Sun could hear a noise. It was faint, but it sounded like… a scream? a horn? Maybe not a horn, but it was definitely something he heard a car make. An alarm! He heard an alarm. He then felt like he was bouncing, but he was not moving his legs. Then came the feeling on his face; like his cheek was resting on… hair! It took him a long a painful moment to finally open his eyes to then see metal walls and beams passing by. He then noticed the hair; black and long with a delightful floral smell indicating that whoever was carrying him took special care of it. A quick glance through his memories led him to believe that Blake must be the one carrying him then. He was still tired and not fully operational though, so he just managed to say a few quick words before tiredness took over him once again. "Mmmm, Blake. You have such perfect hair…". Sun then took a deep whiff and slowly went back to sleep.
"Don't worry. No one will speak of this, I swear!" Neptune assured a now slightly traumatized Ren. While running for their lives and carrying Sun, Ren never expected that to happen.
"Sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry" he also heard Blake say to him.
Their escape seemed to be going great so far. Ren, Blake, Neptune, Ruby, and Ermac ran and hid when necessary. Whenever they saw a Seidan Guard heading their way, Ermac then used his powers to violently push them away and most likely cause a brain trauma or a broken bone in the process. Every other huntsman in training had their weapons in gun mode except for Ren; even though his weapons were guns by default, someone with a better physical state was better to carry Sun around and if any of the guards got close, a melee weapon was easily more accessible by the others.
After Ermac seemed to have broken the neck of one of the guards by making him crash against the roof, they finally reached the door connecting to the central room with the giant liquid container; but once they were out, they now saw a group of at least ten Seidan Guards pointing their naginatas at the infiltrators while the door behind them closed and was secured with a stronger and heavier door.
One of the guards, wearing a strange-looking yellow mask, then stepped forward. "Halt, intruders! You are hereby detained by the Orderrealm's Seidan Guard in correspondence to infiltration laws and-".
"When we tell you, try to get as close to our back as possible" Ermac whispered to the others. He then used his telekinesis to pick up his folded ax and threw it towards the speaking guard.
"-being as you are not- WOAH! What the-". The man yelled in surprise and everyone was distracted for a few seconds. Time enough for Ermac to then make a makeshift wall with crates, chairs, and every easy to pick up things he could find. "Intruders are resisting arrest! All personnel is now allowed to use deadly force as they see-" the guard started to say, but was unable to finish when Ermac's ax returned, fully deployed, and sliced his head in half. The body then fell on its knees and with a loud thud on its chest while blood began to come from the sliced head.
Ruby and the others were shocked to see the gruesome display, but they were more appalled by the reaction from their enemies. "It's Shao Kahn's monster! Get the bombardiers in here!".
Not liking the sound of that, Neptune quickly turned towards Ermac. "What are bombardiers?".
To everyone's surprise, Ermac looked just as alarmed as they were. "We do not know" he answered.
Soon after, parts of their barricade began to be blown away at the sides by quick golden energy shots. A quick glance through some of the remaining holes allowed Blake to see that the original guardsmen who held them were now replaced by men with more technological suits carrying a minigun that with a heavy metallic cord connecting the back of the weapon to the back of their users' helmets.
The guardsmen kept on firing and Ermac tried to keep the barricade from falling. Ruby then attempted to go and fight them but was stopped by Ermac. "Do not even think about it!" he screamed.
"If we don't do something now, they will-" she tried to reason but was interrupted by a new set of shots coming from the upper floors. Thankfully, Ermac was quick to react and created a cover on top of them.
"These are not dropouts who went on to become henchmen; Seidan Guards are capable warriors on their own!" he told all present while trying to hold the barrier. "We are currently unable to use our powers for reasons other than defense. We must hold our ground until Scorpion and Sub Zero are back!".
Ren then decided to stop trying to go against the current. "What do you need us to do?".
Ermac considered the options and came up with a strategy. "They must be firing from afar. Answer fire and do not try to fight them unless they breach our defenses!". Without any further resistance, Blake, Neptune, Ren, and Ruby turned their weapons to gun mode and waited for Ermac to open random spots on his barricade for their dust-bullets to go through. After a while, Ermac closed the holes they were using and opened new ones to keep the bombardiers guessing where to shoot.
Their strategy went like that for a couple of minutes before the guards began to gain ground and the random objects were starting to become unusable. Unexpectedly, two guards wearing normal armors emerged from the closed door. They then charged at Ermac but were blocked by a swipe from Ruby. "I'll hold them, you keep shooting!".
Ruby tried once again to slash through their attacks, but the men were prepared and rolled out of the way, got behind her, and kicked her to the ground. One guard was ready to stab her, but she rolled out of the way. The other guardsman went to stab Ermac but was stopped when Neptune locked his naginata with Tri-hard on its Kuan Dao form.
Both Ruby and Neptune hacked and slashed at their opponents, but they were fast and disciplined; if they were not evading their attacks, they were successfully blocking them. The men then attacked by sticking the blades of their naginatas in the ground, using them as a jumping pole to deliver kicks on the teens and then a powerful slash that was absorbed by the huntsmen's aura.
Once Neptune and Ruby fell on the ground, the guardsmen tried to impale their naginatas through their chests. Neptune was faster and turned Tri-hard its trident form to then clash and tangle it with the naginata, electrocuting his adversary in the process. Ruby used her semblance to get behind the other man and they clashed weapons as well. So distracted were the guardsmen that they noticed Ermac using his telekinesis on them once they were already floating. The red ninja then threw them, and both Blake and Ren saw them falling into stalagmites.
Once they were gone. Ruby and Neptune remained behind Ermac to then shoot at opponents on the upper floors; and while they managed to hold their ground for a moment, they were then terrified when they saw two giant Seidan Guards emerging from the main doors. One wearing a helmet with a giant spike-like horn and carrying a mace with spikes that resembled said horn while the other man had a helmet with a horn that resembled a canon and carried a mixture of a rocket launcher with a minigun.
As both got closer to the makeshift wall, all four teens noticed that their shots were bouncing off their armor. With each step, their worries grew, and a question kept being repeated. 'Where are Scorpion and Sub Zero?'.
BOOM!
And Scorpion had just managed to dodge another bomb coming from a new yellow Triborg who kept his distance while Scorpion fought the red Triborg and Sub Zero the blue one.
"If he is called triborg, why does he have four modes!?" Scorpion yelled at his companion who had two ice-swords locked with a giant ice blade that the blue robot made.
"Last time I fought him there were only three models!" Sub Zero managed to yell back as the yellow robot disappeared and a gray one formed behind him to then grab Sub Zero's hands and hold them behind his back. Just as the blue Triborg was making an ice ball with spikes, Sub Zero managed to create a dagger which he then used to stab the gray robot, distracting him and allowing Sub Zero to then throw the gray robot towards the blue one. The gray Triborg then disappeared and the blue one charged towards Sub Zero who dodged the slam from the ball, jumped and roundhouse kicked the blue Triborg in the back. "This blue one must be a model based on the cybernetic augmentations they didn't use on me!".
During that fight, the red Triborg used flamethrowers on Scorpion which he in return absorbed with his own hellish fire. Scorpion then noticed the other robot reappearing behind Sub Zero. Scorpion rolled away from the flames and then yelled at his partner. "Gray one! Behind you!".
Sub Zero managed to turn around as the gray Triborg launched four spears attached to elastics from his chest. Sub Zero blocked but the spears got stuck on his arms. There was a lot of pain, but he didn't have time to think about it as Triborg then pulled Sub Zero towards him, disappeared, and allowed the yellow Triborg to use the rockets on his feet to fly towards Sub Zero with his fists extended, delivering a blow on the blue ninja's face.
Sub Zero then fell to the ground while Triborg kept on flying, doing a loop and heading towards Sub Zero with his hands now in buzz-saw mode; but just as the robot was about to cut Sub Zero in half, the blue ninja opened his eyes, rolled over and got on his knees. When the saws clashed against the floor, he then froze the ground and Triborg's hands with it. Sub Zero then delivered a straight kick with such strength that Triborg's head came off from its body, but Sub Zero knew about Sektor's tricks; so he then created ice axes that he then used to chop off the yellow Triborg's arms.
The blue Triborg then jumped in the air and fired ice bombs that froze Sub Zero in place as the gray Triborg re-emerged with a harpoon in hand.
Scorpion was trying to hit the red Triborg with his swords, but all his blows were being blocked by the robot. Once he saw Sub Zero about to be stabbed, he pushed his opponent away, grabbed his spear, and threw it towards the gray robot. Knowing the red Triborg would try something, he then pulled while yelling "Come here!". But instead of hitting the robot, he disappeared and allowed the body to keep flying towards his red companion, making them crash and momentarily leaving them out of commission.
The blue Triborg, however, wasted no time in trying to kill Sub Zero once his gray counterpart failed. He created the giant sword once again to try and slash Sub Zero, but his blow was blocked when the blue ninja managed to free his right arm and then made a sword for himself that blocked the incoming attack mere inches from his forehead.
The struggle was broken when Scorpion materialized behind the blue Triborg and then stabbed the robot with one of his swords on the back of the head. Once the point of the swords emerged from the robot's forehead, the machine seemed to become still, it fell to the ground once Scorpion used his other sword to decapitate the blue Triborg.
With another of their opponents defeated, Sub Zero broke out of his prison. "Thank you, Scorpion," he told the other man.
"Gratitude later…" Scorpion said as he assumed a fighting stance against the two remaining versions of Triborg. "With only two left, this should be easy".
As soon as Scorpion finished, portals appeared on the ground, and from them emerged regular Tekunin drones that quickly cornered the other two ninjas.
"A diversion?" Sub Zero asked with a sarcastic voice.
"A diversion…" confirmed Scorpion.
The first line of robots wasted no time in switching their arms into flamethrowers and shooting at Sub Zero and Scorpion. Both ninjas used their abilities to counteract the flames, but soon more robots joined and started to gain ground against the grandmasters.
"Any ideas!?" asked Sub Zero.
Scorpion looked around and then noticed the frosted glass windows behind him. "Do you trust me!?" he asked back.
A little annoyed by that question, Sub Zero then decided to answer. "For the love of… YES!".
"Then make a wall!".
That made little sense for Sub Zero, the robots would melt through it in seconds. None the less, he did as the other asked. Sub Zero stopped blocking the fire and allowed Scorpion to take the heat full force for a moment as he created a ball which he then smashed on the ground to create a barrier as a result. The robots were starting to melt their capsule, but before Sub Zero could ask what Scorpion's idea was, the yellow ninja grabbed him with one hand, took out his spear with the other, and threw it at the glass; shattering it in the process and allowing both ninjas to fall into the third level of the connection room.
The makeshift wall did not last against more than two shots from the giant Seidan Gunner. Thankfully, the blast had only managed to push Ermac and the others back against the wall with all, but Sun, remaining conscious.
The teens got to their feet and heard all the guns being loaded. They then looked around and saw how every guard was pointing their guns in their direction.
"Intruders contained! What now, lieutenants?" they heard a guard on the background say.
"No prisoners!" they heard a voice say, most likely coming from one of the giant Seidan Guards.
As Ruby and the others prepared for what would be their final seconds, every single being was then distracted by a crashing noise coming from the Tekunin side of the complex. It didn't take long for everyone to then see the blue and yellow ninjas falling on the platforms of the third level; but before any of the guardsmen could react, Ermac used his powers to levitate pieces of metal. "Scram! I'll guard Sun" he ordered the other four teens as he then launched the metal pieces towards the distracted guardsmen, cutting, impaling, and smashing bones as a result.
The quick screams of pain took the other guardsmen out of their distraction and they were now looking at where the other teens had gone to. "Find them!" one of the lieutenants ordered. The one with the rocket launcher then proceeded to fire against Sub Zero and Scorpion.
Ruby had used her semblance to get to the upper floors where she managed to chop the guns from two of her attackers before knocking them into the second level. When two guards with naginatas went on to attack her, she took her time to deflect their blows, gain some distance, and then shoot at them, leaving her opponents unconscious.
Blake had managed to throw a barrel of waste towards three gunmen. After taking care of the barrel, they then found her again and shot at her. To their dismay, that Blake disappeared and two of them were taken down by the girl when she tied the neck of one of them with her bow and knocked another unconscious with a kick that made the guy crash against a wall. The last guard, however, secured his gun on his back and managed to deliver a roundhouse kick on Blake's face. That made her release the other guy who fell on the ground gasping for air while her attacker's gloves began to produce electricity. He would have pummeled and shocked her to death had Ren not acquired a secure hiding place on an upper level from which he was keeping guard on everyone.
Neptune seemed to be able to hold his ground against two guards as well. Tri-hard was in Kuan Dao mode and he managed to block, evade, and slash his opponents away. Unfortunately, the guards seemed able to absorb the electric shocks, so he depended more on the strength of his physical attacks. He managed to block two vertical slashes from his rivals and saw how a third was getting ready to shoot at him point-blank. Thankfully, the man was suddenly surrounded by a green light and sent flying to the other side of the room. He pushed the guards away and thanked Ermac who was standing close to Sun with his axe in hand.
Three normal guards arrived to fight Ermac. He looked up towards Ren, but the boy was distracted with gunmen getting close to him. The three guards then charged towards Ermac and he slashed horizontally just as a naginata was about to stab him. He used that momentum to also deliver a kick on the guard's head which sent the guy to the ground. Before the attacks from the others could also connect, he used a quick energy push that sent one of the guards back and into the ground. The other managed to block it and smashed his knee against Ermac's belly and hitting the back of the red ninja's head with his elbow. Ermac went back a few feet and the guard waited for what he would do next; that was a mistake since Ermac then used his power to make the guard levitate.
Before Ermac could do anything, however, he saw the first guard heading towards Sun and getting ready to stab the blond faunus. Ermac then dropped the floating guard and with all his strength, delivered a vertical chop that slashed through the guy's head, making some blood splash into Sun, waking him up. Sun managed to focus on the sliced head and the axe in front of him. When the weapon was taken out, the body fell to the ground and Sun fainted once again.
Ruby had managed to take care of her immediate foes and noticed that Neptune was closer to her and almost done with his set of Seidan Guards. She then heard more explosions and saw Scorpion fighting the lieutenant with the giant mace while Sub Zero fought the one with the canon.
Once Neptune with done with the second-to-last opponent, Ruby rammed against the least one and sent him through a hole in the ground. "Thanks!" Neptune told her.
Ruby didn't answer but instead looked at Sub Zero and Scorpion. "Feel up to the challenge?" she asked before cocking Crescent Rose.
Neptune didn't like the idea of fighting those two behemoths, but he had a duty above all. He switched Tri-hard into gun mode and cocked it as well. "You go help Sub Zero, I'll help Scorpion!". She then nodded and they both made their way.
'Damn Sektor and his mechanical enhancements!' Scorpion cursed in his mind. Not only was his opponent a capable and fast warrior despite his size. His armor was also thick, and the material seemed to absorb most of his fire attacks. The man behind the suit was also well trained, managing to block some of the slashes from his swords with that giant mace of his and giving Scorpion a small window of reaction.
"If you surrender now Earthrealmer, your life sentence will- AHH!" the Lieutenant began to say but was stopped by a strong dust bullet that he then saw came from Ruby and her scythe in one of its gun modes. "Why you little!" the man yelled as he was ready to smash Ruby with his club. He was stopped, however, when he felt a clank on the back of his head and then a force pulling him. It didn't make him fall, but he was then able to see a trail of fire from below that materialized into Scorpion once it was next to Ruby. Scorpion then pulled the chain again and the lieutenant fell on his back.
The girl was ready to celebrate, but Scorpion had another thing in mind. "Why did you come here!?" he asked her.
While she expected a 'thank you' from Scorpion, she answered his question. "You and Kua- I mean, Sub Zero seemed to be in trouble; so, Ne- Typhoon and I decided to come and help!".
"Typhoon?". Shortly after Scorpion wondered where the blue-haired boy was, they heard an explosion coming from the upper floors.
"STOP BLOWING MY MISSILES YOU WORM!" they heard the second lieutenant yell.
Sub Zero, while also enraged by the fact that the Neptune ran into battle against his opponent, was now glad that the teen seemed to be helping. Sub Zero's problem was that his adversary shot faster than he could ever run, and without being able to use martial arts and the other man's armor able to absorb the elemental properties of ice, the match was not in his favor. Neptune's arrival helped him by the boy being able to shoot at the incoming projectiles and distracting the guardsman while Sub Zero got closer. If the other man saw Sub Zero, then Neptune would be the one running towards him.
Seeing Neptune and Sub Zero's strategy from bellow, an idea popped in Ruby's head. Scorpion was ready to try and keep on fighting their lieutenant while he was down but was stopped by the girl. This annoyed him at first, but when she explained her plan, he was on board. As she was done explaining, their rival got up and was ready to smash them until Ruby got away with her semblance, and Scorpion teleported to the upper floor.
The guardsman was ready to follow, but shooting from behind him made him face the opposite way. Surely enough, once he turned around, he was now looking at Ruby and her scythe in shotgun mode. "If you really want to, I'll take care of you first then, punk!" he threatened before pressing a button and splitting his club in two. Worse of all, his armor seemed to be equipped with propellers that helped him move closer towards Ruby before she could get a clear shot.
Luckily, her idea did not involve her taking the behemoth down all by herself. She just needed him to be distracted while Scorpion did his part.
The fight on the upper floors seemed to be going on as usual. The only difference was that Scorpion managed to explain Ruby's plan to both Neptune and Sub Zero. His presence, however, had been noticed by the gunner, sure; but that was not a problem for their plan's execution.
Scorpion then teleported behind the lieutenant and was ready to use his swords to cut his neck. The guardsman, however, felt his presence and immediately turned around, grabbed Scorpion by the neck, slammed him against the floor, and then placed the mouth of the barrel against his face. The lieutenant, however, was not expecting a direct hit from Neptune with Tri-hard on his back. Electric shocks came from the trident, but it did nothing to stop the seidan's onslaught. With his free hand, he then grabbed Neptune by the face and picked him up in the air. "Stupid child! Didn't you see my armor absorbs electricity?".
"I did…" Neptune answered. "But that is not what I was looking for…".
Confused he then felt how something crashed against his back; and where Neptune had made a deep cut in the armor, he now felt something else inside. "The outside might be able to absorb elemental powers". He heard a third voice say. "But I bet the inside is different!". From what little he could turn his head; he was now able to see Sub Zero. Shortly after, he felt the inside of his armor freezing. He then dropped Neptune and slammed his gun against the blue ninja, sending him back a few feet. But the lieutenant was now distracted enough for Scorpion to escape.
The guardsman noticed and aimed to shoot at Scorpion, but Neptune then stabbed him again with his trident which this time managed to electrocute its target. It was not enough to kill him or knock him out, but it was enough to bring the lieutenant to his knees and drop the weapon.
Sub Zero then grabbed the gun and aimed at the lower floor where Ruby was on her back. The lieutenant with the club had managed to hit her one too many times and her aura was almost depleted. The man then combined his clubs into one again and was ready to deliver the final blow. Ruby prayed to any deity at that moment that the others had managed to secure the other man's gun, and sure enough, when the club was as high as it could get, she saw countless shots going through the lieutenant's body. That made him lose his grip on the club and it was the signal for Scorpion to jump down and throw his two spears into the club. He then spun around at high speed, propelling the club towards himself.
Before the club made contact, however, Scorpion teleported, and the club continued its trajectory to the upper floor. While that happened, the other lieutenant took his mask off and took deep breaths of air. Neptune then noticed his very feminine features with shoulder-length blonde hair and pale skin. That sight lasted mere seconds as the guy noticed the club heading his way. "Huh?" was all he managed to express as the club crashed against his head and pushed him towards the wall. In the end, the force of the club was enough to even dent the wall and the lieutenant's head got smashed with some of the skull chunks and blood now covering Neptune.
The boy was in shock. He had seen blood and disgusting wounds, of course; but never the level of brutality that was just displayed. He returned to the real world when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and then saw Sub Zero. After a moment he was now able to listen again. "… -phoon! Typhoon! Are you ok!?".
Neptune jumped back and slapped the other man's hand away. "What… Why… Why did you do that to him!?" Neptune screamed while pointing at the now headless blood fountain.
Sub Zero, on his end, seemed to find the lack of gratefulness insulting. "It was either him or us!" he told the teen. He then took a deep breath and continued. "We do what we must to protect our world. I will not say it's easy; I know that many cannot go through with it. I am no huntsman like you are, but even I know that the choice of taking a life will be somewhere down your path" he said before running towards the stairs. Neptune was left cold. He hated to admit it, but Sub Zero was right; maybe not today, not tomorrow, this month, or this year, but sooner or later he too would need to take a life. "Typhoon! We are needed now!" he heard Sub Zero scream at him. For the moment, Neptune decided that his guilt would come later, they still had a mission to complete.
Ruby panted for a long time after the lieutenant fell on the floor. She expected him to use aura to absorb some of the damage but felt horrified when blood began to flow out of some of the bullet holes. Worse of all was that half of his mask was broken and she saw the face of a much older man with spiky dark-gray hair, pale skin, a slight stubble beard, covered with scars throughout his face and with bright green eyes. At first glance, Ruby thought it might have been her uncle Qrow, but she relaxed when she noticed the physical differences.
"Ru-! Thorn!" She heard the voice of Neptune calling her. She looked at the stairs and saw both Neptune and Sub Zero. She then heard more gunfire happening on the other side and decided to join the others before going to help; but just as she stood up, a hand grabbed her by the leg and took her down. Ruby managed to turn and lay on her elbows, but the lieutenant then got on top of her and began to strangle her; and just as she heard Neptune and Sub Zero running to help her, her face was covered by blood due to Scorpion's spear going through the seidan's forehead. Almost instantly, the spear was pulled back and the head was ripped off from the man's body.
Ruby remained still until she saw Scorpion kneeling in front of her, removing the body and offering his hand to help her get up. She took it and got on her feet as the others arrived.
"Ru… Thorn! Are you ok!?" Neptune asked her.
It took her a few seconds, but the words finally came out of her mouth. "… Yes… Yes…".
They all then looked towards the others still fighting at the other side of the room. "Let's go!" Scorpion ordered and they all went towards the stairs again.
Neptune and Ruby remained behind the other ninjas and he used that moment to talk to Ruby who still looked shaken. "I know how you feel. But keep it together until we are out of here, ok?".
She wanted to say many things, but she also understood there would be time for it later. "Ok".
The fight against the other Seidan Guards seemed to be in a stalemate. While Blake and Ren were able to take down some guards, they were only being disposed of by Ermac when they got too close to Sun. The fight went on until some of the guards stopped to listen to a message in their helmets. After a while, they then began to yell "Fallback! The Lieutenants are down, the lieutenants are down! The Purge Protocol has been activated!".
The ninjas, Ruby and Neptune arrived a short time after every guardsman stopped shooting and began to leave the room. Surprised, all seven invaders got to where Sun's sleeping body was.
"What is going on!?" Ren asked the ninjas.
Soon after, an alarm was activated and a female automatic voice began to speak.
'Attention all personnel: Purge protocol has been activated. I repeat: Purge Protocol has been activated!'.
As the last of the Seidan Guards left, every door was then immediately shut and secured with two more sets of locked doors.
"What is the Purge Protocol?" asked Blake with rising concern. Unfortunately, none of the ninjas answered immediately.
"This is the first time we've ever heard of such protocol," Scorpion said after long consideration.
The alarm kept going while all the invaders went silent. Ruby was then able to hear a swishing sound. She looked up and found the source of it. "Look!" she told everyone while pointing at the vents opening.
A thick pink smoke then began to cascade from the vents and Sub Zero wasted no time in giving out orders again. "Everyone: get close to me!" he yelled, and they all complied. Sub Zero then made an ice ball with his hands which he then smashed on the floor to make an ice dome as big as a room while the pink smoke began to surround them.
Neptune looked at the gas accumulating and quickly turned around to face Scorpion. "What… is that?" he asked while pointing outside.
"If I had to guess, the Purge Protocol consists of poisoning all living beings".
"But we are safe here. Right?" asked a concerned Ruby.
"For as long as we have air" answered Sub Zero.
Neptune gulped and followed up with another question. "How much time do we have?".
Sub Zero then stroked his chin for a moment before answering. "Roughly; I'd say-" he began to explain before they heard booming noises coming from the Tekunin side of the complex. They all then saw as the remaining bodies of Triborg materialized along with a squad of cyber ninjas behind them who then began to march towards the dome as their hands changed into light-swords, buzz-saws, or flame-throwers. "Not much time!" Sub Zero finally said.
"Everyone, stay still!" Ermac then ordered. "The last thing we need is for our air supply to run out faster. Look around for anything that could help us".
They all did as Ermac ordered and quickly realized some good things. "Heavy pieces of metal fell during the fight with the Seidan Guards!" Blake pointed out.
"The gas has stopped falling!" Ren then said.
"The third floor seems to be clean!" finally stated Scorpion.
"Think you could use your powers to take care of the robots?" Neptune asked Ermac.
"No" the red ninjas stated. "It'll take a lot of concentration to move one of those pieces. They are also cyber-ninjas; I may take care of some, but others will be moving out of the way faster than I'll be able to hit them".
"It will also take them less effort to break the barrier" pointed out Sub Zero. "Could any of your semblances work here?".
They all shook their heads, but Ermac then remembered the giant liquid container in the middle of the room. "What about you Typhoon. Doesn't your semblance allow you to control water?".
Everyone then looked at Neptune with hope in their eyes, but he just looked at them with panic. "Well… I mean… yes, but… I can't!".
"This is a life or death situation. Ne- Typhoon! Why not!?" Blake asked.
"It's not like I can actually control it!".
"WHY NOT!?" Ruby asked with rising anger as the robots were now a few feet away.
"I know about my semblance, yes! But I am also hydrophobic! I only learned how to keep water away from me, ok!?".
"That works for us!" Everyone heard Ermac say as he used his telekinesis to pick up a fallen pipeline.
The Triborgs and their minions saw the pipe and assumed defensive positions. The tube began to spin in the air, and they were expecting the piece of metal to be shot at them; they were not expecting it to fly towards the cooling tube. The pipe broke the glass and even got stuck in it for a moment before the glass began to break even more and then all the liquid got out and washed all the robots away with a giant wave. There was no celebration, however, as the wave got closer to the dome. All the huntsmen in training yelled while the ninjas grabbed them and placed them close to Neptune.
After the shattering sound of the wave crashing against the dome was heard by all, the teenagers were surprised when nothing seemed to have slammed against them. All seven people opened their eyes and saw as they were still completely dry and inside what could be described as a bubble while some robots floated around them not moving.
"We… are ok…?" asked Ren with genuine surprise. They all then looked at Neptune who was holding his arms up and it seemed as if he was pushing the water away.
"Seems your plan worked, Ermac" Sub Zero said while also sounding relieved. Scorpion also let out a long sigh, surprised the plan worked.
Before Ermac could say anything, Neptune began to scream his way. "DON'T you ever do THAT again! DO YOU HEAR ME!?".
Wasting no time, Neptune began to move towards the stairs. As they did, Sub Zero began to explain their escape plan. "We came in through the third level. Once we are there, hold your breath until we reach the hall from where we came in. Scorpions tell 'him' to have a portal open where we discussed!".
It took them a few minutes, but they finally reached the upper floors as the air was beginning to run short. They wasted no time, however, and ran towards the tunnel that led to the cliff.
As they reached it, Neptune was the last to go in. That allowed one of the remaining robots to propel itself out of the liquid and slam Neptune against the ground and to take his mask off. Just as Sub Zero came back to help him, Neptune then grabbed Tri-hard and turned into its Kuan Dao form to then stab the robot though the chin, making the blade pop out from the top of its head; effectively disposing of the robot.
When the blue-haired teen did not remove the body, Sub Zero went to help him. "Are you ok?" the ninja asked. "Did he hurt-".
"They are alive…" Neptune whispered. He looked at Sub Zero's eyes, but the ninja just let out a sigh. "You said they were just robots, but they are not just that!" he said a little louder.
"This is why we didn't want you here, to begin with!" Sub Zero then said with a commanding voice. "This is not the time for us to explain! We need to get out now!". As he finished, they then saw two arms, a red and a blue one, emerging from the liquid. "We have to go now!". Without further reproach, Neptune grabbed and put on the mask again before following the others.
Once they all got out on the stone platform again, Sub Zero then went on to grab Sun's neck device. "What are you doing!?" Blake asked him with panic. She then ran to take Sub Zero away from Sun but was stopped by Scorpion who held her.
"Do not worry, he knows what he is doing!" Scorpion told her.
They all then saw as he froze some specific parts of the collar; and in no time at all, the device came off. The celebratory cheering stopped, however, when the sound of footsteps grew closer. "Open the door!" Sub Zero ordered, and Ruby complied. He then threw the device in, Ruby closed the door and then saw as Sub Zero froze it with a giant wall of ice. "Everyone: jump!" he said as all three ninjas ran towards the cliff.
"You are joking right?" Ren asked skeptically.
"In case you haven't noticed that thing is going to blow up!" Scorpion yelled while standing at the border of the cliff. The huntsmen in training looked back and then forward, not sure what to do. "Trust us!" Scorpion screamed; not angry, not commanding, not even annoyed, but with concern. They all then decided to trust them and ran off the cliff.
Just as they jumped, Scorpion went after them; and a loud explosion and a bright light were noticeable. They fell at a high speed, screaming all the way but still being able to hear Scorpion say "Now!". A blue portal materialized just above the pointy rocks at the bottom and took them to the bathroom at Beacon once they went through it. They flew in the air for a short while, but then gravity worked again and took them down to the tile floor.
All four students then panted for a long time before reality kicked in. "We… we are… back?" Neptune asked in disbelief and taking his mask off.
Ruby then sat and looked around. "We are… We are!" she said excitedly as she and the other two also removed their masks. Their celebration was cut short, however, when they saw the unconscious Sun being carried by Ermac. They ran to help their friend and grew concerned when they noticed the blond boy had not woken up at any point after the fight.
"He will live. Do not worry" Ermac told them. "He must have received another dose by the collar before we left. Give him a few hours and he will wake up".
After Ermac was done explaining, Sub Zero and Scorpion removed their masks and addressed them all. "Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, Blake Belladonna, and Neptune Vasillas. While tonight did not go as we expected, we are grateful for your assistance; and despite what you may think, we are glad your friend is safe". All ninjas then placed their left fist against their right palm and then bowed.
It was Scorpion who then continued. "We should leave now; it must be already past midnight. We will take you to your rooms to rest" he said as Ermac opened the door.
Ruby, Blake, Ren, and Neptune, carrying the unconscious Sun, then left, but Neptune was then stopped by Sub Zero. "We need to talk; it won't take long".
Everyone heard that; but rather than questioning, they just looked at Neptune and Ren offered to carry Sun out of the bathroom.
Once Kuai Liang and Neptune were alone, the first began to talk. "I know that what you all saw, and especially what you had to do, was not something you were ready for. I don't know what you might be thinking of us right now, but rest assured that we mean you no harm".
Neptune had not said anything. But when he had used his weapon to kill the robot, the cut had made a part of the metal shell covering the face fall off and he saw the cloudy green eye of another human or faunus woman almost crying. "Killing her was bad… but…" he began to explain.
"Go on" Kuai Liang encouraged.
"She… she said something…" Neptune admitted. Kuai Liang said nothing as he waited for the rest. "She… thanked me… Why?".
Kuai Liang took a deep breath before speaking again. "I can't offer you a clear answer. But I know of someone who can" he told Neptune as he placed a hand over the teen's shoulder. "Not only that; the time has come for all of you to know the truth". That made Neptune look at him with eyes wide open as Kuai Liang began to walk out of the bathroom. "Tell all of them to meet us at the library during breakfast. We will tell you all we can. You've earned it".
With that, both Neptune and Kuai Liang left the bathroom and gathered with the others. "Everything ok Neptune?" Blake asked.
"Yes," he answered with a small smile before they began to move through the now dark corridors.