New chapter my friends, hope you've all enjoyed your week so far. Now, only one question from Atrum Ferox asking if I really needed to handicap RWBY as it makes them too weak. I feel as though I did need to do that. Look at it this way, the RWBY characters have superior resilience in comparison to the RvB characters. So the threats that the RvB characters face would be smaller to the RWBY characters, thus taking away some of the conflict...in my opinion at least. But by reducing their Aura level, I believe that it makes the threat of the Space Pirates more serious for the RWBY characters, forcing them to rely more on skill then their Aura. That being said, I don't intend to do any Character Bashing. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 8- Fight or Flight
"Okay, everyone remember the plan?" Ruby asked, loading a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose as the rest of her team prepared themselves.
"Go into the city, find Blake and all go home." Yang quickly replied as she ensured Ember Cilica's shells still inserted into the chamber correctly. Weiss simply nodded her head as she readjusted her grip on Myrtenaster. Ruby smiled and nodded in confirmation as she packed a few extra magazines just in case.
"All right, so you know how these things work then?" a Republican technician asked, holding a small black box with multiple orange highlights. Weiss narrowed her eyes as she studied the small device.
"They're teleporters, right?" Weiss asked as she took the cube from the technicians hand.
"Yeah, the calibrations have been set." the technician replied, taking another one of the small cubes out of a box and handing it to Ruby. "THAT one will take you to New Lincoln," the tech continued whilst pointing to the cube Weiss held. "While THAT one will bring you back here." the tech finished, pointing to the cube Ruby held. "Just press the button on the base and stick close together. Keep your hands and feet inside the perimeter at all times."
"What happens if we don't?" Yang asked with a smirk. When she was younger and was told to keep her hands and feet inside safe zones at amusement parks, she had constantly ignored the rules. What was the worst that could happen.
"Then you'll probably lose an arm or leg." the tech replied, wiping the smirk off of Yang's face. Judging from the seriousness in his voice, she was sure the guy had seen it happen before.
"Okay, everyone ready?" a new voice asked.
Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned to see both Carolina and Wash enter the room, with Church floating nearby. Ruby nodded in confirmation, followed by Weiss and Yang.
"Before you all go, there is probably something we should tell you..." Wash said and Ruby was sure she could hear some embarrassment in his voice.
"We can't allow you to go to New Lincoln alone. The city is in its death throes and would be impossible to navigate without a guide of some sorts." Carolina added, causing the huntresses to look at one another in slight confusion.
"But I thought you said you didn't have the authority to send military personnel out of the city!" Weiss stated, clearly remembering the exact conversation from earlier.
"We can't, but these people aren't official members of Chorus' Military..." Wash replied, lowering his head in apparent shame.
"Hello!" an all to familiar voice announced, causing Weiss to stiffen slightly.
The huntresses slowly turned and saw the all to familiar forms of Caboose, Sarge and Tucker standing side by side whilst the rest of the Blood Gulch crew watched from a distance.
"Seriously?" Yang asked, turning to face Wash who simply looked away in shame.
"They were the only ones who would willingly volunteer so...yeah." Church quickly replied, causing the huntresses to look back at their 'partners'.
"Don't worry! We're right behind you! We'll be thinking of you from the safety of these very high walls!" Grif shouted, giving a somewhat reassuring thumbs up.
"Really?" Simmons asked confused.
"Nah, I'm just gonna eat some chips or something." Grif replied, sending another thumbs up towards the huntresses.
The huntresses just narrowed their eyes and turned to face their 'escort'. Tucker was seemingly giving Yang the 'eyes' but it was impossible to tell due to his helmet, Sarge looked as though he was aiming his Shotgun at Caboose, whilst the blue idiot was staring at...something.
"We're dead..." Yang deadpanned as the two groups moved closer to one another, forming a small cluster.
"Before you go, there's something else you should know." Church quickly said, causing the group to turn to face the A.I. "Our drones also picked up another group inside New Lincoln, from what we can tell it's Felix and his goons."
The huntresses noticed the sudden mood change amongst the Blood Gulch crew as they suddenly stiffened at the sound of the name.
Weiss held out her hand in an attempt to gather more answer's. "Wait, who's Fe-"
"No questions? Great! Good luck, have fun!" Church quickly said. Weiss quickly attempted to raise her hand again in an attempt to gain attention.
"Wait!" Weiss shouted, before the group was engulfed in a bright orange light.
As the light died down, the group quickly took in their surroundings. They were in the middle of a decaying city, the metal frames of buildings making the all ready eerie city even more sinister. Multiple creatures roamed the city ranging from cockroaches to crows meaning only one thing to the huntresses, there were a lot of dead things here.
"Okay," Ruby sighed, taking in breaths of air to calm herself. "How should we do this?"
"We should probably split into groups of two, cover more ground that way." Sarge suggested, earning a few nods from the group. "I'll go with little red riding hood over there." Sarge continued, pointing to Ruby whilst also earning a few confused looks from the huntresses.
"Why?" Ruby asked, unsure of whether this was some strange tactical decision or something else.
"Because you're the only one wearing red, I respect that." Sarge concluded, earning even more confused looks from the group.
"Thanks...I think..." Ruby replied, looking even more confused.
"I'll go with Yang." Tucker quickly said, causing Yang to shake her head vigorously.
"I don't think that's a good idea!" Yang quickly replied, as both Ruby and Weiss silently chuckled.
"Hey, it's either me or Tweedle-Dum over there!" Tucker replied, pointing at Caboose. Weiss stopped chuckling as she realised the predicament that she was currently in.
"Wait! Yang's right, perhaps-" Weiss was cut off immediately as noticed that Sarge, Ruby, Tucker and Yang had already left, leaving her with Caboose. She slowly turned to Caboose who was staring intently at her.
"We are gonna have SO much fun!" Caboose replied, earning a pathetic whimper from Weiss.
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"We should be going this way!" Sarge shouted at Ruby as they stood at a crossroads, the same crossroad they had been stuck at for nearly an hour.
"Are you kidding me? THIS way offers more cover!" Ruby argued, holding out her hands in exasperation.
"Why the hell would we need cover? THIS way is far more open, meaning we are more likely to get spotted by your friend!" Sarge countered, holding a single finger up.
"But we'll also get spotted by everything else! The cover this way offers would help us avoid conflict!" Ruby replied, hoping now the Sergeant or Colonel or whatever rank he was would see the wisdom in her choice.
"Why the hell would we want to avoid conflict? Conflict leads to violence, which leads to bloodshed, which leads to death which is great!" Sarge queried, causing Ruby to look him in shock.
"Are you saying you WANT to kill people?" Ruby asked exasperatedly, causing Sarge to tilt his head as if considering his response.
"Pretty much." Sarge replied.
Ruby sighed and rubbed her head. She was sure she was getting a migraine at this point.
"I hope the others are getting along better then us..." Ruby sighed before resuming the argument.
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"And that is the story of how Church and I became super best friends for life!" Caboose finished, turning to face Weiss who had a confused look on her face.
"So are you saying he was a guy, then a dead guy, then a robot who died and then he became the memories of that dead robot, who helped you find the original guy who then died?" Weiss asked.
"Yes!" Caboose confirmed.
"And while that was happening, you also encountered an evil robot doctor, an assassin who liked knock knock jokes, an alien who impregnated Tucker, Grif's Sister and a power hungry soldier who had the strength of twenty bears?" Weiss further concluded, confusing her even further.
"I liked the part with the bears!" Caboose replied, causing Weiss to raise her eyebrow.
"I doubt that all of that led to you two being friends, let alone any of it actually happening." Weiss finally said as she continued to walk through the city, intent on putting as much distance between her and Caboose.
"I don't see how it's hard to believe." Caboose replied, quickly catching up to Weiss.
"You blew him up with a tank." Weiss countered, stopping in her tracks to face the blue moron.
"It's okay to be jealous, after all, you are my new best friend and I'm sure we'll have lots of things to do together." Caboose stated. Even though Weiss was sure Caboose was meant to be reassuring, he sounded somewhat sinister.
"Let's just focus on the task at hand." Weiss quickly said, putting even more distance between her and Caboose.
"OH MY GOD!" Caboose quickly shouted, panic clear in his voice.
Weiss quickly turned heel and ran towards Caboose who was somewhat shaking in his armour.
"What is it?" Weiss asked, actually concerned for the first, and probably last, time. Caboose slowly turned to face Weiss and pointed in the alley ahead of him.
"I see dead people!" Caboose quietly whispered.
Weiss turned and gasped. The alleyway ahead of them was filled with the bodies of New Republic soldiers, apparently having been cornered and gunned down. A crow was perched on one the helmets, tearing at an exposed pocket of flesh before spotting the pair and flying off.
"Psst!" Caboose whispered, gaining Weiss' attention. "Do you think they know they're dead?"
Weiss sighed and turned to walk away, attempting to put more distance between her and Caboose.
"I hope the others aren't having a hard time..." Weiss sighed as she heard Caboose quickly catch up to her.
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"So I take it you're into fisting?" Tucker asked, causing Yang to nearly stumble forward in shock.
"What did you just say?!" Yang asked, her eyes flaring slightly.
"I asked if you were into fis-"
Tucker was immediately cut off as Yang socked him around the head, sending him flying into a wall.
"OWW! Son of a Bitch!" Tucker shouted, rubbing his head as he slowly got up. Yang stared at him with an upraised eyebrow as she awaited an apology. "Okay, so if you're not into fisting...what about-" Tucker was once again cut off as Yang grabbed him by his...special place…and squeezed tightly.
"Say something?" Yang asked as Tucker slightly buckled under her grip.
"Ohh...didn't...realise...you were...into...swordplay..." Tucker replied between grunts of pain. Yang sighed, realising she wasn't going to get an apology and relinquished her grip, causing Tucker to take in quick intakes of air.
"Say something along those lines again, and I'll rip your balls off." Yang quietly warned before turning to continue her search.
Tucker waddled behind her as he messaged his crotch, every step causing intense pain. "Man, my boys haven't hurt this much since I crashed that hen night party!" Tucker complained, causing Yang to raise her eyebrow inquisitively.
"You expect me to believe that you crashed a hen night party and slept with everyone there?" Yang asked, turning to face the perverted soldier.
"That's what I want you to believe, but what really happened was the groom arrived and kicked my ass." Tucker admitted, getting a slight sense of déjà vu, feeling as though he had a similar conversation with Wash.
"Tucker, have you actually ever had sex with someone?" Yang asked again, causing Tucker to stop and place his hand on his chin as he went through his thoughts.
"Well, I slept with Grif's Sister, got impregnated by an alien, slept with a bunch of supermodels at Prague...so yeah!" Tucker recollected as he awaited Yang's response.
"Wait, you got impregnated by an alien?" Yang asked, a bewildered look on her face.
"Fuck yeah, Junior's awesome!" Tucker replied, quickly taking a folded piece of paper out and showing it to Yang. "Here's a picture of him with his fifth grade basketball team!"
Yang took the picture and looked at it. The main focus was a large, theropod like alien in teal and blue armour holding a large orange ball whilst in front of him where five other children holding the same balls, all with slight fear in their eyes. Yang stood there in shock, not even flinching when Tucker took the photo off of her.
"They grow up so fast..." Tucker sighed, putting the photo away. "Come on, lets go!" Tucker then said, patting Yang on her shoulder, knocking her out of her trance. She shook her head before joining Tucker and continuing their search.
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Hours later…
It had been hours since their search began, but their efforts were fruitless with the three groups returning empty handed.
"Any luck?" Ruby whimpered as she and Sarge walked towards the other two pairs.
"No..." Weiss replied, who was drained of energy as Caboose simply walked in circles. Yang shook her head, a sombre look in her yes. Ruby sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"We should split up further, cover even more ground." Ruby said, causing her friends to look at her worriedly.
"I don't think that's a good idea Rube's. We could end up getting lost ourselves." Yang countered, hoping her sister would see some sense.
"No, we can't leave Blake behind." Ruby replied, her eyes widening slightly in an attempt to earn sympathy.
Yang sighed and quietly cursed herself. "Okay, but only for an hour. It's getting late and we need rest."
Ruby nodded as the three huntresses went there separate ways in search for Blake, leaving only Tucker, Sarge and Caboose.
"Err, did they just forget about us?" Tucker asked, turning to the others for confirmation.
"Hey, where did everyone go?" Caboose asked, having spaced out during the conversation.
"We should probably set a perimeter...or something...right Sarge?" Tucker asked, turning to face him, only to see the red soldier gone. "Sarge?" Tucker asked, looking for any sign of the soldier.
"Over here blue-tards!" Sarge's gruff voice echoed from a nearby alley. Tucker and Caboose followed the voice and found Sarge staring at a familiar shape hidden beneath a tattered blanket.
"Is that what I think it is?" Tucker asked, turning to face Sarge who simply nodded.
"Think so, and it's still in good shape too." Sarge continued, pulling the blanket off, revealing to the group the device. "If we can fix her up, might be able to cover more ground."
"I don't know man, it's pretty beaten up. Can we even get it working?" Tucker questioned as he inspected the device.
"Nothing a little elbow grease can't solve!" Sarge replied before going round the back and inspecting the cargo. "Gotta be a tool-kit in here somewhere..." He continued to mutter as he searched the contents. Tucker turned to face the alley entrance upon hearing a soft noise.
"Whatever you do, hurry up!" Tucker said, raising his rifle slightly. "I don't think we're alone..."
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Weiss continued through the streets, noticing the large abundance of bodies. Whilst she recognised the armour to be those worn by the New Republic and Federal Army, she noticed that the bodies were clearly segregated. Perhaps Ruby's earlier theory of the two forces being at war with one another was correct after all. She heard some rustling to her left and turned to face it, Myrtenaster in her hand. The rustling continued as she tensed herself, ready for whatever it was. Suddenly, a small rat ran out from behind a bin, racing across the floor and into the shadows. She sighed and lowered her weapon, before turning and continuing on. That was when she heard heavy, quick footsteps behind her.
She turned just as a towering form raised a fist and brought it down towards her. Weiss quickly sidestepped the strike, sliding along and using Myrtenaster to slow herself down. The figure instead pounded the ground, turning to face her as it clenched its fist and rose to full height again. Weiss looked in shock at the familiarity of the form. They wore armour that aside from colour, was identical to Carolina's armour. The figure was also, rather ironically, female as well. The only difference was the armour colour, which was a steel grey along with a silver visor. She also took note of the weapon on her back, a rifle that looked identical to the one Grif carried.
"State your business!" Weiss demanded, earning a small titter from the woman.
"You're gonna give ME orders?" the woman chuckled dryly. "Why don't you shove your orders some place else princess!"
Weiss furrowed her eyebrows and snarled quietly. "You will address me as 'Heiress', cretin!"
The woman didn't reply, simply choosing to charge Weiss, tightening her right hand to deliver a punch. Weiss ducked beneath the blow and slashed at the woman's back, the blow hitting her armour and severing the end off of the rifle. The woman turned and looked down at the severed head of the rifle and flung the weapon off her back, letting it clatter to the ground. The woman then drew a knife from a hidden sheath strapped to the left side of her chest piece and spread her legs slightly to give her space to lunge.
"I don't need a gun to kill you!" the woman sneered, before lunging at Weiss, slashing with her right hand.
Weiss once again dodged the blow and stabbed at her exposed leg. The strike slid harmlessly off her armour allowing the woman to counterstrike with her left hand, knocking Weiss back with a punch to the face. Weiss rubbed the side of her face as the woman followed through with a slash with the knife. Weiss quickly dodged the blow, but noticed a tear in the left side of her jacket. She studied the tear and saw the knife had gone through both her jacket and shirt underneath, exposing her shoulder slightly. She sighed, grateful that the blade had not drawn blood and her Aura was still active to an extent. She turned to face the woman, who twirled the blade in her hand before readjusting her stance.
"Tell you what, surrender now and I promise to make it quick." the woman suggested, cocking her head slightly.
Weiss sneered, readying herself for the woman's next move.
"I hoped you'd say no..." the woman replied, charging once again.
As Weiss suspected, the woman was on the offensive, hoping to push her against the wall at her back. And Weiss let her, knowing the woman's overconfidence would be her downfall. Weiss glanced behind her and saw the wall was right behind her. The woman let out a primal yell and swung her left hand at Weiss, hoping to stun her with a punch before gutting her with the blade. That was when Weiss made her move. She rolled beneath the fist and slid so she was facing the woman's back as her fist was mere millimetres from impacting the wall. She used her semblance to form an Ice glyph on the wall and another two beneath her feet. As her fist hit the glyph, ice erupted around her arm followed immediately by the two beneath her feet. The woman looked around in shock, dropping her knife in the process. Her left hand was frozen to the wall whilst her feet were secured to the ground. The only area's not covered in ice were her head and right arm.
The woman growled as Weiss admired her handiwork. "Why you...bitch!" the incapacitated woman yelled, attempting to tug her arm free. Weiss let out a small snigger and turned to leave. She however, stopped in her tracks as she heard the woman let out a small snigger.
"What's so funny?" Weiss demanded, pointing Myrtenaster at the woman.
"You should really watch your six..." the woman simply sneered.
Before Weiss could enquire further, she felt something heavy hit her head, before everything went black.
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Yang wandered through the streets, being careful not to disturb the dead there. She was tempted to shout out to Blake, but remembered Church's warning about others being in the city. She had to admit, she was curious about who they meant but hadn't bothered to ask Tucker about it. She shuddered at the thought of the alien baby. How the hell did he even give birth? Did it come out of his ass, or his mouth, or was it like in that Scott Ridley film where the Grimm burst through that guys chest and massacred an entire military base? Her train of thought however was quickly broken at the sound of fast footprints.
She turned and found herself facing a woman that looked a lot like Carolina charging her, with her fist raised ready to punch her. Yang ducked beneath the blow and stood up immediately after, sending the woman over her shoulder and landing on her back. Yang turned to face the woman as she got up, who shook her head and cracked her neck slightly.
"Carolina?" Yang asked, cocking her head whilst raising her fists.
"Not even close..." the woman sneered, swinging with her right hand which Yang quickly blocked. The woman then followed through with a kick to Yang's stomach, causing her to double over. The woman then grabbed her by the back of her head and flung her forward, hoping to knock off balance. Yang was quick to recover and managed to balance herself, standing up straight and facing the woman. Yang noticed that the woman had a large grey weapon on her back and deduced that the woman had refrained from using it merely due the fact it had enough power to kill them both. The safest course of action was to stay in close quarters, which the woman appeared to be good at. Fortunately, she was better.
The woman charged again, raising her left arm to bring a fist down on her. Yang caught the arm and delivered a punch with her left arm, stunning the woman slightly. Yang then twisted the woman's arm at an unnatural angle, causing the woman to scream in pain as she was forced to her knees. As the woman turned to deliver some snide comment, Yang punched her in the head, sending her spiralling forward and knocking her unconscious.
Yang dusted her hands together as the woman continued to groan, as she turned to continue her search for Blake.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Yang froze and turned to the sound of the noise. It was close, but not in her range of view. The gunshots were unfamiliar which only increased her curiosity.
BANG!
This time, there was only one shot, but it was horrifyingly familiar.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted, rushing forwards with all her might as the fighting continued unabated.
"Hang in there sis, I'm coming!"
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Ruby dashed through the streets, continuing her search for Blake. She was tempted to use her semblance, but knew continued use would only tire her out. Nonetheless, she wouldn't abandon her friend and team-mate. She stopped in a small clearing, untouched by any previous combat. She looked around, hoping to see if Blake was hiding here, but alas, she wasn't. She went to move on, when she heard scuffling nearby. Ruby quickly turned to face the noise with Crescent Rose in its Scythe form at hand, as the noise continued.
"Blake?" Ruby asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. Immediately a form came into view, but it wasn't Blake. They wore grey and orange armour and held a rifle similar to the one Tucker used. The figure turned and was taken aback by the sight of Ruby.
"Whoa! Take it easy!" the figure chuckled, raising his hands slightly.
Ruby stumbled at the sound of his voice. It sounded somewhat like Jaune except older and a lot less nervous. She lowered Crescent Rose and stepped forward slightly.
"What's a young girl like you doing out here?" the person asked, the friendliness in his voice still present.
"Uhhh, I'm looking for someone..." Ruby said, not entirely sure she could trust this person. His armour was completely different to what everyone else she had seen wore and they were warned that others were in the city that were less hospitable. But this person had been nice so far and didn't seem mean.
"Friend of yours?" the person asked, cocking his head slightly. Ruby simply nodded her head, still unsure about this person. "Say, I'm looking for someone as well. Maybe if we help each other out we can find them?" The person asked, holding out a hand.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, unsure of whether to trust this stranger or not.
"How about we exchange names or something, you know, get a bit more comfortable with one another?" the person suggested. Ruby considered the idea before nodding. "All right then, you first."
"My names Ruby." Ruby said, earning a chuckle from the man.
"All right then, 'Ruby'," the person laughed, before pointing to himself. "Names Felix."
Ruby froze at the name, remembering Church's warning. Ruby began to walk backwards causing Felix to tilt his head slightly.
"Something wrong?" Felix asked, this time more sinister than friendly.
"You know, I think I'll be okay by myself!" Ruby replied, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose. Felix shook his head as he placed his free hand on the barrel of his rifle.
"Well that's a shame..."
With lightning fast speed, Felix raised the rifle and let out three controlled bursts. Ruby ducked beneath them as Crescent Rose shifted into it's sniper form and she let out a single shot. Felix narrowly dodged the bullet as it hit the wall behind him.
"What the fuck! I thought you had a Scythe! Why is everything you freaks have also a gun!" Felix shouted, letting out a few more controlled bursts from his rifle.
Ruby was caught back by his statement, but continued to dodge the bullets regardless. She then let out two more bursts with Crescent Rose. Felix dodged both bullets before throwing a grenade overhead. Ruby shot the grenade mid air, but was caught off guard by fire from Felix. She quickly took cover behind a stone barrier and checked her weapon, she was sure one of the bullets had hit Crescent Rose. She scanned the weapon and saw that the magazine holder was bust, meaning reloading wasn't an option until the weapon was repaired. She was, however, thankful the weapon could still shift between forms. Shifting Crescent Rose into scythe form, she broke cover and charged Felix.
Catching him off guard, she managed to disarm him and delivered a kick to his chest. Felix stumbled back and growled slightly, unsheathing a knife hidden in his armour and swiping in a large arc in front of him.
Ruby only just managed to dodge the strike, she could feel the force the knife carried, which was impressive considering how fast he moved. Time to show him just how fast she could go. Using her semblance, she barrelled forward, spinning Felix around and causing him to stumble. She then barrelled forward again, cause him to spin yet again. She then charged one last time, knocking Felix onto his back and sending the knife flying from his grasp.
Felix was enraged to say the least, not only from being shown up, but by a GIRL nonetheless. He slammed the ground in frustration as his right hand went for his pistol.
"You think you're fast? I'll show you fast!" Felix seethed as he stood up, his left arm held up in a defensive manner. Ruby charged yet again, preparing to deliver an overhead strike and finish it. As she was inches away, Felix activated his hardlight shield and held it up. Unable to stop herself, Ruby collided with the shield, sending her spiralling backwards and Crescent Rose flying from her grip.
As she recovered, she attempted to stand, only for a metal foot to clamp down on her chest. Felix chuckled as he held the pistol in his right hand and aimed it at Ruby's head.
"End of the line kiddo..." Felix sneered, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"HEY!"
"Oh come one!" Felix shouted, turning to face his left side. Ruby followed his gaze and saw Yang standing, her hair nearly ablaze.
"Leave! My! Sister! Alone!" Yang shouted, charging forward ready to pummel Felix to death.
Suddenly, an invisible force knocked Yang off her feet, sending her spiralling to the wall, her hair no longer burning. She shook her head as she heard the all too familiar sound of a gun priming itself. A figure materialised before them, a soldier in steel grey armour aiming a rifle at Yang's head.
"Nicely done Samson!" Felix stated, causing the soldier to turn slightly in acknowledgement.
"Thank you, sir!" Samson replied, his gaze never leaving Yang who was still recovering from the blow.
Felix knelt until he was nearly face to face with Ruby, lowering the gun as he shook his head.
"I gotta admit, you are impressive for your age." Felix said, chuckling slightly. "If you were any older, I would bet you'd be near unstoppable!"
"Sir..." Samson said, his voice slightly uneasy.
"It's rude to interrupt, Samson! I'll get to you in a minute!" Felix replied, turning to face Samson before averting his gaze back to Ruby.
"In fact, I would say you nearly got the better of me!" Felix continued, rising back to full height again. "Nearly..."
"Sir..." Samson said yet again, even more nervously then before.
"I said in a minute!" Felix shouted, holding out his hand in a motion to wait.
"Now as I was saying, at the end of the day, all that matters is that I'm faster then you, I'm stronger than you, which means I'm better then you!" Felix continued, aiming the pistol at Ruby's head and clicking the safety off. "And if I'm better then you, then I can kill you!"
"Sir!" Samson shouted, gaining Felix's full attention.
"Oh my god! What?" Felix shouted, raising his arms exasperatedly.
"Listen!" Samson replied.
"I don't hea-wait a minute..." Felix said, staying silent for a few seconds. "Is that...music?"
Yang and Ruby both listened, and could hear some strange music. And it was getting closer.
Suddenly, a beaten up military Jeep crashed through into the small space, sending Samson spiralling backwards into a pile of bins. The car then slid to a stop, the back facing Felix who stood back in complete shock.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Felix shouted, allowing Ruby to quickly grab Crescent Rose and run towards Yang.
"You okay sis?" Yang groaned as Ruby helped her up.
"Yeah, who is that?" Ruby both answered and asked. Yangs eyes widened as she spotted the occupants of the vehicle.
"No way..." Yang whispered.
"Hey Felix!" Tucker shouted, manning the turret of the beaten Warthog. "Say hello to my little friend!" he continued in his best scar-face impression, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the merc. Felix blocked the bullets with his hardlight shield, before firing a single shot from his pistol, hitting one of the guards on the turret.
"Ahh shit! Retreat! Retreat!" Tucker shouted as Sarge revved the Warthogs engines as Samson recovered and joined Felix in his assault.
"Eat dirt, dirt-bags!" Sarge taunted, spraying both Felix and Samson in dirt and dust before driving away. Felix growled and grabbed Samson by the shoulder.
"After them!" Felix shouted, pointing in the direction of the fleeing warthog.
"But sir the girls!" Samson complained, gesturing to the huntresses who were still in shock from what had transpired.
"I don't care! Find the sim troopers, then we can go back for them!" Felix shouted. Samson reluctantly complied and ran after Sarge, Caboose and Tucker, followed immediately by Felix.
"That was lucky!" Ruby sighed. Yang nodded in agreement before grabbing Ruby and moving forward.
"We need to find Weiss and get the hell out of here!" Yang said, something Ruby readily agreed with.
"Come on, this way." Ruby said, freeing her from Yang's grasp and heading towards an alley. "I think I saw Weiss go this way earlier, maybe we can-" Ruby stopped in her tracks upon turning the corner.
Yang stopped as well as they saw a soldier with a rifle lowered at the pair. "I wouldn't come closer if I were you..." the soldier quietly warned. "Now, drop your weapons!"
"Or what?" Yang asked, readying Ember Cilica whilst Ruby readied Crescent Rose. The soldier jerked her head slightly to the left and another figure, this one a man, came out of the shadows holding an unconscious Weiss at knife point.
"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, she was about to charge forward when the man pressed the blade against Weiss' throat.
"I'm going to count to three, and if you haven't dropped your weapons, little princess over here is getting a makeover!" the woman threatened, gesturing to Weiss who was only just regaining consciousness.
"One," the woman began, Ruby looking pleadingly towards Weiss who was only just realising the situation she was in.
Ruby! Don-" Weiss was cut off as the soldier clamped his free hand over her mouth, turning her words into mere muffles.
"Two," the woman continued as the man pressed the blade further onto Weiss' throat, who could only writhe in an attempt to free herself.
"Wait!" Ruby shouted. Slowly she dropped Crescent Rose onto the floor. She had all ready lost Blake, she wasn't going to lose Weiss as well.
"Good," the woman said in a snide manner, "That goes for your friend to!" she continued, gesturing towards Yang.
Yang stared daggers at the woman, unwilling to relinquish Ember Cilica.
"If you don't disarm now, then-" the woman was cut off by the sound of gunfire. The man screamed in pain and relinquished his grip on Weiss as he fell forward, his back riddled with bullets. Weiss took in sharp intakes of air as she rubbed her throat, not caring for the sight of the dead body beside her.
"What the-" the woman was cut off once again by bullets, this time hitting her square in the chest and neck. She grunted in pain before falling over, dead.
"Targets eliminated!" a robotic voice announced, a voice Weiss recognised.
"Please don't tell me it's who I think it is..." Weiss pleaded, as she began to stand up.
"YES! I SAVED LADY CHURCH!" Caboose shouted, as Ruby retrieved Crescent Rose and Weiss retrieved Myrtenaster off of the floor. Caboose was quickly joined by Sarge and Tucker, the group now reunited with one another.
"Sup." Sarge said, nodding his head.
"Wait, what happened to your ride?" Yang asked, noticing the Jeep was nowhere in sight.
"I abandoned it for a more direct approach..." Sarge replied, almost too quickly for it to be true.
"Bullshit!" Tucker said, turning to face Sarge. "You totally crashed it into a wall!"
"Ahh quit your belly aching!" Sarge countered.
"This way!"
The group turned at the sound Felix and the other soldier quickly gaining on them.
"Quick, run!" Ruby shouted, running off in the opposite direction, followed by the rest of the group. The group continued but stopped at the sight of a female soldier with a cracked visor holding a heavy weapon on her shoulder.
"Uh-oh..." Yang muttered as she recognised the soldier from her earlier brawl.
"Remember me, bitch!" the soldier seethed, before firing the weapon, sending out a volatile ball of orange energy their way.
"Evasive action!" Sarge shouted as the group dropped to the floor, the round going directly over them and hitting a nearby building, reducing a large part of it into ash.
The group continued to flee as Felix and the remaining two soldiers gained on them. The group continued to make multiple diversions, hoping to lose the pirates through sheer luck. Their luck, however, ran out as they found themselves cornered in an alleyway.
"They went this way!" the female soldier shouted, soon popping around the corner, followed by Felix and Samson.
Tucker fired some bursts from his rifle, the female soldier activated her hardlight shield, causing the bullets to ricochet onto the wall instead.
"End of the line people!" Felix taunted, taking the hybrid rocket launcher off the woman's back and calibrating the weapon.
"Crap, what do we do?!" Tucker shouted.
Ruby looked at her friends, they silently nodded to her, sombre looks on their faces. Ruby closed her eyes as she took out the last teleportation cube and applied pressure on the button.
"I'm sorry Blake..." Ruby whispered as the sound of the explosive came closer. They were suddenly engulfed in a flash of orange light, and found themselves back in Armonia.
"Great job you guys, you saved Blake!" Donut cheerily shouted. The huntresses looked around to see Grif, Donut and Simmons alongside multiple Fed and Republican soldiers.
"Yeah, great job you guys! You didn't leave your friend to die in a war-torn wasteland because if you did, what kind of friend would you be? Never mind what kind of leader!" Grif followed up, unaware of Blake's absence. Ruby immediately ran off, covering her eyes to hide her tears, leaving the group behind.
"Was it something I said?" Grif asked. He turned his head to see Yang making a beeline for him, her fist clenched ready to deliver a punch. "Oh no, not again..." Grif whimpered. Yang punched Grif square in the visor, sending him spiralling backwards and into a wall, temporarily embedding him in the wall. She then turned and ran after Ruby, followed by Weiss.
"This is the best surprise party of all time..." Sarge chuckled as Grif continued to groan.
"Surprise!" Caboose shouted, having once again spaced out.
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Felix growled slightly as he threw the Incinerator Cannon to the ground. He quickly turned to face the two pirates and raised a finger at them.
"Not a word of this to Locus, got it?" Felix threatened. The two pirates hastily nodded there heads as Felix shook himself. "Get back to work, we've still got someone to find!"
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The reds and blues gathered outside the small room the huntresses had taken refugee in. After Grif had been blasted into the wall, none of the others dared enter the room lest they face the wrath of Yang.
"How are they doing?" Wash asked, walking towards the group. He had heard what had happened and wanted to assess the situation himself.
"Well, they haven't broken anything apart from Grif's face so...not bad." Simmons replied, followed by a groan from Grif.
"Has anyone tried talking to them?" Wash asked.
"We would have sent Caboose, but we reckoned that would just piss them off even more." Tucker said, causing Wash to look at Caboose then at Tucker.
"I can see that happening..." Wash quietly replied as he turned to face the door.
"Also I don't lie loud noises..." Caboose added, causing everyone to look at him in confusion.
Wash then began to walk towards the door, only for Tucker to pull him back.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tucker asked as Wash brushed his hand off.
"I'm going to talk to them." Wash replied. He once again walked to the door only for Tucker to grab his shoulder again.
"Are you crazy?" Tucker asked exasperatedly, Wash once again brushing Tucker's hand off his shoulder.
"Relax, I'm a freelancer, I've faced worse..." Wash reassured, walking towards the door. He opened the door and was immediately pulled inside by Yang. Wash fell to the floor but recovered quick enough to face Yang, who stopped upon seeing him.
"Oh, I thought you were..."
"Yeah I know." Wash replied, slowly getting up. He observed his surroundings, and saw Weiss standing over Ruby, who was huddled in the corner, her eyes red from crying.
"What do you want?" Ruby slowly asked, not even bothering to face Wash.
"Are you all right?" Wash asked, causing Ruby to send a sombre glare at Wash.
"What do you think? We left our friend behind!" Ruby shouted, before turning away from Wash.
"It's not your fault, no-one could have known this would happened!" Wash countered, edging slightly closer to Ruby.
Ruby immediately rose up and dashed towards Wash, catching him off guard slightly. "How can you say it's not my fault! I chose to leave my friend behind! What type of leader chooses to leave members of their team behind?" Ruby shouted, she waited for Wash to counter, but he merely sighed and lowered his head.
"A good leader, a leader who is willing to make sacrifices for the sake of their team. You had no other choice but to abandon your friend, but because of it, your team lives on!" Wash finally replied. "If you chose to stay and die, then no-one would be looking for Blake!"
Ruby was taken back by the comment, she attempted to think of a response but deep down, knew Wash was right.
"Besides," Wash continued, "maybe she avoided the space pirates and is still out there!"
The four were suddenly alerted to the sound of footsteps approaching fast. The door slid open as a Republican technician entered the room.
"Sir, we think we've found her again!" he hastily replied as he took in sharp inhales of air. The huntresses were quickly intrigued and looked at Wash.
"Show me!" he ordered. The tech nodded his head and gestured for them to follow. The huntresses and Wash followed the tech who led them to a small building with a radio dish on the top. The group entered the building and saw multiple technicians piloting remote controlled drones. The tech led them to one of the screens being monitored by a Fed tech who quickly brought up a picture of a woman rushing through the forest.
"It's Blake!" Ruby cheered, nearly startling the Fed tech.
"Where is she?" Wash asked, turning to the Republican technician.
"She's currently heading north, out of New Lincoln. Sir that's uncharted territory, we have no forces in that sector." The technician replied. Wash turned to face the huntresses, who all had pleading looks on their faces.
"Don't worry, we'll find her." Wash reassured the group, who slowly smiled.
"We also saw this sometime after sir," the Fed technician said, "We've been monitoring it since it came up and it's gaining on her fast!"
"One of the lizards maybe?" Wash questioned, turning to face the Fed.
"We thought so at first, but it's too small, getting a picture up now."
The image of Blake was immediately replaced by one of the same cluster of tree's but instead of Blake, there was someone else. The figure was too blurry to discern, but appeared to be turning invisible.
"Oh no..." Wash whispered. He turned to face the Republican technician. "I need a teleportation cube, now!"
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"Are you serious?" Locus enquired, having just finished listening to Torchwick's tale.
"Every word, don't believe me?" Torchwick chuckled, tilting his hat slightly.
"I asked for information, not some poor attempt at fan-fiction!" Locus replied angrily, walking towards Torchwick menacingly.
"You asked for the truth, I told you the truth! It's your problem if you don't believe it!" Torchwick countered. Locus growled and turned to face the wall. The tale was hard to believe, but their were elements that were true. It also explained a great deal of questions, such as how that 'Blake' was able to heal at a faster rate, as well as those apparitions she had summoned.
The radio in his helmet suddenly buzzed to life, surprising him slightly.
"This is Locus, report!"
"It's Felix, we lost her!" Felix voice sounded through the comms.
"What?" Locus demanded. "What happened?"
"The reds and blues happened, that's what! They killed two of our guys and then got away!"
"Did they find the girl?" Locus demanded. If they did, then their position was most definitely compromised.
"No, but they found her friends! And they're good too. We picked up her tracks and she's heading further north into the jungle. Should we go after her?"
Locus was silent for a moment, Felix and his men wouldn't be able to catch her up in time. That being said, she couldn't be allowed to live.
"Negative, report back to base! I'll deal with this." Locus finally replied, the radio going silent shortly after. He quickly attached the pistol to his thigh and removed one of the SAW's off the wall.
"Where are you going?" Torchwick enquired as Locus placed the SAW on his back and took a Sniper Rifle off the wall.
"If you want a job done right," Locus replied, ejecting a used round from the rifle. "Do it yourself!"
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Will Wash find Blake first, or will the hunter become the hunted? Find out next week! Also, don't expect the next chapters to be as long as this chapter. Now on to a special announcement, I have started production on a NEW RWBY/Starcraft Fan-Fic entitled 'The Will of Amon'. Current details are on my profile page so if you're a fan of either RWBY, Starcraft or just like my writing, I would advice you check it out when it comes out. In the mean time, please leave your reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you have any questions about either this fan-fic or the new one, either PM or leave them in a review.
Raging Archon out.