A short chapter this week, but I've been busy. Thank my betareaders for helping me out as usual! Read and Review!
The scene may not exactly follow cannon breach, but I needed it to be a little more epic.
They landed on top of a building just in time to see the wall explode. Jaune looked around to see Raven had disappeared. He shrugged and looked down to see innocent civilians standing there, watching the hole in shock. The sun was already rising up to the sky. It was just past dawn. They had been up all night dealing with the White Fang. Soon, Grimm started spilling in. An alarm started to ring in the city.
"MOVE!" shouted Jaune. Everyone quickly obeyed, but Jaune stayed behind. The others didn't question why he stayed behind but accepted it as some sort of so many civilians, there would be no way to save them all. Not unless he used his links in public, and not just Fafnir. Getting a good idea what to do, he quickly ran into a building to switch off some clothes. After grabbing some clothes, he found a safe place and began to meditate.
Back at Beacon, Cinder was walking with her pawns when she heard the alarm from the city. Beacon soon also sounded the same alarm. It was a wall breach, calling for all Huntsmen and Huntresses to come help.
"You don't think...," said Emerald slowly.
"Sure looks like it," commented Mercury.
"That's still days away!" shouted Emerald. Mercury shrugged before looking to Cinder, "So? What do we do?"
Cinder seemed to be thinking hard on what to do, and how to adjust the plan.
Team RWBY and NPR were busy fighting and trying to save as many civilians as possible. It wasn't easy as Beowolves, Ursa, and other giant Grimm were spilling from the hole. Some of the civilians were hurt, some even killed before their eyes. They desperately tried to save those injured. They never felt so helpless. Yang was punching cars as projectiles for massive damage to both Grimm and the word collateral.
"Where are you, Jaune?" muttered Pyrrha as she stabbed a Grimm creeper.
Ruby, Weiss, and Ren were busy trying to shoot Grimm Nevermores from the skies.
They were suddenly backed up by team SSSN, who charged in. They had been called by Jaune, telling them where to go. Later on, team BYDD obnoxiously declared they were here to help. Boyd pointed to Ren, saying that if he got more kills, Ren would apologize to him. Ren ignored him as he slashed at an Ursa.
Soon, even more reinforcements came in, supplied by Ironwood. The Atlesian Knights-200 helped in suppressing, but soon, any White Fang grunts that had survived came into the fight, trying to kill as many civilians as they could. Even the stolen Paladin units came into play, wrecking havoc on the knights.
Cinder had arrived with her team before nodding to them, telling them to fight the Grimm so they could keep their cover. Mercury grinned as he kicked an Ursa down. Emerald took out her pistols and started firing at the group of Ursa. Suddenly, an Alpha Ursa came charging in. Emerald wasn't worried as her pistols changed into sickle blades. She slashed at the Alpha before extending the chains inside her weapon, wielding them like kusarigama weapons. She spun around a few times, slashing the Alpha Ursa twice. The Ursa tried one last effort, but Emerald jumped above it while spinning, letting her weapon slash into Ursa, slaying it.
However, holes were popping out from underground, spilling even more Grimm. Everyone was busy trying to kill them all, but there were still civilians who were in danger. Oobleck crawled out one of the holes while operating a Paladin, and team CFVY arrived with Professor Port to help out. Yatsuhashi slammed his blade down, driving a dozen Grimm away with his powerful slash. Velvet was kicking Grimm away, while Fox began to slash at an Ursa Major before punching it on the head, sending it flying. Once it landed within a group of Grimm, it suddenly swelled up before exploding, sending its spikes into other Grimm and killing them. Quite a few flew towards them, but Yatsuhashi blocked some that was coming to Velvet while Coco merely swung her handbag at the spikes. She complimented Fox, slapping his butt before walking forward to a Beowolf.
"You destroyed my favorite shop," commented Coco before spitting at the ground, "Prepare to die."
The Beowolf roared and tried to slash at her, only for Coco to block it with a swing of her handbag before kicking the Beowolf right in the groin, causing it to fall down. She stared at the impudent Beowolf before bringing her handbag down onto its head, crushing its skull. A few more tried to attack her, but Coco handled them easily before dodging the stinger of a Death Stalker. As Velvet was about to help out, her hands on the clasps of the box she was carrying, Coco stopped her, saying it wasn't worth using it here. She transformed her hand purse into a gatling gun fired.
As Coco was busy using her gatling gun to mow down as many Grimm as she could, Alpha versions of the Grimm, ranging from Beowolves, King Taijuta, and others, started to spill out from the initial hole.
"Oh crap," said Sun, noticing the Alpha breeds arriving. They were all tired from fighting already, and team RWBY and NPR were very tired from the lack of sleep and continuous fighting. They were falling back, further from the hole. They were slowly being overwhelmed. Glynda arrived, already blasting Grimm, saving as many civilians, and plugging holes in the ground. She was too busy to deal with the arrival of the Alphas.
The Alphas roared and were about to charge in when they all suddenly stopped.
A Faunus mother was protecting her child from being killed by a Beowolf when it stopped. All Grimm all around had stopped moving. Everyone was looking around in surprise when they saw something up in the sky.
For the innocent, Huntsmen and Huntresses, it was hope. As if descending from the heavens above, was a man with white feathery wings. An angel from the above to help them.
For the Grimm, they could sense that it was the Dragons. The true rulers of Remnant. The ones that merely decided to leave, instead of becoming extinct like other legends, on a whim. The Grimm had never been able to kill one, and even if they did, the dragons repaid them a hundredfold, almost driving them into extinction.
For Cinder and her group, their jaws dropped as they saw what seemed to be an angel.
'So the White Fang and others weren't hallucinating when they said they saw an angel. But this one has white wings. Is it a different person?' thought Cinder.
'I'm starting to get less confident about this plan,' thought Mercury.
'We're going to have to deal with that? I thought it was just a winged Faunus!?' mentally screamed Emerald.
SSSN stopped and dropped their badges they had been holding with pride.
BYDD was staring in awe, although Boyd was busy telling himself that the heavens had come to bless him, or whatever egotistical thoughts.
Coco lowered her sunglasses, rubbing her eyes to make sure she was actually seeing what others saw. Fox was staring impassively with Yatsuhashi, but both were also in shock. Velvet, however, cheered with excitement as she saw an angel come down.
Team RWBY and NPR merely smiled as they knew who the 'angel' was.
Jaune had taken the time to switch off his clothes and put his weapons away. He didn't want anyone making a connection to who he was yet. Putting on a faceless mask with eye holes, He then linked up with Andusk and Aryz. Using Andusk's color, he sprouted white wings instead of the usual green wings instead. He thought that with this look, it would bring hope.
It certainly did, as people started to cheer that the heavens above had come to help.
Oobleck watched in awe, while Port dropped his weapon in shock. Glynda was also stunned but took this time to quickly fill up some holes while saving civilians.
The White Fang were starting to shake in fear. They had heard about the angel incident from the train, and now another one was here. Were they really the evil ones? They couldn't believe it. They had to be righteous! They were the ones trying to fight for Faunus rights! Right?
Jaune smiled he started to channel Aura into his wings. His wings spread out as wide as they could before glowing with power. With a brilliant flash of light, beams of energy came forth from each feather, flying towards the Grimm, swiveling and turning past any humans, Faunus, or robots. The Alpha had already tried to start climbing back into the hole, hoping to avoid a Dragon's wrath, but it was too late. Beams of energy collided into the Grimm, killing them instantly. Nevermore's in the sky tried to fly away, but the beams chased them down. Some took 3 to 4 hits, but they were slain, vanishing from existence. Soon, the plaza was almost devoid of Grimm life. The Alphas were wiped out, leaving only a few stray Grimm that were easily taken care of.
The Beowolf that had cornered the mother and child tried to take its last victim before running. It roared and slashed down. The mother hugged her child even harder, ready for the pain, but it never came. She looked up with her child to see the angel had stopped the Grimm with just his bare hands, floating in the air.
"Disappear," whispered the angel before he punched the Grimm in its face, killing it instantly.
Glynda quickly took this time to seal up the breach with her Semblance before turning to stare at the 'angel'. Ozpin needed to know about this.
As Jaune landed onto the ground, he was panting. That attack had dipped deep into his massive reserves. Team RWBY and NPR were probably operating with 5% Aura left in their tanks. He himself was operating at 1% after exhausting his Aura on that attack. Suddenly, he found himself being crowded by people, wanting to thank him, to touch him, to have him bless them. Newscast members were shoving their way to interview him. Helicopters above were filming him. He looked at his team, who nodded, saying they would meet up with him later. Jaune opened his wings again, making those who were close to him back off, and flew away. Some Atlas ships tried to follow him, directed from Ironwood, who wanted the 'angel' to be brought in to talk. However, Jaune had swapped back to his basic link and linked up with a third dragon, Alaerth. It strained him as he felt his reserves drop even more. With the extra speed and disguising himself as it was morning, Jaune disappeared. Seeing that they wouldn't be able to get him, Ironwood called it off. Two lone feathers dropped from Jaune, floating down until they were taken by the little child who reached out and grabbed them. She smiled and hugged them, not letting anyone take them from her. This would remind her forever about the angel who saved her mommy and herself.
Jaune had flown into Junior's bar before shutting off his links. Junior, seeing that Jaune was quite tired, quickly made him a pick-me-up drink, which Jaune took gratefully. While drinking, Junior had his men grab some Aura transfusion kits, quickly giving Jaune the extra boost. Junior then had some of his men escort Jaune back to the plaza quickly, so as not to arouse suspicion.
Jaune arrived at the plaza a few minutes later just in time to see Mercury and Emerald escorting Roman into an Atlesian airship.
"Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways," mocked Roman as an Atlesian Knight grabbed him on his arm, "He-hey, watch the hat!"
Although Roman was putting up airs, inside, he was terrified. He had seen the devil, and now he just witnessed an angel wipe out the Grimm. He didn't sign up to fight divine beings! Still, he would do what was best and survive.
Emerald and Mercury approached Ruby and the rest of the others gathered in a group, smiling. Everyone was smiling but got annoyed when Boyd was busy saying that he could have taken them all out and that the 'angel' merely interfered with his kill count. He was busy then ranting at Ren, who was getting annoyed. Nora solved it by smashing Magnhild into Boyd's legs, trying to break them. Boyd's team 'tried' to help him, but they were also starting to get annoyed with Boyd's attitude.
"Hey, Jaune! Where were you?" asked Sun. He remembered not seeing him in action. Or so he thought.
"Busy escorting as many civilians out," replied Jaune, "We couldn't have all of us fighting Grimm. Some of us needed to make sure the civilians were being led to safety, and not into another pack of Grimm. Which is why I called you guys for help."
Sun nodded before turning around to his team. It had been quite an eventful day.
Team RWBY and JNPR were back at Beacon, looking at the city of Vale from a distance.
"Well, we did it," said Yang.
"YAAY. We are heroes!" shouted Nora.
"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed," scoffed Weiss.
"Considering the collateral damage, that might not be possible," pointed out Pyrrha.
"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was," said Ruby before looking around, "A lot more might've died if it wasn't for Jaune."
"Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending," reminded Weiss.
"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars. And I think that's something we could be proud of," said Blake with a smile.
"That's something I can agree on," said Ren.
"Yeah! And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them," cheered Ruby.
"Nobody can stop us from doing that," smiled Jaune.
Yang lied down on her back, " Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, g, team, alright, good job... So, what now?"
"I suggest bed rest," suggested Ren.
Everyone quickly agreed to that, but not before Jaune suggested some food and a shower. At that, all their stomachs growled in unison. Jaune smiled as he quickly reserved the Beacon Jacuzzi for them to used. A second later, Ozpin approved of it, saying that they would need it.
They quickly got something into their stomach and were delighted to be able to use the jacuzzi. Changing into swimsuits after taking a quick shower to wipe off any grime or dirt, they got in and relaxed, feeling their muscles unwind. Yang would've tried to seduce Jaune with her body, but she was too tired to try. Twenty minutes later, they had gone back to JNPR room, climbing into their beds and fell asleep immediately. Ruby fell asleep next to Jaune, as it was her night to cuddle.
In Ozpin's office, he was dealing with the Vale Government Council, who had called him on his Scroll. Ozpin had their faces on screen, with Ironwood next to it.. They were expressing their concerns about security, and that the Vytal Festival Tournament couldn't be held if they were unable to ensure the safety of citizens. The intervention of the angel had helped, but they couldn't rely on divine intervention all the time. So they went over Ozpin's head and reached to the Atlas Government Council and appointed Ironwood as head of security for the event.
Ironwood accepted it, stating he would do his best. As the council was about to sign off, they slightly threatened Ozpin and his position as headmaster, saying that the reports from Ironwood had left them concerned. Ozpin was left with staring at Ironwood, who tried to convince Ozpin that this was the right move and to trust him. He signed off as Ozpin looked out the window, drinking his coffee while looking deeply concerned about the future. He had heard about the angel and wondered how this might influence the future. Who was the new player?
Ironwood tried to interrogating Roman, but got nothing from him before leaving, saying that he was in his custody, meaning he had all the time to make him crack.
Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were on the rooftop, looking down at where all the action had been. Cinder looked concerned, as the mission to expose fear on the citizens and bringing negativity slightly worked. It would bring more Grimm closer, setting up for the final stage. However, the appearance of the angel almost neutralized it. People had hope brought to them with the appearance of the angel. And that wouldn't attract the Grimm. She received word about how many Grimm had gotten closer, and it was not as high as she estimated. Cinder would need to lure a bit more in, but she had time. Just a few well-placed "accidents", and misery would bring some more Grimm.
"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things," commented Emerald, "Not to mention the appearance of that angel. I have to admit, I'm a bit scared of that. Not that I'm saying that you wouldn't be able to take care of that angel, Cinder."
"Yeah. A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?" asked Mercury, "With that angel, it might be hard to do so."
A voice interrupted them, "No, but they'll listen to me."
They turned around to see Adam Taurus, leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang.
"I can handle this 'angel'. The White Fang will stick with your plan for now."
"Excellent," said Cinder, "Then we keep going as planned. At the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament, it'll be a one to remember. Especially for Vale."
Inside, though, Cinder contemplated on sending a message to her mistress, Salem, asking for potential reinforcements.
Team RWBY and JNPR had slept for a full day, waking up at 7 in the morning. They grabbed something to eat before relaxing at RWBY dorm room, opening up the television.
"In other news, people are asking where the angel went. Here, we have a footage of an angel that came from the heavens and wiped out the Grimm."
The footage showed Jaune using his attack to wipe out the Grimm. Jaune almost spat out his drink while the others chuckled.
"This incident was caused by members of the group known as the White Fang. However, we cannot be sure that if it is the White Fang driving this action, or an independent group that split off from it. But we can surely thank the angel for saving the people of Vale. Here's a crowd that has gathered around the plaza that the angel landed."
The camera switched to a group of people all holding signs pointed to the sky, saying thank you. There were even several girls holding up signs asking to marry them. At this, RWBY and Pyrrha got protective and hugged Jaune.
"Some are even asking the government permission to create a statue of the savior who saved many people. Here's a few interviews."
The camera switched to reporters interviewing the citizens. Even Faunus citizens were saying they were glad for the help. One interview that touched Jaune's heart was when a little faunas girl with a missing tooth and a small lion's tail gave her biggest smile and said that the angel saved her mommy from being killed in front of her eyes.
"Soo, you're an angel instead of a dragon now," smirked Yang.
The dragons huffed and turned their head away. It wasn't their fault that Jaune decided to use white feathery wings and trick the people. Lung Wang told Jaune that he better use his powers soon.
Both teams spent the whole day just relaxing, finishing up any homework or getting caught up with any studies.
At night, Yang was walking outside, getting some fresh air, when she saw Raven with her mask on. Raven took off her mask, revealing just how much Yang looked like her mother.
"Yang, we have a lot to talk about," said Raven.
"No we don't," huffed Yang, "You left us. Dad told me who you decided was your family."
"It's not that simple,"
"No, it's quite easy," Yang began "You made your choice. I'm making mine."
She turned around to leave when Raven asked a question, "How is.. Taiyang?"
Yang stopped for a second before replying, "He's fine. Although his 'true' wife Summer died, he managed to get over it. He looks over both me and Ruby."
Raven nodded. Even if she did leave them, Summer always had a special place in her heart. To suddenly hear about her death was heartbreaking. It was the only day Raven actually indulged in some alcohol, to wash away the pain.
"And you? Are you with that boy in green? Ren, was it?" asked Raven.
"No. I'm dating Jaune," replied Yang. Raven's eyes opened wide at this.
"Interesting," murmured Raven, "Perhaps there is another way."
"Don't even think about it," warned Yang, "I have no interest in joining your 'clan', and neither does Jaune."
"Even if it means being with your mother?" asked Raven in a soft voice.
"You're merely my birth mother, the woman who played a part in birthing me," replied Yang bitterly, "Summer Rose was, is, and will always be my true 'mother'. Sometimes, I wish I was her blood daughter and not stepdaughter. She treated me like I was one of her true daughters by blood."
At that, Yang walked away before stopping for a second, "It was nice to finally see you... Goodbye."
She never looked back.
Raven sat at the fountain, sighing. Maybe she had made a mistake somewhere. Maybe she should've listened to her little brother, Qrow. Her own blood daughter didn't even look at her like a mother, just as she didn't really look at her as a daughter. For some reason, that hurt her in her heart. Sure, she had her rule of saving someone only once, even her own daughter. Yet, to be fair, that hadn't really applied yet. Yang had been saved by Ren, and the portal act couldn't really count. She was sure that they would've survived through the crash anyways. She merely wanted Jaune to be more.. cooperative the next time they met.
"Need a drink?"
Raven looked up to see Ozpin carrying another cup. She took it and sipped it a little as Ozpin sat down next to her.
"So. You've met your daughter, I suppose it didn't go well?"
"Oz... No, I suppose it didn't go as I thought it would," sighed Raven, "And I don't know why, but it hurts me. I know I shouldn't expect gratitude or happiness from her, but hearing her just flat out saying that she doesn't look to me as a mother, but just merely a stranger, hurts."
"One cannot easily deny one's blood, You were the one who carried her for nine months. You birthed her. Fed her until you decided to leave them to reunite with your 'true' family."
"I suppose...," admitted Raven. There once was a time where she truly did fall in love with Taiyang.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Ozpin.
"I don't know... Carry on with my clan I guess," stated Raven, finishing her drink off. She put on her mask before cutting open a portal again.
"Be careful, Oz. Beacon will fall if you're not careful," she warned, "Not even those divine interventions will always help you, and certainly Ironwood's toys won't help."
"Thank you, Raven. And please, try not to flirt with my students. It would not bode well to see you trying to seduce someone the same age as your daughter," replied Ozpin.
Raven gave him a dirty look before smiling. She couldn't deny that she did do that.
"And... if you ever decide to leave your clan. Know that you will always have a place in Beacon,"
Raven frowned, "Even though I'm the leader of a vicious bandit clan?"
Ozpin smiled, "A promise that I made with the leader of team STRQ. She told me that someday, you would come back. She wanted to make sure that you had a place to come home to."
Raven turned around so as to not let Ozpin see her face. As she entered her portal, a lone tear could be seen dropping from her face.
'You always did care for me, Summer. My partner.' thought Raven as she left.
Salem was looking at the footage, along with her members Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, and Hazel Rainart at her castle. Grimm were easily seen everywhere, and the land seemed corrupted by darkness.
"Interesting," said Salem, watching the angel wipe out the Grimm.
"Hmph. I suppose Cinder does have some semblance of a brain to call for help," said Arthur, aka Doctor.
"She will need some help for sure," grunted Hazel in his low voice, "This is no small obstacle that she can just ignore."
"Ooh, I want to go there. Can I? Can I pleasseee? It would be so much fun to kill an angel," grinned Tyrian maniacally.
"I will decide on that later," stated Salem, "For now, continue on with what you were doing. I will contact one of you to help Cinder after I have thought about it. Dismissed."
The others nodded and walked away.
"So," murmured Salem to herself, "Did the older brother, the god of light, create something to combat Grimm without the notice of the younger one, the god of darkness? If so, then it may pose some problem. However, it that was true, then these angels would be more in numbers. Not to mention, there was Cinder saying something about trying to find a devil. Perhaps another legend lost in the past? No matter. We will prevail."
With that in mind, she started to make plans on what to do. Unfortunately for her, since she had not been there to sense that it was the dragons that had caused this, she continued her plans. If she had known, she might've just thrown the plan out of the window start making plans for her own survival.
Hohoho! Cinder is gonna get some extra reinforcements! What will happen next? As I said, the next few chapters will not go into Volume 3 directly. Instead, I'm going to go into Volume 2.5! Reason for this is that I feel like the from vol 2 to vol 3, it went from the beginning of the semester to near the end of the semester. In my calculations/theory, that's a good 3 to 4 months away, which I can use to write about something! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter!
Also, potentially I might need to make this rated M for my future battle/relationship stuff. That, or Just create another story continuing it with that one rated M while this one rated T. Prob won't do that though. Man, what was I thinking, writing a Harem story while keeping it T?
Also, a potential delay in next chapter, as tests comes up once again. I hate tests!