A/N: Sooo...I saw Wrath of Man in theaters recently.
Needless to say, its given me inspiration.
Hope you're ready.
I have been waiting AGES to write this chapter and let the gang cut loose. I've held back, actively restrained myself, but now, no logner!
As ever, reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing. Without them, my inspiration falls flat. Sorry, but that's the plain truth.
So lets answer a few questions, eh? Onward!
Q: Do we finally get to see Taiyang's secret in this chapter?
A: The secret is revealed this chapter, yes. Its a doozy.
Q: Cinder is fool?
A: Not sure the grammar, but sure, why not. Yes, Cinder is very much fool. Can't really blame her, I suppose.
She has no idea how many people she's pissed off with her little power play; indeed, why would she? She knows next to nothing about Naruto and his extended family. Meanwhile! Mercury's dust, Roman and Neo have joined the Family, while Adam defected, which threatens to take the White Fang right out from under Cinder. That leaves her with Emerald. An Emerald who's starting to find she doesn't much like the way Cinder's acting at the moment.
Running out of allies there, Cindy. Whatcha gon' do?
Q: Oz is still in Mistral, right? Heh, poor bastard."
A: Aye, Ozpin is still a continent away, stranded with the Branwen tribe. Wonder how long it'll take him to get back?
Bonus! Those thieving, murdering scum will either be wiped out or put to good use. Probably the latter, given 'ol Ozma's mood at the moment.
Huh. That might be fun to write. Just letting him scythe through those scum. Hmm, thoughts for later, I suppose.
Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get into the meet of the matter and have some fun!
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOPE!
Papa!Naruto is best Naruto, and woe betide anyone who hurts his kids.
Don't worry, the food-pun-titles are coming back.
Minor verbatim for last chapter~!
...you do realize this is a trap, right?"
"Pretty much, yeah. It goes without saying by now."
"Then lets make a plan...wait. You're smiling. Why are you smiling?"
"Just remembering why I fell in love with you; you can be a devious little shit sometimes...alright. Lets make a plan."
~Naruto and Raven.
And Eat It Too
They yanked the hood off her head.
Harsh light came rushing in, nearly blinding in its brightness. Yang squinted against it. Lilac eyes narrowed in confusion, squinted now as the world gradually swam into focus. Everything hurt. Everything ached. Every little bit of it. The back of her head shrieked at her, reminding her of the nasty beating she'd taken. Her mouth was an arid desert, dry and parched. Her mind balked, trying to make sense of what happened, what brought her here, anything at all.
She was still trying to make sense of this madness when someone or something struck her across the face.
"Do wake up, dear." a low voice filled the air. "You've slept long enough. There's work to be done."
Another strike caught her chin before she could speak to bloody her lip.
And then.
In that instant?
She remembered everything.
Pain shattered Yang's world and snapped her head to one side. If they thought the pain would startle her, cow her, break her, they were wrong. It centered Yang. Brought the world back. Focused her vision. She raised her gaze, ignoring her split lip, the blood in her mouth, everything. She tried to rise and finally noticed the chains binding her arms behind her back; that and the metal chair they'd chained her to. Good chains. Strong chains. She wouldn't be able to break them...immediately.
But that could change.
Her eyes burned red as her Semblance threatened to take hold. Once she would have let it, simply raged and shouted and snarled, demanding answers. Even now she found herself tempted to take her chances and try to break free with what little strength she'd mustered, consequences be damned. Her hands ground into fists behind her back, sparking with fire.
"You can be so much more than this." Naruto's voice pervaded her mind, memories from a distant time. "I know you can."
But there was another memory there, too.
"You and your mother...you both act like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it." a shadowy face smiled down at her as she lay sprawled in the dirt. "That strength is all that matters in a fight. But if you'd just take a second look, you'd see," with a smile, he stepped around her. "That there's a way around as well."
Dad had said that...right? No, she didn't think he did. Naruto had. Hadn't he...?
Her head began to ache.
The fire dimmed.
Yang leaned back in her chair, hoarding the attack she'd taken, letting it simmer and build within her. A crooked grin stretched her lips. "That all ya got?"
The blurry figure of her attacker scoffed. "Such fire. It seems we'll have to beat that out of you."
A third strike rocked Yang in the chair before her captor caught it and reeled her back in. Her semblance grew that much stronger. Still, she held onto it. Fed the fire. They knew nothing about her Semblance. The more they hurt her, the harder she'd hit back. She blinked stars away from her vision and dared a glance at her surroundings
Her new quarters were about as bare as she'd expected them to be; all grey concrete with a slate ceiling and a lone light swinging from a cord overhead. Beyond that a well used door lay open, exposing a series of stone steps leading further down into darkness.
An underground complex, then? No, there was someone there. A guard, by the look of them.
A lone figure awaited her just beyond those steps; a woman, judging by their body types. She wore a dark cloth masks and hood, utterly concealing her identities. Even her eyes were difficult to discern; everything about them seemed blurred somehow. As if something were interfering with her vision, though she suspected something else was at work there. And yet despite all this Yang felt no fear. Is this what she thought it was? Ha! It was! Her first kidnapping. Heh. Made her feel downright special, that did. All the black leather wasn't helping. She just couldn't take this seriously.
She cocked a blond brow at her attacker, mildly pleased to notice her outfit matched that of the first.
"Nice outfit," she grinned through bloody teeth. "Am I getting dinner and a show?"
Her tormentor bridled at the insinuation. "Watch your tongue."
"I mean, I'll watch a lot more if you wanna strip...
The shorter of the duo bridled. "Quiet!"
"Aw, I'm sorry. Wanna join in?"
Clenched knuckles slammed into the side of her face. Harder this time. Her semblance burned in her blood, setting it aboil. Yang bit down on it with a growl. Pain was nothing. She'd endured worse than this in training, and worse than that in Initiation. Hell of a time, that. What was a bit of blood and pain compared to what she'd been through? So she'd have a few bruises come morning. These two -whomever they were- wouldn't have taken her unless they wanted her for something.
Really, it was just a matter of figuring out what they wanted. And once she did...
Another open palm cracked across her face.
Yang grit her teeth in a grin.
'That's right, sweetheart. Couple more of those and you'll be in for a nasty surprise...
"We've taken you for ransom." the taller woman informed her suddenly. "You'll be released once your mother complies with our demands."
Yang blinked once.
Twice. Then thrice, now.
Comprehension broke like the dawn.
"Wait." she tilted her head, flaxen tresses falling over a black eye. "You've kidnapped me? Is that what this is?"
"YES!" the taller of the two flung up her arms in exasperation. "Do you finally understand the severity of your situation now?!"
"You're...actually being serious?" she snorted. "Really? That's the reason? All this for my bitch of a mother?" A low peal of laughter bubbled out of her; then she began to giggle in earnest. "Oh, you idiots. Whoever you are, you are soooo fucked." She doubled over in her chains, unable to help herself. "Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha! Oh, you stupid bitches. You're dead."It was just too much. Too funny. If they knew anything about Raven...well, clearly they didn't, or she wouldn't be here. Nevermind dad. Naruto would rip them apart.
Wait.
Her mind recoiled, suddenly confused.
Tai was her father. Not Naruto. Why did she just...?
A fresh pulse of pain stabbed through her temple as another blow rocked her to one side. She scowled briefly against it and shook her head to steady herself. They must have drugged her. Yeah. That had to be it. Why else would her memories overlap like this? Rather than think of it, she shoved thought away, locked it in a box and threw away the key. Not important. Focus on the threat in front of her.
Yang reclined in her chair and grinned. "You're deeeaaad~!"
...hit her again."
The blond brawler only grinned.
"Go ahead. I can do this all damn day."
Rather than rage, her tormentor stepped back. A contemplative look flashed through her blurred face. Yang didn't know what to make of that. Anger and rage she could handle; an unfocused enemy was a distracted one; a foe who wasn't thinking straight wasn't a threat at all. This...was different. No, she decided, she didn't like that look at all.
"I suppose you can." her captor said at length. "My associates will deal with you." with that said, she turned and left. "You had your chance to submit."
"Oooh, I'm so scared!" Yang whistled after them. "What're they gonna do, bore me to death?"
"Not quiiiiiite."
A merry tittered filled the complex as someone new stepped out of the shadows. His face wasn't blurred; she took in his gaunt features, white clothes, and strange overcoat. There was something wrong with him; his smile was bright and cheery, yet for all that it seemed...off somehow. As though he were putting it on for the sake of others. He saw her and tittered softly as he rubbed his hands together.
"Don't mind me, little girl. I'm just here to...shake things up a little."
Yang scowled at him. "Do you worst, freak."
"Oh, I intend to. This may hurt a little."
His stinger stabbed down.
Then there was pain.
(.0.0.0.)
"Are they still at it?"
Sapphire Torcwhick craned her neck toward the yard.
Another explosion ratted the world, spraying dirt and debris everywhere.
Ruby whimpered at Raven's side, unable to intervene; Branwen had an iron grip on her shoulder that held her fast. The rest of her team -only just arrived in the chaos- might have done the same were they not similarly restrained by the others. Vanessa had all but wrestled Weiss to the ground while a sheepish Pyrrha divested the Schnee of her weapon. Roman -such a good boy!- already a foot firmly planted on Blake's back. Adam had since divested the surly girl of her weapon while a grinning Neo looked on.
Unfortunately that left her the odd one out, and forced to watch as two blonds ripped one another apart.
Bach. Such boys.
"So it would seem." she looked back, then frowned at Nora.
There was just..something about the girl that called to her. "Say, you look familiar...
"Me?" The grenadier wrinkled her nose beneath her regard and looked back up at her. "So do you."
A pall of uncomfortable silence fell over them.
When Nora finally found her voice, it was little more than a squeak.
...Mom..?"
Sapphire was never one to faint before. But here? Now?
Nope. Her brain summarily shut down. It is entirely too early for this shit.
She slumped bonelessly to the floor.
"Wait, what're you two on about? No." Roman rounded on them, subsequently heard them, and took his boot off Blake's back. "No. No, no, no!" unbeknownst to him, she lurched up in the background, only to be summarily dove on by Deery and Adam for her troubles. "This is not happening." he paid none of it any mind. "Tell me this ain't happening...! That's literally impossible! I better not have a sister! She's younger than me, for crying out loud! What kind of bullshit is this?!"
Nora rounded on him with a grin. "Wait, does this mean I have a brother?!"
"No! Absolutely not! I refuse to haaaaaand she's hugging me."
Neo clapped gleefully.
(.0.0.0.)
"We don't have time for this, Tai!"
Taiyang Xiao-Long didn't seem to hear him. He was too busy screaming. Naruto rolled his eyes as burning fist crashed down at him. A slap of the wrist and the bonecrushing punch was summarily diverted into the yard yet again. Stone and dirt flew in every direction, creating a brief backblast to blind him; even then he didn't lower his guard. He knew what was coming next. He'd used this technique many a time before.
Tai dove through the smokescreen and slammed into him.
"What did you do to me?!" his words were a yowl! "What are these memories in my head?!"
"They're yours." he drove a knee into the man's chin and shoved him back. "What else did you think they were?"
His blood dove in again. "More lies!"
Naruto tanked a punch to his chin, let it snap his head to the right and rode the blow out. A booted foot stomped down to steady himself. Then he reached around to grab his fellow blond by the wrist. Muscle and bone creaked ominously under his grip. He reeled him into a vicious headbutt and rang his skull like a bell. It should have laid him out flat. Imagine his surprise when Taiyang returned the favor tenfold and sent him stumbling back in turn.
Something sharp and acrid stung at his tongue.
He touched a hand to his nose and pulled it away, alarmed to find it bleeding. Was it strange that he took a bit of pride in that?
"You've remembered how to fight. Good-
"Stop!" Ruby's voice split the air behind them. "You're both being stupid! Stoppit!"
"Hey," Naruto craned his neck. "This isn't something I want either-ow! Don't attack me when I'm not looking!"
A spinning kick hurled Tai away yet again. This wasn't something he took joy in; nothing short of absolute defeat would put him down. Any injuries he inflicted on Tai he could heal, so long as it was short of death. He didn't want to prolong this. Not in front of the others. Not in front of Ruby. Not when Yang's life hung in the balance.
"Knock it off!"
"I'm nothing like you...
"You're only half right." he circled him, waiting for him to rise. "You're me, after all."
Tai glared at the ground. "Shut up."
"Didn't you think it strange?" Naruto stepped around him. There was no record of your parents. None. Not a one."
"I have been alive for... a very long time." the words burned on his tongue. "When you've lived as long as I have, you learn all sorts of things." Too many things. "Decades ago, I split off a part of myself and made a new body to live in. I was...not in the best place back then." Tired, alone, guts gripping in the dark. "I was going to shove my soul in there, weaken myself in the hopes that I'd be able to life a normal life." Back when he had no one, nothing at all. "To simply die of old age. You had my memories and most of my powers, but you were meant to be a blank slate.
His blood surged up at him. "I said be quiet!"
Naruto caught the fist that slammed at his face and diverted it.
"Then I realized you were alive." he let him slump back to the ground and didn't pursue. "You were supposed to be a vessel, but you looked at me." fresh shame boiled in his gut at the memory. "You knew me. There was life in those little eyes of yours. You were more than just me. I'd made a soul."
"More...lies...!" Taiyang surged back to his feet. "You're just throwing words at me! I don't believe you!"
"No? Riddle me this." perhaps it was cruel of him to do this -it most certainly was- but there was no other way. Time to tear off the bandage. "Who was the name of our best friend?"
"Sasuke." the brawler's mouth betrayed him. He clamped a hand over his mouth. "I...how do I know that? I shouldn't know that!"
"Fair enough. Lets start over. What was our favorite jutsu?"
"Shadow clones." he blurted out and immediately shook his head. "No! This is a trick!"
"Alright." he crossed his arms and humored him. "Who did we have an embarrassing crush on back in the village?"
His eyes widened. "Sakura Haruno."
"Ding, ding!" Naruto clapped. "You are correct, sir!"
Somewhere behind them, Raven snarled. "She best be dead!"
Taiyang was wavering. He saw it. Once was chance, twice, a coincidence. Three times was a pattern. The wall of his resistance was crumbling, bit by bitter brick. It pained him to do this to the man, but if they didn't clear the air now, this would never stop. The secrets would fester between them like an open wound. No more.
"One more, then." The ancient shinobi strode forward, eyes ablaze. "Who was the man we thought of as the Father we never had?"
Taiyang grit his teeth. The words still forced itself out of him. "Ji...Jiraiya!"
Naruto spread his arms. "There you have it. No one else knows those secrets. Not Ozpin, not Raven, no one."
"Cease!"
"I will not!" Pearly white teeth grit in a snarl. "You were your own person. I couldn't bear to look at you, knowing what I'd done, what I nearly let myself become." his brow furrowed at the memory. "So I made my decision. I changed your appearance for good and gave you the first orphanage I found. You have a mind. You have a soul." he turned his head and spat a tooth. "After that, I sealed my memories of you away and left you to your life...neither of us remembered one another. Until now."
"LIAR!"
Their fists collided in a whirl of light.
"I'm not lying!" he growled as they began to grapple with one another. "How do you think you've lasted this long?! Anyone else would be wasted and gasping for air!"
An arm tore free and smashed a Rasengant into Taiyan's chest. Chakra flared. Aura crackled. Tai sprawled to the floor.
A broken wheeze rose to meet him. "None of this...makes any sense...
"Of course it does!" Naruto caught the boot that came flying at his face and used it to wrench Tai back into the mud. "I coded the jutsu to return our memories if we ever came to blows. Yours and mine!" He shunted aside a tackle and drove his elbow into the man's back. "It was meant to be an emergency countermeasure if anything happened to us, you dolt!" A hammer fist left him to eat dirt once more. "Don't you see that?! When you attacked me, it all came back! For both of us! But you don't want to see! No, its more important that you hurt me!"
His next blow stopped short. Tai's trembling hand lay in his path.
"No more." the man mumbled. "Stop...
Naruto hardened his heart.
"No!" his voice thundered out. "Its too late for that now! "You are me. I'm you. We share the same blood, if not the same powers. Which means!
A heel palm snapped his head down.
"Yang is family!"
His fist cracked out, shattering another rib.
"Ruby is family!"
A hand stabbed at his eye, trying to gouge it out. He rared back and clapped both hands over Tai's ears, momentarily deafening him.
"YOU! ARE! FAMILY!"
Tai dove at him for that, a weak, stumbling tackle with no gas in the tank. Naruto stood his ground and caught him head on; drawing him into his arms.
"Family means nobody gets left behind! Certainly not you!" his grip tightened on the man when he began to struggle. "Stand in my way all you life, spit at me, curse me, whatever. I don't care." his chin came down over his shoulder, holding him fast. "I'm going to save my daughter. Our daughter. With or without you." He felt his blood tremble against him. "Are you with me?
...what does this mean for me, then?" his words were a croak, barely a sob. "I don't want to go...
"You don't have to." Naruto pulled back and grinned down at him. "You're still you." he clapped him once on the shoulder. "You've lived your life, you'll keep living it until you die of old age. Summer loved you with all her heart. Ruby is yours. Even if Yang's mine, we still share blood; which means her and Yang are still sisters. Nothing has to change."
"Nothing?" Ruby's voice came from the sidelines.
It hurt to see the hope in the poor girl's eyes; as if she honestly expected him to erase her Daddy at any given moment, like some shadow clone. Nothing was further from the truth. He was his own person, his own being, his own. They shared the same blood, if not necessarily the same appearance now. All well and good as far as Naruto was concerned. It'd be more than a little confusing if there were two of him walking about. No. Taiyang was fine just as he was. He wouldn't change him even if he could.
"Nope." Naruto smacked his lips with an audible pop. "Though I'd appreciate it you didn't sucker punch me like that again."
A dash of shame flashed across his face. "Yes, well, I'm sorry about that. I was just so angry...
"Water under the bride." he waved him away. "Well? Are you with me?"
Tai reached around and clasped his hand. Naruto grinned and released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. There would be a bit of awkwardness between the two of them for a time -it wasn't easy to accept that you had a long lost creator/brother after all- but they seemed to be past the worst of it for now.
"Great!" he exhaled forcefully. "Crisis averted! I was actually worried -
Ruby all but crashed into the two of them at speed.
"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
(.0.0.0.)
Blake eyed Adam's hand like a poisonous asp.
Not to paraphrase a certain, blond, but this had to be a trick. That, or an impostor. She didn't trust this for an instant; nay, to even begin to believe him threatened to undo her. And yet the limb before her did not lower, even as it presented her with Gambol Shroud. She was too afraid to take the weapon back from him, fearing what he might do. Adam was anger. Passion. Spite. He held grudges. He did not forgive. He certainly didn't forget. That he seemed willing to do so now set alarms wailing in the back of her head.
"What do you want, Adam?"
...I am offering you a truce." much to her chagrin, her former friend and mentor kept his arm steady, rigid as an iron bar. "For the sake of your friend."
"A truce?!" Blake took her chances and ripped her Gambol Shroud from his hand. "After what you've done?!"
He let her take it, the bastard.
"All that I've done has been for the good of the-
Her palm cracked across his face, snapping his head to the side. She regretted her actions immediately; if only because his eyes flashed. Part of her wondered where his scar had gone; if someone had simply concealed it with cosmetics, or if he'd finally treated it since she had seen him last, but she was too angry to care. Rage turned her world red. How dare he try to take the high ground after all he'd done Her arm wound back for a good second smack. How DARE he...!
Adam caught her wrist and wrenched it behind her back.
There it was. There was the fire in his eyes, the anger thinly leashed, aching to lash out.
"I am TRYING to make amends here, my love." his voice emerged as a low growl. "Do not test me-
"Hey!" Naruto's head poked around the corner. "Now is NOT the time for your little lover's squabble!" Vanessa scampered past him in the hall, dragging Pyrrah and a chagrined Weiss by the wrist. The good baker didn't so much as spare them a passing glance, such was his ire. "Get your weapons! We've got a raid to plan."
Adam stiffened. Blake expected yet more anger. Outrage, at least.
Instead, he released her and bowed low at the waist.
...understood, Father."
Naruto beamed. "Good boy."
Blake's jaw clicked open as Adam hurried into the hall. "Father...?"
"Move your ass, Belladona!" Naruto glowered at her. "Don't make me call your mother! Get! Over! Here!"
Kali? Ghira? Here in Vale?! When faced with the threat of her parents...well. There went the last of her resistance. Blake got.
(.0.0.0.)
Naruto leaned over the table.
"Alright, this is what we're going to do.
Slowly, painstakingly, he laid out the plan for them.
(.0.0.0.)
...you do realize this is a trap, right? You could at least act concerned."
Under his watchful gaze, Raven slipped another knife into her sleeve. Another followed it, carefully strapped into the hidden holster within. She understood the plan in theory. Didn't mean she had to like it. She disliked the idea of risking herself on principle, but she knew why it should be her. It had to be her. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.
In the privacy of their room -while the others made their preparations below- she was able to arm and armor herself as she saw fit.
So arm herself she did. She hid a weapon wherever she could away with it. Even the smallest blade could open a portal. And really, with them she would never be far from reinforcements. Even if the enemy understood the nature of her semblance, they wouldn't be able to stop her. In theory, she would be perfectly safe.
Still her fear persisted.
"Remember," Naruto cautioned as she sat, "They want you to come alone. Without your weapon. Visible, at any rate."
They sat together in comfortable silence
"She's my daughter." Raven broke it at last. "Its high time I started acting like her mother."
"And while I applaud that, I still feel the need to point out that you're risking your hide for no reason."
"Oh?" she huffed and crossed both arms before her chest. "Changing the plan already, are we? How unlike you. What do do you propose?"
"Hear me out." He leaned forward, laying a tan hand atop pale fingers. "Let me send a disguised clone in as you. I don't want you to stick your neck out like this." When those unfaltering eyes met hers, she sat up a little straighter. "Don't give me that look."
"Won't work." she shot him down. "You know that." Her grin grew. "Still, I'm glad to see that you care."
A blond brow arched. "Considering I put with your bitchiness on a daily basis, yes, I do."
...he really did, didn't he? The bastard.
Her eyes softened. Omen slipped free from its sheathe and flicked out to carve a red tear in the air. Almost immediately a cold wind from pushed through. It caught at the unruly mane of her hair, midnight tresses tugging in the breeze. She smiled at him them, a rare smile, not one of her small smirks or haughty little grins, but an actual genuine smile.
"I love you too, you silly oaf." The faintest pink flushed touched her face as she gazed upon him. "I always will."
A sudden thorn of dread plucked at Naruto's heart and he surged forward, sweeping her into his arms. Raven met him halfway. Her mouth was warm and insistent against his, need born from equal parts desire and frantic fear. There was no time for anything more than that, though both might have wished.
At last Raven pulled away, licking her lips.
"Don't do anything stupid, alright?" he pulled her close for one last embrace. "You get her, you get out. Leave the rest to us."
"What kind of fool do you take me for?" she huffed, and buried her head in is shoulder. "Besides, I have another reason to come back."
He blinked. "And what's that...?"
...now seemed a terrible time to tell him, yet it was also a good a time as any. Who knew when they would get a moment to themselves after this? The bakery was filling up these days, now with the presence of Sapphire and Vanessa alike, it promised to make things...interesting going forward. So she steeled herself, shoved the fear aside, and did the deed.
She leaned in and her lips brushed the outer lobe of his left ear. He felt her smile return he saw it.
"You're going to be a father...again."
The world dropped out from under Naruto's feet. His spine stiffened and went slack all at once, leaving his body a confused mess; his mind fared little better.
His hands flew out and seized hers again.
"Its early. How do you know...?"
"Magic, of course." Her eyes flamed with red sparks. "There are more to the powers of a Maiden than you know." Slowly, painfully, she tugged her hands from his. "I am Spring, after all. Season of life, and all that flowery shit."
She donned her mask and stepped into the portal.
"Be ready."
(.0.0.0.)
Cinder waited with bated breath.
At long last, the time had come. Here it was. This was her moment. Her destiny. The might of the Maidens would be hers at last, her legacy, her very birthright given to her. She would have strength, she would have true power, might everlasting, the elements themselves at her command. Once she had it, all the world would be at her beck and call. She had but to realize it, to reach out and grasp her fate with both hands.
Soon.
A small, satisfied smile took hold of her lips and tugged them upward.
Two maidens might well be impossible to deal with together, but set them against one another? Isolate them? Do so and they would be hers.
Her gaze strayed to the their captive; quiet and compliant at long last. It was always so much easier when they kept quiet. Less guilt that way. Now if she would simply remain as such, if they Maiden would arrive alone as promised, if she was unarmed, if there were no surprises...
If.
Too many ifs.
Not for the first time she wondered if she was being hasty.
Patience had served her well thus far, but when presented with such a bevy -a bounty!- as this, she couldn't help but feast. She'd already donned the Glove given to her by Salem; it would expire after only a singe usage, but that was all she needed. One shot. One opportunity. A single moment of distraction, then she would RIP the power from her-
"Ma'am?" Emerald's voice snapped her back to reality like an irritating thorn in her side. "Are we sure about this? I thought-
"Don't think." she snapped at her minion. "Obey."
A shadow flashed across the girl's face, dark and stormy.
Wrapped up in her own little world as she was, Cinder Fall never saw it.
But she did see the gate that opened before them.
"She comes. Prepare yourself."
(.0.0.0.)
A swirling red portal sliced through the dusty air of the warehouse.
Raven Branwen strode through the abyss with purpose.
Golden eyes met orbs of wild and fearsome scarlet.
She reached up and removed her mask.
"Are you ready to die?"
Cinder's hand flashed out, detonator in hand.
"You first."
Raven hissed.
And the world erupted.
A/N: I hate to cut it there, but work calls. I'll see you all soon!
And there we have it.
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(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.
Yang? Is that you...?"
Her hand met no resistance and passed through empty burning air. An illusion.
The world rippled and she found herself face to face with the startled visage of a dark-skinned girl.
"You are child."
Omen came down at speed, ripping into Cinder's exposed flank. She pivoted and cut out with a sword of molten glass.
"Weak." Raven gave it all the contempt it was due and slapped it aside with an open palm. "You really didn't think this through, did you?"
Kali reclined in her seat with a warm cup of tea. "So nice of you tell us Blake was here. To think, we would've missed the Festival!"
"What are friends for?" Naruto's smile was nothing short of smug. "Its good to see you guys again."
"Quite so. I'm afraid Ghira couldn't make it, he's quite busy in Menagerie...
Blake whimpered. "Traitor...
Ozpin sighed as he regarded the horde of cruel men and women before him.
"I'm sorry, I'm a terribly foul mood right now...
His cane came out with a flourish.
"Prepare yourselves."
"Did you really think it was over?" Tyrian tittered. "No, no, no! There will be such chaos! Sweet, glorious, wonderful chaos!
...you knew my mother."
Naruto pinched the brow of his nose.
"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"
R&R~!