The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 46: Nightmare
A/N: PLEASE READ.
Hello. As of January 30th, 2015, the creator of RWBY, Monty Oum, has been taken to a secure and unknown medical facility due to unknown health related issues. As of now, it is unknown if he will recover, according to Burnie Burns, one of the heads of Rooster Teeth.
I myself am shocked that this has happened, and am in a state of worry myself. I always feared that something could happen to those wonderful people over at Rooster Teeth. I can't begin to thank them enough for their works and the impacts on the lives around them.
Please keep Monty Oum in your thoughts/prayers, regardless of religion or background. We, as a group, a fanbase, a family, need to come together and hold fast for his swift recovery. This isn't the time to be divided by Shipping or Plot arguments of the show, which occurs in the fanbase, but a time to come together as one family, one who deeply cares about our dear friend Monty Oum.
Please visit Burnie Burns's journal on the Rooster Teeth website, and there has been a donation set up by a close friend of Monty to help with medical payment. I would put links but I am not sure how to get them to insert into the chapter.
Please spread the word, and please, keep him with you as you walk around and live your lives. He would want that.
Thank you.
City of Vale
The CCT Tower
"Lock the building down." Dagonus said to one of his demons, who gave an acknowledging growl before walking off, taking a few demons with him as Dagonus proceeded up the towers main elevator.
"Top floor. Call room." The God said to the speaker system that operated the elevator.
"Very well sir! If you could please put your Scroll on the scanner, I can send you right up." The A.I of the tower said cheerfully.
"Top floor." Dagonus growled into the microphone, touching it with his index finger, sending his power into the device. "Now."
A few seconds passed.
"Top floor, arriving in a few moments. Please, enjoy your stay here at the CCT." The A.I voice said once more with a cheerful chirp of her voice, clicking off.
Dagonus adjusted his chest piece as he cracked his neck, his cloak flowing elegantly behind him as the elevator door clicked open, the God of Death walking out to the empty communication room.
The God took a right towards a large set of double brown doors, pushing them open as he entered the conference room of the tower, a large screen on the wall of the grey room before him as he entered the numbers he wanted to call.
Five faces popped up on the screen at once, indicating the call had been connected with Dagonus's targets.
The four Kings and Queens of four Kingdoms, along with the fifth person being Headmaster and General Ironwood of Atlas, the group all looking at Dagonus with a confused look.
"Who is this! I did not allow this call to be placed!" The King of Atlas said with a growl, twirling his white mustache.
"Lord Harken, you are as polite as they say. My name is Dagonus." Dagonus said with a growl in response, hands clasped behind his back. "Queen Rosette, I began this call so you could properly and legally shift power of the Kingdom of Vale into my hands."
"You!" The Queen of Vale gasped as the sounds of gunfire echoed from her side of the call. "You are the one attacking my Kingdom?!"
"Indeed. And if you don't transfer powers to me and announce to your fellow rulers your resignation, I will destroy the entire Kingdom until only the Grimm are left to thrive on your broken homeland."
The Queen turned to one of her servants. "Get me Headmaster Ozpin."
"I'm afraid... Ozpin won't be joining us anytime soon." Dagonus said as he pulled Ozpins cane out of thin air, tossing it to the floor.
"He's... Dead...?" Ironwood asked softly, everyone in the call going pale and quiet.
"No." Dagonus said with amusement. "Not yet." He added before turning towards the Queen of Vale. "Ma'am, you have 20 seconds to tell the group here you are stepping down and I will take power, before I begin bombardment on your estate."
The Queen paled. "My c-children are on the estate property!"
"Do you honestly think I care?" Dagonus said with a roll of his eyes, looking at his watch. "15 seconds."
The Queen looked at her fellow rulers, sighing as she cleared her throat. "I, Queen Rosette of Vale, hereby transfer all powers to Lord... Dagonus... And at this time... Step down from office as Queen." The Queen said with a loathing look towards the man in question.
Dagonus grinned as he opened his mouth to speak...
"Now, fellow rulers of the world, I hereby announce that the Kingdom of Vale will no longer be in communication, or alliance, with the other three Kingdoms. Any and all attempts to communicate with anyone inside the walls of the Kingdom will be taken as an act of war." Xalveris said into a ghostly vortex floating before him. "Good day."
Xalveris snapped his fingers and the vortex disappeared in thin air.
"Oh Dagonus... Such a strong will, but a weak mind. You were far too easy to cloud..." The Elder God said with a sinister laughter. "Now for Phase 2..."
The Elder God turned to his throne room. "Rook!" Xalveris said loudly, the Fallen God of War appearing in the room from a cloud of black fire.
"My master..." Rook said with a typical growl of submission, getting on a knee, bowing. "What is your wish?"
"Go. Head to Vale." Xalveris said with a vile smile. "Take your fellow Fallen with you; this city and Kingdom must not fall to our adversaries." The Elder God said as he looked out of his towers window to the dark sea below.
"Commence the perpetrations for Operation Rebirth." Xalveris spoke low as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I will not be denied, not again, not ever. I will break the balance of reality, and send this universe into chaos."
Fort Scatter
Level 12
Prison Level
6:47
Ruby poked her head around the corner of the room she was in, her clock eyes ticking along as her tongue poked out from the side of her mouth, glancing around for any White Fang guards.
When Ruby had fallen down during the pod drop from the Maelstrom, her pod had been hit directly by an oncoming missile, so the young Goddess jumped from her burning death trap of a pod to the ground below, flying directly into an open chimney. After a long while of falling endlessly and into the walls of the smoke tower, Ruby crashed into the lunchroom of the building, landing on a pile of strawberry cake.
After magically cleaning her attire, Ruby made her way towards the exit of the room, taking down a few White Fang along the way with her massive scythe, following the signs along the hallways.
"Prison room~ I win!" Ruby chirped as she leaned back into the room she was in, proud that she had gotten there first. "Now, just to break that icy old man out..."
Ruby knew she couldn't just run on in the room guns blazing, since the alarm would probably go off before she even reached the doors. White Fang were switching their shifts at the door: she needed a disguise.
Ruby grinned as she teleported away, popping back in with a pair of black wolf ears with red tips plopped on her mop of red hair, a copycat colored tail exiting her lower back, wagging happily.
"Hehe~" Ruby giggled happily as she pet her own head, walking out of her hiding spot and down the hall towards the prison area.
"Hello, sirs!" Ruby said happily, forming a mock salute.
The two White Fang guards raised their eyebrows in their masks, glancing at each other.
"Uh... And you are?" One man said slowly.
"Uh..." Ruby said as she realized she forgot to make a fake name.
"Cinder... Fall! Yeah, my name is Cinder Fall." Ruby said quickly, just picking two random words.
The duo paled, recognizing the powerful name. Even if they hadn't had the pleasure of meeting Miss Fall, they knew of her reputation in the criminal underworld.
"W-what do you need, Miss Fall?" The duo stuttered at the same time, worried for their lives.
"Can you two leave and let me stay with the prisoner?" Ruby asked happily.
"Y-yes, Miss Fall." The guards said quickly, quickly running off down the hall.
"Hehehe." Ruby giggled as she walked in the prison room. "What a dumb name, who would really call themselves Cinder Fall?"
When Ruby walked into the darkened room, she was greeted with sight of Geist Schnee hanging by his hands with chains, weakly hanging on the wall with no energy.
"Hiya, Mister Schnee!" Ruby chirped happily, walking over to the chained man. "Here to rescue you!"
Geist Schnee slowly looked up at Ruby, a broken look on his face as she pulled apart one of the chains, holding him up as she worked the other.
"You..." Geist said with a whisper of a voice, slowly blinking. The all-white prison uniform they forced him to wear was torn and cut in various places, the former jeans and t-shirt now a mess.
"Yep! It's me again." Ruby said happily, her right eye twitching a tad, her face gaining a stern look for a moment as she pulled the other chain off, laying him in a nearby chair.
"Water..." Geist said with a raspy tone, barely able to speak at this point.
"..." Ruby said as she just stood there for a moment, her eye twitching rapidly.
"Water... You dull creature." Geist hissed out as he took several deep breaths.
Rubys head quickly twitched to the side before her eyes grew a menacing look, glaring at the man before her.
Ruby generated a wooden bucket of fresh water on the table, grabbing Geist by his collar, and dunking the man into the bucket face first, holding him in it as he struggled weakly to get breath.
"Mmmphhh!" Geist screamed out in the water as Ruby lifted his head out for a moment to breathe, before shoving him back in it.
"You dare insult a God, puny mortal? You dare threaten the orders of Time and Space?" Ruby growled as her alter ego took control of her, as it had back on her spire back on Kryata, realm of the Gods.
Ruby held him in for a few more moments before tossing him aside, the elder Schnee landing on the floor with a loud thud.
"Please..." Geist pleaded for his life, scooting back on the floor with all the Aura he could muster, while Ruby moved forward on him.
"You are a selfish, pathetic, old man who cares nothing for those under him, especially the Faunus." Ruby hissed as she kicked the man across the room, his body flying through the door next to them and into the hallway outside, the man groaning in pain.
"You hold anger towards an entire species for the actions of a few, and refusing to let go of the past caused you to become a dark man." Ruby continued, grabbing him by his right leg. Ruby filled Geists' body with a reasonable amount of Aura so she didn't kill him, then spun and threw him down the hall, cracking his back on the corner of the metal walls.
"Gah!" Geist groaned out, landing on the floor with a whimper in pain.
"I care not for your life, Geist Joseph Schnee, but I do care for those who have the will to change the course of their lives." Ruby taunted, bending down to look him dead in the eyes.
"Therefore, if you seek forgiveness... repent for your sins upon the Faunus and the families you have crushed in your efforts to destroy them." Ruby barked into his face, eyes locked with the whimpering old man.
"Understood?"
Geist whimpered in response, not giving a yes or no answer.
Rubys eyes twitched as her normal personality took control, smiling happily as she lifted the man up off the floor.
"Come on, mister Schnee! You can't just lay on the floor silly!" Ruby chirped happily, not noticing the fearful look in his eyes. "We need to get you out of here."
"..." Geist said nothing.
"Can you walk, mister Schnee? You look a little banged up." Ruby said with a frown of concern.
"They broke my leg..." Geist admitted with a glance at the floor. "Getting thrown around didn't help..." He muttered.
"What was that last part?" Ruby asked as Geist tensed up.
"N-nothing! N-nothing at all, m-miss Rose." Geist said with a mild gulp, fearing that she might retaliate again and beat him senseless. "Please, just get me out of here. Our mutual differences don't matter at this point."
"Mutual differences?" Ruby asked.
"That I don't trust you and want you away from my daughter if you act immature, jeopardizing her life." Geist said before his eyes went wide, awaiting airtime from being tossed.
"Fair enough." Ruby shrugged as footsteps echoed down the hall, pulling out a grey and black pistol from thin air, handing it to the man.
"You can shoot. I'll carry you along." Ruby said as she put her scythe in gun mode, holding it with her left hand.
"Of course..." Geist said with a sigh as he was tossed over Rubys' shoulder as Ruby began her way down the hall, huffing as her tail smacked him in the face.
Fort Scatter
Level 11
6:55 AM
"This is the wrong way..." Weiss huffed as she looked at a holo-map on one of the walls next to her.
"There's nothing to worry about, Schnee." Saturn said with a tap of his shoes. "We are nearing the control room."
"Any word from the others?" Weiss asked as Cheshire concentrated, closing her eyes.
Cheshire turned to the duo. "Ruby Rose has located Geist Schnee."
"G-Great!" Weiss said happily, her rapier hooked to her belt. "Now, we locate our exit and get my father out of here."
"No." Saturn said low.
"No...?" Weiss frowned, turning to him.
"I'm not letting Touko leave alive. The White Fangs very head is in this building, so let's slit its throat." Saturn hissed as his snakes echoed him.
"Father is the priority. Once he is out, then we can talk about Touko." Weiss reasoned, Cheshire huffing.
"Fine fine. I'll locate Ruby, and send her your way. You two keep moving towards the control room." Cheshire said with a roll of her eyes. "I'll take the big Schnee up."
"The people-eating monster wants to go alone with a possibly injured man. Alone?" Weiss said slowly, Cheshire just nodding. "Seriously?"
"Oh, you think I'm just gonna eat your dad, huh? Well I'm not some monster, kiddo." Cheshire growled. "I can find my way out easy. And I'm not feeling so hot for battle right now."
Weiss went to argue when Saturn put a firm hand on her shoulder. "We have no better plan. Geist will get out fine."
Weiss huffed. "Fine."
Cheshire grinned as she morphed into a tiny black cat, meowing before jumping into a small vent next to the group, disappearing as her small footsteps on metal echoed around the room.
"If she eats him..."
"Yeah yeah, don't worry so much, Schnee."
Weiss rolled her eyes as she and Saturn began down the hallway once more.
Fort Scatter
Level 11
7:00 AM
Blake and Co slowly made their way throughout the winding halls of the massive base, arriving at a long hallway, looking around at the various windows into what seemed to be empty labs.
"The things the Vale soldiers did here... What were they looking into...?" Blake muttered under her breath, looking into a window.
"The number of Grimm around the base is amazing..." Feng said to himself as he too looked out a window with Hayden, Yang still walking ahead. "Something big is here with us... I can feel it... And it's very evil..."
"Me too..." Blake added, looking down the hall to spot Yang, who was beaconing them forward.
"Guys..." Yang said slowly, her voice rising as she exaggerated the word for a few seconds. "You'll wanna see this."
The group congregated next to Yang, all looking down at the sight before them.
Lucas was sprung out on the floor, surrounded by chucks of metal, his massive twin swords impaled in the floor behind him, out cold.
"Lucas...?" Feng said slowly, Hayden walking past the group and looking in a large room with a broken white door, only to be flung backwards as the sound of a shotgun was heard.
"Hayden!" Blake cried out to her fellow faunus, Feng running over to the boy, who was lying next to the hallways wall, bleeding as his Aura hadn't caught the shell.
Blake stepped past Lucas as Yang dragged his body away from the rubble, the cat girls' eyes going wide as she took in the sight before her.
Adam stood in the large room, holding his sheath in one hand, his sword in another. Morris, Jacob, and Felixs' bodies were laying unmoving around the room, casting a wave of anger and fear over Blake.
"Adam..." Blake said slowly and softly, slowly walking into the room, hands to her head as she undid her trademark bow, dropping her hands to her side.
"Blake. It's been a long time." Adam said with no hint of emotion, his mask obscuring his features.
Blake took a few steps towards him, looking at her fallen comrades.
"What have you become, Adam? Is any of this worth anything?" Blake asked her former partner, shaking her head slowly. "Don't follow their path."
"I'm not a deserter, Blake. I'm not like you. I'm not going to just run away like you did." Adam said with a growl, his mask glowing red in the eye slits.
"Adam... I..." Blake began with a frown at the floor below. "Don't make me fight you."
"Now the student challenges the mentor?" Adam said with a soft smile. "How quant."
"I'm better than you, Adam. I'm not a monster." Blake hissed back at her old friend.
"What did you just call me?" Adam said with a huff of anger.
Yang walked next to Blake, Feng as well once he moved Hayden to a safer area.
"We got your back, Blake." Yang and Feng said at the same time.
"No." Blake replied solemnly. "This is my job. You all go ahead, this is personal."
"You sure, Blake?" Feng asked softly, in a martial arts stance.
"This is a private matter. Go, find the others." Blake ordered, the duo frowning back nodding, backing off to help Hayden get away down the hall.
"I'll make an exception for you, Blake. Only because of our past. Come back to us, to me. We can change the world for the better of our kind!" The sword wielder protested to Blake, who unhooked her katana from her back, cocking back the pistol.
"I'm not going to become you." Blake said as she pointed her pistol at Adam, finger to the trigger.
"Never."
Fort Scatter
Unknown Floor
7:06 AM
Weiss glanced around as Ruby tapped the glass windows nearby, "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" at the stockpile of weapons in one of the rooms blocked off by the glass, face pressed up against the surface.
"Ruby, take point." Weiss huffed as she poked her leader. "For the last time."
"Fine..." Ruby said slowly as she held her sniper in hand, eyes ticking along as her ears wiggled around to her footsteps, making her way into the next room.
"That girl..." Weiss muttered as she sighed loudly, Saturn raising an eyebrow at the Schnee.
"You are exactly like your father." Saturn noted, Weiss looking up to him.
"What?" She questioned.
"He never knew why he loved your mother, from what I know, yet they just "clicked."" The former crime lord said with a small smile. "Then again, as a trained assassin, I'm not the best relationship advice giver."
"Thanks... Helps a lot." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.
"Perhaps get a dog?"
"I'm just going to ignore that one." Weiss noted as she followed Ruby into the next room, which was a long dark hallway with a small light at the end.
"Huh." Weiss muttered as Ruby waved from down the hall.
"This way!" The girl chirped happily, taking one step forward to the light.
Ruby suddenly was pinned into the ground by several arrows, the arrow heads speared through her and holding her firm. Had she been human, she would clearly have been dead, but luckily for her she wasn't any longer.
"Oh great... The Archer Twins..." Saturn grumbled as if he had experience with them before, Ruby weakly getting up, golden blood oozing from her as Weiss watched blankly.
"I'm okay!" The Faunus chirped as several more arrows lodged themselves in her back and neck, falling over in the process.
Weiss should have been running to her aid, as a loving girlfriend and teammate should. Yet she was currently frozen in place by sheer stupidity, blood dripping from her nose as Saturn dabbed it with a tissue for her.
"Can we please go one hour without an aneurysm?" Saturn asked the teen, sighing. "Seriously, you can only lose so much blood."
Ruby crawled on the floor for a moment before an arrow caught her head, killing her...
Ruby popped up behind Weiss, perfectly fine, rubbing her head.
"That didn't work out." The girl noted as she ran down the hall again before Saturn could stop her, only for the same thing to happen.
"Ruby?" Saturn asked as she popped up alive behind them.
"Yes?" Ruby said slowly.
"Please stop dying every few minutes." Saturn asked with a hopeful look.
"Kay!" Ruby said happily, Weiss sighing as she pulled up a massive black glyph, walking down the hall as the arrows dinged harmlessly off the magical barrier, Saturn and Ruby following closely behind.
The hallway ended into a large open room with a pair of White Fang soldiers, wielding twin bows with black quivers on their backs, arrows notched and ready for fire as Weiss held the glyph firm.
Saturn pulled out his four pens, one in each hand as his snakes morphed to pluck two up. Ruby held her scythe at the ready.
"Surrender now." The duo said as one, their bows at the ready, prepared to take down the intruders that threaten their master.
"You all ready?" Weiss asked as she prepared to drop the barrier.
Saturn smiled vilely.
"En garde."