Hey guys, here is the next update in this fanfiction. Hope you have been enjoying the read so far.

Now enjoy the read...

Chapter Cover: Ruby standing there holding her Scythe with the broken moon above her as red petals danced everywhere...

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Hell Games

Blake was moving quickly through the familiar terrain, the others following after her. The young woman was already familiar with the state of the Aura-less area that she was in and couldn't help but feel that same uneasiness that she used to feel when she first came here, a few days ago with Torchwick and Mirkia along with her. The young woman had her weapon upon her back as she was moving forward, feeling the Aura of the others as they followed after her.

"You sure you know where you're going?" the Commander of the White Clan asked.

Blake knew that the woman knew that she was part of the White Fang. In the past, during her stay with the White Fang, Commander Winter Schnee was someone to be avoided at all cost. The woman was powerful as a properly trained Huntress and she was deadly in a battle. Blake knew that if it wasn't for Weiss vouching for her back there, she would have gotten a blade into her gut before she could speak.

"They have a Facility underground," Blake said, "Thought…the last time I was here, I fell for the trap that it was. There was a bunch of cages and Saddler called it where he dumped his failed experiments. He called the Hounds almost like they were the guard dogs of this place. Fighting against them proved to be pointless for they completely overpowered me and my companions."

Winter let out a hum.

"And they were a lot of those cages aren't they?" she said, "Just how long had this bastard being doing his experiments?"

"Long enough to create whatever those Grimm were that I faced," Blake answered.

"Stop," one of the Huntsman with them said suddenly.

They instantly did so and turned their attention toward him.

"What is it, Norad?" Winter asked him.

"The enemy is coming," Norad said, "I can hear them."

"I don't hear anything," Ruby said glancing around herself.

"Neither do I?"

"How long have you had your Soul Weapon in it's released State?" Winter asked.

"Ever since before we arrived here," Norad spoke.

Blake glanced at the young man.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked.

"My Soul Weapon is not an offensive weapon," Norad spoke out, "But it's more aligned with listening to nature…making me an invaluable asset to the Squad. I could use it's abilities to hear the sounds that will most likely go unnoticed by others."

A serious look appeared upon the young man's features.

"And considering the lack of animal sounds that this place has," he said, "The sound I heard could only be the enemies and they are quickly approaching toward where we are."

Winter had her sword drawn out.

"Advanced Combat squad," she said, "Get ready to do battle. Authorization of the Soul Weapon release has been granted."

"Yes ma'am," the five members said.

A sudden feel of darkness started to overcome Blake's sense as her own Faunus hearing caught the sound of the people that were approaching them. She could feel her golden eyes widening in surprise at the feeling of the power. There was no mistaking it. It was the same power that these black clothed people had when they had attacked her and Penny back in Vale.

"No wait that power…it's them," she yelled, "It's those people who attacked me in Vale and took Penny."

"Blade of Ice come Forth, Blade of Snow Come Forth," Winter said as her Aura rose even more powerful as her blade split itself into two smaller ones, "Gemina Hieme."

The weapon changed as the woman stared at the sight in front of them. Blake raised a hand toward her weapon as the others got themselves ready to fight.

"No," Weiss said, drawing their attentions, "Ruby, Yang and Blake, you three are with me. Winter and the Advanced Squad will be enough for this."

"Are you serious?" Yang called out.

"That is the plan," Weiss snapped at her, "Keep to it."

Blake noticed the look that the white haired girl sends her sister as she said that. Blake noticed then, that Weiss wanted to draw her weapon and fight with her sister but she was stopped herself from moving forward. The white haired girl turned toward her, and those blue eyes were hardened.

"Let's go," she said.

Blake nodded at her as the group before they moved forward leaving Winter and the others behind. Blake could see that Weiss's face had become empty of emotions and her eyes impassive. She was completely focused upon the sight in front of her. Blake returned her attention forward as she moved forward aiming straight toward the direction where that place of the hidden passage was as they landed down upon the front of the seemingly sand covered ground.

"There," Blake said, pointing straight at the area, "The entrance of the place where we fell into the trap is right there."

"Yang, your turn," Weiss said glancing at the blonde girl.

Yang had a small smirk upon her face as her gauntlets started to glow with power. The young woman's eyes flashed with a tinge of red before she jumped in the air above them. With a yell the blonde came down with a punch straight toward the ground resulting in a massive explosion that shook the earth around them and Blake had covered her face as the sand flew forward through the air.

Amazing, she thought, Considering that a couple of months ago these two girls were nothing like this…their progress is quite something.

Yang landed back down upon the ground beside them, a small smirk upon her face. Well someone was certainly enjoying themselves quite a lot despite everything that had been happening. Weiss had pulled out her sword. In front of them, there was a large hole that showed the pieces of metal that formed the place that Blake had fallen with Mirkia and Torchwick.

"Well, they definitely know we're here now," Ruby said.

"Whiten the Petals of the Snow Flower, Myrtenaster," Weiss said as her power shoot through the air.

The white haired girl then launched forward aiming straight toward the hole with the others following after them. Weiss's Soul Weapon, Blake noticed had transformed into a white blade with a cross shaped guard at the hilt. She recognized the weapon as a rapier…They all followed the white haired girl down the hole that was filled with the cages. There were still Grimms in the area and the creatures turned toward them.

Blake had already drawn her blade as she stared at the enemy across them. The golden eyes were narrowed lightly as she took in the familiar shapes of strange Grimm that she and Mirkia ran into just a few days ago as they approached them.

"Here they come," Yang said getting into a stance.

Ruby had her Scythe ready as well and Blake poised to attack.

"Wait…," Weiss said, "I'll take care of this."

"What?" Yang said, "You're going to need our help for this. The last time you faced a lot of Grimm…"

"I limited my power so that my attack do not affect the world temperature and natural order," Weiss said calmly as she stared at the large number of Grimm in front of her, "It's why we placed the barrier so that the world won't be affected by the release of our full power…but now inside this barrier…I will show you my power."

Weiss aimed her blade straight toward the Grimm and said two words.

"Ice Crystal," she said.

Everything froze. All of the Grimm that were coming at them were instantly covered into a layer of ice that froze them in their movements. It was like everything was suddenly covered in ice and Blake could hide the shock that she was seeing here. She had known that proper Huntress were powerful but to this extent…and she stared at Weiss in front of her, looking at the flowing white hair and the clothe that was dancing in the wind of the power she had unleashed.

At her age…she is already a Captain, Blake thought, That doesn't deny how powerful she is but…even when I faced her when she was wounded, she was powerful enough to match me in battle even in my Awakening…so…this is Weiss Schnee…the girl who at thirteen years old was powerful enough to become Captain.


Winter held her blades as her eyes narrowed at the oncoming enemies. The Squad around her had already drawn their weapons as the Grimm like creatures approached them. The young woman was holding her blade to the ready as they approached and then one of the Squad member, Ciel Soleil, a dark skinned young woman had taken as stance with her hands before she launched forward straight toward the battle.

The young woman moved quickly as her hands moved in a circular movements causing strings of black and white to dance around her body as she sliced through the numerous Grimm that were around her. The young woman spoke.

"Come apart, Solis Umbra (Sunlight Shadow)," she said.

Numerous strings of light and black danced around herself as the Grimm were completely destroyed into little pieces from where she stood. Ciel turned her attention forward as more Grimm approached toward where she was but then Norad was there with a kick sending the Grimm flying backward as he landed down in a crouch.

"I can hear you," he said with a serious look upon his face before blurring forward and with his speed he was moving at the speed of sound manipulating the sound waves around him at will as he destroyed the Grimm that were approaching toward him. Winter glanced around herself noticing that the Grimm were approaching them from behind and she raised her sword toward them.

"Whiteness," she said.

White completely covered the area around her as she was the one standing there with the numerous Grimm all around her. The young woman narrowed her eyes lightly as all of the targets that were in range.

"Slash," Winter said using her other sword for the attack.

All of the Grimms that were inside the Whiteness were all sliced into two pieces as her attack reached all of them causing them to simply evaporate into nothingness. The technique she had used dissipated as the woman turned her gaze toward the squad that she had with her. Both Norad and Ciel were doing fine from how they were fighting against the approaching Grimm. She turned her gaze toward where the other threes were and she could see that they were fighting good too and most of the Grimm they had faced yet, they didn't seem to be any different than the Grimm that they usually faces.

Something is not right, Winter thought as she glanced around herself, That Faunus girl told us that the Grimm were different than before and possessed some form of intelligence and yet, I haven't seen any evidence of that yet…

The young woman instantly dodged a Grimm that came at her from the side and with a spinning attack she took it down, barely breaking strike as she was moving on the battlefield.

Was the information she gave us false, Winter thought, Or is there something else at play here?

"That was the last of them," Ciel said, her eyes narrowing lightly.

The decaying bodies of the Grimm were all lying around them on the ground as they stood there looking around themselves. Norad had this frown upon his face as he was staring straight forward at the direction Weiss and her team had gone. The other three approached, all of them holding their swords thought they haven't released them yet.

"Based on the reports we had," one said, Karee, "I had expected them to be a lot tougher than that."

"So did I," Ohlia said with a light frown upon her features, "With all of these preparations we had with the barrier so we can unleash all of our powers…we wouldn't have needed all of that power just for those guys."

Winter was feeling the same as they are.

"I can still hear them," Norad spoke out drawing the group's attention, "I can hear the enemy."

"Are they coming to attack?" Winter asked.

"At first I believed that they were," Norad spoke out, "But I realized something during our battle. That was only the first Wave it seems…and the rest of them are still holding back from where they are."

"Holding back?" Karee said, a surprised look upon his face, "What for?"

"It seems that they were observing us," Norad said.

Winter let out a tching sound.

"They used the first wave of learn about our abilities and what we can do," she said, "It seems those reports about their intelligence is actually proved to be right. What direction are they in Norad?"

"The same direction that the Captain and her team had gone in," Norad answered, "But the strange thing was…they didn't engage the Captain's team at all…they simply let them pass completely unharmed."

"I'm surprised that the Captain didn't notice them," Ohlia said.

"If it wasn't for Norad," Winter said, "We wouldn't have noticed them either. Ever since we arrived here, the Aura in the air had been practically non-existent. The Veil is quite weak here which could explain why they are so many Grimm gathering here and how that man had managed to conduct his experiments for so long."

"Since our Sensing ability uses the Aura in the air to be able to detect the Grimm," Karee said, "I hate to say it but without Norad, we'll be flying in blind quite literally."

Winter narrowed her gaze.

"Then let's switch from defense to offense," she said, "If those Grimm are waiting for us to engage then let's engage them and draw them out. We're already playing in their palm…let's show them what the power of the White Clan is."

"Right," the others agreed with a light nod.

"Norad, you're our eyes out there," Winter said, "Guide us toward our enemies."

"Yes Commander," Norad said before the group disappeared in a burst of Light Steps movements.


With Weiss's team

The white haired girl stood there in front of the large number of Grimm that she had instantly frozen into ice sculptures. Both of her eyes were like crystals as well as she stared at them in front of her before they started to disappear lightly into little crystal dust. Weiss stood there staring straight forward with the amount of power surging through her. The girl narrowed her eyes lightly as she stared at the numerous cages in front of her and then something about the area caused her to frown lightly.

"Be on your guard," she said, "I feel like we're not alone here."

"You're quite right," a voice spoke in the speakers around them, "You are not alone here on Las Hazard."

The voice echoed around them and the four girls glanced around themselves, a light frown upon their faces as they stared at the ceiling around them. From beside her, Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Saddler," she said.

"Despite our brief your last visit was," the man now revealed as Saddler spoke out, "I never expected that you would have returned Blake Belladonna and more than ever that you would have returned with new friends to leave behind to die."

Blake grit her teeth.

"You'll pay for all of the Faunus you have been experimenting on Saddler," she yelled out.

"Oh…if you're talking about your White Fang companions," Saddler said, "They have been quite cooperating in my research."

"White Fang?" Yang said shocked, "You're part of them?"

"Oh…she didn't tell you?" Saddler laughed, "Then allow me to open your eyes to your little companion girls, Blake Belladonna is the right-hand of the White Fang one of their most…cherished member and the one that was in command of the White Fang attack on Vale."

Weiss frowned to herself.

"You seems to be well-informed for someone who is on a deserted island conducting inhumane experiments," she said.

"The white hair…those blue eyes," Saddler said, "Ezekiel's child aren't you? I should have known that it would be someone of that man's blood to lead this assault. He is the only one who have the balls to do things in such a way that no one expect…and as show of respect, how will you fare against my own children."

In front of them, there was a black clothed figure. It was a young man who was holding upon a large broad sword upon his shoulder, his eyes glowing bright gold as he was approaching them.

"We're surrounded," Ruby said.

Weiss glanced around them and noticed that the short girl beside her was right. There were other people dressed in those long black robes as well, the golden eyes shining as they stared at them. They were four of them in total…one for probably each of them.

"They said the White Clan is the most powerful Clan in the entire world," Saddler laughed, his voice carrying all around them, "Let's put that theory to the test shall we?"

"Everyone," Weiss said raising her sword, "Get ready for battle. Do not falter, do not hesitate in your attacks. Unlike the White Fang, I don't think we're dealing with people anymore…Whoever they were, Saddler had twisted them beyond recognition.

Ruby held her Scythe at the ready, her silver eyes becoming gleaming. Yang's Aura caused fire to start to rise from her hair as Blake own Aura started to rise as well. This isn't going to be like it was last time she faced those black clothed people…That time she was almost out of power when they jumped her but now, she was back at full strength and ready for some payback.

"Let's go," Weiss yelled.

The girls scattered each of them aiming straight for one of the black clothed figures.

The explosive battle of Las Hazard had begun...

Next Time: Void of Darkness

Jacques0 out.

R&R