Hello again my dear readers. Putting this chapter out now as I'll be a bit too busy tomorrow morning when I usually write these up. First just some review responses. Writen, I'm happy that you told me how you felt with the chapter. Personally, I think I was taking too much inspiration from his final fight with Wash. You know, the whole 'Just! Die!' bit. Winddemon199, that sort of stuff tends to happen happen when you watch that video for what feels like the entire day...which I totally did not do at all...yeah. And to Guest, you need not worry about shipping. Also, two bits of news. Firstly, I have made a royal fuck up with Yang's weapons. Rather than calling them by their real name, Ember Celica, I have been calling them Ember Cilica. Great job brain! Also, I am pleased to announce that this story has recently been added to a community! The community is entitled 'The Good, The Funny and The WTF'. Now, on with the show!

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Chapter 15- The Dagger

Ruby continued to run through the dim lit corridor, dodging bullets with quick bursts of her semblance, ensuring not to overuse it and dramatically drain her Aura and strength. She had expected turrets to be in place to defend the area, but she thought that there would be at least some other form of defence in case the place was infiltrated. She pushed the thought to the back of her head as she slashed Crescent Rose at yet another turret, quickly disabling it with a single swipe. She looked around frantically to see if any other turrets were still online, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw none standing.

As she continued to run, she heard gunshots coming from her left. Sounded like Blake and Yang were having just as much trouble as she was with clearing their selected corridor. She turned another corner, ready to continue her sprint-

BANG!

Ruby quickly back peddled as a stream of turret fire flew past her face. Hugging the wall, she edged to the corner and spied a pair of turrets that were ready to mow her down should she make a break for it.

"Time to improvise then..." Ruby whispered to herself, Crescent Rose quickly shifting into a Sniper Rifle.

She shuffled to the right slightly and aimed at the wall. If she got the angle right, she could hit the turret's without breaking cover. She held her breath as she looked through the scope. Just a little to the right and…

BANG!

She fired the first shot, the round deflecting off the wall, followed by a small explosion and clattering of metal. Stealing a quick glance she saw that not only had she hit one of the turrets, but the resulting explosion had destroyed the second.

"Looks like my luck is starting to pay off..." Ruby muttered as she turned the corner, continuing her journey. As she came to the corner on the far side, she halted. She could hear footsteps pacing around. And judging from what sounded like a weapons safety being turned off, she was expected.

She held Crescent Rose to her chest, gripping the butt of the weapon tightly as her finger curled around the trigger. She turned, rolling from her spot and firing a shot at the assailants leg...only for the shot to be blocked by a blue holographic shield.

"Great reflexes Red!" Felix sarcastically complimented, his rifle leaning on his shoulder as he held the shield out defensively. "But you just weren't fast enough...again!"

"I'm faster then you...erm...but-head?" Ruby attempted to reply, though she herself was having trouble of thinking of something witty to say.

"Wow...real mature..." Felix dead-panned, shaking his head disappointedly. "But I guess I should expect that from a girl who can barely defend herself, let alone her friends."

"I defended myself against you, didn't I!" Ruby growled, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose. If he was trying to make her angry, then she wasn't going to fall for it.

"Well...you could say that but I wouldn't call getting knocked off your feet and getting held at gunpoint defending yourself." Felix retorted, tilting his head slightly.

"Still pretty embarrassing though, huh?" Ruby taunted, causing the Pirate to step back in surprise. "Getting knocked about by a 15 year old girl!"

"Oh wait, I'm sorry, did I miss the part where this is about me all of a sudden?" Felix questioned, gesturing to himself with his free hand. "Because quite frankly, I'd rather get to the part where I just kill you!"

Without a second to spare, Felix deactivated his Hardlight Shield and fired a burst from his DMR at Ruby, causing the Huntress to dive out of the way, returning fire herself. Felix quickly hurried to a nearby crate, firing pot-shots from his cover, much in the same way as Ruby was currently. Rather then stay and fight, Ruby decided the best course of action was to disengage and conserve her strength for later.

Quickly breaking cover, Ruby sped forward, pushed further by her Semblance, with the intent of putting as much distance between her and Felix as possible.

"Oh no you don't!" Felix shouted, quickly breaking cover and activating his Hardlight Shield and bashing her away, causing her to spin backwards before she regained her footing.

With Felix now standing between her and the way forward, Ruby knew the only way forward was through him. She quickly fired a few shots from Crescent Rose, but the Hardlight Shield deflected them all as Felix slowly edged closer to her. Quickly shifting Crescent Rose into it's Scythe form, Ruby jumped up onto one of the crates and leaped towards Felix, Crescent Rose held high above her head.

Quickly reacting despite the confusion present in his mind, Felix deactivated his Hardlight Shield and quickly reactivated it as Ruby came crashing down onto him. Ruby landed on top of the shield, the extra weight causing Felix to kneel, as she dug Crescent Rose's blade into the shield, causing it spark uncontrollably.

Felix then pushed up with an audible grunt, pushing Ruby off whilst deactivating his shield at the same time. As he brought his rifle up to aim at Ruby, she swung Crescent Rose in a clockwise spin, severing the rifle in two. Felix looked at the severed weapon in his hand as the barrel end spun wildly to the wall.

"So it's a Scythe as well as a Sniper Rifle?" Felix asked as he threw the now useless weapon away. Ruby only smirked as she spun Crescent Rose around effortlessly before planting the blade into the metal floor. "Well, I'm not gonna lie, Scythes are nice but..."

Felix quickly brought his right leg up, quickly pulling out a boot knife strapped to the side of his shin, twirling it around effortlessly as he held the blade in a reverse grip whilst bringing out a pistol in his left and holding it close to the blade.

"...I'm more into cloak and dagger myself!"

Ruby was the first to charge, spinning Crescent Rose in an upwards arc and bringing the blade down on Felix, who merely stood to the side whilst slashing with the knife, the blade mere inches from Ruby. As Felix finished his swing, he brought the pistol up and fired three shots at Ruby, who used Crescent Rose's grip to push the weapon to the side, wasting the shots.

Felix used the momentum from the push to spin on the spot, where he proceeded to do a ground level leg sweep, Ruby stumbling back to avoid the low blow. Bringing up the pistol again, Felix fired three more shots all of which Ruby dodged. Felix rose up, firing two more shots at Ruby's position. The sudden attack caused Ruby to spin wildly as she weaved past the bullets, causing her to trip and stumble.

As she laid on the floor, attempting to regain her bearings, Felix raised the pistol and aimed at Ruby's head, ready to end her life…

CLICK!...CLICK!...CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Felix quickly checked the ammo clip, the weapon having spent all its bullets.

"What?!" Felix moaned as he looked at the pistol exaggeratedly. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

Ruby used this as her chance to recover, quickly rolling over and shifting Crescent Rose back into its Sniper form. Realising the danger he was in, Felix quickly rolled backwards before lunging to the nearby crate.

"Un-fucking-believable!" Felix whispered to himself as he loaded a fresh clip into the pistol, Ruby still firing on his position. His radio began to buzz to life as a buzzing noise pierced his ears. "Now is not a good time!" Felix seethed as the radio continued to buzz.

"Felix, report!"

Shit, it was Locus. And he sounded pissed.

"Yeah yeah, I'm here! Don't get your pants in a twist!" Felix replied, firing a few shots at Ruby as she began to make for a crate adjacent to her position.

"What is taking so long up there! We need to leave, now!" Locus ordered. Man he really was pissed.

"Yeah I hear you, just need a few seconds." Felix replied. Ruby was nearly behind cover, he needed to shoot now or he'd not get another chance like this. As Ruby neared the crate, Felix fired three shots at Ruby, the young Huntress stumbling behind the crate as the shots flew towards her.

Had he hit her? Was she dead? All these questions and more filled Felix's mind as he slowly rose up, with not a single bullet following him. He raised his pistol up slowly should the girl be still alive, but judging from what had happened so far, the chances of that were-

BANG!

The shot flew past him and knocked the pistol out of his hand, causing him to curse as he ducked for cover.

"On second thoughts, might need a bit longer..." Felix replied, chuckling slightly as he heard Locus growl on the other end.

"Dammit Felix, this isn't a game! Our forces can't hold out for much longer! We need to get out now before-"

"Thank you mute button..." Felix whispered as he silenced his radio, bringing his attention back to the fight. "Lets get a little tactful..." he continued, twirling the knife in his hand as his left hand reached for a device on his waist.

Ruby peeped around the corner, seeing no sign of Felix. She turned the corner, ready to make a full sprint for the other end. As she turned however, Felix lunged from his cover, throwing his knife at Ruby, who only just dodged the blade, the weapon piercing the floor instead. But something seemed odd about the blade...specifically the beeping noise and flashing red light.

It didn't take long for Ruby to put two and two together, turning to face Felix with a shocked look on her face. Felix merely sniggered and gave a mock salute as the beeping now became more consistent and frantic.

Lunging forward, Ruby rolled as the weapon exploded, the propulsion of the explosion sending her forward...right into Felix who quickly clotheslined her with his right arm, sending her spinning onto the floor.

As Ruby slowly rose up, Felix swung at her with his open fist, causing her to stagger back as she dodged the swing. Bringing Crescent Rose up, Ruby fired at point blank range at the Pirate, who effortlessly weaved through the bullets like it was second nature.

As soon as he was within range, he grabbed Crescent Rose by the barrel, swinging it to the side as he grabbed the other end of the weapon, both Felix and Ruby pushing against one another with the weapon.

"Say Red, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting tired..." Felix said, putting more force onto the weapon, pushing Ruby back slightly.

"No...you're getting...tired!" Ruby replied, wincing slightly as she applied more strength to negate the pressure Felix was applying.

"You really aren't good at comebacks, are you?" Felix asked, craning his head back slightly.

All Ruby could do was shrug as she continued to grapple for possession of her weapon.

"Well, I'm sure if we put our heads together!" Felix stated, before he brought his head back and delivered a powerful head-butt to Ruby, causing her to loosen her grip on Crescent Rose. "We'll think of something!" he finished, before delivering a kick to Ruby's stomach, causing her to stagger back and lose her grip on Crescent Rose, which Felix hefted up slightly, clearly struggling with the weapon.

"Jesus, this is heavy!" Felix wheezed as he lifted the weapon up to his chest, straining to keep the weapon up slightly. "Here, catch!"

Felix quickly threw the weapon back at Ruby, who clumsily caught the weapon, knocking her to the ground in the process. As Felix charged, ready to slam his boot on the Huntress, Ruby quickly rolled to the side. As Felix's foot hit the floor, Ruby slammed the barrel of Crescent Rose into the back of his knee, forcing him into a kneeling position.

Ruby then shifted Crescent Rose into its Scythe mode and swung the blade at Felix, who merely blocked the blow with his Hardlight Shield. Turning on his heel, Felix pushed back against Ruby, shoving her to the side as he drew another knife from a hidden compartment in his armour.

"What the...Where are you pulling those knives from?" Ruby asked as Felix deactivated his Shield, pulling yet another knife out.

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you..." Felix replied as he twirled both knives in his hand. "So I think I'll just kill you instead!"

Felix charged yet again, swinging wildly with both knives in an outwards arc as Ruby dodged the strike with ease. Ruby then swung upwards with Crescent Rose, Felix easily stepping to the side as he jumped into the air and swung down with both blades, catching Ruby off guard as she staggered back slightly.

Felix lunged forward, kicking Ruby with his right shin before following through with his left shin, both attacks Ruby managed to parry, though leaving her open to high attacks. Felix then swung forward with both knives, Ruby only just managing to avoid the strike.

However, as she pulled her head back, she felt a stinging sensation on her left cheek. As she pulled back, she looked in shock at the knife in Felix's right hand, the tip dripping with blood. Her hand immediately went to her cheek, though immediately pulled it back as she felt something warm and wet. Looking at her fingers, she saw a faint layer of blood on her finger tips.

"Oh no...you're hurt?" Felix gasped with fake sympathy as he held the bloodied blade to his helmeted head, slowly stroking the cheek of his helmet with the tip of the knife. "Don't worry Red, give up now and I'll make it quicker than it should be..."

Ruby growled as she held Crescent Rose up, knowing full well that Felix was toying with her. She could still beat him, it wasn't over till the fat lady sang...or something like that…

"I've fought worse than you!" Ruby taunted, holding Crescent Rose closer to her chest.

"I seriously doubt that, besides, you're nothing without your team." Felix rebuked, moving closer to Ruby who backed away slowly. "Run all you want, no-one is coming to save you..."

"Hey dick-wad!" a new voice shouted, causing both Felix and Ruby to grunt in surprise and turn to face the source of the voice.

Suddenly, a flaming blue orb flew towards Felix who easily dodged the projectile which instead stuck to the wall, exploding violently afterwards. Both Felix and Ruby covered their eyes from the explosion before turning, seeing none other than Tucker, Energy Sword in hand.

"Seriously, you?" Felix asked as he held his hands out in mock surprise.

"Damn right asshole, and it's time for a rematch!" Tucker shouted, raising his Energy Sword as he let out a primal roar and charged.

Felix simply stood to the side and kicked Tucker, causing him to flail uncontrollably towards Ruby, who managed to step to the side as Tucker crashed into the floor.

"Ow! Son of a Bitch, not again!" Tucker complained as he rolled over to face Felix who merely laughed at the display before him.

"Listen kids, it's been great fun, really it has! But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go!" Felix stated as he pulled a teleportation cube from his waist. "Sayonara cock-bites!"

Immediately, Felix was enveloped by a flash of orange light, leaving both Tucker and Ruby alone in the hallway.

"Man, what a dick!" Tucker mumbled as he slowly got up from the floor, brushing dust off his armour.

"Tell me about it..." Ruby replied, causing Tucker to grunt in response. "Wait, what are you doing here? Is the fighting over outside?"

"More or less, Wash and Carolina are clearing up what's left of the rabble." Tucker replied, turning to face Ruby. "Not much of a problem considering the Pirate's are shooting everyone now."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, unsure if she heard Tucker correctly.

"The Pirate's just started shooting everyone. Our guys AND those White Fang dudes. Crazy right?" Tucker replied, holding his arms out to the side as he spoke.

"Huh..." Ruby muttered as her thoughts drifted back to her friends and the mission. "I need you to make sure no-one follows me, I have to get to the temple core now!"

"Got it!" Tucker replied as he turned and walked back the way he came, no doubt to gather reinforcements.

Ruby turned to face the corridor, powering up her Semblance as she dashed through the corridor, hoping to reunite with her friends once more.

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Felix shuddered as the light surrounded him, taking him from the corridor to the hangar bay. Already some of the Pelicans were preparing for take-off, including the one Locus was on.

"What, leaving without me without so much as a good-bye? I'm hurt..." Felix joked as he strode towards the Pelican, Locus and the other occupants turning at the sound of his voice.

"What took you so long?" Locus seethed as he pulled Felix onto the Pelican, the doors closing behind him.

"What? No 'how are you' or anything?" Felix asked, causing Locus to growl slightly. "Jesus, what happened to you? Lose a fight with a bear or something?" Felix asked as he poked Locus' damaged armour. Locus quickly swatted his hand away before turning to the cockpit.

"Jackson, get us in the air." Locus ordered, twirling his left hand in the air to signal him and the pilot to lift off.

"Yes sir!" Jackson replied as he and the pilot prepared to take-off, the Pelican's engines humming to life as the ship started to rocket forward, leaving the temple in their dust.

Felix and Locus looked out at the bay door window, watching as the signs of combat got further and further away…

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Ruby continued sprinting for what felt like hours. All these corridors looked the same, for all she knew she could be going in circles. She quickly skidded to a stop at a crossroads, unsure what path to take. Fast footsteps to her left immediately caught her attention, causing her to aim Crescent Rose only to stop at the sight of a familiar figure.

"Yang?" Ruby asked as the form of her sister came into view.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, battered, but still alive after her brawl with Locus. The two sisters immediately charged one another, wrapping their arms around one another as they embraced each other in a hug. "Oh my goodness! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine sis'!" Ruby laughed as she continued to hug her sister. "Where's Blake?"

"She went on ahead. I've been trying to catch up to her but..." Yang froze as both sisters heard footsteps approaching from the corridor in front of Ruby. Both sisters turned to see Weiss limp forward, a long black gash on her leg.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted as she charged the Heiress, nearly knocking her over.

"Get off of me!" Weiss complained as she pushed Ruby off her, staggering slightly as Ruby refused to release her grip.

"What happened to your leg?" Ruby asked as she pointed to the singed cut on her leg.

"It's a long story..." Weiss replied as she rubbed her temple slightly.

"Come on, Blake probably went this way. If we hurry up we might catch her." Yang said, pointing to the final corridor.

Ruby and Weiss nodded in agreement, as all three Huntresses sprinted down the corridor, heading to their final battle…

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Another chapter complete. If you haven't already guessed it, the story is coming to an end. But fear not, for there are still some chapters left to do. If you liked this chapter, feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcome. Any questions? Leave in your review or PM me and I'll reply in the next chapter.

Raging Archon out.

"As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?" David Bowie, 1947-2016. You shall be missed, Starman.