...

Fighting Rose

Chapter 40

Triumph

The world itself seemed to be in a great celebration. For the first time in the Four Kingdom's history, not only were there two winners of the Vytal Tournament, but a human and Faunus winning it together. Not to mention, those winners were the daughter of the legendary Team STRQ's leader and the grandson of a Faunus King, one who was revered despite his isolationist stance. Online debates were already starting to form on which teams or individuals could have beaten Ruby or Sun, even trying to match them up against specific Grimm. That was on top of the discussions that even made its way to worldwide news about the auric techniques that they'd pulled off, a few students even going so far as to try them to… varying degrees of success. Almost all voices of dissent were drowned out by the duo's performance in the final match, for there was no denying Ruby or Sun's strength and prowess; they had earned the respect and adoration of the people of Remnant.

Bars and restaurants were filled so long as they had at least one television set. Fireworks were being set off regardless of it being close to the middle of the day, people were already celebrating even though the ceremony was hours away. Today was a day of liberation, and today was a day in which Ruby Rose was fussing over her appearance.

"Ruby, you need to calm down and stop moving around so much," Weiss sighed, "You're still recovering, so please stop aggravating your injuries."

"But all those eyes on me," Ruby whined, idly shadowboxing, "And Sun's gonna be standing right next to me, and – it's just so much!"

"Ruby," Blake chuckled, "Would you prefer to have lost the match so everyone's eyes weren't on you?"

"No." Ruby said, her face suddenly calm and stoic.

"Exactly," Blake nodded with a tiny smirk, "Suffer the consequences of your success."

"Noooo…" Ruby whined as she buried her face in Yang's shoulder, the latter cooing and gently rubbing her little sister's back. It wasn't long before the group burst into laughter, the four of them collapsing onto the nearest bed in a warm embrace.

"I'm so grateful for you guys," Ruby sighed, basking in the warmth of her team, "Thank you for being there for me, and for getting me this far."

"It's our duty as your teammates to support you in whatever way we can," Weiss said with a matter-of-fact tone before her voice softened, "And our prerogative as friends to see you reach your goals."

"We're here for you Ruby, always," Yang said cheerfully.

"We wouldn't have gotten this far without you," Blake shot back with a grin of her own, "So chin up. You earned your success."

"…Thank you," Ruby said softly, her voice a bit tight as she hugged them a bit more firmly. For her to feel this sense of peace for days straight was a blessing, one that she knew wouldn't last forever, but she'd gladly take what she could get.

"Hehehe," Yang snickered, "Ruby's got a boooyfriend~!"

"I hate you," Ruby grumbled as she turned red.

}-{

"So nothing at all?" Diodes sighed, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Unfortunately no," The red-skinned giant huffed, "But that's no longer our concern. Wherever the contingent of Word Bearers went, they won't be able to make it past the barriers that Ozpin and I put in place. Nothing can get in or out if they attempt to jump through the warp, and if they try to attack us on land then we're in a good position to defend ourselves."

"Beacon is a decently-defendable fortification," His white-haired brother said simple, "… though if I were given the tools to work on it…"

"Then you'd cover the entire academy in gold," Diodes said wryly. "Anyway, everyone remembers the plan right?"

"You'll take care of Erebus," Magnus said, "Dorn and I will deal with Cinder, Artoria will ensure that all is well within the Arena. That sound about right?"

"Make it quick and quiet," Diodes warned, ignoring Magnus's smarminess, "Play around with Cinder and you may well lose."

"We understand that very well," Dorn said gravely, "And I will ensure that Magnus does not succumb to his overconfidence in his abilities."

"Wh-HEY! I am NOT that bad!" He cried out, cringing away as the Custodes and his brother gave him a withering glare. "…I didn't say I wasn't bad to some extent."

"Just… don't screw up this time Magnus," Diodes sighed, checking his Guardian Spear's ammo capacity.

"…I won't," He nodded, his face serious as he observed his own blade, Ahn-Nunura, his longest and among his most trustworthy of companions. The golden sickle seemed to shift and morph very subtly, sometimes appearing a bit longer, other times shorter. Was this a reflection of his nature? Or was it a result of his tinge of nervousness? His shame? He, for all his knowledge, could never truly tell. Shaking his head, he turned to Diodes.

"You spoke to the boy about what you and Artoria are, right?"

"I did," Diodes nodded.

"…And?" Magnus prompted.

"He has forgiven us and our actions," Diodes answered, Magnus grinning as he saw the relief on his companion's face, "He was mature enough to understand why we did what we did, but he's going to be wrestling with his feelings for a while. Not that I blame him."

"What of Magnus and I?" Dorn asked.

"He has his suspicions," Diodes said truthfully, "But he hasn't asked about you two yet."

"Mm," Dorn hummed, checking his chain-greatsword Storm's Teeth for any potential errors. "It is… good… that you have mended the relationship between you and your son."

"Agreed," Magnus said quietly.

Diodes wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He was far luckier than most of his kind, able to sire children of his own and rebuild his life. Dorn and Magnus? The former's gene-sons were long-dead, the latter's sons trapped within the clutches of the deity who was behind their downfall. Even though Magnus himself barely escaped the grasp of the Changer of Ways with the return of his soul at the hands of the Emperor, was his survival even considered a good thing for him? All this suffering, and for what?

"…We still have some time before we need to accomplish our tasks," Dorn spoke up, much to Diodes' and Magnus' surprise, "Shall we have a meal together? I understand that today is a day of celebration, and the ingesting of nutrients can help calm the mind."

"I think I'd like that very much," Magnus sighed with a small smile, "What about you, Companion?"

"I'll take you up on that," Diodes agreed, smiling as well. After this was over, he was looking forward to spending some much-needed time with his son.

}-{

Cinder sat in her room, eyes closed as she meditated. What she was about to do was an abomination on life as the world knew it. Nothing would be the same after this. The balance of power would be flipped on its head, countless innocent lives soon to be lost or turned into monstrous thrall. The Athame shortsword in her lap was heavy, its very presence making her skin itch, but she blocked it out as Master Erebus had taught her.

She asked herself, what was the point of the madness that was soon to occur? The scar circling her neck buzzed with phantom pain. What was the point to her suffering? Was it necessary that she was born a mongrel half-breed and then discarded? Was it necessary that she suffered as a battery for Imperial experiments, treated as little more than an object? Was it necessary that she was treated as a monster from both sides of her genetic heritage?

No, of course it wasn't necessary. Nothing about what she was going to take part in was necessary. But even then, she could not deny her own desires, her need. She would not deny the boiling blood in her heart and the seething hatred in her soul. She was a child abandoned by the world, and she would see it burn to feel warmth. She reached for the Athame… and stopped. Hesitated. Two people came to mind. Emerald, forever loyal to her for picking her off the street in Vacuo, someone who still had her humanity intact. With this act, Cinder would damn her; she wasn't keen on doing that to someone who she'd considered something approaching a friend. Emerald was a good distance away from Beacon's grounds, so she wouldn't be affected by what was to come, much to Cinder's relief. And of course, Ruby Rose.

She was an adversary of course, possibly Cinder's greatest threat if she only accounted for her silver eyes. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that Ruby was… oddly similar to her. Sure, they hadn't grown up in the same environment, and they were wildly different beings on a genetic and spiritual level. She was still naïve and brash, yet she was rapidly accumulating knowledge about and adapting to the Long War. Yet they shared a similar goal: power, so that they may never be hurt again. Only, Ruby was surrounded by a loving family, and Cinder was taken in under the wing of Erebus and put through another set of trials and tortures.

"…If our positions were switched," She wondered softly, "Would our… fates be different? Would I have your life… and you mine?"

She steeled her resolve. This was the life she lived and the path she chose, and as Kharn once said, there is no way off the path. Her fingers gripped the hilt, and she cut reality open.

}-{

"Hey-OW-I can dress myself-AYE!" Sun yelped as his team fussed over him, making sure that every inch of his outfit, the same one that he used in the finals, was spotless, correctly positioned. If there was one thing you could count on Beacon's tailors for, it was a quick and spotless fix for a Hunter's combat outfit. Still, Sun was surprised at how touchy his teammates were being, for lack of a better term. Sure, they were his friends, no doubt about it, but like he'd told Ruby, there had always been something of a rift between them thanks to his genetic... oddities.

Now though, they were all over him, poking and prodding and pulling at his outfit to make sure it was perfectly fitted. It's not that he minded the newfound closeness (aside from the occasional tug or prod that sent a pinch of pain spiking through his still-recovering body), but the fact that it was new was certainly surprising to him.

"Alright, STOP!" He said loudly with an audible chuckle in his throat. "What the heck is this all about?"

They did as asked, all of them standing around a bit sheepishly for a few seconds.

"Sun…" Neptune started, "We're your teammates, but… the power that you showed during the one-on-one matches… we've been holding you back for a long time, haven't we?"

That threw him for a loop.

"We know that we haven't treated you… in the best way possible," Scarlet said, shame on his face, "And you've been holding back for our sakes because of how we acted around you."

"You guys…" Sun said.

"Don't try to cover for us," The green-haired slab of muscle said bluntly, "You saw the way we reacted to your power when we first became a team and held back to try and better fit in with us when it should have been the other way around."

"Sun, the way you fought was incredible," Neptune said with shining eyes, "You, Ruby, Pyrrha, even that dick Mercury, none of us thought that we'd be capable of pulling off those kind of moves at our age! But you did, and could've been doing back in Haven… if we hadn't acted the way we did."

The three of them actually bowed, Sun flinching back in shock.

"Please forgive us for the way we've treated you!"

"You DUMBASSES!"

*BONKBONKBONK*

The trio was sent reeling as Sun firmly smacked them on the back of their bowed heads before he pulled them into a big bear hug.

"You guys don't need to apologise for squat. Back home, I was treated like a bomb about to go off by everyone outside my family because I kinda was. I don't blame any of you for getting cautious around me, and I wanna thank you all for doing your best to treat me as one of you guys. Cautious or not, you all still had my back and you didn't turn away from me. That's all I could really ask for in a team."

It was enough to make a grown man cry, and that's okay.

"Alright, alright," He said as he broke away first, "Let's not get distracted from our main goal here. We need to make sure Sun looks perfect for his girlfriend."

"There's a bit more going on today than me meeting my girlfriend," Sun huffed, though he couldn't stop the rampant blush and goofy smile on his face.

}-{

The crowd was cheering well before the ceremony even started, Pyrrha had noted as she took her seat. She was thankful that students and their families had reserved seating, otherwise the entire arena would be packed in minutes with no space for them. Speaking of which, she was both surprised and a little nervous when Jaune's mother politely greeted her and sat next her.

"Lady Nikos," Artoria nodded politely as she easily slipped into her seat.

"Mrs. Arc," Pyrrha gave a slight bow before freezing, "…Um, or Mrs… Pendragon?"

Artoria's eyes crinkled as she smiled in amusement almost the same way Jaune's did.

"Call me whatever you wish," She said simply, "I don't have any particular preferences."

Pyrrha nodded a bit sheepishly before they sat in comfortable silence. Even now though, Pyrrha couldn't help but be a little awed at Jaune's mother: a living monarch from an age long past, wielding a sword that was famous around the world. Her presence was as regal and calming as ever, uplifting yet humbling.

"May I ask you a question?" Artoria started, surprising Pyrrha.

"O-of course. I'll answer to the best of my ability."

"Why do you like my son? Romantically, I mean."

Pyrrha was silent, her face turning pink. Artoria was clearly amused by her reaction but chose not to say anything, giving Pyrrha as much time as possible to calm herself.

"What makes you think that I… like Jaune in that manner?" Pyrrha countered flimsily.

"One: You're almost constantly by his side yet you don't seek to be overbearing. Two, you both casually touch each other and only seem to notice your intimacy a few moments later. Three… well, your face is pink."

"…Those are very solid answers." Pyrrha started, still very sure that her face was burning, "Initially, I had sought to be his friend because he didn't recognize who I was."

"…That sounds mildly vain," Artoria chuckled.

"It probably was," Pyrrha admitted, "…He was a little infuriating at first, refusing help and wanting to live up to your legacy."

"Mm. He has my stubbornness, especially given his circumstances," Artoria hummed with a wry grin, "I apologise for that."

"No need," Pyrrha giggled, subconsciously surprised at how easy it was to talk to Artoria, "But overtime, I… just grew to enjoy his company. Once he had the foundations, he worked even more diligently to catch up to everyone. He taught me how to have fun and relax, showed me that there was more than just training to look forward to. I've read comics for the first time in my life because of him, you know? He didn't see the invincible girl, he saw Pyrrha. Almost everything is just… easy with him. It's easy to trust him, easy to talk to him without the fear of something holding him back from speaking his mind, easy admire his efforts, easy to… fall for him."

There was a muted silence between them, Pyrrha's face burning even hotter as she ducked her head down and Artoria simply stared forward.

"You're a gentle soul, Pyrrha," She said softly, placing a calloused hand atop Pyrrha's lightly clenched fist, "Never lose that."

"I'll… endeavour not to," Pyrrha answered politely.

"You also have my blessing, if that helps."

Despite her heating face, Pyrrha couldn't help but smile.

}-{

Hours later, the trumpets of Vale's national anthem played, everyone standing up and dutifully reciting it with pride, even those not native to Vale doing their best to keep up. When it's over and everyone is sitting down, the continuous chatter was back in force, though everyone's attention was on the centre of the arena. Standing behind a podium on a raised platform was Ozpin himself, tapping the microphone to ensure that it was working properly. Once he was sure that it was, he coughed into his hand and leaned slightly forward.

"Greetings, citizens of Vale and of Remnant as a whole," He said, "On this day, we celebrate one of mankind's greatest attributes: individualism. It is with our individual efforts that the Grimm are incapable of becoming used to use and our tactics, each of us hunters shining as lone stars to ward off the dark and defend our kingdoms and lives. Yet I believe that individualism alone is not to be our saving grace in our time of need."

With each festival, the speech generally was the same: an individual champion, the best of the best, strongest of the four kingdoms, so on and so forth. This was different.

"The reason why Hunters have always formed four-person teams is because that regardless of the power of our individualism, no individual is an island. Nobody can be in two places at once, nobody can reliably watch their own back all the time. Semblances excluded."

A ripple of laughter worked its way through the crowd.

"It is together that we cover each other's weaknesses and watch each other's blind spots. If not four, then three. If not three, then two. And in this ceremony, for the first time in the history of the festival, we celebrate the prowess of not one, but two victors."

Trumpets played over the speakers and the crowd roared as from one of the tunnels came both Ruby Rose and Sun Wukong, both of them wearing the same outfits they used in the finals. Ruby was clearly overwhelmed by the praise being showed on them while Sun seemed to take it in stride, but they both proudly raised a fist, their free hands perfectly intwined as they walked together.

"Human and Faunus, both from different backgrounds aiming for the same pinnacle of strength," Ozpin continued, "Together they stand as victors not only for the title of Champion, but for the ideals that we must strive towards every day. Let their conjoined triumph be a lesson and path forward to a brighter future. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Champions of the Vytal Festival, RUBY ROSE AND SUN WUKONG!"

They walked out from the tunnel hand-in-hand, bashful and beaming grins on their faces as they waved to the crowd and made their way towards Ozpin amidst the wave of cheering.

"I need not get in the way of the celebration of the victors," Ozpin chuckled as he began to make his way away from center-stage, "I HEARBY SIGNAL THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT! HAPPY VYTAL FESTIVAL!"

}-{

Dorn's kick reduced the door and the wall to splinters and pebbles, storming in with his bolter raised. Magnus was a step behind him, his eye shining with bright violet light and his face tight with rage.

"…Empty," Dorn said, his own expression stony and jaw clenched as he lowered his weapon, the servos of his artificial hand grinding and whining as he clenched a tight fist at his side.

"Damn it," Magnus snarled, "DAMMIT!"

Phantasmal red and blue wings shimmered into existence upon his back, the fabric of reality bending and straining around him before a tiny gash popped open in the room, their gazes snapping to it instantly.

"She has an athame dagger," Magnus quickly deduced, reopening the wound in reality with a flick of his wrist and looking at his brother. "Contact Diodes and tell him to kill Erebus now. She might be well-versed in matters of the warp, but I am the Crimson King, and I won't have a child like her attempt to outdo me."

"I'll do so immediately-!"

They both paused as an alarm went up on Dorn's scroll, the Primarch quickly opening it and putting it on loudspeaker.

"Companion, what is-?" Dorn started.

"EREBUS IS GONE!" Diodes roared into the scroll, "THAT BASTARD JUST DISAPPEARED BEFORE I COULD RUN HIM THROUGH!"

"They won't have gone far!" Magnus assured him, "The psychic barrier Ozpin and I can't let anyone in or out through the warp. I will find them and I will drag them back out screaming."

"Mercury Black is gone as well!" Diodes snarled, "No clue why the hell she'd take him too, but here we are!"

"The boy?" Dorn asked with a raised brow. "Odd choice. He's got potential, but I would have left him."

"It doesn't matter!" Magnus snapped, "They can play this game of cat and mouse all they want, they're just delaying the-!"

Magnus stopped and peered into the rip in reality, his face going slack in horror before he was forcibly yanked in, the rift closing instantly and leaving Dorn staring in muted shock.

}-{

Ruby and Sun both raised the trophy above their heads, the latter grinning wide as Sun leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

"…okay my arm hurts," He groaned through his smile. "Can we put this down?"

"Just thinking the same thing," Ruby said with a strained laugh as they gently lowered the trophy back onto the floor, the two discreetly stretching their backs and arms from the sudden strain. Ruby suddenly perked up as her eyes began to buzz, the sensation rapidly growing stronger as she glanced around. Sun was quick to pick up on her sudden switch in mood.

"Ruby? You good?"

"…I dunno." She admitted. "Something's… off."

UNLEASH YOUR FULL MIGHT IF YOU WISH TO SURVIVE.

The voice, so silent before, suddenly roared in her skull and almost brought her to her knees, yet her body acted on its own pivoting around to see a strange rip in the air directly behind her. Mercury Black clawed his way out, teeth bared in a monstrous grin as his body was enveloped by a familiar sickly-purple aura, all of his roaring murderous intent directed straight at Ruby. Nobody was able to react in time, least of all Ruby. She felt her eyes burn and watched in slow motion as he raised a single fist in her direction, her mind screaming for her injured and off-guard body to move.

"Die One-Thousand Deaths: SHUN-GOKU-SATSU!"

For a split second, the world faded to black. All anyone could see were the flashes and sparks of sickly purple light the seemed to strike something at every angle all at once before light was returned to the world. Mercury Black stood past Ruby Rose, his back turned to her bleeding, broken and still form as a symbol shone with twisted pride on his back: the symbol of an eight-pointed star. Where there was cheering, laughter and celebration, the entire world felt into dumbstruck, horrified silence. Yang had already launched herself out of her seat and skid to a halt by Ruby's side, Sun already kneeling by her. Both of their expressions were the exact same: slack, confused, disbelieving. But as they gazed at Ruby, her face practically mauled open and limbs bending in ways they weren't supposed to, they both began to hyperventilate. The entire world was having the same reaction, all the horror and fear of every soul on Remnant not only spiking but also funnelling to the Amity Arena, the very centre of everyone's attention. The air seemed to become thinner as the rising fear poured in, the people in the crowd unable to fully register or entirely ignore faint whispering in their ears, the words of the whispers gleefully paranoid and insidious, heightening everyone's terror more and more.

"Ah, maybe it's just because I had to rev myself up too quickly," Mercury said casually, "But I wasn't able to pull off the full thing. Oh well… what can you do. Just gotta finish the job."

Yang and Sun turned to look at Mercury, their expressions almost eerily calm before they exploded. Sun's skin seemed to rip and flake away as he screamed, the form underneath emerging to reveal an almost gross over exaggeration of musculature barely evened out by his monstrous height, skin scorched black by his own hatred, his eyes, fanged mouth and hair glowing with golden and green fire. With Yang, it was as if she was consumed by something within. Her skin was pure flame, the sparks crackling from it made up of unreadable, infernal runes. Her hair was a writhing mass of pitch-black flame as her own phantasmal horns became solid, multiplying into a grotesque crown of black and gold that encircled her head. Lips were burnt away to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth in an open mouth that let loose an awful shriek, her eyes pools of crimson light as she flexed the four new, winged arms crafted from flame and sprouting from her back.

Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan

Yang Xiao Long: Desperate Devil Trigger [Dying Light]

Their combined roar unleased a shockwave that knocked everyone off their feet, though their explosive power and screaming didn't seem to affect Ruby in the slightest. However, as pillars of green and sunset-gold pierced through the sky, something else happened. They seemed to punch into something invisible, straining against it for a few moments before the invisible field began to crack and whine. Even when they'd finished screaming, everyone could see and hear what was happening, though that didn't make it any more understandable. The very sky around the kingdom of Vale began to crack and fracture, mesmerising, maddening violet light spilling through and bathing the kingdom in its ultraterrestrial glow.

"No…!" Ozpin could barely utter, barely able to stop himself from throwing up.

"No? What do you mean… no?" Ozpin turned to see Cinder looking down her nose at him, utter disgust on her face and the Athame in her hand. "In your arrogance, you believed that by making everyone so unbelievably happy, so overjoyed, you'd be able to outplay plans laid out for centuries? You created a centre of pure positive emotion that roared across the warp like a beacon. What did you think would happen if someone managed flip those emotions on its head in the blink of an eye, with the entire world watching, all centred on what's supposed to be your day of grand triumph?"

"…You waited," Ozpin realized, "You allowed this to…!"

"It's not hard to outplay an idiot if you allow them to believe they're winning," Cinder sneered before she smoothed her features. "Of course, with Rose being the darling of Remnant, she'd be the ideal sacrificial lamb. We would need the final blow to crack the thinned veil between realms and the Saiyan alone would have done the job with his rage, but the soul-descendant of Sparda was an added bonus."

"Very well put together my pupil," Erebus congratulated Cinder, an armoured glove patting her shoulder as he appeared next to her, dressed once more in his full warplate. "You have done very well, and I have no doubt that the Gods are pleased at the feast laid out for them. Take Mercury and Ozpin with you."

Cinder quickly moved away from his grasp and bowed low to him, not before Ozpin caught a glimpse of the sheer disgust on Cinder's face.

"You honour me with your praise, my mentor." She said blandly.

"Mm," Erebus casually dismissed her as to turned to watch the unfolding horror, "A beloved child of light lays broken before the eyes of the world, two of her closest allies transfigured into visages that people will fear for years to come, all under a broken sky… and the laughter of thirsting gods."

Those civilians unprotected by aura who looked too long into the light began to curl up in fetal positions, their minds fractured by seeing something they were not meant to see. Those were the lucky ones. Others began to seize up, have their mouth fill with black foam, laugh hysterically or speak in tongues, their bodies shuddering as the whispers became invasive, the mouths behind the sweet nothings plunging into their minds and finding new bodies to wear. Bones cracked, new limbs burst out, muscles swelled, flesh sloughed away, eyes rotted or grew too numerous to count and screams filled the arena, the scene replicated across the entirety of Vale under the maddening light of thirteen great breaks in reality. From those rifts, nightmarish entities began to crawl through and drop into the kingdom, some like fly-ridden corpses, some like equally terrible and beautiful things, others like red-skinned screaming monstrosities. Erebus bathed in the light, his face twisted in sheer rapture as he breathed the suffering in like it was the scent of the finest wine. To him, there was nothing sweeter.

"LET TODAY MARK OUR TRIUMPH!" He screamed in almost orgasmic pleasure, "LET THIS BE THE FIRST HOUR OF THE END-TIMES… LET CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD!"

...TWBY Continued...

Happy Vytal Festival everyone... :D