Author's note: And now, to something I've been meaning to do since V5.
After the failed mission to capture Ichigo, Ruby's Group and the Ace-Ops met up in Atlas again, and Hazel let himself get locked up in a prison cell for his actions against the kingdom. Yang was unconscious after taking on all the pain and exhaustion of being Frostbite, and the rest were unsure what to do next. The military was already repairing the hole in the wall, using some of the materials that were left over from when it was originally rebuilt. Sensing his grief, Ruby went to talk to Hazel in his cell.
"Hey," Ruby said and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ichigo," Hazel answered, "She… said something to me. I know it's probably not true, but in that moment, I realized I made a horrible mistake. My sister, she… she dedicated her life to saving people. When she died, I joined Salem, and helped destroy the system Gretchen trusted with her life, and believed in. I was so stupid!" He angrily punched the wall, leaving a dent in it and damaging the cell systems, shutting off the hard-light barriers.
"Yeah, a bit," Ruby said softly and repaired the wall, and the barrier activated again, "But that's fine. You're better now."
"But I hurt so many people," Hazel said, "So many people my sister would've loved to meet. And now, they're gone. I caused so much pain in my life, and I can't ever undo any of that. You have no idea how that feels."
"Not really, no," Ruby answered, "But I know how you feel. When Beacon fell, when Yang lost her arm and she shut down, at first it felt like she had died. But it was worse. I could talk to her, but the sister I knew and loved wasn't there. It was like I was talking to an impostor."
"How… how did you keep going?" Hazel asked, and looked up at Ruby.
"I knew she was in there," Ruby answered, "And I knew that, if it was the other way around, she would do whatever was necessary to get me back to my old self. So, I did the same. At least initially. I… still kind of hate myself for giving up on her, for just leaving, despite knowing her issues with that."
"It's fine," Blake said and walked into the room, surprising Ruby, "When I fused with Yang, I saw her memories. Sure, she was upset that you left, but only at first. When she got her new arm, you leaving helped her realize that there were bigger things in the world than her personal problems, and that helped her deal with them, as weird as it sounds."
"R- really?" Ruby asked.
"Yep," Blake answered, "Things just… kind of played out that way, I think. Yang was sitting at home, sulking about you leaving her with her problems to go do something else, but then it hit her. Her losing her arm was so unbelievably insignificant in the grand scheme of things that there was no reason for her to beat herself up over it. Sure, it sucked, but at the end of the day, there were still people being killed by Grimm, people training to prevent that, and all sorts of other things going on. And it was that realization that helped her get back up and regain her strength. In a weird turn of events, you reminding her of her biggest fear helped her overcome her problems."
"I… don't know what to say about that," Ruby said.
"But I do," Hazel said, "I've spent a lot of time with Salem, and know a thing or two about her. She can't be killed. I've tried. I've punched her into a puddle, ripped her apart, did anything imaginable to her, and she just let me tire myself out, until I couldn't even lift my arms any more."
"That is… such a weird flex," Ruby said to herself, then noticed Hazel and Blake's looks, "Sorry. Please, continue."
"But even with all this strength, all this power, she is still scared," Hazel said, "She has been hunting down silver-eyed warriors for longer than anyone can remember. I'm sure that, if you asked the relic of knowledge about her weakness, it would tell you about the silver eyes. I… have dealt with your kind in the past, Ruby. They are exceptional warriors, and I'm not at all surprised that you became a huntress at your age, but they're also able to pull just about anyone out of even the darkest holes. People genuinely care about them, and they care about others. And I believe that that is what scares Salem the most. Humanity."
"Which is why we're working so hard to preserve it," James said, and entered the room as well.
"You have no room to talk," Blake said, "You threw away your humanity years ago, and it was a lot of work to get it back to you."
"I'll… admit I misunderstood Ozpin when he told me," James said, "Anyway, Hazel, I talked to the rest of the council, and the judges, and they're willing to offer you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Hazel asked.
"You can either serve your six months in jail," James said, "Or agree to public service."
"How long would that be?" Hazel asked.
"Right now, considering your alliances and everything, indefinitely," James answered, and Blake pinned her ears in anger.
"Hold on, that sounds an awful lot like slavery," Blake said, "I mean, yeah, he did some bad stuff, but slavery is illegal."
"Which is why I'm giving him a choice," James said, "Also, his sentence is subject to change depending on his behavior."
"Alright, I'm doing it," Hazel said, "I've believed Salem's lies, and spat on my sister's memory, for too long, now it's time for payback."
"Very well," James said and opened Hazel's cell, "I will also need you to contact me or another council member once a week and report your progress. Your supervisors will do the same, independently."
"Got it," Hazel said.
"I just had an idea," Ruby said and asked, "What if Hazel works as double agent?"
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"You know, a spy. Like in those movies," Ruby answered, "He goes back to Salem, apologizes, and pretends to work for her again, but secretly feeds us information on her inner circle and all that."
"You know the military doesn't really do that sort of thing, right?" James asked.
"Yeah, I saw it in Vale," Ruby answered, "Not learning about your enemy in advance and making decisions on incomplete information doesn't work though, so we need, as you put it, a new approach. Know the enemy, and know ourselves."
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Hazel said, "She is too smart for that. And besides, if I come back empty-handed, she'll be furious. At least when Mercury left on his own accord, he brought her something when he returned."
"What did he bring back?" Ruby asked and pulled out her scroll to take notes. To make things easier, she created a shared file of all their enemies and gave her group access to it, and Blake immediately received a notification on her scroll that a new shared file was available.
"Something that belonged to his father, Marcus Black," Hazel asked, and Blake gasped in surprise.
"Wait, the Marcus Black?" Blake asked.
"You know him?" Hazel asked, and both he and James gave her questioning looks.
"I've heard of him," Blake answered, "The White Fang used to hire assassins to do their dirty work, until Adam took over and decided to do it himself. I've never met him personally, but from what I've heard, he is very dangerous."
"What kind of dangerous?" James asked.
"Kind of like Sirena," Blake answered, "No one knows what his semblance is, but it seems to be incredibly versatile, as he never failed a job. He was the third most efficient assassin, with a man named Carnage on place one, until he died, then Argent took the spot, and Marcus became the new number two."
"And Salem can bring back the dead," Ruby said, mostly thinking out loud.
"Yes, Marcus is alive," Hazel said, "His semblance allows him to steal other people's semblances, and use them for himself." Ruby, Blake, and even James were shocked by this revelation, and needed some time to take it in.
"H- he can… steal semblances?" Ruby asked after a moment of silence, "That is so wrong."
"It is, yes," Hazel said, "But I don't think Salem has any intention of letting him leave her castle, since he is a valuable asset to her. But anyway, if this was all, I would like to go and kill some Grimm."
"Actually, wait, I have an idea," Ruby said, "Meet me in front of Atlas Academy in an hour. I have something to show you." She rushed off, leaving Blake, Hazel and James equally confused, though Blake quickly composed herself, trusting Ruby's judgment over her own doubts. She checked the shared file again, and it showed to be quickly filling up with information on their enemies. Thinking back at the fairy tale books, she decided to add what she was sure were tales of Salem's actions.
~o~
Argent was walking through the uninhabitable parts of Menagerie, when he sensed some Grimm in the distance. Deciding to have some fun, he evaporated and rushed over to where he had sensed them. He manifested a finger or toe every so often, and had his seismic sense see if he was still going in the right direction.
"Now, look at that," Argent said when he manifested, seeing hyenas fight with various Grimm, seemingly over territory. However, he sensed some cubs, and also injured hyenas, hiding in some burrows the others were defending. Argent opened fire on the Grimm, and each bullet created a white orb that homed in on the most injured hyena, healing its injuries a little. The Grimm focused on him and he stopped shooting, instead going for melee combat. He dealt a lot more damage in close range, killing Grimm left and right, but his weapons counted as two hits, meaning he created two orbs with each attack.
~o~
Hazel met with Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and Maria in front of Atlas Academy, still unsure what exactly was going to happen. However, his gut told him that whatever Ruby had planned would help him move into a brighter future, where he wouldn't have to be ashamed when he met his sister on the other side. For the first time in longer than he can remember, he was truly hopeful.
"Everyone ready?" Ruby asked as a Manta landed in front of them.
"For what, exactly?" Weiss asked.
"Helping Hazel, of course," Ruby answered, "He agreed to help protect the people from now on, so to celebrate him breaking free of Salem's control, I figured we could let him copy two semblances, Guardian's Gambit and Spectral Healing."
"Copying semblances?" Hazel asked and tilted his head in confusion.
"Well, it's a bit more complicated, but that's what we call it for simplicity," Ruby answered, "Basically, when a silver-eyed warrior uses their powers, we unleash our souls as light. If someone looks into that light, our soul collides with theirs, and both leave a mark on each other. That mark is like a blueprint to make your aura act like that of the silver-eyed warrior, allowing you to recreate the effects of their semblance at will. It's more like drawing by numbers, but with aura, than actually copying a semblance, but calling it that is faster. Also, if you use someone else's semblance, it has some side effects, the most important one being a change in your personality, since you're forcing your soul to act like someone else's. But that can easily be remedied, so don't worry too much about it."
"Thanks for the warning," Hazel said, "But ignoring my pain for so long has caused even more for those around me, and myself."
"Alright then," Ruby said hesitantly, "Now, if everyone is ready, we can go." The group boarded the Manta and it took off, heading into the tundra to find some Grimm. On the way, Ruby used Mentor to teach Hazel how to enter his soul core, and explained the emblems to him. The first stop was a pack of Sabyr, which Angela petrified using anger to get better at it, just in case.
~o~
Marcus was sitting in his chair in Salem's throne room, not knowing what to do. Arthur and the new guy were listening to Salem's instructions, while Tyrian and Tock were training, according to them. Suddenly, a bipedal minion with four fangs protruding from its upper jaw entered the room. It had dark red fur, and its fleshy legs pulsated under its skin. It knelt down in front of him, but it was still bigger than him. Using its telepathic link, it told him what it saw Nora do in Mantle, and Marcus got ecstatic. He jumped up, made his minion follow him, and looked for Salem.
"Salem, good news," Marcus said and stopped in front of her in the hallway.
"They are news, Marcus," Salem said, "Until I decide what they are."
"Of course, my apologies," Marcus said.
"So, what do you have for me?" Salem asked.
"This minion here," Marcus answered, gesturing at the bipedal creature, "It just told me that one of our enemies can create dust. And with Tyrian's poison steam, and my Ex Machina, we can create powerful minions that explode in a cloud of poisonous steam after being defeated."
"Well done," Salem said with a small smile, "Go and make it happen." While Marcus left to find Tyrian, Salem went to the front door of her castle, since the Grimm had noticed Hazel approach. She opened the door and saw the massive man in front of her. Before she could react, however, Hazel raised his hands.
"Salem, it's me, Neo," Hazel said, quickly changed into Neo, and then turned into Yang, "My semblance evolved, so now I can copy the voices of people when I disguise myself as them."
"That is definitely good for us," Salem said, "Now you can help us even more."
"Yep," Neo said, "Plus, I got a new semblance. Watch." She turned into Weiss and cut down a nearby Grimm with her sword, and it left a white orb.
"What is that?" Salem asked.
"It's called Spectral Healing," Neo answered, "Any hit I land on a Grimm creates an orb like that, which refills a nearby person's aura a little bit when necessary. Apparently, looking into the light of the silver eyes lets you use that person's semblance. It also means they cultivate the light of preservation inside them as they use those semblances, which will manifest as silver eyes in their offspring. Ruby is currently planning to use that and create a new generation of silver-eyed warriors in Atlas, but she hasn't told anyone that she has a plan, or that it'll change their personality."
"Very well then," Salem said and became thoughtful, when an idea popped into her head, "I will need to change my plans, then. Wait here, and prepare as many of those orbs as you can. Tyrian will need all the aura he can get." Salem went back inside her castle to tell her Seer to move her forces away from Mantle, and the Grimm encroached on Neo, waiting to be killed. Neo danced through the Grimm and cut them down, creating one orb per Grimm. She then decided to focus on non-vital areas, creating multiple orbs per Grimm.
~o~
Just after Lux had petrified a pack of Sabyr, they looked around, proud of their work. Out of nowhere, Ichigo attacked Hazel and the two fusions, with Neo coming from another direction. Angela blocked Ichigo's mace with her weapon and kicked her in the stomach. Lux deflected Neo's thrust with their naginata and brought its end up to hit her in the face.
"Show me some of that sweet agony you're hiding," Ichigo said and attacked Angela again, "If you're dead, your friends will fall into that sweet, delicious despair." She swung her mace trying to hit Angela, who just blocked the attacks with her weapon and countered with Retaliation.
"Why are you attacking me?" Lux asked as they blocked and deflected another flurry of thrusts from Neo, who stopped and disguised herself as Roman. Lux hesitated for just long enough that Neo could break through their defense and land a series of blows, directly aimed at vital organs. Lux stumbled backwards and fell over. Neo got ready to land another hit, but Hazel grabbed her by the face and slammed her into a nearby petrified Sabyr. Angela was busy fighting Ichigo and backed away, only to step on a splotch of cream that erupted into an ice spike.
"Guys, a little help," Angela said, getting cornered by Ichigo. Lux used their chance to focus on all the pain and sorrow in her reach, and Ichigo stopped her relentless attack.
"Wh- what is happening?" Hazel asked. Ichigo dropped her mace, turned away, leaned over and held her stomach.
"Ruby's secret weapons," Lux answered, "Ichigo said something about sweet sorrow, so we figured she might taste negative emotions, since she can't see them. And since she wants sorrow, she'll get it. All of it." Ichigo started coughing, which eventually turned into retching, until her breakfast went right back the way it came.
"I never thought you'd be this cruel," Hazel said to Lux. Before Ichigo could recompose herself, Angela summoned an Arma Gigas to punch her in the face, then rushed in herself to deliver a series of blows until Ichigo's aura broke. Hazel went to help Angela restrain Ichigo, and used fire-dust in his arms to keep her warm, while Angela called for pickup. While the others were distracted, Neo attacked Lux from behind and broke their aura in one hit, splitting them up.
"Ruby, Jaune," Angela said and wanted to rush over to help them, but Ruby held out her arm and stopped them.
"No," Ruby said, "This is my problem."
"Are you sure?" Jaune asked.
"Yes. I hurt Neo, and now I have to answer for what I did," Ruby answered and turned to Neo, "Neo, please let me say this. I know you have no reason to believe me, and I can't ask that of you, but I would never kill another person. Ever. Every single day since that night, I think of all the people that died, including Roman. But if you really think revenge will make you feel better, or if you have any reason to doubt my words, then do what you think is right. I won't blame you, no matter your decision." She held out the other arm and closed her eyes. Neo dropped her disguise and pulled her weapon back, ready to thrust, while Ruby's friends could only watch and hope that Ruby knew what she was doing. Just as Neo was about to strike, Ruby felt something hook into her hood and pull her back, and up into the air.
"Hello, Red," a familiar male voice said over the sound of Manta engines, and when Ruby opened her eyes, she saw Roman standing in the aircraft. It landed, and the soldiers, all of whom were members of Sophie's swarm, took Ichigo into custody. Neo stood there, speechless even for her standards, before dropping her weapon and sharing a tear-filled hug with the only person in the world she cared about.
"Roman? But how?" Ruby asked and said, "I thought the Griffon swallowed you." Angela also split up, and Weiss rubbed her aching eyes for a bit.
"Didn't you listen to Sirena?" Roman asked and said, "Sophie made sure there were far less casualties than it seemed. This little girl disguised herself as a Griffon and flew me out of there." He pointed to a rock, whose colors slowly faded and turned light blue, becoming a hard-light mesh, before revealing a little girl, six or seven years old at most, wearing black sneakers and a white dress, as well as black sunglasses.
"Hi, I'm Lily," Lily said, "Now, my job here is done, so I'll leave." She faded and was gone within a second, leaving everyone but the soldiers incredibly confused.
"Wait, what? But how?" Ruby asked.
"Like I said, Sophie's swarm saved me," Roman answered, "They offered to let me join, which I politely refused, and since then, they've been very hospitable to me. I asked them to keep an eye out for Neo, but in this special case, her stealth skills worked against her. They couldn't find her until just a few hours ago, and then they lost track of her again. Anyway, I'd really appreciate if you could keep the fact that I'm still alive to yourselves. I've had enough run-ins with crazy people, and I don't need them coming after me and ask for my help again."
"Sure," Ruby said, much to everyone's surprise, "But I can only promise that I won't tell anyone. They can still find you if you don't keep a low profile."
"Of course," Roman said. The group headed back to Atlas, but before they reached the capital, Roman and Neo jumped off and were gone. Weiss, Jaune, Hazel and Maria all agreed to keep his survival a secret, mostly out of respect for Ruby's decision, but also because he can't do too much damage without attracting the wrong kind of attention.
~o~
Tyrian was sitting in front of Salem's castle, emitting poisonous steam from his tail while the orbs Neo created recharged his aura and healed any damage the procedure did to him. He condensed the steam into as small a space as possible, trying to get its aura structure just right so it would crystallize.
"Come on Sweety, you can do it," Tock said, trying to encourage him. Tyrian took slow and deep breaths, when suddenly, his aura manifested in purple chitin armor around his body, and the orbs stopped homing in on him. The steam crystallized into a milky purple crystal the size of two of his fingers, and he let out an exhausted sigh before his aura traits disappeared again and the crystal fell to the ground.
"And now, the next step," Marcus said and held up a rhomboid card with an orange crystalline center, black outline, and similar orange crystals on all four corners. He threw it at the poisonous steam-dust crystal, and it emitted a cloud of smoke. When the smoke was gone, the crystal had robotic arms and legs, red eyes, was much larger, and had the card in its center.
"Well done," Neo said, after disguising herself as Cinder.
"It wouldn't have been possible without your help," Marcus said and put his right hand on Neo's shoulder.
"Thanks, but I've really got to go, bye," Neo said and disappeared into thin air before anyone could react. The robotic minion looked around, and Tyrian began making another crystal after a while, not sure how to respond, but certain that Salem would want more such minions.
Author's note: Hazel gets sentenced to public service, ATLA style.
And the conundrum of two Neos. One can talk, and one can't. One actively attacked Ruby, and one at least told Salem something important. It wasn't entirely correct, but it was still important.
Ex Machina is based on the first monster of the week from Fresh! Precure, which was actually supposed to be the last season of Pretty Cure, due to the low ratings of the season before it, Yes! Precure 5 GoGo. However, much like Ironwood in the show, Pretty Cure doesn't care how things are supposed to go, at least not if it's inconvenient. It's also the first season where a character just straight up dies on screen.
The semblance functions pretty similar to the monsters: Create a card, throw it at something, make a robot monster, and when the monster is defeated, the object is badly damaged.
Unlike its inspiration, this semblance can't be used on living things, or organic things in general.
It was also named with the help of the guy I mentioned last chapter.