XLII - Heart Rot

Mature themes ahead folks. Just warning y'all.

~~~(XLII)~~~

"Ox, what are you two doing?" She turned to look at his partner with narrowed eyes. "Mercury, you were hurt! Why… What's going on?"

"I don't suppose I can convince you that he's a quick healer?" Her glare told him all he needed to know. "Suppose not…"

Stupid Oxon, she might be young, but she's not stupid. There's no way to get out of this.

"Fine. If you're not going to tell me what's really happening here…" Oxon and Mercury spread out in order to keep her options of escape low. Whenever she shuffled one way, he or Mercury would shuffle as well. Oxon aimed Patris at her the whole time, knowing it'd be hard to hit the unarmed reaper.

"Fighters, are you ready?" They were, just it wasn't a fight the public would be witnessing.

"Showtime." Mercury, hearing that the fight was on in the arena, jumped forward slightly with his arms outstretched. Oxon trained both barrels at her, Patris on her torso and Fratris on her legs. One way or the other, he'd hit her somewhere with his big irons.

It seemed she realized her situation quickly, there was no way to get by both of them. Until she tried her semblance, that is. Oxon's single shot failed to hit its mark on the speeding mass of rose petals. She attempted to spin past Mercury; he didn't have as great a reach as Oxon did.

"Ox, smash!" Mercury yelled as he hopped up and kicked the girl twice, the second one sending her right towards him. On instinct more so than malice, he slammed a quickly formed Virginiana into her. The trio of blows knocked her back a fair distance and onto her side.

Slightly disoriented and frantic for either her teammates or her weapon, she brought out her scroll only for Mercury to shoot it out of her hands. He'd thought Mercury was aiming for Ruby while Oxon was about to shoot the device. He was surprised by Merc's restraint.

"Let's just keep this between us friends."

Collapsing his shield into its passive form, Oxon trained his smoking gun on her prone form, Oxon shook his head at her. "It ain't gotta be this way Ruby. There's two of us and one of you." He realized this situation was all too similar to the one in that book store all those months ago, to what went down with Tukson. His hands shook a bit as he prayed it wouldn't come to that.

Just gotta distract her. Then we can get out and take whatever it is Cinder needs. No deaths necessary…

Of course Ruby; poor, heroic Ruby decided to try and get back up. "I don't know what's going on, but I bet it has something to do with the fights."

"Wow, someone get the kid a gold star, she's figured it out!" Mercury clapped sarcastically, much to Ruby's frustration. He didn't know how Ruby also knew about the secret android, but clearly she did from how worried she looked earlier.

"What happened with Yang, that was you too, wasn't it? And Coco's teammate said she saw something that wasn't there either during her own fight. And that was against your team. It's been your team this whole time, hasn't it?" Oh brothers damn it… She wasn't a team leader two years early for nothing.

"Ruby-" Oxon's words stopped when she got to her feet angrily. He moved to aim at her once more, and even though he knew she was useless without Crescent Rose, he didn't want her getting any more in the way of things. If she did, they'd have to remove the girl. Something he definitely didn't want. "Ruby, just stay down! I don't want to hurt you. And we won't have to if you just let things play out."

"I can't and I won't!" She looked ready to bolt again, eyes darting between them. "Not if what happened to Yang happens to Pyrrha and Penny."

He saw Mercury subtly shift his stance to attack. If he didn't play ball, it would be his head too. Hopefully a simple K.O on the girl would be enough. No death necessary. "Damnit Ruby, if you could stop trying to be the hero for one day…"

She didn't respond, but she bent her knees in perpetration. Last time she tried to run past Mercury, so she would probably go for him next. Only he had been working on a plan for her the moment he'd been given his original orders. The moment she proved him right by attempting to speed past him, a hand struck out and snagged her fatal flaw.

"Erk!?" The girl came to an abrupt stop, legs and lower body continuing forward before jolting to a stop. Her momentum had her hover a bit in the air as he grabbed a fist full of the end of her cloak. He knew it was special to her since she always wore it, so the lengthy fabric was an obvious target for him. He couldn't stop with just halting her, so he pulled her back using her accessory and flung her hard into the wall.

"You're unarmed and outnumbered! Just give up and stay down!" He knew the blow wouldn't do much more than stun her. Her aura and combat experience meant she can take such a hit easily. But he at least wanted to get her to listen, to stop.

"Yeah, listen to ol Ox here, kiddo. You don't want your breath to be red like roses now do ya?" The sociopath laughed at his own sick joke while both he and Ruby sent him a glare.

"I can't give up!" The heroism that inspired him now caused nothing but frustration. He knew she wanted to do good, but she didn't realize just how at risk she was. Mercury was just playing around, like a cat toying with a mouse. But if he decided to get serious…

Oxon tried to prevent her from running forward by shooting the floor in front of her. Mercury took to trying to actually hit her. Thankfully what shots did hit only bounced off her aura and knocked her back slightly. They were at least successful in holding her in this corridor, only seceding a small bit of ground to cordon her off.

It had been going well for a minute or so, but eventually they slipped up. When Merc shot a round at the file to push her back, she instead vaulted over the kick from Mercury and dove between Oxon's legs, his fingers ghosting over the edge of her cloak. Once out of reach, Ruby began sprinting down the hallway. "Shit!" He and Mercury ran after the girl as quickly as they could, but it was clear she was far too fast.

"She's going to ruin everything if she gets to the stage!" If they did, he would blame Mercury for being caught. Even if he wondered why the girl in red was back there in the first place. "Shield up and Jump!"

Oxon looked at Mercury only to see the teen running at him. He was confused at the order but obeyed nonetheless he redeployed the large steel barrier and hopped into the air. Mercury then collided with him mid air, both feet planted a drop kick on the metal surface and fired all four barrels. The combination of momentum, forces of the kinetic blow and the twin air blasts and gunshots sent Oxon flying down the corridor. Something Oxon very much hated.

Never. Again.

He landed roughly on the ground a few feet from a door that Ruby had run through. Quickly scrambling to his feet and bursting through, he saw the girl they were chasing. She wasn't running anymore, she had collapsed onto her knees, staring at the massive central arena screens. He stumbled at the sight as well, almost falling himself. On the screen was a zoomed in image of Penny Polendina in multiple pieces.

"Penny…" He too was stuck staring at the large screen to acknowledge her words. They'd… they'd actually killed the robot. He may have doubted whether she was ever truly alive, but the thing- girl had been friendly during their rare interactions. He could also see the shell shocked Pyrrha staring at the still sparking body down below.

He approached the slumped girl, stopping a single step behind her. He stretched out a shaking hand and almost placed it on her shoulder, but paused when he saw her tense up. Slowly, he pulled his hand back, shame welling up inside him. This, he'd done this. But looking at the hollow looking girl, he knew had to help her survive this night.

"You need to go, Ruby. I know you want to do what's right, to save the day. But you can't. Me and the rest of our team aren't the only ones Cinder has at hand, they're much worse." He knew telling the girl this might count as betraying Cinder, but he had the unstoppable urge to warn the girl, to get her to realize the situation. If she knew who was the leader, then she could tell her team to avoid them. "You need to think about yourself and your team. Link up, protect each other, and stay. Out. Of. Cinder's. Way."

"Enough monologuing, I didn't take you for the type to gloat." He sent a glare back to a now emerged Mercury. He was still pissed at the method used to propel him so fast. "We got more work to do, or have you forgotten?"

He hadn't. He followed the directions of his partner without a word, not bothering to think about the scene down below. Eyes wide and acting on autopilot, Oxon backed away from Ruby moving towards the exit. He just was extremely glad the guy didn't try to take out the distracted girl, he didn't know what he'd have done if Mercury tried to finish her off. He sent the distraught Ruby one last look as the door noisily swung shut, cutting off his view of her. Walking back to their stolen bullhead, he heard frantic voices come on the speakers in the halls.

She'll be fine. She's strong.

"Broadcast, what are you doing? Kill the feed!"

"What!? How is that possible!?" Clearly Cinder's bug did more than rigging the biomes and fights.

Right after the frantic words from the professors, Cinder's voice came on the intercoms, her smug voice dripping with satisfaction. "This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both."

"They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."

"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."

"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

"The feeds are all jammed! We can't get a message out!"

"Will somebody tell me what in the world is happening!?"

Their questions were answered with the sound of a wailing alarm throughout the colosseum. From where he was, he could hear a robotic voice come on over the intercom. "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

Soon after, a much more human voice spoke up. It was the voice of General Ironwood. "Ladies and gentlemen, please. There is no need for panic."

Oxon heard a loud screeching as he boarded a bullhead headed back to the school. Clearly that declaration wasn't true, gripping the overhead handle tightly, he let the aircraft take him away from Amity. Looking out the open doors, he saw the white fang land, releasing Grimm. Crowds of unarmed civilians panicked as armed faunus began using the Grimm to add to the chaos.

"By the gods…" All he could do was stare in disbelief as horror seeped into his heart.

~~~(XLII)~~~

"What's going on!?" Ruby had managed to save Pyrrha from the nevermore. And now she and a bunch of other teams were grouped up together after being told to leave by their professors. The largest authority figure they could find was right in front of them. General Ironwood.

The general addressed the students in front of him. He had a stern and angry look on his face. Which was reasonable given the situation. "Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang's invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse, some... vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So I'm…" He paused, confusing them, before he shot a leaping Creep out of the air. "... Going to take it back."

"What should we do?"

"You have two choices. Defend your Kingdom and your school... or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave." General Ironwood then walked up the gangplank to board the Atlesian dropship, clearly intending to take back his cruiser. "Let's move out!"

"Wait!" The man paused at her shout. She didn't know how it would help, but she needed to tell someone what she knew. "I- I know who's behind this!"

Suddenly his attention was all hers, as well as everyone gathered. "Miss Rose, please tell me everything you know." In a different situation, she'd shy away from the attention, but not now. Too much rode on him having as much as he and the headmaster could have.

"I- I saw three members of team Cosmos, even though they were supposed to be back in Mistral. Mercury Black, who is not crippled as well as Oxon Adhmad were in the stadium maintenance areas, and Emerald Sustrai was in the crowds. I think she has some kind of illusion semblance! She must have used it on Coco, Yang, and Pyrrha." The members of JNPR, FNKI, and SSSN gasped at her words. Coco and her team cursed at the revelation, and how they had been used to show the seeds of distrust. "Oxon and Mercury tried to stop me from warning anyone of what was going on. Then Ox, I don't know, he gave me a threat o-or a warning before leaving. He said that Cinder Fall, his team leader, has more in store."

The adult looked surprised at the amount of information and evidence against the four, but modded appreciatively at her. "Thank you, I will make sure this information is passed on to the rest of my men and the authorities in Vale. We won't let them escape." With that, Ironwood boards the dropship, the students look at each other and murmur before a certain monkey faunus speaks up.

"Are we talking about the same Oxon!? The same guy who's been helping us investigate Torchwick and the Fang!?"

"Has he been messing it up the whole time? He's been involved with all our research since the Paladin incident." Neptune's confusion and other outcries were silenced by the leader of team JNPR.

"We can take a ship to Beacon! We won't let them get away with this." The look on her first friend's face worried her. But she could trust him and his team to look after each other.

When they boarded the transport craft, it was clear many people had questions. But they were content to wait, to wait until they had the time to ask. Hopefully she could ask Oxon why he was a part of this. Why would he do this, especially after what he told them about his home? He never seemed like the kind of person who would do this.

Ruby pledged to get answers when suddenly the airship containing the General fell from the sky.

~~~(XLII)~~~

"Up here, Cinder wants a good vantage point." He and Mercury had landed in an empty space in Beacon and headed into a tall building. One of the senior dorms if he remembered correctly. The inside was blessedly empty of life. Empty of signs of struggle as well, thankfully.

The two arrived on the roof overlooking the main plaza of Beacon, in full view of the CCT Tower. Below he could see students and soldiers fighting against grimm, White Fang, and what looked like the Atlesian robots. He began to shake a bit as the full weight of his actions set in. He'd helped them accomplish this... And this..? This wasn't a smash and grab that was using the militant faunus as a distraction, this was a brother's damn massacre!

"Beautiful." He spun on his heels to look as Cinder happily observed the pandemonium down below.

"It's almost sad." He shot the mildly concerned girl a horrified and incredulous look.

"ALMOST!?" How was this "almost" sad? What would it take to be actually horrible!? "This is… this is apocalyptic!"

"Oxon is right." The certified evil psychopath glanced at the two, a smirk on her lips and a self satisfied tone in her voice. "It's horrendous. Focus on the Atlesian Knights."

And Mercury, he too was all in on this. He also wore a sick smile on his face as he recorded the chaos below. "Oh, I'm getting all of it."

"Good. Continue the broadcast until the end."

Suddenly, a tremor rocks the group. Oxon stumbled and had to use his shield to stabilize himself. He couldn't locate the exact source, but it sounded far away, despite the strong quake. Once stabilized, he shifted Virginiana back over his left arm and brought Bulls Breath out.

"And do not miss what happens next."

Cinder walked to the far edge of the roof off as Mercury continued filming. Surprisingly, Emerald's expression also grew worried. Perhaps she too wasn't a hundred percent happy with the most recent events. Yet she said nothing, just like him…

As more quakes and loud sounds occurred, he realized that whatever was happening was coming from the nearby mountain. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was unprepared for when it completely shattered, releasing a dark, flying colossus. The titanic beast roared to the heavens and began to fly towards them.

As it got closer, he saw it was some kind of draconic beast. Its large maw seemed to go back into its neck. Horns, wings and far too many teeth were its most defining features. As it got closer, the sounds of Grimm increased greatly, like they were rallying to the beast.

"No…" Oxon's strength left his body and he collapsed onto his rear, mind blank and body shaking as he stared at the quickly approaching Grimm dragon.

After a few moments of staring, his mind started slowly processing what his eyes were seeing, and it terrified him. Looking at the others, none seemed to be afraid of the creature, or surprised by its appearance. None even reached for a weapon. "Is- is that part of the plan!?"

Cinder said nothing and gave a smirk over her shoulder. His eyes became pinpricks as the horrifying scene played out in his head. The White Fang he could understand, the bastards moved on from equality and onto vengeance. But the Grimm!? Were they actually helping the creatures of darkness overrun the Kingdom!?

It was Prism all over again, but this time his role was far worse than just running. He glanced between the dragon and Bulls Breath, eyes roaming over the many names engraved on its form. The names of those that died on a night like this. Killed by seemingly unstoppable forces of darkness.

It was at that moment Oxon snapped. His eyes sharpened and his slack grip tightened on the weapon next to him.

Not again… Please… I can't let another home burn just to save myself.

"You're all evil…" There was a slight flinch from Emerald, but the others didn't bother even looking at him. Did they not see the deaths they were causing? Or did they just not care? Getting on one knee, he used a two handed grip on the long wooden haft of his weapon to help him get to his feet.

"I! I won't be a part of this anymore! I won't just stand and- and laugh as innocent people die! Not when I can do something about it!" Emerald's hands went to her weapons, ready for a fight. Even Cinder turned her head to stare at him, her eye glowing menacingly in the darkness. He couldn't fight them, he'd just end up dead, but he could do something else.

"You would betray me here? After it's too late to stop this? Have you forgotten that you've been helping this great catastrophe come to be over the last year? Even if you decide to switch sides, they will never forgive you." Cinder was right. The prospect of seeing the others terrified him. The thought of going against her scared him as well, but he just couldn't anymore. He'd accept what he'd get once this was over.

"We'll all burn for this, me included, but I won't propagate this any longer." Before they could react, Oxon aimed his rifle and shot that damn scroll, blowing the top half of the device away in a burst of glass and sparks. Whatever use it had was now moot, hopefully that act would mean something.

Turning on his heel, he ran to the opposite edge with heavy footsteps. He looked down at the earth for a millisecond before stepping off the ledge. Flooding his feet and legs with aura, he used a nearby tree to bleed his momentum. It cost the wooden organism an entire side of its branches as they all snapped under his force.

Looking back up past the fluttering leaves to the rooftop, he saw a bemused looking Cinder and a pissed Mercury. Though she didn't watch him for long, she disappeared soon after, returning to her previous spot. He gave the assassin a middle finger, causing him to scowl before following Cinder back into the roof.

Brushing a few branches and twigs out of his armor, he made his way to the nearest source villainy. On the other side of the building, facing the Tower, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc followed Headmaster Ozpin inside.

~~~(XLII)~~~

Oxon's left hand crushed the metallic skull of an Atlesian Knight before tossing it aside. Behind him were a few civilians and unarmed students huddled together. He'd come across them fairly soon after turning his back on the cabal of monsters. While they were coordinated, they were meant for mindless Grimm, not a huntsman with a brain. The battle with the dozen robots had been a fantastic bit of stress relief, as well as thankfulness at saving the group.

"Is anyone injured?" Most shook their heads, and those that nodded seemed in good enough health to make it to safety. He couldn't escort them there himself, he would likely be arrested or shot on sight. That was if Ruby had shared what he'd told her about his team.

"Get to the landing pads! That's where the huntsman and military will be staging an evacuation!" He waited till they were on their feet and moving before heading further into the school.

A few hundred meters and a few dozen Grimm and robots later, he turned the corner to see a group of White Fang standing over what looked like a few families of humans. He began to quietly approach them and ambush them, though that became moot when one of the terrified innocents looked at him, hope forming on her face. One of them followed her gaze and froze when he saw Oxon.

Shit.

Abandoning stealth, he rushed the five armed terrorists with hate in his eyes. He'd wanted a piece of them for a while now. The White Fang was worse than the Grimm, these sickos chose to attack these people who had done no wrong. The Grimm were just mindless, these "people" were nothing but animals.

"Get the huntsman!" The horned faunus didn't get to say anything more when Bulls Breath bit deeply into his shoulder. Oxon was momentarily stunned to see the man had no aura, but shook it off as a shotgun blast impacted his cheek.

Turning to the civilians he yelled for them to run while he took care of the Fang. They took the chance and ran, one was smart enough to pick up the sidearm dropped by the first foe. One faunus tried to pursue them, but a warning shot from Fratris stopped him.

"Jacob!" The shout was accompanied by the pumping of the weapon. A second shot to his shoulder ate a chunk of aura, but not enough to worry about. Holstering his revolver, Oxon ripped the now red blade out of the limp faunus, resulting in a messy spray. Giving a sour look at the corpse, he turned to rush the shotgun man and the third man armed with a hatchet. A blast bounced off his metal covered fist as he entered the guard of the bastards. A shot to the chest from Bulls Breath tore into and out of the gunner and Oxon used the recoil to swing at the man with the short ax.

This one managed to block the blow from Oxon, but he was clearly not prepared for the force behind it and fell on his back. His pals tried to back him up, one used a spear and the other a sword. These Fang members clearly were not trained to deal with anyone other than civilians and perhaps police. Their skills were pathetic and he batted away each swing with his ax and arm.

The sword user slashed Oxon across the stomach, but it only granted and sparked on his scale armor, not even needing any aura to protect him. He caught and broke the wrist of the man who'd tried with his left hand. He screamed loudly until the edge of his fingerless half gauntlet struck him in the temple, dropping him like a felled tree.

The spear and ax weilding terrorists, seeing that three of them were down in just scant seconds, became scared of him. It didn't help that the blood of the first man stained a section of his chest and right jaw. The spearman mustered some courage, thrusting the tip towards his throat. It was almost comically slow an attack in his mind, an easily caught one as well.

The eyes behind his attacker's mask widened momentarily before the spear was ripped out of his hands. Oxon spun the long weapon in his fingers before slashing at the terrorist. His father had trained Oxon in many weapon types in his youth. The spear was the first he'd learned before he'd taken up his ax. He knew very much how to wield it effectively, even with one hand. Smacking the faunus in the mask with the butt of the polearm and slashing his limbs, the man fell crying in pain. Not dead, but bleeding heavily.

Twirling the spear, he thrust the tip into the stone, embedding it next to the head of its old master. The final enemy was shaking and looking between his down or dead comrades. He clearly never expected such resistance, probably prepared to attack the vulnerable only. Taking Bulls Breath in his right hand, he let the heavy ax head rest on the ground.

"I'll give you one chance." The faunus could either run, try to attack him, or surrender. The bastard looked around him and chose the second opinion.

"Raahhhhhh! Diiieeee!" He attacked with an overhead swing of his hatchet. Oxon caught the blade in his palm, wincing slightly at the pain.

"What you've got there ain't an ax." With a flick of his arm, he cut the wooden handle of the weapon in a spray of splinters. The masked terrorist watched as the head fell and imbedded itself in the ground. "This is an ax!"

Reversing the orientation, Oxon brought the flat back-end of his weapon into the sternum of the White Fang member. He staggered back, clutching his chest, as a few ribs were likely cracked.

The guy valiantly tried to club Oxon with the wooden remains, but the blow was easily sidestepped. Raising his ax, he smashed the side of the blade into the back of his skull. The masked man collapsed limply onto the ground, unconscious or worse.

With the adrenaline of the fight leaving him, Oxon was able to realize he'd just killed two people, maybe even four. His stomach became turbulent as he stumbled towards the nearest wall. Placing a hand on it to stabilize himself, he fought his body in order to keep the contents of his stomach down.

He didn't intend to kill them, to kill anyone. They should have had an unlocked aura. Why wouldn't they? It would be vital for what they were doing. Oxon felt numb as he focused on the stone in front of him.

They were evil, there was nothing wrong with attacking them. It was… it was their fault for not having aura. Deep breaths helped to slowly calm his stomach, bringing the threat of vomit down. It was them or me, it was them or the innocent people. I… I did good… I- I saved people.

Using the wall for support, he made his way towards the main building. That was where the most people would be. That's where the enemies would gather. The further he walked from the bodies, the more he got his strength back.

He had to keep moving, he had to save more people.

~~~(XLII)~~~

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