Winter sat alone in the preparation room. Even after Cassian's battle had started, she had not left the room to watch from her private box. Winter instead replayed her last conversation with her lover over and over again in her head.
"Hey." A voice suddenly called from the door. Winter blinked, having been snapped out of her daze. It was a familiar voice after all. "Winter Schnee."
"Who are yo-" Winter trailed off, recognising the small girl standing at the doorway. "You."
"Me." Silvers Iscariot, leader of Team SHYD and Cassian's ex-girlfriend, inclined her head at the Schnee. "I suppose this is the first time we've met as fellow lovers of Cassian Gray."
"Except one of us is an ex-lover and the other is his wife." Silvers' nostrils flared at Winter's words, which made Winter feel a bit happy. "What do you want?"
"To talk." Silvers didn't move from her spot, instead choosing to cross her arms. "Woman to woman."
"I should cut you down where you stand." Winter caused the room temperature to noticeably plummet. "You kissed my husband."
"You really want to go?" Silvers reached for her baton. "Because I'm up for a cat fight if that's what you want."
The two women glared at each other, each one waiting for the other to attack. Suddenly, Silvers sighed and released her baton.
"This isn't why I came here." Silvers uncrossed her arms and lowered her head. She looked...dejected. "I came here to talk, as well as give you a warning."
"Give me a warning?" Winter felt her hand move towards her whip. "Should it not be me doing that to you?"
"Look, I admit defeat alright?" Silvers noticeably winced as she said those words, as if they caused her physical pain to speak. "Cassian Gray will never love me like he loves you, no matter what I do."
"..." With a start, Winter realised that Silvers wasn't so different from herself. She too was hopelessly in love with Cassian. The only difference between the two of them was that Cassian had chosen Winter over her. Winter wondered if their roles had been reversed, would she have done the same thing as Silvers.
The scary thing was, Winter had a feeling she would have.
"I just wanted to say one thing to you." Silvers pointed her finger at Winter, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. "I don't care if you're Winter bloody Schnee. I don't care if I have to fight my way through the entire Pale Horse organisation to get to you. I don't care if I die afterwards. If you break Cassian's heart, I'll kill you with my own two hands.
"...If I ever hurt Cassian." Winter stood up and walked towards Silvers, stopping when Silvers' head was mere inches from her breasts. "I would want you to kill me."
"..humph." Silvers wiped her eyes and spun on her heels. "At least I know you love him. Not as much as me, but enough." With that said, Silvers walked off, leaving Winter alone once more.
It was then that she felt the explosion rock the stadium.
"Aw Oum." Cassian watched as Yin's body was enveloped in his aura. "Not this again!"
"Scared Colonel?" Yin grinned, his eyes flashing in amusement.
"Absolutely terrified." Cassian responded, smiling back. "The return of the Blood Knight is finally at hand."
"That's an old nickname." Yin dashed forward, his speed enhanced by his semblance. The two Hunters locked weapons again, only for Cassian to be sent flying backwards from Yin's increased strength.
"It's fitting though." Cassian said through gritted teeth, rolling along the ground before flipping backwards and landing on his feet. "Your strength is basically obscene now."
"Maybe." Yin stomped on the ground, cracking it, before seemingly teleporting to the spot directly in front of Cassian. Atlas secret military footwork. "But it's not like you're any weaker."
"Regardless-" Cassian used a similar technique to dodge Yin's kick, reappearing ten meters away from Yin. Unlike Yin, Cassian's movement technique hadn't left a single mark on the ground, a testament to his advanced aura control. "-that strength of yours is beyond fair."
"Well then, why don't you use your semblance then?" Yin made a come on gesture with his fingers. "Even I'd be hard-pressed to win against you if you used that."
"Ha." Cassian let out a short laugh. "No take backs alright?"
Yin felt something in the air shift. At the same time, his primal senses immediately screamed at him to run. As his hair stood on end, Yin thought back to when he had last fought Cassian.
"Tie?" Cassian asked through gritted teeth. His semblance had activated, cloaking him in a pure white aura. Damocles was currently cutting its way through Yin's halberd, courtesy of Cassian's semblance.
"Tie." Yin replied, feeling his arms slowly beginning to break. The two had locked weapons several times before, but this was the first time Yin was losing. Cassian's semblance was absolutely broken in Yin's opinion. And his was already pretty ridiculous as it was.
"Oh heck yes-" Whatever Yin was about to say was interrupted when an explosion erupted from the battlefield ground.
"Attack!" Adam Taurus roared, jumping out of the hole. Behind him, White Fang members streamed out in the dozens, firing recklessly into the stands. Several Paladins, stolen from the Atlas Military and redesigned with White Fang logos, followed suit, unleashing barrages of missiles in random directions. "Kill them all!"
In an instant, fifteen White Fang members were engulfed in flame. Another four were cut down with a few clean strikes.
"What-" Both Yin and Cassian launched themselves at the terrorists, their weapons posed to attack. "-THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
"Ha!" The White Fang Lieutenant swung his chainsaw, meeting Yin mid-blow. At the same time, Adam unleashed his katana, fending off Cassian with a few quick slashes. "Hello again!"
"Taurus!" Cassian flipped in the air and landed on his feet. Yin did the same, absorbing the blow and landing a few meters away from the hole. "What in Oum are you doing!?"
"What do you think Gray?" Adam unleashed another flurry of blows. Cassian side stepped the brunt of them, while deflecting the few he couldn't. "I'm bringing the war to you!"
"Are you insane!" Behind him, Yin was beating the White Fang Lieutenant back, each blow from his halberd forcing the giant to retreat. "You've just condemned all your men to death!"
"They'll gladly die for the cause!" Adam roared back. Even as he said that, the White Fang members and war machines were slowly being beaten back by the sheer number of Hunters and Huntresses in the stadium. "That's what it means to fight for liberation!"
"Liberation!?" Cassian lunged forward, grabbing Adam by the shirt and throwing him into the air. "This isn't liberation! This is just terror!"
"Exactly!" Adam twisted in the air and fired at Cassian. The bullet struck him in the chest, sending him stumbling back. His aura however, prevented it from piercing his skin. "Why not let the humans have a taste of their own medicine!"
"An eye for an eye makes the world's blind." Cassian drew a pistol from his belt and opened fired. The bullets bounced harmlessly off Adam's aura, but managed to wind him. "If you do this, you'll just continue the cycle of hatred."
"Then so be it!" Adam continued to fire at Cassian, who was running in a zig-zag formation to dodge the projectiles. "I'll let the whole world drown in malice!"
"As if I'd let you do that." Cassian swung his sword in an arc, cutting down Adam's bullets mid-flight. "This world has enough hate as it stands."
"Then try and stop me!" Adam laughed manically.
"With pleasure." Cassian replied, preparing for another exchange.
"What the heck!" Yang yelled, punching the lights out of another White Fang member. Around her, her fellow students were also engaged in battles of their own. "Where did they come from!?"
"The hole in the ground!" Blake yelled, unleashing a storm of bullets at a group of Faunus. The White Fang members went down, their aura having been severely depleted by the barrage. "We need to close the hole!"
"Busy at the moment!" Weiss shouted. The White Fang members had converged on the heiress, having recognised her as one of their most hated enemies. She was fending off an entire horde of enemies, along with two Paladins who kept unleashing missiles at her. "And I'm running out of dust-"
The sound of a gatling gun told Weiss that help had arrived. Coco's weapon immediately destroyed one of the Paladins. At the same time, Yatsuhashi lept into the air, his sword cleaving the second Paladin cleanly in half.
"Let me help!" Velvet shouted, jumping into the fray. With a few well placed kicks, Velvet sent half of Weiss' enemies flying, allowing Weiss to focus less on defense and more on finishing the battle. "You guys are disgrace to Faunus everywhere!"
The White Fang members just groaned in response, the combined attacks of the Hunters and Huntresses' in training having taken them out of the conflict.
They'd wake up with horrible headaches the next day however.
"Nice work!" Weiss gave the rabbit Faunus a high-five, which was returned in kind.
"Watch out!" Velvet suddenly yelled, tackling Weiss to the ground. In the next instant, a hail of gunfire strafed the battlefield, courtesy of the White Fang gunships. Had Weiss remained standing, she would have been cut down. As it stood, the bullets still struck her position.
Except of course, Velvet took them for the Schnee heiress.
"Velvet!" Weiss yelled, as the Rabbit faunus' body shuddered.
"I-I'm good." Velvet grimaced. "I-have a lot of aura, so I didn't get hit."
Weiss wasn't listening however, instead patting Velvet's back to check for wounds.
"Owowowowow bruises!" Velvet yelped, causing the Schnee heiress to immediately stop her prodding. "I'm alright Weiss-"
"Thank you." Weiss said. "But..why?"
"Why what-" The sound of the gunship returning snapped the two girls back into attention. Weiss gently slid Velvet off her, before standing up and preparing to repel the assault.
As it happened, it was completely unnecessary, as a massive laser promptly cut the ships to tiny pieces.
"Penny!" Ruby yelled, waving in the direction of the beam's origin. "I owe you one!"
"No problem friend!" Penny's voice yelled back.
Weiss turned to look at Velvet in order to hear her answer, only to find the rabbit faunus' team surrounding the girl and checking her for injuries.
"Oh well, I guess I can just ask her later." Weiss mumbled, watching as Coco patted Velvet on the butt, eliciting a scream from the girl.
"Move!" Winter shouted, pushing her way through the crowds. She was rushing to the arena, having seen the chaos unfold on the monitors located throughout the stadium. The moment Cassian crossed swords with Adam, Winter was already sprinting towards the exit. "Out of my way!"
"Ms. Schnee!" A voice called out. It was Davina of Team SHYD. "Please, follow me to the safe-"
"What is the fastest way to the arena?" Davina blinked, not expecting that question. "Answer me, now!"
"Ms. Schnee, I can't let you run head first into the battlefield-"
"Try and stop me." Winter reached for the hilt of Sturm und Drang. Davina, in turn, reached for the hilts above each of her shoulders. The two women looked at each other, daring the other to make the first move.
"...Is this about Cassian?" Davina suddenly asked. Winter, after a pause, nodded. With a sigh, Davina lowered her arms. "...alright, follow me then."
The two women begun to move towards the arena at a brisk pace, each one mentally preparing themselves for whatever awaited them outside.
Silvers drew symbols in the air with her baton. Each movement corresponded to a specific formation, which her drones immediately formed.
Her weapon Ardent Phalanx was by far the most technical of Hunter weapons. Consisting of thirty drones in a cone shape, controlled by predetermined batons movements programmed directly into the drone's CPUs, the weapon required four dimensional thinking along with numerous simultaneous vector calculations to use.
Luckily, Silvers' semblance was just that, enabling her to utilise her weapon's maximum ability. In her hands, the weapon could generate aura shields, unleash barrages of revolver fire from multiple directions and act as a makeshift platform.
"Ha." Silvers sighed, drawing a complex pattern in the air. The drones split into groups of five, each group unleashing a multi-directional barrage on a single White Fang members. "Too easy."
A crashing noise alerted Silvers to the appearance of a Paladin. Turning around, she found herself face to face with a massive mecha many times her own height.
The Paladin thrust its fist forward, intending to crush Silvers into a pulp. A few wrist movements from Silvers however, created an aura barrier which absorbed the punch.
"Meh." Another wave of her baton forced the Paladin back as a hail of gunfire struck its front. Alone, a single drone didn't have enough firepower to hurt a regular Hunter. The combined barrage of two dozen drones however, could damage even the largest Grimm. "Predictable."
In that moment of relaxation, several White Fang members suddenly lunged at Silvers, intending to cut her down from behind. Before they could reach Silvers however, they were brutally intercepted.
"..." Helaine sweeped the legs out from one of the White Fang members, before using the heel of her hand to knock him unconscious.A few jabs took out another couple of enemies, leaving only one standing. Helaine hadn't drawn her blades, as she had yet to feel threatened enough to start killing.
"Race Trai-" The White Fang member was cut off with a brutal high kick, courtesy of Helaine's bunny heritage.
"..." Helaine looked at the unconscious White Fang for a moment, before scanning her surroundings. Her commander was out of immediate danger, and had just taken out the Paladin with a few more well-placed barrages.
Overall, the White Fang attack had been successfully contained, with only the leaders and a handful of regular troops and battle mechs left.
Helaine let out a breath of relief. Seemed like the attack would be prevented without any particular issue.
"Grah!" The White Fang Lieutenant swung his chainsword down, only to grimace when Yin effortlessly parried the attack while sending the Faunus' arm swinging upwards.
"Weak-" Yin stab forward with his halberd. The blade missed its target, the Faunus' heart, by inches, instead stabbing him in the stomach. "-so burn."
"Wha-" The Lieutenant's eyes widened as blue flames exploded from the nozzle attached to the tip of the halberd. Upon contact with the Faunus, they immediately enveloped him. "AHHH!"
Yin adjusted his grip on the halberd to ensure that the Lieutenant couldn't escape the fiery pyre he was consigned to. The blue flames were a mix of fire dust and Yin's aura, making them extremely deadly. The attack sears the target's aura off, whilst exposing it to immense heat.
The Lieutenant quickly fell to his knees, dropping his weapon in the process. Somehow managing to escape the Halberd, he immediately begun to roll on the ground in a vain attempt to put the flames out.
Yin watched as the Lieutenant slowly burned to death, his flames allowing the Lieutenant to breath in order to extend the pain. It was precisely because of Yin's manner of weapon that he was so feared. It was a sadistic weapon, designed to maximize suffering instead of granting a swift death.
"P-please!" The Lieutenant yelled. "Kill me!"
"..." Yin watched for a few more seconds, his eyes unfeeling. Suddenly, as if on a whim, he swung his halberd and silenced the Lieutenant forever.
Turning around, Yin found himself face-to-face with numerous Atlesian Paladins. Swinging his halberd into a combat position, Yin flashed them a smile.
Cassian winced as a cut appeared on his cheek. He had felt himself tiring as the fight went on, and Adam had taken full advantage of this. His slash had been so swift that it had managed to slip past Cassian's aura guard.
"You're slowing down Colonel." Adam fired a few bullets, which Cassian guarded against. "The last time we crossed blades you slashed my mask in half."
"Well I am a little rusty." Cassian grinned, even as sweat ran down his neck. It was taking all he had not to breath hard. "So maybe you want to surrender?"
"I should be saying that to you." Another cut appeared on Cassian's body, this time on his arm. While the cut hadn't reached his skin, having been blocked by the armor, it was unnerving nevertheless. "Has civilian life dulled your skills?"
"..." Cassian didn't answer, instead focusing on trying to get through Adam's guard. Sadly enough, it didn't seem to be working, with Cassian receiving a few more gashes for his troubles. "..damn I'm weak."
"Yes you are!" Adam lunged, his blade unleashing a flurry of slashes. Damocles managed to ward against most of them, but a few still managed to tear holes in Cassian's clothing. "This is not what I expected from you."
The two continued to trade blows, with Cassian consistently getting cut over and over again. Adam continued to maintain distance between the two of them, aware of Cassian's speciality in CQC.
This trade off continued for a while, with Cassian getting more and more bloody as Adam tore more gashes in his body. Eventually, Cassian noted his vision starting to blur.
"Crap-" In that moment of weakness, Adam lunged forward, his blade poised to slash Cassian's jugular. In an instant, Cassian knew that there was no way for him to block in time-
Adam was suddenly thrown to the right as something crashed into his ribs. Hard.
"Tsk, tsk." A very familiar voice said behind Cassian. "What kind of bodyguard needs to be bailed out by the one he's meant to protect? How sad Cassian."
"Heh." Cassian smiled, even as the figure of his mistress and lover walked past him, her hips swaying. "Sorry about that Mistress."
"Make sure it doesn't happen again." Winter Schnee replied, Sturm Und Drang coiling around her wrist. On her right, Adam was slowly forcing himself to his feet, the surprise attack having scored critical damage on him. "Otherwise I may have to demote you just to keep you safe."
We're reaching the climax of the story! Let's see what happens next shall we?
Ferris