Tada! I love you reviewers and always remember guys. The more reviews the faster I write and post(If you believe I can get any faster)
Ruby and Weiss frantically searched through the Oscar's in the lobby, intent on finding the one with Yang's gauntlets.
"Anything?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing." Weiss answered. The girls both sounded frustrated. A sentiment which was only compounded when all the Oscar's suddenly disappeared, leaving the lobby empty.
"NO!" Ruby shouted out, angry that he had gotten away a second time.
"Wait a minute. Where's Blake?" Weiss asked, immediately noticing the lack of faunus in the room.
"Huh… aaaargh!" Ruby let out a cry of hopelessness and anger, drawing Crescent Rose and slamming it into the ground. Weiss walked across the room and pulled her leader into a tight hug.
"It's ok. We'll find them." Weiss comforted her young partner. Ruby hugged her back, and leaned her head on Weiss's shoulder.
"I know, but it's terrifying. I've already lost half my team. I lost Blake and it's not even 2 PM." Ruby said.
"And none of that matters, as long as you pull yourself together and find them." Weiss reassured her. Holding Ruby up and forcing her to look at her.
"Thanks Weiss." Ruby said, wiping a stray tear from her face.
"I'm sure wherever Blake and Yang went off to their fighting just as hard to get back." Weiss commented. Ruby nodded, and picked up Crescent rose, placing it on her back.
"What should we do now though?" Ruby asked, unsure. Weiss shrugged.
"I don't know." she replied.
"We should certainly find a better way to stick together though." Ruby suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." Weiss nodded. Ruby, hoping to lighten her own mood a little, just grabbed a hold of Weiss's hand. Weiss chuckled and smiled back.
"You gotta better plan?" Ruby asked sarcastically.
"Nope. you dolt." Weiss laughed. Ruby and Weiss walked off into the ship looking for their missing teammates.
Liara lifted her head off the steel ground, her head pounding and her vision foggy. She pulled herself up, and leaned against the wall. She rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision. Floating before her in smoke was a small message.
"Mission complete. Ester would be proud."
Liara angrily ran her hand through the smoke, making it dissipate. She turned to look at Damien, who was still sitting, healing from his fight with Yang. Damien gave her a small smile. Liara sat back down.
"What happened?" Damien asked. Liara stuck her tongue in her cheek.
"It doesn't matter. It's over." Liara responded, folding her arms and sitting there quietly.
"C'mon. Talk to me." Damien pressed. Liara sighed.
"It was kind of scary. She was really smart… I might have revealed more than I should. I'm not sure who would have even won if the "person" hadn't intervened." Liara explained.
"Well I guess they wouldn't send amateurs after us." Damien chuckled
"It's not them that I'm worried about." Liara said.
"I know... " Damien trailed off. The two of them sat there in silence.
Oscar met up with Valerie backstage of the ship's theater. She was intently picking her nails with her knife, a sign Oscar had learned met she was nervous. Oscar slid in next to her among the many props and costumes which covered them.
"Did they fall for it?" Valerie asked, examining her syke.
"Yep." Oscar answered briefly.
"These people don't mess around. They want the other two by the end of the day is seems." He added. Valerie sighed.
"I guess that's our cue right?" she said.
Oscar nodded as smoke filtered down from the vents, forming another message.
"The two main threats have been eliminated. Mistress has demanded the time frame be accelerated. Time to mop up the rest. Both of you proceed to the bottom deck and get ready for a fight. We will deal with delivering your opponents."
Valerie and Oscar watched as the smoke slowly evaporated. Both of them sat there in silent contemplation.
"I guess we need to do this for the others don't we?" Valerie asked, finally pushing herself to her feet. Oscar quickly followed.
"This is the final mission, I guess we can't flake out now." he said, the confidence in his voice starting to waiver. The two fugitive huntsman slipped from their hiding spot and started for the place where their battle was designated to take place.
Ruby and Weiss, kept their hands on one another, finding it imperative that neither one wander off on their own, lest they too be kidnapped by the fugitives (Or so they thought) as they walked through the ship. They stumbled into a small mess hall, where many of the ships patrons were at a buffet.
"Great another crowded room." Ruby gripped.
"Well at least this one is full of different people." Weiss commented.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the boat itself was an elaborate illusion." Ruby joked at the lack of information that seemed to be circulating.
"Maybe we should get something to eat. It won't help us if we have to fight on an empty stomach." Weiss suggested. Ruby nodded in agreement. Both girls grabbed plates and stood in the buffet line, only releasing the others hand to serve themselves, and that's it. The girls took their food to an empty table nearby and sat down, eating. They ate mostly in silence, the air of what was to come still hanging heavily above them.
"What should we do when we get back to Beacon?" Ruby asked, trying to spark some semblance of conversation.
"Ruby… you know what you need to do." Weiss chuckled, forcing Ruby to blush yet again.
"Fine. Mrs. Branwen" Ruby shot back. Weiss grit her teeth in annoyance.
"Still not used to it huh?" Ruby asked.
"I'll never be." Weiss answered quickly. The two girls started giggling. However, their happy demeanor was shattered as a bloody and battered Yang threw herself on the table.
"YANG!" The two girls cried out at once as Yang staggered back a little.
"We managed to get away. They're downstairs. C'mon we need to stop them." Yang said, starting to walk away, a limp clear in her gate.
"Wait wait wait." Ruby demanded. "Where's Blake?"
"I dropped Blake off in the infirmary, she's in bad condition. We managed to take out two of them, but you guys need to stop the other two." Yang explained.
"I thought we were hunting six fugitives?" Weiss said, confused.
"Turns out two of them died helping Zade save you." Yang answered.
"Oh." Was all Weiss could say, glancing over at her leader. Ruby stood up and nodded at Weiss.
"Let's end this." she declared, and the three huntresses walked into the depths of the ship.
Ruby and Weiss followed Yang deep into the ship. The girls took note of all the machinery as it started to get hot. Ruby used her cape to wipe some sweat from her face.
"It's really hot down here." Ruby commented.
"I know how you feel." Weiss responded, she had taken the coat off of her snow pea outfit and was carrying it under her arm.
"Don't worry it's right through here." Yang yelled over the clang of machinery and engine parts. Yang pushed open a door and walked through it, her body growing more and more transparent until she was completely gone.
"Wait!" Ruby yelled, Weiss and her dashing forward to catch the disappearing illusion.
"Dammit." Weiss uncharacteristically cursed. Their anger was short lived as the door behind them slammed shut hard. The girls looked down the hall at Oscar and Valerie, who were standing at the end of the hall waiting for them.
"Delivered as promised… can't say they aren't efficient." Valerie conceded, unhappily.
"Yeah, well it's our turn to do the delivering. Right?" Oscar asked Valerie rhetorically.
"Where are Blake and Yang?" Ruby demanded, both her and Weiss drawing their weapons.
"They're somewhere safe… probably." Valerie answered, hoping the former was in fact the case.
"I'm guessing we need to beat you to find them huh." Weiss guessed, correctly.
"Did you really think this was going to go any other way?" Oscar countered.
"Not really but it's nice to check." Weiss shot back. Oscar couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"You girls ready?" he asked.
"Ooooo. A gentleman." Ruby said sarcastically. "We're ready." Oscar smiled and reached to his back. Her threw forward three swords which, by his semblance, were being wielded by three large knights.
"Why don't you girls warm up." Oscar suggested condescendingly, knowing it would bait the girls into focusing on the clones.
"Don't mind if we do." Weiss answered. She and Ruby stood there for a moment, examining the knights, who cautiously approached, before springing into action.
"Iceflower!" Ruby called out. She and Weiss jumped back and Weiss created her signature glyph before Ruby's sniper. Ruby fired shots that looked more likes spikes clumps of ice rather than bullets. The knights dodged some of the bullets as they went flying by, forcing both Oscar and Valerie to jump to the sides. Some knights did get hit by the huntresses efforts. The ice balls exploding and covering parts of their enemies in ice, cutting them and trying to restrained them. The knights seemed less than impressed as they cut the ice off of themselves and continued to press on the girls. Ruby dashed forward with her semblance, and Weiss backflipped away as one of the knights tried to bring its sword down on the pair. One knight turned around and lashed out at Ruby. She hooked its blade with her scythe, slammed the knight's sword to the ground, continued spinning, and brought Crescent rose up towards the knights face. The knight leaned back, narrowly Dodging the scythe. It drew back and stabbed forward at Ruby. She accelerated into the air just above the knight,
"Weiss!" She called out. Weiss knocked away another incoming strike from the knights and summoned and acceleration glyph above Ruby. Ruby shot down with uncanny speed. The knight tried to dodge forward, but was still treated to a deep cut through the back of its arm. Another glyph met Rwby on the ground, launching her back towards Weiss. Ruby landed next to her partner with a smirk on her face. Weiss spun around, using Myrtenaster fire setting to unleash a wave of fire at the knights. The knights backed away slightly, shielding themselves from the flame. Ruby tooked the opportunity to dash in, leaving a deep gash in a knight's chest as it vanished. However, Ruby founder herself stuck in midair, as another Knight slammed its blade on her midsection. Ruby let out a small squeak as she crashed into the wall, and rolled across the ground. A knight stood above her and struck downwards. Weiss used Myrtenaster's ice to create a dome, shielding her partner. The Knight struggled to free its blade from the ice. Ruby slipped out and ran back towards Weiss.
"We need a new plan." Ruby said.
"Alright, what do you have leader?" Weiss asked, still keeping a watchful eye on the two knights.
Across the hall Oscar and Valerie were watching the girls fight the knights.
"They're doing pretty good." Valerie noted.
"Yeah, but this will wear them out a little. Should make them easy prey for us." Oscar added.
"Easy prey for someone." Valerie scoffed.
Weiss and Ruby broke from their little huddle with a new plan in mind. Ruby skipped over towards the side of the hallway, while Weiss stood in the middle, staring down the knights. Weiss spun Myrtenaster to its Lightning mode. She waited until both the knights took their strikes at her. Weiss jumped over the first swing, blocked the second swing, and ducked under a punch. Weiss continued blocking and dodging each strike until both of them had taken up posts on either side of her. At the last moment, Weiss propelled herself out from between them.
"Ruby!" Weiss called out, springing her leader into action. Ruby burst into a spiral of speed, dropping petals all over the floor. She raced around the two knights, who tried and failed, to catch her in their grips. She continued to race around them like a tornado, pushing the two of them back to back. Weiss smirked and summoned a large yellow glyph above them.
"Now!" Weiss yelled out again. Ruby stopped circling the knights and raced to Weiss's side. From the glyph, Weiss summoned a large bolt of lightning. The lightning coursed through the knights, electrocuting them and sending them into convulsions.
Oscar nodded as they forced the other two knights to disappear.
"You wanna throw more at them, or should we just do it ourselves?" Valerie asked
"I think we should get this over with. No sense in wasting time." Oscar agreed. The two fugitives pushed off the the wall and walked towards the girls. Ruby and Weiss stared them down angrily, still ready for action.
"I get the resistance, but why did you kidnap our members?" Ruby demanded. Oscar shook his head.
"That wasn't us. Honestly, we don't know who's doing it. We just need you off our back." Oscar explained.
"Whatever is necessary for the mission." Valerie added, reciting a core piece of Atlesian teachings.
"So you expect us to believe that it's not you, the people we're hunting, that kidnapped the people hunting you?" Weiss asked.
"I know its wierd. We don't love it either, but it's us or you." Oscar admitted.
"Then I guess that means we fight." Ruby stated, tightening her grip on Crescent rose. Valerie stepped back and Oscar flipped his warhammer into its rocket launcher from.
"That's new." Ruby squeaked. Oscar promptly fired a volley of his rockets down the hallway. Weiss immediately reacted by summoning a number of small glyphs, which sent ice stars to intercept the missiles, erupting them in the middle of the hallway. Ruby tried to take the opportunity to run forward. However, Ruby tripped and fell to the ground. Ruby looked down and saw her own shadow wrapped around her body. She struggled against the bonds as it only wrapped tighter. Weiss and Oscar met eyes, and they both raced forward towards Ruby. Weiss arrived there first and cut Ruby free of her shadow. The two girls were sent flying backwards as Oscar slammed his warhammer into the ground, causing it to crack and creating a shockwave. From both sides of Oscar, two dark gray spears of shadows raced past him, aiming straight for the girls. Ruby managed to block her spear with Crescent Rose, but Weiss was unlucky. The shadow spear slammed her into the ground. Weiss used a glyph to burst the shadow, and formed another, sending firebolts over at Valerie. Valerie dropped her control over the shadow as she jumped back and forth, evading Weiss attacks. Ruby took the flow in momentum to make a move against Oscar. Ruby used her semblance to teleport behind Oscar, lashing out with her scythe. Oscar ducked under and tried to smash Ruby with his warhammer. Ruby fired a bullet from Crescent Rose, accelerating her out of harm's way. Ruby placed her feet on the ceiling and pushed down. Ruby flipped and slammed the bottom of her boot on Oscar's head. Oscar grunted as Ruby backflipped and landed… right into an uppercut from Oscar's hammer. Ruby cried out as she flew across the room. Ruby righted herself,and landed on her feet. Ruby felt an instinct kick in, and she leaned back in a matrix style as a syke came flying through the air. Ruby's eyes widened, as it barely scraped the aura on her nose as it passed by. Ruby stood back up and looked at an advancing Valerie. Ruby used the staff of Crescent Rose to stop Valerie from stabbing her with her syke, Ruby kicked Valerie right in the kidney. Valerie grimaced and lengthened her shadow, striking up and clipping Ruby's chin. Valerie flipped the syke in her hand, and stepped in close, laying rapid stabs to Ruby's midsection. Her assault was stopped when a fireball burned into her back. Weiss sidestepped another hammerswing from Oscar, and fired more bolts at Valerie. Weiss turned the glyph on Oscar and tried to launch another firebolt. Weiss looked on in fear as she realized the fire dust in Myrtenaster had run out. She ducked to the side, avoiding another threatening swing from Oscar, and littered his chest with striked. Oscar ignored them, turned around and kicked back, hitting Weiss's chest. Weiss stepped back, and Oscar raised his hammer above his head, and slammed it down on Weiss, crushing her into the ground. Oscar raised his hammer to slam down on her again, when Valerie came flying across the room and crashing into him. Ruby raced to her partner's aid and started to help her off of the ground. The four hunters stared at one another, daring the other party to make the first move. Weiss took the opportunity, blasting a gust of dust wind down the hallway. Valerie quickly countered, using her shadow to anchor Oscar, and herself down to the floor. Unfortunately, she was unable to keep Oscar pinned down, and he decided to rush into the storm. Needless to say, Weiss was very surprised when Oscar came barreling through the wind. Ruby jumped into action, using Crescent Rose to block his hammer just short of Weiss's head. Weiss stepped in to stab up at Oscar, but was blocked, by one of Valerie's shadows holding her discarded syke. Ruby and Oscar continued to press against each other while Weiss fenced with a disembodied syke. Ruby lost out, but used the momentum of getting pushed away to turn Crescent Rose around, and fire a round from it, propelling the spear end of the shaft into Oscar's ankle. Oscar seethed and hopped back as it bled lightly.
"You ok?" Valerie asked, walking up next to her friend.
"Yeah. It's shallow." Oscar replied. The two fugitives still looked in slightly better condition than the two girls, but it was evident they were all starting to show signs of fatigue.
"We need to neutralize her shadows." Ruby whispered to Weiss.
"I've got an idea." Weiss reassured. She spun Myrtenaster to its light dust slot. "Cover me." Weiss stepped back and created a large glyph on the shield, and created a line of glyphs behind the fugitives and behind Weiss. Weiss activated her light dust and a brilliant light filled the hallway.
"That's a good move." Valerie conceded watching as all shadows inside the circle disappeared. Valerie tightened her grip on her sykes's knowing her semblance would be useless from now on. Valerie and Oscar moved forward, trying to stop Weiss's glyphs. Ruby intercepted them, using her semblance to ram into Oscar, and using her scythe to trip Valerie. Ruby jumped back out of attack range, as Valerie pushed herself to her feet. Oscar didn't wait and moved in, striking with his hammer. Ruby dashed back and forth, doing everything to dodge Oscar, while stifling his advances. Valerie slipped in between Oscar's misses and left a slice across Ruby's face. Ruby seethed and fired a bullet from Crescent rose, piercing Valerie's arm. She dropped her syke and staggered back, seething in pain. Oscar used the moment to drop his hammer on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby cried out as it broke her shoulder and collarbone.
"RUBY!" Weiss called out, dispelling her glyphs and rushing to her partner's aid. Oscar tried to hit her, but Weiss slid under her attack and stabbed his stomach. Weiss stepped back and left a deep slash on his chest. Oscar fell back and Valerie jumped over her, stabbing her syke into Weiss's shoulder, and backfisting Weiss's face. Weiss grit her teeth and spit blood. Weiss turned back and responded by punching Valerie's face. Valerie pulled Weiss's hair and punched her straight in the nose until she eventually passed out. Valerie let Weiss fall to the ground and panted until she cried out, when a deep cut appeared across her back. Valerie fell to the side, and Ruby stood behind her with Crescent Rose. She gripped her shoulder in pain, and more exploded in her side when Oscar slammed his hammer into her ribs, knocking her out as well. Oscar stood the only conscious member, panting. Fiery words appeared before him.
"Good."
"Dammit." Oscar complained, falling asleep once again.