Author's note: And now we learn why the thing from last chapter is a problem.
In the morning, after breakfast, everyone met for a strategy meeting, where Glynda would share the most recent discoveries, and people could suggest plans going forward. Jaune was a bit hesitant, because while he knew what was happening, and that Weiss' suspicions had been right, he didn't know if it was important enough.
"As it stands, the flow of air to Mountain Glenn has been slowing down," Glynda answered, "This means that the windmills supplying the city with power might stop soon, and then we would run out of power within hours. So, we need to figure out what is causing this change, and fix it."
"It's not just the energy," Ruby said, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"What do you mean?" Glynda asked.
"Sophie's swarm uses arson termites to circulate the air," Ruby answered, "Their mounds suck up heat, and only release it when the material comes in contact with water, or when it reaches a certain point. Without the windmills, the pumps moving water to the swarm won't work, and that would mean the mounds would heat up and ignite the forests all around us." Jaune stopped paying attention to the conversation, and began thinking about what Salem might plan.
"And then we'd have a second Easton Hope," Bartholomew said to himself, unnervingly calm compared to his usual demeanor.
"A what now?" Weiss asked.
"The capital of the kingdom that would later become Vale," Bartholomew answered, "Its mayor was selfish and cruel, and people planned a revolt. But he found out about it, and the night before the revolt, set the city's walls on fire and fled. He and his right-hand man are the only survivors. By the time the Grimm arrived, everyone else was already dead."
"That sounds horrible," Weiss said, astounded that someone could do something like that.
"It was," Bartholomew said, "Which is why we need to fix this problem as fast as possible."
"The manhole covers," Jaune blurted out, drawing everyone's attention to himself.
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"Something is blocking the air flow," Jaune answered, "And the easiest way to do that would be to block the entrances to the sewers. So, something must be blocking the manhole covers and such. If we remove that, the air should flow again."
"But we've been fighting Grimm for months, and didn't notice anything," Coco said.
"It didn't start until a few weeks ago," Jaune answered, "Around the time when Khione showed up here." Suddenly, all eyes were on Khione.
"It wasn't me, I swear," Khione said and shrunk into her chair, "Ruby, tell them."
"She's right, it wasn't her," Ruby said, standing up and looking at the others, "That being said, we did use a lot more ice-dust since she arrived."
"Wait, what?" Khione asked.
"I mean, your semblance helps us out a lot, there's no denying that," Ruby answered, "However, it also gives us a reason to use more ice-dust. And if we kill Grimm in the wrong places, the resulting ice would cover up the manhole covers."
"So we dug our own grave," Glynda said.
"But that can be easily remedied," Ruby said, "All we need to do is get rid of all that ice, and we're good." Hearing that, Nora enthusiastically raised her hand.
"Here, me, me, I can do it," Nora said.
"What do you mean?" Glynda asked, and Nora grinned.
"I can crystallize my aura into lightning-dust," Nora answered, "All I need is either a lot of electricity, or a lot of aura."
"But isn't that dust too volatile?" Blake asked.
"There is a dust refinery in Vale," Weiss said, "I may still have authorization to bring it back online, and then we can have the dust properly processed into a safe form."
"And the problem with that is?" Qrow asked.
"It's fairly deep in the residential district," Weiss answered and said, "I had a Queen Lancer fly over the area, and it was swarming with Grimm, almost like they were protecting it. We'll need all the firepower we have if we want to get near that thing."
"Now I can finally test out the new upgrades," Cardin said.
"No, you can't," Ruby said, "We don't need tests and trials for this. We need a way to reliably take out hordes of Grimm, something with powerful offense and defense. We need something that can spit Death in the face and laugh about it."
"True, something with a lot of destructive power would come in handy," Glynda said, "But not too destructive, either. While we could use the ice to help you repair everything, I would prefer if we could use Nora's abilities to stock up on dust, just in case."
"Did you have anything in mind?" Peter asked, looking at Ruby.
"Fusions," Ruby answered, "Bumblebee for offense, Arkos for defense. However, Ladybug could also work, due to her semblance, and me being able to use Blake's."
"Why don't you fuse with Yang?" Cardin asked, "I mean, it sounds like knowing each other is important, so wouldn't you two make a strong fusion?" Ruby and Yang looked at each other, then back to Cardin.
"Well, the thing is, we'd be too strong," Ruby answered, pulled out her scroll and used Puppeteer to make her scroll project a video of the events from the final battle for Atlas.
"Oh," Cardin said after the video was over, "Well, yeah, that would be bad news to have around."
"So, what other options do we have?" Glynda asked, "As in, what fusions do you have experience with?"
"Well, there is Iceflower, that is Weiss and I," Ruby answered, "Her semblance isn't really suited for combat, so that's a no. Ladybug, Blake and I, can disappear in any shadow, including her own, and come out of any shadow within a certain radius near Grimm. Combined with Shadow Clone, it would allow her to place incendiary-goo bombs near Grimm in rapid succession, but the damage yield would be fairly low, and she'd run out quickly."
"Actually, I've been working on something," Blake said, "But all in all, yeah, it probably wouldn't be ideal."
"Got it," Ruby said, then turned back to the others, "Fireblossom, that's Yang and I, would be too much of a risk to bring out inside a city. Her semblance makes her virtually invincible, but she has both my quick reaction to danger, and Yang's impulsiveness. Lux, that is Jaune and I, would be able to secure the parameter after the fact, but others already have that semblance, so it's not necessary. Last is Lotus, or Ren and I. Their semblance is by far the most versatile, giving them access to the semblances of all their dead allies. However, the actual damage output is too unpredictable because of that."
"What about you and Nora?" Glynda asked.
"We never fused before," Nora answered. Ruby sat down and motioned for Weiss to take the word. She stood up and cleared her throat.
"As for me, there is Orzhov, or Blake and I," Weiss said, "Her semblance allows her to make her shadow participate in combat, but while it adds another fighter, it also puts a strain on her aura. Frostbite, my fusion with Yang, can fight for hours on end, and only gets stronger the longer she fights. The downside is that my childhood memories and the value she places on family don't exactly match all that well, leading to Frostbite being in a near-constant rage. Jaune and I fused briefly, so we don't know that fusion's combat capabilities. They don't even have a name. Same with Ren and I. The former's Healing Circle semblance is a nice support, though. The latter's Rallying helps keep large groups of people from panicking, but is useless in combat. My fusion with Nora has never fought before, so we can't rely on her, either." She sat back down and motioned to Blake, who stood up.
"Well, there is Bumblebee, that is Yang and I," Blake said, "She is by far the strongest, and most controlled, fusion introduced so far. Her Black Fire semblance makes for devastating long-range attacks, but her physical strength is not to be underestimated, either. Then there is my fusion with Jaune, Knightshade. They have my attack speed, but his strength, making them a powerful foe to fight. Their Doppelganger semblance allows them to create copies of people, and while they are intended as decoys, they can be used in fights, too. Lastly, Kage, my fusion with Ren. Their semblance allows them to see the flow of energy, and both our knowledge of pressure points makes them almost impossible to fight. Well, if you're a human or faunus. No idea how that works against Grimm."
"My turn," Yang said and stood up before Blake could sit down, "First, Dragonslayer, my fusion with Jaune. Their Dragon Aspect semblance is quite the buff, but it runs on a time limit, so if we can't kill enough Grimm, it'll be on a cooldown for a while. And since it's the manifestation of our fusion's soul, that means the whole fusion will be on cooldown, and functionally useless. So really, it's a high risk, high reward thing. And then there is Yora, my fusion with Nora. Her semblance converts physical impacts to electricity, but she can't store it, so she needs to release it somehow." With that, she sat down and gestured to Jaune.
"With all the others already covered, there is only Arkos left," Jaune answered and stood up, "My fusion with Pyrrha." Hearing that, everyone but Ruby's friends gasped.
"Wait, Pyrrha?" Peter asked, "How? And where is she?"
"I carry her soul with me," Jaune answered, "And my Aura Amp semblance allows me to amplify the residual aura she left on her armor and weapons, which is how we can fuse. Their semblance, Shielding, generates a barrier that negates any attacks they can see coming, at no cost, and with no time limit. I'll plan on using that fusion for the attack." He sat back down and gestured towards Ren.
"My fusion with Nora, Renora, is fairly powerful," Ren answered, "They are impulsive, and can take out a large number of Grimm very easily. However, we never tried that fusion in a confined space, and from what I've seen, they may be too much of a risk." He sat back down, and Glynda wrote down all the new info on her tablet.
"Aren't you forgetting something," Taiyang asked, looking at Ruby.
"Oh, right, sorry," Ruby said and stood back up, "Like Jaune, I carry some souls in me, namely Emerald, Sapphire, and a shark."
"A shark?" Russel asked.
"Yes," Ruby answered, "Anyway, Ryn, my fusion with the shark, can replicate the natural abilities of any animal native to the environment she's in. It also sometimes acts on its own, to preserve her life when she can't react in time. Unakite, my fusion with Emerald, can use her Glamour semblance to super-impose an alternate reality over the normal one, within a certain radius around herself. Garnet, my fusion with Sapphire, can manifest large hands made from her aura, either for ranged attacks, or for grappling." Afterwards, Ruby sat down again.
"Do you have any fusions of three or more people?" Cardin asked, "They should be stronger, right?"
"Yes, they are stronger," Weiss answered, "However, they're also more difficult to maintain. The only fusion of four people I'm aware of fell apart within seconds, which leaves us with three-way fusions. And unless I missed something, we don't have anyone here who can create that we already know about."
"Well, there's Opal," Ruby answered, a bit embarrassed at how the fusion looked.
"No, there is not," Taiyang said, "I'm sure she's strong, but I'm not letting you run around like that."
"Honestly, I wouldn't, either," Ruby said, "It's just that Emerald has never been to the beach, and Sapphire used to be a pirate, so the two kind of insisted on beachwear. I was happy to get that shirt."
"Now I'm intrigued," Yang said, earning an amused look from Qrow, and a stern one from Taiyang.
"In any case, her semblance isn't really useful here," Ruby answered, "It prevents Grimm from taking damage right away, basically."
"Wait, what?!" Jaune asked, standing up in shock, "Why?"
"It's for older Grimm," Ruby answered, "If they know they're outmatched, they'll flee, and possibly survive. But with her semblance, Opal can trick them into thinking she was much weaker than she is, leading to them getting hurt more. If she doesn't land any hits on them for five seconds, they take all the damage she dealt, all at once."
"Oh, yeah, that's great," Jaune said, "Sorry." He sat down and sunk into his chair a bit, mostly from embarrassment that he thought a fusion Ruby was part of could help Grimm.
"It's fine, really," Ruby said, but suddenly perked up, like she heard a potentially dangerous noise.
"Oh no," Yang said, "I know that look."
"Grimm," Ruby said quietly.
"Yup," Yang said and asked, "What's it this time?"
"A Leviathan," Ruby answered, "I'll handle it." She got up and wanted to leave, but Yang grabbed her arm with her prosthetic one.
"Hold it, sis," Yang said, "We will handle it. You've done enough on your own, now it's our turn."
"But that thing is really tough," Ruby said, trying to pull away.
"And we're not?" Yang asked, and Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Ren and Nora stood behind her. Ruby stopped pulling.
"That's not what I mean, I-" Ruby said, but was interrupted by Yang.
"Then what do you mean?" Yang asked.
"I don't want you to get hurt," Ruby answered, and paused when she saw the look in her sister's eyes.
"Too late," Yang said, looked Ruby in the eyes and said, "Do you know how much it hurt when you just disappeared?"
"I do, I really do," Ruby answered, "But asking you to fight something like that is just… it's too scary. I can take it down with a few blasts, but you can't."
"And that's that?" Yang asked and said, "I know you push yourself for others. But we all feel like you don't trust us enough to handle things on our own. You always pick the biggest battles, but ignore the toll it takes on you, and then the people who care about you feel bad about themselves, because we weren't strong enough to help you."
"I- I'm sorry," Ruby said, and let her arm hang, "I wanted to help, and didn't know what else to do."
"I know," Yang said, let go of Ruby's arm and asked, "So, how about you wait by the edge of the industrial district, halfway between here and the harbor? When it reaches you, you can take it out. But until then, it's our fight. Deal?" She held out her natural arm, and Ruby cheered up again and took it.
"Deal," Ruby said, "Now you go on ahead, I'll open a portal for the rest of us." Yang left the train station, turned into a dragon once she was out of sight, and flew to the industrial district before transforming back. Once she was there, Ruby opened a portal, and the rest of the group followed her.
~o~
While her friends went on, Ruby stayed behind, just before a bridge crossing the river that separated Vale's residential and industrial districts. She took the time to repair the bridge, as well as a bench, and then sat down on the latter to pass the time. Meanwhile, her friends were preparing for a hard battle. Weiss placed multiple Landmines along the route they would lure the Leviathan, augmented with water-dust that would harm Grimm within five meters, while Ren shot his special disk at a Queen Lancer she had summoned, and everyone else got in position.
"Here it comes!" Jaune called out, "Yang, Blake, give us a timer." Blake rushed towards the Grimm and left a fire-dust clone in her original position. Once she got within reach, she placed the gravity-dust disk under its chin, then switched places with her clone. The Leviathan tried crushing her with one of its forelimbs, but hit the clone instead.
"Fifteen minutes," Blake said, tracking the Leviathan's strength with her predator sense, and Yang set a timer on her scroll.
"Got it," Yang said, "Now, let's rock." Weiss flew away with her summon, leading the Leviathan along the prepared route, while Ren shot it with crystal bullets. When the Leviathan prepared its fire breath, Jaune rushed in with two clones, and all three shot his special disk at its mouth, creating three barriers and reflecting the fire breath back to the Grimm.
"Thanks," Ren said, and two of the clones disappeared again.
"You're welcome," Jaune said and turned his sword into its great sword form, before sending a powerful aura arc at the Leviathan. As the colossal Grimm kept moving through the empty harbor, Landmines exploded, filling the streets with water.
"Blake, they're here," Yang said over communicator, and she and Blake headed to a charging pack of Beowolves and Creeps. Blake shot the special gravity-dust bullets into the Grimm, and Yang attached an explosive to each. Nora took up position on one of the warehouses, and fired a salvo of grenades at the Leviathan before heading to the next position.
"Getting a bit tight here," Weiss said and had her Queen Lancer fire a barrage of bone spikes at the Leviathan. Blake switched places with one of her clones and threw her gun into the Grimm's gills, then swung along its side and slashed it with her sheath, triggering the gravity-dust disk when she passed. The Leviathan tried to hit her with one of its forelimbs, but Blake switched places with an incendiary-goo clone, and the Grimm only hit red-hot glass shards. About half a dozen Grimm were pulled towards the Leviathan, and the explosives attached to them began beeping, killing the Grimm once they got close to the massive Grimm.
"Oh yeah," Yang exclaimed as the Leviathan was engulfed in golden flames. Blake repeated the maneuver with the Grimm's gills on the other side, then headed back to pull more Grimm towards the Leviathan. Nora landed a series of hits in the Grimm's face, and the Leviathan focused on her and prepared another fire breath. However, as the fire welled up inside it, it spewed out of its gills, damaging the Grimm. Ren reloaded his weapons, switching to cursed bullets and coating the Leviathan in lime green flames for a few seconds with each hit and dealing continuous damage. Jaune kept firing energy disks from his shield, while Yang and Blake periodically renewed the golden flames. Weiss flew around the Grimm with a total of three Queen Lancer summons, and kept attacking it with bone spikes whenever possible, while the main one kept drawing the Grimm's attention. Yang shot two explosive shells from her shotguns, then went back to sticking explosives to Grimm.
"Ren, a little help," Blake said, "There's a lot of them." Ren rushed over to the duo and loaded ivy bullets on the way, immobilizing the smaller Grimm with thick vines and allowing Yang and Blake to do their part more easily, then he went back to attacking the Leviathan. Nora swung her hammer like a baseball bat and sent an Annihilation Field at the Leviathan, while Weiss kept it busy by swarming it with her summons. Ren loaded stealth bullets and used his semblance, and resumed shooting the Leviathan, this time dealing increased damage.
~o~
A little over ten minutes after her friends left, Ruby could see the Leviathan above the buildings at the harbor, and got nervous whether or not they had everything under control. She could feel its strength decreasing at a steady pace, but still took a pair of binoculars and flew into the air a bit to see what was going on. Just as she spotted the massive Grimm, engulfed in strange, golden flames, a dozen or so Beowolves strapped to its chest exploded in similar golden flames, and the Leviathan disappeared. Ruby dropped her binoculars in shock and landed again. She sat back down on the bench, put the binoculars away, and waited for her friends to return.
"That was awesome," Nora exclaimed when the group returned, drawing Ruby's attention.
"You already said that," Ren said, "But yes, we were quite good."
"Hey sis," Yang said, "We made it."
"Yep, you sure did," Ruby said, "Sorry."
"For what?" Blake asked.
"For acting like you couldn't do this," Ruby answered, "I actually saw what happened. Well, the last bit. Those golden flames are… what are they?" Everyone stood around awkwardly, and Weiss sternly nudged Yang forward.
"Wait, I never told you?" Yang asked and said, "Sorry. You see, I fused with Sirena a while back, and she let our fusion share her semblance with me. So now, whenever I kill Grimm, they explode in golden flames, and nearby Grimm get set on fire. If they die while on fire, they disappear."
"Wait, really?" Ruby asked, looked up at her and said, "That's so cool."
"It is, yeah," Yang said, "It also works really well with Spectral Assault, because setting the Grimm on fire counts as damage, too."
"So, you're really good at taking out large groups now?" Ruby asked.
"Kind of, yeah," Yang answered, "But not just me." She motioned to Nora and Blake.
"Sirena and I fused, too," Nora said, "And now, whenever I hit an enemy with an electric attack, a nearby enemy also takes damage. Add Spectral Assault, and you have the worst nightmare of any Grimm pack."
"I regularly use Deathzone on the incendiary-goo in my ears," Blake explained, "That way, when I make a clone with it, the resulting shards harm any nearby Grimm. And of course, Spectral Assault adds to that damage as well."
"You know, it would've been nice to know that sooner," Ruby said with a little smile, showing that she wasn't angry at them for forgetting to mention those semblances.
"Yeah, sorry," Yang said with a chuckle, "But in any case, let's head back. I'm beat."
"Can we take the long route?" Nora asked.
"Sure," Yang answered, "Let's walk back, like in old times." The group headed back to the train station, and on the way, Ruby's friends explained all the new skills and abilities they acquired since Ruby left Atlas. Ruby also decided not to ask whether she could copy all those semblances, since she knew that it was important to her friends that they could do something she couldn't. She also knew she couldn't learn to use those semblances as effectively, and having the skills spread out like this was easier in the long run.
Author's note: I figured I'd list every fusion I introduced so far. Well, at least the ones involving only characters present in that scene.
A little kaiju fight in the city, nothing special.