Well, we are nearly there folks. The second to last chapter is upon us. No questions to answer so I'll just get to it. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 16- Teamwork
"FIRING MAIN CANNON!"
Blake flipped backwards as the Mantis fired the chain gun at her location, the white hot lead bullets scorching the floor where she once stood. Looking up, she spotted a small balcony overlooking the room and reacted instantly.
Firing Gambol Shroud at the ledge and used it as a zip line, zooming past the Mantis and flipping onto the ledge. The Mantis turned and looked up, continuing to fire the chain gun at the ledge, Blake zooming past the bullets before the Mantis stopped its assault, the tip of the gun glowing red hot as it overheated.
Shifting Gambol Shroud into its pistol mode, Blake fired a few rounds at the metal behemoth, only for the rounds to bounce harmlessly off its shielding, which flared a bright gold colour as the bullets reacted to the surface.
"THREAT LEVEL INCREASED! DEADLY FORCE AUTHORISED!" The Mantis announced, pointing the cannon in its left hand at Blake's location.
The weapon hummed to life as the inside of the multiple barrels glowed orange, the humming getting louder as the weapons glowed brighter. Blake's eyes widened as she realised just what was about to happen. In an instant, the Mantis fired five rockets from its left arm, the small yet deadly missiles zooming towards her. Blake leapt to the side as the missiles impacted the balcony, the propulsion of the explosion sending her further as the balcony now hung by a thread, with Blake dangling below it, gripping on for dear life.
Torchwick sneered as he aimed Melodic Cudgel at Blake, his cross-hair aimed just above her.
"Heads up!" Torchwick taunted as he let the Dust missile fly forwards, impacting the balcony causing it to swing around wildly.
Blake let out a cry of panic as she felt her grip slip on the balcony and was sent flying backwards onto the floor. Before she hit the ground however, she felt a tug on her waist. Looking down, she saw Melodic Cudgel hooked onto her.
Before Blake could properly react, Torchwick tugged on his weapon, causing Blake to fly towards him, only for the Mantis to interject and kick her to the side, causing her to tumble onto the floor. Blake winced as she slowly rose, only to collapse seconds later. She looked up to see Torchwick smiling smugly as he twirled Melodic Cudgel around, the Mantis slowly approaching her.
"And here I thought cats were supposed to land on all fours!" Torchwick chuckled loudly as he tapped the floor with Melodic Cudgel.
Blake growled as she attempted to rise and charge Torchwick, only for the Mantis to deliver a soft kick to her gut, but it was enough to send Blake sprawling on her back.
"I've enjoyed our time together, really I have! But I'm afraid your nine lives our about to get spent!" Torchwick stated, slowly tipping his hat to Blake. "Goodbye, Miss Belladonna..."
The Mantis swiftly brought its foot down on Blake, who swiftly raised her arms and legs in an attempt to push the Mantis' foot back. The more force she applied, the more the Mantis did. Realising her strength would fail her soon, Blake quickly activated her Semblance, sliding backwards as the Mantis crushed the shadow clone, causing it to stagger slightly.
The Mantis was quick to recover though, aiming the chain gun at Blake as it slowly started to spin.
"FIRING MAIN CAN-"
A barrage of explosions quickly caused the Mantis to stumble back, causing it to loose focus on Blake as Torchwick looked on with a shocked look on his face. All three in the room turned to the entrance, as Blake was greeted by a sight she was more than happy to see.
There stood Ruby, Weiss and Yang, all of them had their weapons trained on the Mantis, which started to slowly back away as it analysed the new combatants.
"Need a hand?" Yang asked, the usual care-free smile on her face as she lent out a hand to Blake who gladly took it.
The Mantis quickly turned to face Torchwick, who looked at the Mantis with an expectant look on his face.
"Well don't just stand there! Shoot them!"
"DEADLY FORCE AUTHORISED!" The Mantis announced as it spread its legs apart slightly, both weapons humming to life as it suddenly launched a barrage of bullets and missiles at the four Huntresses.
The four Huntresses spread out immediately to avoid the blasts. Weiss activated three glyphs in front of her to redirect some of the bullets back at the Mantis. Blake spun around the Mantis as she fired Gambol Shroud at the unprotected joints in an attempt to cripple it whilst also dodging multiple shots from Melodic Cudgel. Yang had managed to weave through the barrage and was now grappling onto the Mantis' head, pounding Ember Celica on the metal hull in an attempt to weaken it's shields. Ruby had gone to the very edge of the room and was firing Crescent Rose at the Mantis, the high calibre rounds actually causing significant damage to the Mantis. This however, did not go unnoticed, as the Mantis turned it's attention on Ruby.
"THREAT LEVEL INCREASED! ENGAGING HIGH VALUE TARGET!"
The Mantis fired the chain gun at Ruby who was quick to turn tail in an attempt to dodge the barrage of bullets. The Mantis continued to trace Ruby as it's head slowly turned.
"TARGET LOCKED! FIRING MAIN MISSILES!" The Mantis announced as the cannon on its left arm began to glow and hum to life. At the last second however, the cannon suddenly froze over as it was covered in a thick layer of ice. The Mantis aborted the firing sequence as it stared in confusion at the weapon, before turning to face Weiss, who was holding Myrtenaster aloft at the Mantis.
Reacting quickly, the Mantis raised its right foot off the floor and immediately brought it down, causing a small quake in the floor that was more than enough to send the heiress tumbling to the floor. As Yang continued to punch the Mantis, it quickly spun its top half around, going faster with each spin. Eventually, Yang was sent flying into the wall as she slid to the ground. Yang let out a growl as she rose, more pissed off than hurt.
The Mantis quickly fired at her location, which Yang swiftly weaved through as her eyes began to glow red. As she got closer, Yang leapt into the air and delivered a single punch to the Mantis, causing it to stagger a great distance as sparks arced around it's hull.
"SHIELD LEVELS CRITICAL, HULL DAMAGE IMMINENT!" The Mantis announced, its voice far more distorted than before.
"Now is our chance!" Ruby shouted, quickly regrouping with the rest of her team.
Weiss quickly nodded as she placed a large ice glyph under the Mantis' left leg, which activated for an immediate effect, coating the leg in a thick layer of ice. The Mantis looked down in confusion as it slowly raised the frozen leg, applying pressure to the joints in an attempt to break the icy cast.
Yang then charged forward, firing Ember Celica into the floor to give her a boost as she flew towards the Mantis, its attention focused on its icy prison.
Suddenly, an explosive round hit Yang mid-air, causing her to spiral out of control and hit the floor. As she rose, she looked to the side as the Mantis quickly shattered the ice cast and regained its footing, her and the rest of Team RWBY's gaze focused on Roman Torchwick who was aiming Melodic Cudgel at Yang.
"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Torchwick sneered as he fired a dust round at the blonde brawler who was quick to duck and roll under the round, sliding next to her team as the Mantis aimed the chain gun at RWBY.
"We can't take them both on at the same time!" Weiss summarised as she quickly thrust Myrtenaster into the ground, creating an icy dome around them as the Mantis fired at the frozen shield to no avail.
The Mantis quickly brought its foot down on the icy dome, applying large amounts of pressure on the shield, causing it to crack under the added weight.
"She's right, we need to split!" Blake added as the dome groaned as rays of light began to make their way through the thin cracks which only grew larger by the minute.
"Weiss! You and Yang control the robot! Me and Blake will take Torchwick!" Ruby ordered, earning nods all around.
As the shield prepared to give way, Yang sent an explosive punch where the Mantis' foot was, shattering the dome and causing the Mantis to stagger back a great deal. Weiss and Yang were quick to engage the Mantis, darting around it in circles causing it back away as it attempted to line up a shot whilst Ruby and Blake headed towards Torchwick who was fiddling with the console in front of him.
He turned and let out a startled gasp as both Blake and Ruby approached him at a rapid pace. Reacting quickly, he brought Melodic Cudgel up and fired three bursts, Blake and Ruby easily vaulting over the explosive rounds. Blake leapt into the air and raised Gambol Shroud to perform an overhead slash, only for Torchwick to bat the blow to the side, causing Blake to roll forward. As Torchwick raised Melodic Cudgel, he felt the weapon get tugged from his hand as Ruby snagged the weapon from his hand with Crescent Rose's blade, a smug look on her face. Torchwick turned with a shocked expression as he heard Blake recover behind him and ducked beneath the blow.
"Clever girl..." Torchwick muttered as his hand went for a weapon hidden in his coat. "But the Mantis wasn't the only toy the Pirates gifted me with!"
He quickly drew a small concealed hybrid pistol, similar to the one Weiss had used during her fight with Jackson. He quickly fired the pistol at Ruby and Blake, the yellow bolts zooming towards them as both Huntresses dodged the blasts.
As Ruby continued to dodge the blasts, she suddenly smelt smoke, as if something had been singed. Stopping her vaulting to look around, she froze as she saw a large hole in the corner of her cape. The cape given to her by her mother before she died. Ruby looked up to see Torchwick now focusing on Blake, his lips curled into a sneer as he continued to fire at the faunus.
An overwhelming surge of anger found its way into Ruby as she let out a somewhat primal yell. Torchwick turned and his sneer soon disappeared, replaced by a look of shock as Ruby charged forward, Crescent Rose raised high. Torchwick attempted to raise his hands in defence as Ruby brought the scythe down on him, severing the hybrid weapon in half and causing him to stagger back. Torchwick recovered from the strike, only to get hit in the gut by the butt of the scythe, sending him spiralling into the control panel where he banged his head on the corner, knocking him out cold.
Ruby seethed as she overlooked the groaning body of Torchwick, before hitting him in the back of his head with the butt of Crescent Rose, the anger leaving her as quickly as it had entered.
"Ruby? Are you okay?" Blake asked, obviously concerned for her friend. Anger like this was common in her sister but she had never seen Ruby like that before.
Ruby sighed as she nodded her head, glancing down at the now scorched cloak. Blake simply nodded in response as both Huntresses turned their attention to their friends.
Yang and Weiss were still circling the Mantis which had now resorted to just standing still and firing quick bursts to avoid its only weapon from overheating.
Weiss quickly placed an ice glyph beneath the Mantis as she had done before, quickly freezing the left leg again.
Reacting quicker this time, the Mantis brought the frozen leg up and applied pressure to the joints so it could get back into the fight quickly. As she had done before, Yang leapt into the air once again only this time with no one to stop her. She quickly hit the Mantis square in the nose, causing it to crumple under the force of the blow. With only one leg to stand on, the Mantis was sent skidding to the floor as it flailed about uncontrollably, unable to get up.
Weiss quickly powered up a trio of ice glyphs, using the last of her dust supply, in front of Yang. Upon seeing this, Yang let out a soft chuckle and sung her fist into the centre of the glyph, firing Ember Celica at the same time. The resulting combo caused an icy missile to fly forward, aimed directly at the Mantis which could only squirm around helplessly. As the missile hit, it resulted in a large explosion, sending ice and metal flying in all directions, leaving nothing but a shattered hull behind.
"We did it!" Ruby shouted as she raised her hands in the air and swung them wildly.
"Hell yeah we did!" Yang cheered, pumping her fist in the air wildly. Even Weiss and Blake dropped their usual attitude as they looked at the now burning wreckage of the Mantis, smiles plastering their faces. Suddenly, they heard a large commotion outside the main door as they heard multiple footsteps rapidly approaching.
Quickly re-entering their fighting stances, Team RWBY braced themselves for whatever may be on the other side. The doors hissed open, and RWBY dropped their guard as they saw a familiar multi-coloured group enter their view.
"Don't worry we're here!" Carolina shouted as she ran forward, Battle Rifle drawn. "We'll take care of the enemy while you-"
Carolina paused as the Mantis suddenly exploded, causing all to pause as they looked at the burning wreckage.
"Oh..." Carolina muttered as she lowered her weapon, staring blankly at the burning remains of the Mantis. "Or not..."
"Did we miss anything?" Sarge shouted as he pushed his way to the front of the group, only to stop as the Mantis came into his view. "Aww dang it!"
"Carolina, we got a live one!" Church announced, appearing next to Carolina as he pointed to Torchwick's crumpled form.
Torchwick groaned as he began to wake up, rubbing the back of his head as he got a whiff of what smelled like burning metal. Quickly looking up, he saw the Mantis destroyed and a large amount of soldiers in the room, two heading his way.
One was obviously female and wore armour similar to the female Pirates save it was a light blue instead of grey. The other was a male and wore bulky armour with a wide golden orange visor covering his face. He groaned awkwardly as the two soldiers looked at him with their arms crossed over their chests.
"This...isn't what it looks like!" Torchwick finally said, as he gestured to the scene around him.
"Really? Because it looks like you just tried to kill our friends over there!" the grey armoured man replied, gesturing towards the four Huntresses.
"Listen, this is all just a miss understanding!" Torchwick hastily replied, causing the two soldiers to tilt their heads questioningly. "I sincerely apologise for my behaviour towards you all! Perhaps we can even discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement?"
"What type of arrangement?" Carolina asked, tilting her head slightly.
"One where I give you information in return for my life." Torchwick explained. The two soldiers stared at one another, as if actually considering the offer. Torchwick silently chuckled to himself, these idiots were easier to manipulate then the Pirates!
Torchwick finally received an answer in the form of a punch from Carolina, quickly knocking him out again.
"Apology accepted...but we'll decline the offer." Carolina muttered, shaking her hand as Washington went to place a pair of handcuffs on Torchwick. "All forces, this is Agent Carolina! The facility is secure, I repeat, the facility is secure!"
A chorus of cheers resounded on the other end of the comms as well as inside the room.
"Oh my god! I am so happy I could explode!" Caboose shouted as he pulled the trigger on Freckles, only for a large amount of confetti to spurt out, earning a soft chuckle from Weiss.
"Yeah, suck it blacks...and by blacks I mean the colour of their armour not their skin!" Simmons shouted, quickly correcting himself.
"Cerdo racista! (Racist pig!)" Lopez muttered, staring daggers at Simmons.
"You're right Lopez! This is cause for a celebration!" Donut said, raising his finger up as he spoke.
"Hey Carolina, I'm getting some weird signals from this beam, I'm gonna go check it out and see what Mr Delarge over here was up to..." Church announced before his holographic form disappeared, entering the control panel being used by Torchwick.
"Hey look, a jukebox!" Donut shouted, pointing to the strange device resting next to Torchwick's unconscious body. "Now we can really turn this celebration to a fiesta!"
"Uhm...I don't think that's a jukebox Donut..." Grif quietly replied, slowly edging towards the large device.
"Of course it is, see?" Donut replied as he gestured to the device. "Here, let me prove it!"
Donut then raised his hands as he went to press what he assumed was the power button.
"Wait! Don't touch that!" Church quickly shouted, as he quickly reappeared holding out his hands pleadingly.
But it was too late. Donut applied just a little too much pressure on the button, causing the device to hum loudly as a digitalised clock appeared on the device.
"BOMB ARMED! YOU HAVE: ONE MINUTE TO REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE! THANK YOU!"
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God dammit Donut...well, tune in next week for the final chapter. It's gonna end one way or another so...you know. Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcome. Any questions? Leave in your review or PM because this is really your last chance for this story! Once I'm done with this story, I'll be focusing on my other story 'Reap What You Sow' which I advise you check out if you like this one and then starting production on another RWBY crossover which I'll go into more detail next week.
Raging Archon out.