth. He couldn't believe he was asking an enemy for help.

"Sure, what's the plan?" Jerloh reloaded his revolvers.

"I'm getting up close and personal," the ex-Lord replied flatly.

"Didn't we just find out that was a bad idea?"

"Chess, what are you doing?" Melody looked at him with wide concerned eyes. Chaos let out a frustrated puff of air and turned back towards Shiro.

"Just do it." Chaos charged forward at the pale woman.

"Oh? You're giving me a chance to try these out?" Shiro asked, clicking her flaming claws together as he drew closer. "Don't worry, I still want to see what your power can do, so I'll just take out your legs." She began to block incoming shots from Jerloh as Chaos drew nearer. Once the ex-Lord was within reach, Shiro's grin grew and she took a low swipe at- Chaos vanished before her very eyes. For the first time over the course of the fight, Shiro's eyes widened in shock and her smile faded. She felt Chaos' hand grab her shoulder from behind.

"Teleporting? How-" Shiro vanished, leaving only silence hanging in the air.

"Never used my power like that before..." Chaos stared at his hand. "That might be useful..."

"Where did you just send her?" Melody asked.

"I'm not entirely sure... Hopefully far enough away that she won't bother anyone..."

"...did you-" Shiro stopped as she suddenly found herself in the middle of an unfamiliar landscape. Rolling dunes and sparse plants surrounded her. Sudden rage boiled inside her. How had she missed it!? How could she have missed that boy's power like that!? "No... No! I was so close! She was within my grasp!" Shiro shook with fury and screamed into the desert. What had her target called him? Oh, right. "Well, 'Chess', I will take special pleasure in taking your power. Every last drop of it!"

A/N: Well, this chapter turned out better than I thought it was going to. The schedule for updates is likely going to slow down to every other day, at least for a while. Sorry about that.

Reviews, Follows, and Favorites are always appreciated! Let me know what you think! Got a question for me? Go ahead and leave one in a review, or if you don't want to share the answer, send me a PM. I will answer as quickly as I am able.

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