RWBY: A Thorn in My Heart
Chapter 30: Seek and Destroy
The dust mines of the kingdom of Atlas glisten with a myriad of different colored lights reflecting off the walls. Each light showcased a different element and therefore a different type of dust. There were red fire dust crystals and blue ice dust crystals in particular drew Blake's attention as she slowly walked down the mine with Yang. The red and blue crystals filled Blake with an overwhelming sense of dread as she pondered the absence of Ruby and Weiss. She hated herself for having to leave them alone to recover in the hospital, but knew they had to comply with Ironwood's orders lest they risk being arrested again. Yang, on the other hand, was too engrossed in watching a video on her new scroll to pay Blake's sadness any mind.
"Man, you wouldn't expect a skinny brat like that to be able to kill a bunch of Death Stalker's." Yang said impressed, her tone mixed with disbelief and mockery though as Blake could make out. She turned to face her partner, tempted to smack her for ignoring her plight, but found herself curious to see the news she was watching.
"We are recapping the events of last nights attack on the SDC!" A news anchorman said.
"Following a startling revelation that Weiss Schnee, head of the SDC, was somehow turned into a Grimm and attacked a team of Huntresses outside Atlas Pharmacy, riots had erupted demanding her arrest and dismissal from the SDC." He said. Yang and Blake gave bitter looks of contempt. They hated how much Weiss had suffered, and would only continue to suffer because these people couldn't understand her pain.
"She's the victim you media assholes!" Yang grunted. But Blake and her could tell the media and the people didn't care. They couldn't look past the monster on the outside and see Weiss as the loving friend they knew.
"Spurred by the chaos, a group of Death Stalker's eluded the Ace Ops and attacked a protest group outside the SDC. Whitley Schnee, brother to Weiss Schnee, had arrived on the scene and, despite cameras being down, reports from witnesses said the young Schnee gracefully killed all the scorpions and saved their lives. Indeed, it is truly the birth of a great hero ladies and gentlemen!" The anchorman yelled, glorifying Weiss's brother, while subtly demeaning the Ace ops.
"Turn that shit off and keep moving! This isn't break time!" Harriet yelled, startling the two and causing Yang to reply quickly before even realizing her bitter rival had been the one to say that.
They also saw the annoyed faces of Marrow, Clover, Vine, and Elm, though Blake could sense their anger was more out of frustration with themselves then her and Yang. It was no question they had failed to stop all the Grimm from getting past them. While Blake was grateful there were no casualties, she could tell it was a blow to their pride nonetheless. She was honestly surprised she and Yang were still allowed to investigate the mines with them despite such high tensions and their pride being hurt like that.
"Okay sorry, we'll keep focused and moving." Blake meekly said as she tapped a stunned Yang and kept advancing down the mines with the irritable huntsman team. While walking, Yang finally took notice of the glum frown Blake was giving.
"How you holding up Blake?" She whispered, careful not to annoy Harriet again with a loud tone.
"I just… *sigh* feel like things just keep getting worse. Ruby and Weiss are laid up, we haven't made anything better since arriving, and Weiss may loose her company and all the good she built up for Faunus like me." Blake whispered back. Marrow, having exceptional hearing like her, could only give off a small sigh and somber look as he pondered her words. He could tell she suffered discrimination like he did growing up, and couldn't help but silently agree with her worries. He only kept himself from opening up due to knowing he had a mission to focus on and that it wasn't appropriate to butt in on her conversation and openly praise Weiss. He eyed Harriet as he knew she would only get irritated and pick another fight, having previously condemned the Schnee, despite the fact they both knew it wasn't her fault she was turned into a Grimm and attacked. He then perked up his expression once hearing Yang try to cheer up Blake. He couldn't help but smile; he felt such comfort from a teammate would be something his team should try sometime, if only his teammates could get over their overly serious nature.
"Hey, we still got a lot of time to make up for and do that good. We'll help Weiss get her reputation back." Yang said.
"How? Even if we stop the white fang here, it's not her achievement, and the people are just gonna see some faunus brutes being arrested." She asked with disdain in her voice. Yang could tell something other than Weiss's predicament was bothering her.
"Something else on your mind?" Yang asked her partner. It wasn't like her to pry, but things had spiraled downward because the team had kept things to themselves for far too many years, so she felt the need to crack the mask. Blake sighed as she too pondered this problem.
"When I was little, I practically grew up in the white fang surrounded by hatred. I… thought myself as better though since I really wanted peace rather than revenge… or so I told myself."
Blake said, Yang wincing as she noticed the guilt in her partners voice.
"I really was just running away from home because I hated my step mom. I found out as a little girl she wasn't my real mom. Despite the fun days she and I spent with dad at the beach or nice dinners we shared, I always felt bitter because they were based on a lie." Blake said.
"So you joined the old organization she was a part of?" Yang asked, it was a bit confusing for her to hear her partner's reasons for spiting her step-mom, as they seemed contradictory.
"She didn't just hate the SDC, she hated all human's, you could tell that from meeting her just once. I grew up hearing her smack talk them and praise the White fang, so I felt if I joined them and changed them I could be better than her. But… I was just as bad because I was lying to myself. I was a liar who told herself she was trying to help others when really she just wanted revenge for pain she experienced just like those other brutes." Blake said, condemning herself.
"I thought after I met you, when I met Ruby and became your family I had made that lie a truth. But it feels like whenever that peace comes, fate wants it shattered like Ruby and Weiss's health."
Blake said, tears stinging her eyes.
Harriet noticed her tone grow and Yang and Blake stop and turned around to tell them to keep moving, but Marrow had given her a fierce glare and motioned his finger to face her. His expression showing her she should ignore them and respect their privacy. So she rolled her eyes and kept moving.
Yang paused in silence, unsure what to say after hearing her partner be so self-deprecating. She took a few moments to think before she spoke, knowing her response could hurt Blake more if she was careless. She the thought of that world "careless."
"When I asked Ozpin to expel me… I was being selfish too." Yang said, her response causing Blake's eyes to widen in shock, she had never heard Yang had asked Ozpin of this.
"All I could think of was myself, how bitter I was I got you cut by Adam and how I failed to save my sister that night." Yang said, rubbing her shoulder awkwardly as she felt her past guilt reignite in her soul.
"But Ozpin told me we make mistakes, but they are ours to make just like our choices. Since then, I chose to fight to stop from what happened to Ruby from happening again. Fate is bullshit Blake, we choose how we live and what comes of that. I get it sounds like fortune cookie nonsense but…" Yang said before being cut off by a hug from Blake.
"Thanks, I just really…needed someone to tell me that for a long time now." Blake said, sniffling into Yang's shoulders. As the two noticed the Ace ops slowly get far ahead of them, they broke off the hug and quickly ran to catch up.
"She's right. I can't let this bring me down. If I wallow in misery now, I'll really be just like Khan." Blake thought to herself. She had decided not live a lie about making things better and inspiring people to change, she would make it the truth.
Dark Continent
Cinder eyed the news report with a smirk, greatly satisfied her plans were proceeding smoothly. She waved her hand to form a portal, summoning Emerald, Mercury, and Whitley before her. The latter was wobbly while holding is stomach.
"Man, teleporting sure *gag* sucks." Whitely weakly groaned, he still wasn't used to the sensation and it sometimes made him nauseous.
"Don't hurl on me rich boy or your buying me new robot legs!" Mercury yelled, shoving the boy away from him.
"You'll be putting those legs to good use soon." Cinder said, mercury forming a malicious grin as he heard these words.
"Whose the target?" he asked.
Cinder waved her hand and formed an image through a portal. It was the ace-ops and Team Rwby's Yang and Blake.
"It seems Emerald and Mercury left a sour taste in their mouths, I think you can handle that problem for them…permanently." Cinder said with a smirk. She enjoyed getting fueled by her enemy's negativity and found the huntsman teams damaged pride to be an especially delicious sensation. Emerald and Whitely grinned as they felt pleased with themselves, still remembering how they fooled those people into making him a hero.
A while ago….
Screams filled the streets of Atlas outside the SDC company gates. The protestors were surrounded by the Death Stalkers, each one screeching madly, giving the people a sensation similar to a chalkboard being clawed. Pincers with bloodstains on them, clearly showing their gory history, drew ever closer with each slow step the beasts took towards the civilians. Soon they had stopped in their tracks as they eyed Whitely, who had arrived on the scene before them.
"No worries people, your hero has arrived to rescue you unlike those worthless huntsman." He said vainly. Emerald couldn't help but groan at his cheezy lines, wanting nothing more than to end the illusion and allow the scorpions to actually kill him as they advanced towards the Schnee.
The people were confused as to how a teenage boy could save them. He had a skinny frame and only a simple sword, which didn't inspire confidence in them. One lion Faunus man wasn't afraid to speak this,
"Hey dumbass! Get out of here and get us a real huntsman who can help us already!" he roared.
Whitely gritted his teeth hearing these words and grasped his swords hilt.
"How dare this lowly beast say such things to a member of the proud Schnee family!" he thought to himself. He wanted to slice that "filthy" animals tongue off then and their, but took a deep breath and calmed himself as he heard Emerald grunt. He knew she would undo the illusion she placed on the scorpions and have them kill him if he went against the plan for pride. Not becoming rich or powerful would be the least of his worries. As three of the six scorpion's advanced towards him, Whitely drew his blade.
"No need! I'll be the one who slays all these, *hiss* filthy monsters." Whitely said, his emphasis on "filthy" going over the crowds heads of whom he was actually referring too. He wanted then and there to do nothing more than slit their throats or perhaps cut off those, what were for him, disgusting animal features that separated them from being human.
Emerald, almost sensing his thoughts like Blake or Cinder could, grunted to him to snap him out of his bloodlust anger. Whitely had barely any time to turn to her before a Stalker's tail lunged at him, he jumped back and felt the seismic force the impact had on the ground, which was now shattered into rubble which would have been his head had he not reacted in time.
"Damnit you bitch! Don't distract me, now keep THEM distracted!" Whitley whispered with a hiss. He wanted the ruse to work so he could get the company, and he certainly wasn't willing to become a Grimm meal over it. Emerald merely smirked at him mockingly, enjoying his brief moment of danger and panic before flashing her eyes red again and reactivating the illusion.
The crowd stood in awe as they saw the once meek looking and sweaty teen they had mocked performing a wide range of death defying moves. Whitely somersaulted over a pincer of one stalker and struck his blade mid spin into its neck, evaporating it as it screeched in pain. He then darted to the left and got underneath the stomach of another and sliced open its stomach, which bled shadow dust and black ooze rather than blood before also being destroyed.
Whitely then turned around to see the pincers of another bare down on him as he met them with his blade. As he performed a tug and war with the beasts pincer, his blade being the only thing standing between the claws and his face, the crowd started to cheer him on.
"Wow! This kids strong! Give it hell Schnee!" a man said followed by cheering from the crowd.
Little did they know, Whitely was doing no such things. He was still standing right next to Emerald as the crowed was immersed in the simulation she and Cinder went over for the plan. As this was happening, she called Cinder on her scroll.
"Phase 1 complete master." On Emerald's cue, Cinder summoned portals next to the now frozen Grimm, who paused their movement due to their masters command. Out came some white fang soldier's, carrying dust rifles and axes that they bore towards the crowd, or more specifically the human's with mad grins.
"Enough! Don't forget your masters orders or she'll put you down mutts." Emerald yelled, but exerted her aura to keep the illusion strong, she didn't want the crowd to hear her and ruin the plan.
The soldiers glared at her, some giving irritated groans and approaching her steadily. Emerald merely folded her arms unimpressed
"Or do you want her to do to you what she did to the Schnee bitch?" she asked, her question turning their lips pale with fear as they gagged remembering that gruesome fear instilled in them last night was precisely was Cinder planned, the ritual wasn't a treat for them it was meant to be an example of what would happen if disobedient dogs didn't obey. Simply nodding their head in panic, they instantly backed away from Emerald and Whitley and went about killing the Death Stalkers while the illusion was still in place. After finishing the job, the white fang grunts left for the dust mines, intent on stealing as much as they could. Emerald internally felt relieved once they left, having to hold this up for long was draining even her large aura rapidly and she didn't feel like stabbing her arm again with drugs to gain more, it still burned from last time.
One death stalker remained alive, frozen in place before Whitley as he smirked at her before taking out his blade.
"Thanks for the assist, I'll make sure you get a goody bag once the company throws me an inauguration party" he mockingly laughed to Emerald, who glared at him as he prepared to finish it and make his goal a reality.
Ironwood's security room
Debris scattered across what remained of the room, camera computers shattered with glass all over the floor along with the bloody corpses of a few unlucky employees. Smoke filled the air that polluted ironwood's lungs as he coughed before turning his attention to his remaining staff
"Damage… report everyone!" he yelled, fighting his coughing fit.
"Sir all our systems are down! We can't call Mantle or any neighboring kingdom for help. Our signals are only strong enough to contact within Atlas!" The soldier said frightfully, eyeing Ironwoods robot arm as it clenched its fist in anger, fearing his wrath. But the General merely sighed and kept his cool, to his soldier's extreme relief.
"And casualties." He asked with hesitance, it was the hardest reality he had to face, being the leader, to ask or hear these parts of the reports.
"We have 8 dead the rest wounded." A soldier reported.
"8 huh" James said quietly.
Ironwood clasped his beard with his robotic hand as he heard the report, which was slightly trembling at the realization there were only 7 corpses, so the soldier obviously meant Qrow. Despite his disdain for the Branwan man's antics, the General couldn't help but internally acknowledge his skills as one of the best in Remnant, something he wouldn't openly say to avoid a cocky grin from his old friend. Now he wanted to see that grin, it would put him at ease having a strong ally back but now he was gone, food in a giant Nevermore's belly.
"Anything else?" he asked the subordinate.
"From what we gathered on the news, there was a riot outside the SDC. The attack also brought 6 death stalkers to the scene" He said.
Ironwood sighed as he looked on and saw claw marks from the bird Grimm that tore apart the building, things were going from bad to worse and now more Grimm were showing from these riots. Anger and negativity were a natural lure for Grimm after all, and now the death toll was certainly going to climb.
Ironwood then gave a thousand yard stare as he realized he should have given an order just now to send reinforcements to save the people. Before he could so much as open his mouth, the soldier continued.
"However, the news says that Weiss Schnee's brother arrived on the scene and killed all six on his own." He said.
"All six!? That can't be right let me see your scroll." The general ordered with a scoff. He had met that teenage boy once, and his skinny arms and the spoiled air he brought stenches the veteran huntsman's nose felt worse than the wreck around him right now.
As he eyed the news from the soldier's scroll in disbelief, seeing a ragged stalker's corpse, slowly disintegrating behind Whitley as he held his blade over his arms confidently.
"What's more sir, the people are asking for him to be made the new president and are increasing their calls to have Weiss Schnee arrested." The soldier said, his report brining a knot in Ironwood's stomach. He had originally held off the arrest order, despite thinking arresting her would pacify the crowd. He only held back out of respect for Weiss, having seen the good she had been doing as president, improving conditions and wages for Faunus workers which certainly lowered the grimm sightings around Atlas and Mantle and made his job easier over the years. But now with tensions so high and his manpower drastically weakened, he knew any more turmoil was exactly what Cinder wanted. That mere thought of her smirk and comments towards him mad his blood boil. He just had to beat her this time, he was going to beat her and wasn't going to let Weiss get in the way of that. As much as he knew Ruby's team would oppose him, he felt confident his Ace Ops could handle them if they didn't comply. He then went to the call function on his scroll and dialed in a number. He was paging Winter, he felt if anyone should handle this it was her. Not only was she stronger than her younger sister, she had the professionalism to put aside her discomforts for the mission always. She wasn't his trusted captain and second in command for nothing.
"Winter do you read me?" he asked. After a few seconds of buzzing and chatter, no doubt from the communications damage, Winter finally picked up on the other line. She was sitting in a hospital chair, eyeing her sister as she steadily began walking again and sat by Ruby's bed.
"Loud and clear sir." She said, though her chatter was a bit broken, both from her wiping her tears from sadness and happiness at the sight of her sister quickly recovering and from the feed damage. Nonetheless, it was enough for Ironwood to hear.
"Then listen up, I am going to have to countermand my last order." He said sternly, Winter freezing (no pun intended) in her chair as she have a wide stare to her sister, fear in her heart from this news.
"You m-mean?" she nervously said. Luckily the feed was damaged so Ironwood didn't hear her hesitancy.
"Yes captain, your new orders are to arrest Weiss Schnee for treason, we need to calm down the riots and interrogate her for information." He said.
Winter almost felt all strength in her hand fade from this news, it was her worst fear come to life. She nervously juggled it as she heard a yell for confirmation on the other end from the General.
"Y-Yes sir sorry almost dropped my scroll." She said.
"What is your position, are you close to the Atlas hospital were she is being held?" he asked. Winter gulped as she choked for air, her lungs suffocating and begging for oxygen as she struggled to utter a sentence. Her sense of duty telling her to confirm she was already there, but she looked at her sister smiling as she rubbed a sleeping Ruby's head gently melted her heart.
"I am on my way there sir… all call once I have confirmation of the arrest." She said before quickly hanging up. She gave a huge sigh as she clasped her forehead, stress filling her body as her sister took notice of Winter's state.
"Sis? What's wrong with you?" she asked intently.
"The problem isn't mine, its yours. The general wants me to arrest you!" she said. Weiss covering her mouth and giving a blank stare as she heard the bad news.
"A-Are… Are you?" she asked, clearly afraid. Winter saw her expression was like the one she gave whenever dad beat them or mother wallowed in drunken misery before dying. She felt ashamed she was now the one making her little sister feel this way. She was just grateful Sun and Nala had already left for Mistral, or else a full scale meltdown would be happening now. Speaking of meltdowns, Winter felt a rage fuel within her as she struggled to have one herself thinking about this order. If only she had more power, then she could tell the General where to stick that order. Soon a though crossed Winter's mind as she looked at Ruby and Weiss
"If I had more power…" she said quietly to herself. She had often heard this from Marrow, who openly expressed disdain for being called a "lapdog" and wished he could have a higher position to get rid of that disrespect he got in Atlas from people and his own military. She herself felt humiliated having to take orders from a superior, her a member of the prestigious Schnee family. She was going to keep its prestige and not allow Ironwood or Whitely to sully it. Her own personal unit was loyal to her and would certainly help, as well as Weiss's team since this would help their teammate, now she only needed one more ally.
Weiss didn't fail to see the smile and glare on her older sisters face form.
Indeed, Winter felt her darkest desire, one that she repressed for years to avoid damaging the Schnee name, resurface from this golden opportunity. With Marrow's semblance, which could control even his own teammates, her only other obstacle, it was entirely possible for her to now get what she wanted the most and keep her sister out of jail or worse a science lab. Convincing him would be easy enough, though she hated needing a faunus's help, and was disgusted with the thought, like a dog with a bone she could either tempt him with power or by treating him to her body. She did feel confident in her appearance, especially eyeing her sisters much smaller breasts and slim body.
"Okay, what are you thinking about and why are you staring at my boobs?" Weiss asked, folding her arms in irritation. It felt annoying when guys ogled her and even weirder when her own sister did.
"I guess I'll just have to take down the alpha and become the new top dog." She said ominously, earning an uneasy reaction from Weiss, uncomfortable with her sister's sudden mood change.
Dust mines
Yang and Blake continued their walk down the dust mines along with the ace ops, the former tempted to yawn from the boredom. They had walked all over and examined the mine for hours now, with nothing more than a few footprints and no one around to show for it.
"God there is no one here, we've gone in circles 8 times already can we just go now!?" Yang said annoyed, her tone earning an unimpressed scowl from Elm, who immediately approached her at a slow pace, but one that made Yang's ears twitch as each footstep sounded like thunder. The older huntress was definitely more muscular than the blonde brawler, and while Yang was usually confident in her strength, the formers appearance and these last few battles and injuries her team endured had started to drain her thirst for battle.
"Maybe this is just some fun little field trip from homeschool to a Vale kid like you, but some of us do take our work seriously." Elm said with a fierce scowl on her face, Blake almost seeing a vein protrude. Yang only gritted her teeth and returned a scowl, she was not a kid and didn't liked being looked down on like one.
"Well we fight for our lives in the wilds daily, we don't all get to lay on our butts like certain rich city snobs do." Yang retorted after eyeing the ace ops prim uniform that was neatly pressed like something straight out of a store. Finding her inner fire relit, she couldn't help but insult the older huntress despite internally knowing it was a bad idea.
"Oh, you mean like that rich girl Weiss of yours? Yeah guess she got a fat ass eating caviar and made it easier for the White Fang to capture her huh?" Elm said sarcastically. That was the last straw for Yang.
"Don't you dare mention her when you don't even know her you dumb cow!" Yang yelled as she slugged the ace op in the face, but the latter didn't even flinch as she stood her ground, shocking Blake and Yang with her resilience. No one since Timber took such a blow from Yang's fist and didn't so much as recoil. A buzzing sound soon attracted Yang's attention as she looked down and saw the source, a pair of roots on the ground with yellow energy keeping Elm in place. Yang was dumbfounded; it was just like Ruby's semblance to summon vines. As she looked at them in shock, Yang then saw a fist swerve towards her chin as Elm delivered a fierce uppercut that knocked some blood from her lip as clenched her teeth upon impact, almost having them knocked out as she stepped backwards and collected herself. Blake saw Harriet's eyes charge up and knew she was planning to attack next.
"Damnit Yang, not this crap again!" Blake muttered as she grew annoyed with the situation and summoned a barrier of clones between her, Yang, and Elm. Harriet stopped her charge as she couldn't find an opening in the blockade of Blake clones, all drawing copies of Gambrol Shroud ready for an attack.
"But out of these kitty Cat!" Harriet yelled at the blockade, she was furious to have her fight interrupted, and Marrow formed a worried look as he almost raised his finger to yell and stop them. Vine merely sighed as he sat in a corner, unimpressed with the infighting. But Clover could see what Blake was really getting at. Blake and her clones weren't gearing their blades towards Elm, despite being so close to her, and were merely making sure the other ace ops didn't interfere. He then grabbed Harriet and Marrow's shoulders, causing them to pause.
"Just leave them be, those two just need to get it out of their system." Clover said with a positive tone, but Harriet and Marrow could sense from his grip on their shoulders he was very serious despite his attitude and decided to yield. Blake, sensing the lowered hostilities from the others, released her clones and moved away from Elm, but gave her a fierce look that said,
"Beat her if you want, but I'll kill you if you cause permanent damage."
I burn ost ( watch?v=GuFVlKE3vCs)
Cracking her fist, Elm smiled as she released the vines from feet and slowly advanced towards Yang, who rubbed her aching jaw tenderly as charged up Ember Cecilia. Elm eyed the gauntlets intensely. She could see the wear and dents caused by bullets, swords, and ash coming from Yang's fire on those weapons and could tell Yang was a more seasoned warrior than she initially thought. Smirking, Elm reached onto her back and grabbed her hammer and charged it with electricity.
Yang couldn't help but eye the older woman in awe a little.
"Wow, first you're like Ruby and now your like Nora." She said.
"Don't know who the last one is, but if their not here it means they were just too weak like you if you couldn't handle a simple punch." Elm yelled arrogantly as she charged. Yang's lilac eyes flared red as she quickly placed a grenade in her gauntlet and smashed it into the ground before her causing a small explosion. Elm covered her eyes as ash filled the air and clouded her vision, allowing Yang to jump out of the way of her hammer strike, though the impact on the ground sent her flying backwards. Her aura guarded her from damage and she made sure to absorb some of the fire to avoid the explosion hitting the dust on the walls. Clover, even with his good luck semblance, gulped as he saw the fire, one spark from them and it would likely cause a chain reaction that could start a chain reaction of explosions and cause a cave in.
"This may have been a dumb idea after all." Clover admitted with a sigh of guilt as his teammates gave sarcastic glares at him.
Elm went into a short coughing fit as squinted her eyes, still not able to see Yang past all the ash. Yang capitalized and used the distraction to yank a fire dust crystal off the wall and jam it into Ember Cecila, igniting her fire fist immensely as she charged at Elm.
"Easy with the fire Blake or your gonna blow us all up!" Blake yelled as she pointed to the dust, but Yang just gave off her usual cocky smile.
"Hey I absorbed a dragon's fire I can handle those explosions." She said to herself to not give herself away.
Elm though saw Yang coming from the glow of her fire past the ash, but noticed she was already too close to dodge. Summoning more vines, Elm braced herself for impact. If her aura could withstand the punch, she could counterattack with the recoil from her hammer and end this. It was all up to fate.
But Yang had been waiting for those roots to appear, now this girl was trapped in place and couldn't avoid her next trick. Using her none fire hand, Blake took out another dust grenade and bit on the pin. Elm grew pale as she realized Yang's plan, but it was too late to pull out the roots and dodge.
"Oh man, I really think this is gonna hurt!" she yelled.
"Yeah, a ton!" Yang yelled with a smile as she threw the grenade. It released a wave of purple energy over Elm as she felt her body grow heavy and she kneeled down.
"Gravity dust!" Elm yelled. Blake also looked shocked before she formed a massive smile,
"Now that's creative, Ruby couldn't have done it better!" Blake said, she was proud how smart her partner had grown over the years as she saw the spitting image of her wife in Yang.
"Better grit those purely whites bitch!" Yang yelled at Elm, who did just that as Yang delivered a massive flame induced uppercut and smiled, happy to have not only gotten payback for that one earlier, but also glad to see Elm's aura shatter as she was sent flying into the wall past her teammates, who gave thousand yard stares of shock, having trouble processing Elm's defeat. Elm landed hard, forming an almost angel look from the crater on the wall she landed on. She groaned in pain as she wiped dirt and small dust shards of her shoulders and growled in anger. How could she have been outsmarted and lost to this farm girl she wondered.
"Had enough!?" Blake yelled across the room, which only irritated Elm even more.
Before she could get up and retort, Elm felt a sharp pain in her neck caused by a heavy force that struck it. The culprit was not Yang or the wall she landed on, it was from a pair of iron legs that appeared out of a red and black portal that appeared behind her. Elm's eyes widen as she gave a blank stare, barely processing this attack as her head bent awkwardly to the right as she plopped to the ground motionless.
The ace ops, Yang and Blake stared in shock as they processed this surprise attack from the assailant, who merely grinned madly at their despair.
Dark Continent
Earlier, Cinder laid back in her office chair with a look of ecstasy on her face. She could sense so much hostility from Elm's damaged pride and frustration it was almost making her wet down there. Mercury was beside her, having finished injecting all of his dosage of aura drugs into his arm and breathing heavily, though wasn't sure if it was from his aura doubling painfully earlier, or from unease seeing his boss's unprofessional look.
"You need me to leave the room?" he asked nervously, snapping Cinder out of her state as she blushed slightly.
"Yes, in fact, now's the time for your mission." Cinder said as she waved her arm and summoned a black portal beneath Mercury's feet, causing him to grin as he finally was getting a chance to fight, though eyed the exhausted huntress through Cinder's portal as he fell through slowly.
"What a real challenge, but I think I can make do." He said sarcastically, having failed to notice the other hunters at the edge of the portal's image before falling through. Cinder merely chuckled in amusement, knowing what came next would certainly be a good "meal" for the grimm witch.
"Please do hurry Mercury, Monstra and I are hungry for more bodies." She said as she eyed the firewall, going from a 10 sign to a 9 sign, making Cinder smile with how fast her assassin was.
Hope you like this chapter. I saw Qrow and Clover's fight with Tyrian and it inspired me to make this duel episode between Yang and Elm to showcase the consequences infighting has. Now Yang will have to deal with the guilt that her fighting has inadvertently led to an Ace Op getting murdered. Next time, Yang and Mercury duke it out while the Ace Ops and Blake fight off White fang thieves and protect Elm's dead body for a proper burial. Either way, Monstra's revival will be ever more close and with Ruby and Weiss barely recovering while Ironwood turns on the latter and Winter plans a Coup, the body count is certainly going to increase in Chapter 31: Feel the Heat