"You've done well to make it as far as you have. But the games end here!" Almus shouted, activating the dampener on his suit.
They heard the ignition, and immediately knew what it meant. Cyrus cursed under his breath.
"Language, son. That's no way to act in front of your friends. Let alone your father."
Cyrus gritted his teeth and stared down Almus.
"My father?!" he growled. "A father wouldn't attack four children and throw them in jail. A father wouldn't torture his son's friends just to punish him." Cyrus's voice started to break. "A father wouldn't force his son to join the military against his will, and make him suffer through rigorous training day after day until he can barely stand. A father wouldn't blame his own son for the death of his own mother!" Tears began to stream down Cyrus's face, mixing with the rain. "You're not a father. You're a monster." He wiped the tears from his face and stared down his father once more. "And last I checked: Huntsmen fight monsters."
Almus stayed straight faced. "A monster is it?" He gave a chuckle. "Yet you have someone like him by your side." He pointed to Sebastain.
"Sebastian is more human than you'll ever be!" Cyrus shouted back.
"I see." The tension in the rain-soaked air grew. "If that's the way you see things, then perhaps I shall act the way you see me." Almus laughed again. "There will be no mercy this time. But if you beg enough Cyrus, I may let your friends live through this fight!" he yelled as he activated the rear jets in the suit and came barreling down on the group of boys. The team scattered to evade him and drew their weapons. Sebastian pulled out Siberia and prepared to launch it at Almus, but then remembered he couldn't use his semblance. He sighed, putting the ball back in his pocket, and instead cracked his knuckles.
"Fine. Fist-to-fist it is." He lept at Almus, spinning around to kick him, but Almus simply swerved to evade the strike. However, Almus was met by a large shotgun blast to the back as he did so. He turned to see Cyrus, Sweet Liberation's barrel still smoking in his hands. He growled with rage and flew over to Cyrus, picking him up by the throat. He flew into the air and prepared to throw him to the ground, but his armored hand was met by a sniper round from Lightning Rod, causing him to lose his grip. Cyrus began hurtling toward the ground, his friends watching in horror, expecting him to splat on the pavement. Instead, he landed gracefully on his feet, performing a safety roll and turning back to send a few shotgun blasts back at Almus.
"Stay separated!" Cyrus yelled to his teammates. "He can't attack all of us at once!"
"Is that so?" Almus retorted with a snicker, pressing a button on his suit. A small vent in the suit began to release a cloud of dust around Almus, which he then ignited to create a fiery explosion.
Team CSRD scrambled for cover, trying to regroup and rethink their strategy.
"That suit is seriously strong!" Damien shouted. "Times like these I really wish I could use my semblance!"
"You got that right!" Sebastian shouted back. "At least you have a weapon. I have to try and bare-knuckle box this guy!"
"You'll have no time to do so!" Almus propelled himself right at Sebastian, crashing into him, sending him rolling across the ground.
Almus then turned his attention back to Cyrus, who shot blast after blast into the chestplate of the suit, but each one seemed to have no effect. Almus grabbed Cyrus by the shirt and threw him across the courtyard, coming to a rolling stop before slowly picking himself up.
"Axel!" Damien shouted over to him. "Let's give him a little what for!" The two charged Almus on opposite sides, Damien with his weapon in dual swords mode, while Axel ran forward with his staff out.
"You think that will work on me?" Almus rocketed up above them both, aiming the open vent at them. Blue dust gathered around it, swirling into a concentrated mass. The concentrated dust blast hit in their area, slowing the two down. Almus landed down next to Axel, and with the back of his fist, knocked him down. Damien tried to get a swing or two in but was too slow and Almus struck him back with his palm.
"What's the matter boys?" Almus taunted them. "Can't keep up with an old man?"
"Yeah, when you clearly have the upper hand here!" Sebastian retorted back.
"Yeah," Axel growled as he rose to his feet. "Take off the suit, then we'll see how much of a chance you have."
"Why fight those weaker than you fairly? It is much better to swiftly put them down so they know their place in the world."
"We'll see about that, Almus!" Sebastian shot back, pointing.
"Really? Then show me."
Cyrus and the team got back in their formation and prepared to face Almus once more. Almus laughed to himself, motioning for them to bring it on.
The group went for attacks from all directions at once, believing that he couldn't possibly stop an attack from all sides. They were wrong.
Almus flew into the air once again, too high for Team CSRD to reach him. Cyrus, Damien, and Axel all switched their weapons to their gun modes and fired, but, as before, the bullets simply ricocheted off the suit's armor plating. They regrouped for another attack, but Almus came crashing down, slamming the ground and releasing a large cloud of dust, which he ignited, causing Team CSRD to be blown back in every direction.
"Ha ha!" Almus laughed, almost maniacally. "Is this truly the best that Beacon Academy can offer?"
Cyrus laid there on his back, staring at the sky as the rain continued pouring down. A wave of hopelessness washed over him. Everything they tried was ineffective. They couldn't shoot him. They couldn't hit him. They couldn't use their semblances. He slammed his fist into the ground next to him as a large bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. The thunder rolled, and Cyrus got an idea.
"Yo, Axel! You ok over there?"
"Never better," Axel groaned as he staggered to his feet.
"Good to hear. Hey, you remember that time about a half hour ago where I pumped you full of juice and you knocked out the entire facility?"
"How could I forget?" Axel replied weakly, wincing in pain. "It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience."
"I kind of need you to do it again."
"How?"
"Look up."
Axel looked up into the thunderstorm above and took note of the massive bolts of lightning flashing across the sky.
"Oh. That."
"Can you handle it?"
"It's not bad. I'm pretty sure you filled me with like twice that much energy in the chair."
"Good, because I've got an idea."
"Does it involve me punching your dad in the face?" Axel asked as he dodged a hail of ice crystals coming from Almus's suit. "Because I'd REALLY like to do that right now."
"In fact, it does."
"Great."
"So we just buy time until Axel gets a good shot at the lightning huh?" Sebastian rose to his feet.
"More like until the lightning gets a good shot at Axel, but yeah." Cyrus corrected. Sebastian nodded and turned to Damien.
"We can do that, right Damien?"
"Of course," he responded. "We've haven't given him the proper payback yet for everything, have we Sebastian?"
Sebastian nodded in agreement. The lightning from the storm began to creep towards the battle and the team knew it wasn't long before the window of opportunity opened up.
Damien and Sebastian took to taking another round with Almus. Sebastian rushed him down with a flurry of strikes, Almus blocking each one. Sebastian managed to reach around and grab a hold of Almus's shoulders, leaping over him, taking his attention off of Damien who rushed forward with his sword, ready to swing with full force. Almus simultaneously focused on the two boys, a blade extending from the side of the suit's right arm to block Damien's swing and a swift kick to Seabstian's mid region to knock him back. Damien clashed with Almus for a few moments before losing his momentum. Almus reached out and lifted the boy up by the face and slammed back down into the ground. Both boys were down, but they'd done their jobs. The thunder crashed, and the storm was directly overhead.
"Alright Axel, now!" Cyrus said as he laid down some covering fire in the form of three large shotgun blasts. Axel charged over toward Almus with his staff at the ready and feigned a strike, which Almus attempted to block with his arm. Instead, Axel pulled up and slid underneath Almus's arm, then used his staff to pole-vault himself up onto Almus's shoulders, sticking his staff directly onto Almus's helmet and launching himself as high into the air as he possibly could. He held his staff to the sky, and as if a gift from the gods, a lightning bolt streaked down from the sky and struck Axel's staff, just like a lightning rod. Axel absorbed all of its electrical energy, and spun in midair to face Almus.
It's go time, you arrogant sack of garbage.
While this was happening, the rest of Team CSRD began peppering Almus with bullets to grab his attention until he released another blast of dust energy from the suit.
"You impudent children! Just what do you think you'll accomplish with all of these useless attacks?"
"THIS, DICKFACE!" Axel yelled from above. Falling fast towards Almus, he aimed his now-supercharged staff right at him.
Realizing at the last moment that he'd forgotten about the team's fourth member, Almus had no chance to dodge. Axel jammed the staff right onto Almus's chest, and an explosion of electricity surged from the staff directly into the suit.
"Arghhhhhhh!" Almus screamed out as his suit began sparking wildly and his body spasmed uncontrollably.
Axel kept at it until the last of the energy was expended and he was blown back. Axel recovered to his feet while Almus stood there, smoke billowing out from the vents of the suit.
"Now the tables have turned!" Sebastian cried out in joy as he lifted Siberia with his own semblance. "Let's give him a taste of the powers he sealed away, shall we guys?"
"Let's go." Axel snarled as his eyes began to glow and he spun his staff.
"Agreed." Damien said with a cocky smirk as he pulled out his lighter and ignited the flame, shielding it from the rain with his other hand until turning it into a large fireball.
"I thought you couldn't create fire?" Almus asked, confused.
"Which is why I never go anywhere without a lighter!" Damien's smile grew as he hurled the fireball at Almus. It hit him directly in the chest and exploded, sending him stumbling backward. Axel followed suit, sending a massive bolt of lightning surging toward Almus, shocking him even more. Sebastian continued the onslaught by running at Almus, ramming Siberia into his weak points. Almus got up as quick as he could, but was met by Cyrus who blasted him with his shotgun once, then twice, then again. He took the flail and swung it as strong as he could, bashing Almus several times, until he was knocked back down. The rain poured upon the scene, Team CSRD taking the chance to take in the cold air and catch their breath.
"Did… did we do it?" Axel asked as he stared at the unmoving Almus.
"No, not yet!" Damien shouted as he saw Almus pick himself up.
"Impressive. To think you could manage to disable the semblance dampener in the suit by taking advantage of the storm. But don't think that other functions of the suit have been shut down as well. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" Almus grew angry as he raised his left arm up, a small rotary gatling gun appearing from the inside of the suit's arm.
"This gatling gun shoots out condensed dust energy in the form of bullets." He pointed the gun right at them. "Needless to say," he said maniacally, "it would do more than give a little sting."
He let loose a hail of bullets toward Team CSRD, but before any of them could make contact, they crashed directly into a large barrier, courtesy of Cyrus. As the bullets rained down on his barrier, Cyrus strained to keep it up. Suddenly, a rocket appeared from an opening on one of the shoulders of the suit. A laser pointer activated, aiming right at the feet of the group. Almus gave an evil smile as the rocket fired and exploded right on target. Smoke billowed from the area of impact, Almus laughing at his supposed victory.
"WEAKLINGS! You really believed a mere barrier would be enough to stop me?" He continued his laughter until the smoke cleared, a lone figure standing.
"That's right." The voice from the figure was none other than Sebastian's. His form faded into clarity as the smoke dissipated. "We are weak. But that means nothing when we have something to fight for." He walked forward, Almus seeing the other three laying on the ground.
"Something to fight for is it?" Almus laughed at Sebastian. "I just find it amusing that you of all people are talking about something to fight for. How could you know of a purpose to fight for?! You're just a weak pile of nothing that stands no chance against the strong willed! You could never amount to anything because you could never move past your own mistakes!"
Sebastian lowered his head in both shame and regret. "You're right. As I am now, I can't move past my mistakes, the things that haunt me every night. I always had to fight because there was no other choice. I never had a reason to fight other than to continue my own existence. All I had was that one excuse. But right now, at this moment, I do have another reason to fight for."
Sebastian looked back down towards his friends, who all started moving slightly.
"And because of that, because of them, I can stand up and fight!"
Sebastian clenched his fist in fury as he looked straight into Almus's eyes through his visor.
"Oh really? You think your little notion of friendship and comradery will save you from what you are? Don't make me laugh!"
"Maybe, maybe not. All that matters here and now is taking you and everyone else like you down. This isn't for me. This is for Cyrus and all the others you've mistreated."
"And you think you have the right to do this? You, the disgusting half-breed, with your blood-stained hands, think playing hero will be your salvation? You can't escape from who you are.
"If I can't, then I'll die trying."
Sebastian charged at Almus, who went to retaliate with a hefty kick. Sebastian slid under it, hammering Almus with an uppercut, stunning the large man. He pressed on, plowing him with consecutive blows from short jabs to straight blows. Each hit pressured Almus, giving him no time to recover or even move as Sebastian whipped out Siberia, throwing it out and manipulating it to hit Almus in several places before returning to his hand. Sebastian went on, giving Almus a flying spin kick, disorienting him. Sebastian landed on his hands and swung his legs around upward, twisting his body in a vortex, using his semblance to propel himself upwards, the swirling force driving into Almus's body, shooting him into the air. Sebastian turned himself mid-air and shot his leg downward, delivering an axe kick to the in-air Almus. Almus plummeted to the ground, a large crash sounding his land. Sebastian followed shortly after, landing with a thud.
"Get over here!" Sebastian yelled as he pulled Almus in with his semblance, giving him a beatdown equal to the one he received. Sebastian reached back, focusing all his strength into one more attack, lashing out at the hulking brute.
Almus smiled, grabbing Sebastian's fist tightly.
"What?!" Sebastian's face turned to shock as Almus's strength began to feel unparalleled.
"I must admit Sebastian," Almus spoke with a calmer tone. "You got me real good there. I'm almost impressed." Sebastian's arm began to twist downward from Almus and soon enough his arm was forced back, leaving him wide open. "But almost isn't quite good enough!" Almus unleashed a heavy blow straight to Sebastian's chest, knocking the wind out of him, sending him hurtling back to his recently recovered teammates.
"What the… hell… was that?" Sebastian coughed, trying to catch his breath.
The group collectively got up to face Almus head on for the third time. The suit Almus wore had been beaten down heavily and was beginning to short out, with sparks shooting off into the night.
"I no longer have any use for this thing. It served its purpose well, though."
"Is that what you do to disappointments, Almus?" Damien asked Almus seriously. "You treat them like dirt, and cast them away when they've served their purpose? Just like Cyrus?"
"As disappointed as I am in my son, I'm even more disappointed in you, Damien."
Damien froze dead in his tracks when he heard that. "What?" He growled. "What do you mean by that?"
"Our conversation in interrogation. Don't you remember? Out of all of your teammates, even the school, you're the one who has truly earned your place. You've known nothing other than fighting. You've managed to protect people from the weak who prey upon the citizens of your city. And you've been doing it until the ripe old age of seventeen. The only thing you've ever done wrong was choosing to waste your clearly natural talents with people who hold you back. You could have become so much more with us. You could have had Noir incarcerated by now. It's not too late, you can right these wrongs right now, "
"Are you delusional?" Damien almost whispered, approaching Almus. "You say righting these wrongs, but that means selling out my team. Is that correct?!" Damien responded, but was met with no response. "IS THAT CORRECT?!" He repeated, screaming. "And what in the HELL do you know about the weak? You've had the luxury of having three meals a day, every day, for your ENTIRE LIFE. You've never been poor. You've never known what it's like to fight, to steal," Damien said before remembering something, turning to Sebastian and remembered his story, "to KILL! All just to survive!"
"But you DID survive! You followed your own rules and clawed your way out of a cesspool of a city to take your life back!"
"And now, we'll see that you spend the rest of yours rotting away in a cell!" Damien snarled before readying his sword to strike a now vulnerable Almus.
"That's a shame, really. I had honestly thought you would come around, but I guess not. You believe that your power comes from the bonds with others, but I'll show you all what REAL POWER IS!"
The suit collapsed back into its original watch form, and Almus ripped it off and tossed it away. Suddenly, a massive surge of power was released from Almus, and air and raindrops shot everywhere. Lightning crashed all around the five of them, the tension at its peak.
Almus stood there, a maniacal grin plastered across his face. Team CSRD assumed an offensive stance, and prepared to launch their first assault. Each member prepped their semblance: Sebastian lifting Siberia with his telekinesis, Axel spun his staff and charged himself, and Damien pulled out his lighter and coated his arms in flames as he drew his sword. Cyrus walked out in front of the group and faced his father, Sweet Liberation at the ready.
"You may be strong, but don't let our age fool you. We're more than strong enough to beat you."
Almus threw his head back and cackled loudly.
"Is that true? PROVE IT."
Cyrus yelled as he led a charge, his teammates in tow. Cyrus laid down covering fire with his shotgun, landing each blast directly into Almus's chest as Sebastian peppered Almus with his steel ball. However, Almus remained unmoved. Axel and Damien reared back and let loose a powerful wave of fire and electricity. Almus shielded his eyes, but took the blast head-on, unflinching. As the smoke cleared, the team gasped as they found Almus unscathed. Not so much as a scratch on him.
"You've GOT to be kidding me." Damien groaned. "That would have vaporized any normal person."
The group turned to Cyrus for some kind of hint or insight on what might be going on, but he simply stared back, blankly.
Almus started to chuckle, and Axel yelled out in frustration.
"Something funny, slime?" he sneered.
"Yes, in fact. There is something funny," Almus taunted, "I just now realized, I've never told Cyrus about my semblance. He has no idea what you are up against." His crazy smile faded into one of arrogance. "Or how completely outmatched you puny children are."
It was then that the team saw something quite suspicious. Almus's right arm began to heavily glow a dark color.
"The hell is up with that?" Damien had never seen something quite like that.
"It has to be his semblance! We need to buckle down and fast!" Axel responded quickly, figuring out the situation instantly.
"Correct you are, child. Now let me show just what is up with my semblance!" Almus shot his fist out forward, and the energy around it was released in a stream of compressed and violent energy, sending the team leaping away from one another, dodging out of the way in the nick of time. The ground shattered and broke where the blast had traveled.
"Just what in the world was that?" Sebastian was baffled at seeing the raw destruction the blast caused.
"That was real power right there, scum. Something none of you will ever obtain. But I implore you, keep trying! See how far you can make it." Almus began to menacingly walk towards the team as they scrambled to get back into formation.
"We can't let up, guys," Axel warned, "There's no way he's letting us out of this hell hole. We've got to go through him if we have any hope of getting home."
"If you have any ideas," Damien replied as another blast came screaming toward the team and they scattered to dodge it. "Now would be the time."
"I've got one," Cyrus said from the back of the group, his voice filled with an anger they'd never heard before. "Keep hitting him until we find a weakness."
"I guess that works. Just be careful everyone!" Sebastian threw out Siberia to lay down cover so the others could get shots in. Cyrus, Damien, and Axel laid waste with their guns against Almus. The blasts were ineffective at doing any damage and Almus kept walking forward, his arm glowing once more.
Frustrated, Damien decided to transform Burning Justice into sword mode and lunged at Almus, he swung to make contact but when he expected to puncture human flesh, the blade seemingly made no physical mark on Almus's body nor did that part of the body even budge.
"What?!" Damien gasped before backflipping off his opponent, landing slightly in front of his teammates. "Okay, I'll bite. What the hell are you?!" he shouted, converting his sword to a rifle.
"Why don't you stick around and find out?" Almus shrugged off the attack and simply swatted Damien away with another blast from his hand.
"Sebastian! With me!" Cyrus used his barriers so both he and Sebastian could jump on them. He created multiple in the air, so they could get above Almus. Together they let out bursts of attacks with the flail and Siberia. Almus simply covered himself with his arms. Meanwhile Axel shot out lightning from his staff and Damien who stopped shooting, created fireballs and they combined their semblance attacks together, the combined blast directly hitting Almus. When the blast cleared Almus was just staring at Axel and Damien.
"You can't hurt me like that," he said mockingly.
Sebastian ran up to him from behind, Almus turning to face him, and he unleashed a series of blows back to back in an attempt to do anything to the near invincible man. A few strikes managed to make an impact but nothing notable enough to matter. After Sebastian was done, all he could do was look at Almus's face with a look of dread.
"What did I just say?" Almus taunted Sebastian and released some of the pent up energy when he smacked him with the back of his right arm.
Almus sped towards Axel, who had just enough time to raise his staff up to guard himself. However, it would be ineffective as Almus would simply pummel him with a direct fist to the face. Axel was shot to the ground and crashed down hard, rolling amongst the rain soaked rubble. Almus set his eyes on Damien again, and Damien switched his rifle back to sword mode. Almus struck with his left then right, Damien barely managing to block with his sword.
"I'm starting to think that your semblance is a little unfair." Damien growled, tired of being unable to lay a scratch on Almus.
"What tipped you off?" Almus asked his foe with a smirk.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact you can't get hurt!" Damien went to swing at Almus but Almus dodged, delivering a rough kick to Damien's side, sending him reeling to the ground.
"Now that they are taken care of, I suppose I should deal with you Cyrus!" Almus raised his arm high, fist clenched with power and released a powerful wave in Cyrus's direction. Cyrus blocked with a large barrier but Almus charged in and shattered the barrier with a powerful strike from his fist. The impact blasted Cyrus back, his feet sliding across the slick ground, looking to stabilize his momentum. As soon as Cyrus stopped he raised his flail and swung it at Almus who took the hit directly in the chest. Cyrus swung again and again to no avail. Getting pissed, he whipped out the shotgun and blasted Almus with two rounds, the last one causing Almus to flinch. Cyrus was beginning to understand what Almus's semblance was and what its weakness was.
"Is that all my son can muster?" Almus just smiled as he winded back his arm to deliver another massive attack.
"Don't think you've forgotten us just yet!" Damien and Axel yelled together as they generated another combined semblance attack. Sebastian shot out Siberia with his thumb and the two launched the combined force onto Siberia, a steel ball of explosive energy hurtling towards Almus. Almus turned to face it, raising his hands to guard himself.
"Nice job guys!" Cyrus shouted to them for the display of teamwork. "You left yourself open!" Cyrus raised his shotgun to Almus's back and fired right as the others attack honed in. The shot from the sawed off shotgun caused Almus to lower his guard slightly and the frontal attack hit Almus square on. Cyrus protected himself with a well timed barrier and Sebastian used his semblance to get himself and the other two out of the way of the explosion. As the smoke cleared, Team CSRD remain unharmed but Almus was beginning to sway from the damage.
"His semblance uses his aura to block damage and store it for his next attack!" Cyrus communicated with his teammates. "The more he uses it, the more vulnerable he becomes."
"Very perceptive of you, Cyrus!" Almus went to strike Cyrus but Cyrus evaded, plowing Almus with the fail in the face and blasting with another round of his shotgun.
"Lay it on him guys!"
The team took to giving Almus a righteous beatdown with their weapons and semblances. They struck him with a series of combination attacks, each one weakening Almus more and more. Cyrus had gotten most of the good hits while his teammates supported him. It had gotten to the point where Almus was infuriated. His right arm raged with power, Team CSRD immediately taking notice.
"You think we bashed him a little too much?" Damien began to worry as the fight had dragged on for far too long, each one of them reaching their limit.
"We just need to brace this attack and then he should be almost done!" Cyrus tried to reassure them that they could win."
"Ok, but I'm pretty sure that this is going to be the biggest one yet," Axel added shakily. "This is gonna hurt."
"I'll have you all face this head on." Almus shrieked as he raised his fist high, a torrent of wind and pure destructive force swirling around his entire arm. "FALL DOWN! ALL OF YOU!" He smashed his hand to the ground, streams of explosive energy flying out in all directions from Almus. The ground erupted from the force, the very area being shot clear of rain for a few seconds. The attack carried these shockwaves towards each team member, every single one of them being struck by an immense pressure, their auras shattering and their bodies being flown, crashing hard to the ground.
"It's over. There is no way they can stand now." Almus stared on with his eyes narrowed, his face cold and expressionless.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Dad." Cyrus growled, his barrier severely cracked and shattering as he spoke. "I'm still standing after all."
"So you managed to pull up a barrier around yourself in time. Too bad, you couldn't cover your teammates. Now you're all alone."
Cyrus looked to his teammates, his friends, as they lay motionless on the ground.
"What seems to be the matter, Cyrus? Afraid you'll let them down again? Don't worry. You just have to fight your old man." He cracked his knuckles, getting ready to fight. "I figure that even in my current state, beating you will be as easy as stealing candy from a baby." Almus sneered, prepping for another attack.
"Somehow I wouldn't put that past you." Cyrus said. "You always were a dirtbag."
Almus flinched slightly, surprised to hear those words from his own son's mouth. Enraged, he yelled and bum-rushed Cyrus. Cyrus, caught off guard, put up a large barrier to defend himself. Almus lowered his shoulder and charged straight into it, shattering the barrier. He continued barreling full-speed toward Cyrus, unphased. Cyrus stood there, stunned by the ease with which his barrier was broken. Oh shit, he thought, he's still coming.
"You truly believe that your puny barriers will save you?" Almus roared as he grew closer and closer.
Cyrus panicked for a brief moment, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Oh wait, he thought as he glanced down at his right hand, which was holding his prized weapon, I have a shotgun! He quickly recovered from his stasis and attempted to stop Almus's approach by taking off to his right and firing blast after blast from Sweet Liberation. Almus simply took the blasts directly to his chest, his semblance still protecting him. However, he flinched slightly from each impact, and his arm only glowed weakly. He wound up and prepared to let loose a streak of energy.
"Thanks for the boost, son!" Almus said as he threw his arm forward, releasing a surge of energy toward Cyrus's feet, causing him to lose his balance. He fell flat on his face and rolled a couple of times before getting back on his feet. He turned around to see Almus charging once again, however this time something was different. He seemed to be running more wildly, as a wounded animal would.
"He's getting desperate," Cyrus said to himself, "I'm almost there. Do it for them and for yourself." He raised his shotgun and took off running once again, firing with one hand as he went. The shots weren't as accurate, but they still forced Almus to dodge and change direction. He ran into a couple blasts to absorb their energy, but avoided the majority. Almus wound up again and slung another wave at Cyrus's feet in another attempt to slow him down, but Cyrus jumped over it and landed in stride. Almus grunted softly and began to breathe more heavily, each step seemingly taking more and more effort.
Cyrus noticed this, and overall fatigue and weakness was starting to show through more and more with each attack. Looks like it's almost time to end this, he thought. He planted his foot in the ground and stopped on a dime, turning to face his father. He stood and held his arms up in a provocative "bring it on" motion.
"Come and get it, old man!" Cyrus mocked, trying to bait his father into exerting the rest of his aura energy.
"Why... you… little!" His father panted as he leapt high into the air, raising his fists for one final crushing blow. Cyrus smirked as he read the telegraphed move and pressed a button on his weapon, dropping the ball and chain. He began to swing it in circles to build momentum as he waited for his father to strike.
"HYAAAAHHH!" Almus yelled with everything he had as his arms started to glow and he came crashing down toward Cyrus. Cyrus took a deep breath and waited for his opportunity to strike. Wait for it… Come on, just a little closer… That's it, you slimeball, just set it up for me… NOW!
As Almus came screaming down toward Cyrus, his arms ablaze with energy, he brought his arms down hard in an attempt to finish the fight. However, he would find that he had only hit air as Cyrus easily sidestepped the attack, spun around and swung his ball and chain with every ounce of strength he could muster. The ball collided with Almus's chest with a loud smack and a crunch as he was sent flying all the way across the prison yard and into the wall. Upon impact, all the energy Almus had mustered exploded outward into the air harmlessly.
Almus slid down the wall and landed on his feet, leaning against the wall for support. Then, he collapsed to his knees, unable to continue. It was over. Cyrus breathed a large sigh of relief, holstered his weapon, and went to check on his friends.
"You guys alright?"
Axel, lying face-down on the ground, gave a weak thumbs up.
Damien followed, signaling with one hand and using his sword as a support with the other. Sebastian, also still on the ground, weakly flashed the A-OK sign.
"How?" Almus had muttered quietly from where he lay. "How could I have possibly lost to the likes of you four? It shouldn't have been possible. I'm the strongest. I have to be the strongest."
"It's simple Dad." Cyrus looked down at his defeated father with pity. "We all had each other to protect. A reason to fight with everything we had. The feeling that we couldn't lose, no matter what."
"But I had my reasons to fight! I strove to be the best! To make sure that the strong would prevail and keep this broken world together." Almus was keen on making sure he sounded like he was on top, despite the fact he lost.
"Those reasons were misguided." Cyrus stumbled over to his father and looked at him with sorrow. "It was an excuse to fight for only yourself. A self-guided dream of fantasy. You only care about yourself and making others believe in your stupid cause!"
"You think it was an excuse?" Almus tried to sound angry but couldn't get that feeling across. "I only did what I had to do to ensure the future was safe. So that you could be safe." His voice was soft and caring. A voice Cyrus hadn't heard his father use in a long time.
"Wait, what?" Cyrus was quite dumbfounded. "For me?"
Almus spoke softly, his eyes growing sad. "Ever since your mother passed, I tried my hardest to keep you safe. I figured that I would have us both enroll for Atlas military and that through their program you could be safe, be able to protect yourself. Be strong enough to protect others. Even if I failed to make you understand, I still believe what I did was the right decision." Almus had grown tired of the idle chatter. "Just be done with me and leave me to my fate."
"Dad…" Cyrus still was trying to comprehend everything his father said.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a massive fleet of military airships converged on the facility. The lead ship landed in what was left of the courtyard and extended its boarding platform. A figure walked out and stepped into view. To everyone's surprise, it was General Ironwood, striding over to the group of boys.
"General Ironwood?" Cyrus asked in surprise.
"You boys aren't looking so good. I'll have my medical team tend to you right away." he motioned to the ship, and a group of doctors emerged, making their way over to tend to Sebastian, Axel, and Damien, who were able to say their thanks to the staff before Ironwood before turning his attention to the renegade Lieutenant.
"Ironwood?" Almus was shocked at seeing General Ironwood appear before him.
Ironwood focused his attention on Almus. "That's General to you. As I see it right now I'd say that you have stepped far out of your bounds Almus. I'm disappointed. You showed great promise but it seems I was mistaken to let you off on your own. Not only have you turned this prison into a place of torture and harm, but you used your power of command to try and jumpstart your own perverse ideology. But your worst offense was targeting children, Beacon's students, and forcing them to submit."
"I'm a realist Ironwood. My vision could have led to a world of the strong. Those who could have beaten any foe, known or unknown."
"Your vision is one that would only help yourself. I do what I must for the good of everyone, not for the good of the few. So as I see it, I have no other choice but to strip you of your title and place you under arrest.
"Arrest me?" Almus was taken by other soldiers, handcuffed, and dragged off to another nearby ship. "If that is my fate, then so be it. Just remember, Ironwood," Almus spoke with a cryptic tone, "it's unwise to believe that my way of thinking is wrong. You will all need it to survive, or else none of you will make it through the coming storm without it." The doors to the ship closed and Almus had vanished from sight.
Damien, now standing up, witnessed the whole thing, and couldn't help but grin. "Ass. Hole." he stated, bursting into a chuckle. The others also joined in on the laughter.
Ironwood made his way to Team CSRD. His face oozed an upcoming apology.
"I can't express how sorry I am for the way Almus acted towards all of you. It's my fault that he had gotten out of hand. I only have so many ways I can repay you four, but I think you all will like what I did."
Everyone looked to Ironwood, beaming with the promise of good news.
"I took the liberty of removing all the charges that Almus placed on all of you. I can't wipe the slate entirely clean for the two troublemakers, but it's best to know neither of you will have the police or army breathing down your necks. It'll help to save Ozpin from the trouble of dealing with them while you both are enrolled at Beacon."
Sebastian and Damien smiled at one another, happy to hear the news.
"Now that that is out of the way," Ironwood spoke, getting back to a more serious tone. "I'd like this ship to take you all to the nearest hospital so you can all get your wounds treated. You should also all get a good night's sleep as well. You'll all be headed back to Beacon at your earliest convenience. I'm sure you have others who are eagerly waiting for your return?"
They all remembered Team MGAT at that moment, now realizing they were all probably worried about them, the girls especially. Damien could only think about being able to tell Vi all about his "wonderful" adventure in jail.
"This is where I take my leave. It was nice to be able to meet you all. I hope that the next time we meet, it won't be under these circumstances."
The ship the boys were carried on closed its doors, the ship taking off. Ironwood walked towards the ship he walked off of before stopping and looking out of the corner of his eye.
"You can step out now. Karion."
Karion stepped out from the shadows and just smiled, his eyes closed. "No 'thank you,' General?"
"I suppose one is in order. If it wasn't for you, I never would have known about all of this."
"The only thing I ask for in return," Karion said, clapping his hands together in plea. "Is a ride back to Vale."
"I guess I can do that for you. Take a ride on that one there." He pointed to one of the ships. "They're delivering some things to Vale so it's your best ticket back."
"Thank you very much, General." Karion tipped his hat and walked past Ironwood. He raised his hat back up, his smile slightly wider.
I have a feeling I'll meet those four again real soon.
Team CSRD looked at the midnight sky from the windows of the ship, remembering all that they had gone through the past four days. Now they could look ahead towards the tournament. They would need to get even stronger if they were to overcome the challenges it held for them. But, the first thing on their minds before that was getting some well deserved rest. After all, they knew they were going to receive quite the welcome back party from Team MGAT once they got back to Beacon.