RWBY: A Thorn in My Heart
CH 37: The Final Battle Part 1.
Blake woke up to see a dark void surround her. She darted her head around, frantically looking for something or someone.
"Hello! Anybody there?" she yelled, but she received no response. Her voice simply echoed throughout the area as a sense of dread enveloped the cat Faunus as she realized she was alone. She rubbed her forehead, which began to ache considerably.
"What's going on here? First I'm in Atlas fighting Ironwood with my team and then…" Blake suddenly gasped as she felt a warm prescience behind her. She whipped her body around to see the images of her team. Ruby, her beautiful wife, showed a bright smile that shined better than her silver eyes that assured Blake everything would be fine like always. She then saw Yang, that big busted hot-headed blonde brawler, gave her trademark smirk that warmed Blake's heart. Finally Weiss, the icy cold queen of pristine, gave an approving nod that filled Blake with ease; having always felt joyful when the once bigoted heiress she verbally fought with agreed with her. It brought her hope that not all Schnees were bad and could be worked with towards peace.
Weiss's brother was the one who killed yours!
The message echoed in her mind, Whitely Schnee then appeard in her mind as she saw a cocky condescending smirk befitting a noble that enraged her. She was then filled with intense rage and disgust, but more so towards herself. She should never have thought the Schnee's could be anything more than exterminators who abused her and her family.
As these callous thoughts filled her head, she started to feel nauseas. Soon a black gunk began oozing out of Blake's nose, ears, and eyes, making her groan in agony. The gunk suddenly shot out of her like a canon and soon enveloped her friends to her horror.
"No!" she screamed as she reached a hand out to the image of her friends, but her hand was slapped away to her shock.
Soon she saw new images of her friends emerge as the ooze drained away from them. Blake recoiled in terror as she saw their mangled bodies.
Ruby was shown as her 16 year old self; the bloody and bruised girl with her clothes torn crying her eyes out as she glared angrily at Blake, making her pale.
"Why didn't you girls come for me sooner!?" the image yelled. Blake winced as she realized this was her guilt for failing to get to Ruby on time and save her from Timber's rape. She desperately reached her hand out again, choking trying to plead for forgiveness, but simply couldn't fight the pressure in her throat to speak.
Soon a ring of green fire surrounded her as Yang approached through them angrily, somehow not getting burned despite being shown with bruises, scars on her good arm, and her left arm… Blake gasped as she saw a skeleton arm covered in smoke. This was Yang from when Beacon was attacked and she absorbed a canon from Penny's ship to destroy the Dragon Grimm.
"And where was my partner, my best friend and the girl I loved, when I was getting roasted by that dragon!?" The image of Yang admonished her fiercely. Blake's lips merely quivered as she urged herself to speak despite the heat and pressure collapsing her throat.
"I-I w-was,…un-unconscious" she stuttered before a screech from Yang, red eyed, made her shrink in fear.
"BECAUSE YOU WERE FUCKING WEAK!" Yang screamed.
Blake felt her heart sank from this realization, she felt she was indeed weak, powerless. Powerless to save Ruby, powerless to save Yang from getting injured that day, powerless to save…
Soon a chill surrounded her as she twitched upright, her spine feeling like it was frozen. She soon saw the one responsible approach her. It was Weiss, yet it wasn't Weiss.
"No… give her… back." Blake weakly pleaded as the Weiss that approach her was enveloped by gunk and morphed into the Grimm Hound that attacked them in Atlas that day.
"Why did you… get to have RUBY!" the Grimm hybrid Weiss bellowed, it's raspy yet demonic voice melded with Weiss sent shivers down Blake's spine. Soon Blake's eyes widen as she saw a grim hand with claws slash at her face, barely having enough time to raise her arm to take the brunt of the attack. She felt the sharp claws rip her arm's flesh wide open to her utter confusion. Her aura wasn't activating, she couldn't feel it at all, only the extreme pain that enveloped her arm as she grasped it and fell to her knees, now drenched in a small pool of her blood.
"Weiss…you gotta…. You gotta snap out of it! Fight this!" she yelled, fighting her pain to stay awake. She knew if she closed her eyes it would be the end, she would have no way to reach Weiss past this embodiment of jealousy and rage. Her only reply was her mouth blocked by the Grimm hand and being forced to the ground by Grimm Weiss, who gritted her demonic razor sharp teeth as she leaned in to devour her teammate. Blake's eyes went bloodshot from the stress and fear taking over, which only served to fuel the beast. Despite her mouth being covered, she muffled some screams of mercy, trying to plead for her friend to regain her sanity.
"Weiss! Please don't do this. It isn't what Ruby would want!" she thought. The moment these thoughts entered her mind, a crimson blade passed through the right side of Grimm Weiss's head. Blake forced her head in that direction to see the cause of who or what just stabbed her friend and saved her life.
It was Adam, but Blake felt her heart being pulled as she noticed he bore that old white fang mask she had come to despise. It was like a bad souvenir from a terrible vacation as it reminded her of the times he committed unnecessary bloodshed against random people. It was time she felt disgusted with him, it's what inspired her to leave the White Fang, and she couldn't help but feel anger and disgust seeing not just that mask, but Weiss's body melt into black ooze completely that covered Blake's body. As she rose, wiping the black gunk of her with a disgusted groan, she looked up to see Adam kneeling before her, his face exposed as the mask was shattered and his scared face with the SDC logo on it eyeing her with sadness.
"A-Adam… are you okay?" was all Blake could think to ask as she ignored her hurt arm and chose to focus on her adoptive brother as she gingerly approached him.
Every step she took near him, his body suddenly began moving away, she ran towards him but this didn't help, he just got miles away from her with each step. Her heart raced as she soon no longer saw him or anyone in the distance. She collapsed on her knees in exhaustion, tears of frustration welling up as she covered her eyes with her hands.
"No more…please no more." She softly pleaded, but her pleas were not answered as she opened her watery eyes to see an image that could only make her gasp in terror as she fell on her butt.
Her team and Adam were beating her mother with smirks on their faces. They were looks of sadism, nothing she ever expected to see from them.
"Blake, please help me!" Khali cried, raising a arm painfully towards her daughter before collapsing it to the ground, limp, as a club from Weiss struck her face. Blake gritted her teeth in anger seeing this.
"Get away from her!" Blake roared as she lunged for Weiss, who simply shoved her heel into Blake's face as she soon forced her to the ground and became the sole person in the room with her aside from her mother, who laid limp next to her.
"You worthless beasts don't get to make demands! You only exist to serve the Schnees." Weiss said with a mocking tone before grabbing Blake's throat with both hands, gripping like a vice as Blake turned purple, trying to clasp the hands choking her as they shacked her head, which faced her mother's bloody face. She took a hand off Weiss's and reached for her.
"Mom… mom…Mom!" She screamed despite being choked as her vision soon grew hazy.
Trust
Blake soon took a huge breath as she forced her eyes to see Thorn on her chest, patting her neck as he gave her a worried look. Weiss and Yang were beside her as they were startled by her sudden exasperation and eyed her with concern, but Blake ignored them all, only focusing on the living room she was in, seeing the flatscreen and family photo's of her, Thorn, and Ruby with the latters parents made her realize they were at Tai and Raven's house in Patch, they were safe resting.
As Blake finally calmed her breathing, feeling relief from the torment she endured ending, she soon noticed before her was her cute dog faunus son Thorn, whose silver eyes coated with tears of fear.
"Are you sick Mama?" he said with a hint of sadness. Blake's heart melted seeing his face as she quickly grasped it and forced him to her chest as she cried and hugged him.
"Mama's okay! Mama's here son." She cried, not yielding her hold over her son's head for even a moment, despite his struggling.
"Mama…let go…want play" he whined.
Soon a gentle hand was placed on Blake's shoulder, making her dart her head up to meet her father in law's smiling face. His eyes glistened with tears of relief to see her, making her smile a bit as warmth filled her heart. It was a face she loved to see whenever she was hurting, it was just like her own father's when he encouraged she came home, when she bled her heart out to him for his blessing to marry and he supported her wholeheartedly.
"It's really great to see you sleepy head." Tai said warmly. Blake merely nodded as she soon gave off a yawn, her shoulders soon feeling stiff as she stretched.
"Okay kiddo, your mama needs some space, let grandpa play with you." Tai said as he moved to pick up Thorn, only to give a surprised look as his hands were swatted away by the boy.
"No! mama turn to play!" he yelled. Yang and Weiss giggled as they noticed his cheeks puff red as he threw a small tantrum and clung to his step-mother's chest.
"Guess we know whose boobs Thorn loves the most huh?" Yang chuckled, earning a blushing glare from Blake in response. She smirked seeing this, amused as hell to see her partner all hot and bothered. It helped distract herself from worrying about Ruby and Penny.
"No! don't think like that Yang, they got enough Aura from us to survive a nuclear fucking bomb! They'll be okay. They have to be." She thought to herself.
Blake, still cradling Thorn, frowned upon seeing Yang suddenly turn glum for a moment, not buying her awkward attempt after-words to play it off. What couldn't be put off was the elephant in the room. She handed her son to Tai and told him to go outside and play while she talked to her team alone. Tai frowned at this notion, understanding what she really wanted. He already felt tense as hell right now, worrying about his youngest daughter after seeing their conditions, but decided not to press the issue and complied.
"Okay, be sure to holler for me if you need anything. I should be able to hear you considering Ozpin sent a bunch of ships to pick up the Atlas refugees already." He said with a forced smirk, hiding with all his might his worry as he went outside.
Old Wounds
After Tai left the room, Blake glared at her bedridden teammates, making them wince as she decided to speak her mind at last.
"Do we know what happened to Ruby and Penny?" She asked, fear amongst her stern tone.
"No… I've been flicking through channels like crazy before you got up and no news station has any info yet." Yang said dejected.
Blake looked at her thumbs and the remote control on her partners lap, both were bruised heavily so he could tell her partner was panicking with uncertainty.
"Not surprising considering the tower was only operational enough to communicate from Atlas to Mantle. If my home goes…." Weiss started to say before choking a bit. Blake and Yang eyed her solemnly. They knew this was very hard for her, losing her home where she grew up and raised Nala. Weiss wiped a tear from her eye as shook her head and collected herself, trying to remain hopeful.
"No, no! my big sister, "the amazing captain Winter Schnee", is backing them up. I'm sure they'll be-" Weiss said, waving her arms around to exaggerate her sisters title to instill hope, but it had the opposite on Blake as she yelled and cut off Weiss, who trembled from the sudden outburst.
"Why should I trust your sister!?" Blake screamed, gripping her bed sheets and startling Yang next to her. Weiss winced in terror as she recoiled a bit, almost falling off the bed. She soon gave Blake a confused glare, a mix of offense and confusion overtaking her.
"What do you mean? She's my sister, she can be trusted." Weiss mused, but Blake merely shook her head defiantly. Though she long accepted Weiss was different, Blake couldn't escape the nagging feeling of mistrust she had for her friend's family. They were the ones who had the Atlas police kill her mom, they split her family up just like now.
"My mom died because of your family, and your little brother took away my big brother!" she bitterly said through her teeth.
Weiss and Yang looked at her with confusion, unsure how to process what they just heard.
"Where did you hear that?" Yang asked, breaking the short silence.
"Emerald! She said my brother worked with them, he was the one stealing dust and he was the one who killed Adam!" Blake yelled.
Weiss felt a wave of bitterness in her, not from Blake's outburst against her family name, but by a realization she was right. Whitely wasn't evacuated with them, and considering he hadn't been seen recently in Atlas by anyone in the last few days it made more sense he was working with Cinder at the Dark Continent rather than being blown up by a nuke. Worse of all, she felt the sting of guilt knowing now her family had cost her friend not one, but two people close to her. It was no wonder Blake didn't trust her family after all that, hell she only trusted her own sister and Klein amongst them.
"I-I'm so sorry my brother hurt you and him Blake. My family always looked down on Faunus, I know I was no exception before. My mom and dad were also monsters too; they even hit me a lot. But I'm not like that anymore, neither is my sister, she always looked out for me, she'll look out for them I just know it, she can be trusted." Weiss solemnly said, clasping her cheek as she felt a sting to it from bitter memories.
Blake merely teared up as she cried into Yang's chest as the latter rubbed her head tenderly.
"I'm sorry too, opening up old wounds. I just… I just can't… I can't trust her with Ruby. She mean's everything to me and I can't even help her. This is tearing me apart!" Blake said, her voice muffled a bit by Yang's chest, but they could hear every word and cried a bit, wishing they couldn't as Blake bled her heart out to them. Weiss put her hand on Blake's back and rubbed it gently, causing the cat girl to look at her with tearful eyes.
"Blake, please trust me at least. All we can do to help Ruby now is to have faith in her and your robot girlfriend. If anyone can stop that army and live its them." Weiss said, her confidant tone made Blake ease a bit as she allowed Yang to wipe her tears with her fingers. Weiss soon started looking around for something, drawing her teammates attention.
"What are you looking for Weiss?" Yang asked.
"We need to give her out full support. Might as well cheer her on. Mantle sells drones for surveillance and streaming. Maybe someone down there will record what's happening and stream it online?" She said as she soon took her scroll from the nightstand by their bed couch, they had to know what was going on back there. She began scrolling through the news online, her teammates pressed to her cheeks to her mild irritation as she began fervently looking for Atlas. Their eyes widened as they finally found a video titled,
"Atlas Crashing!"
Weiss's finger trembled violently as she slowly motioned it towards the video. Fear clasped her heart, as if someone was yanking her arm back to force herself from touching it.
"Weiss" Blake sternly said as she grasped her friends hand, eliciting a gasp from Weiss, sweating nervously as she saw Blake's sad face.
"She's my wife. Let me do it." She solemnly said as Weiss closed her eyes and handed her the scroll. Yang put a hand to her chest as she saw Blake slowly touch the video. Her breathing grew heavy as anxiety made her lungs pound like a drum. A part of her wanted to know what was happening, but she was so damn afraid for the worst right now. As the live video loaded, she closed her eyes for a brief moment of silent prayer.
"Please let my baby sis be alright….please." she weakly said.
Vale Children's Hospital
Meanwhile….
"Aaaaaaaaand all better kiddo!" Jaune yelled triumphantly as his aura boost got rid of the last scrap on a crying gator faunus boy's scaled knee. It had been bleeding profusely due to a blood condition, thus requiring a doctor's aide. And who better than an aura doctor like Jaune Arc. As the boy dried his tears as the pain in his leg finally ceased, his mother grasped his hand with hers, and almost surprising him by how smooth her skin was despite being covered in scaly reptile skin.
"Thank you doctor Arc! You have no idea how relieved I am now." She said with immense gratitude.
Jaune merely glanced over his shoulder to see a red-head with mistralian armor and a very pregnant stomach eye him lovingly as he gave off a sheepish smile.
"Well I don't have kids… yet! But I am sure I'll be freaking out more and understand that feeling once mine comes." He awkwardly said with a smile.
Pyrrah spat a small laugh as she enjoyed seeing her husbands old shyness shine through. It was one of the most amusing things about him that attracted her long ago.
"Yeah, get it out of me already! No more fat Pyrrah Arc, just a fat baby I can spoil with cookies instead while you worry!" She yelled joyfully while cradling her enlarged belly.
Jaune gave Pyrrah a playful stink eye as his patients left laughing.
"I thought we agreed I'd spoil the kids with Pumpkin Pete cookies and you discipline them?" Jaune asked raising an eyebrow.
Pyrrah merely sighed as she looked down at her stomach. She was over halfway there and just wanted this bulge to be gone. It was so hard to move.
"I really want them out so I can GO out and kick some Grimm ass already like Ruby's doing." She groaned.
Jaune then eyed a photo frame on his desk of his team with Team Rwby. They were all grinning wide as they held up their professional hunters licenses, even wearing graduation hats they purchased for fun since they didn't have a formal ceremony.
"How do you think there holding up?" Jaune asked concerned. He hadn't heard from them or Ren and Nora for over a week now and was growing concerned.
Pyrrah, knowing his anxiety issues ever prevalent, merely stood up and playfully poked her husband's nose, startling him.
"Don't start being a debby downer by thinking like that. There the best Huntresses in Remnant, aside from me of course, they'll be fine." She said, pretending to be smug as she gave a grandiose laugh.
"What am I chopped liver? Ain't your husband the best hunter?" he asked offended.
"Sorry doctor but I was talking about "huntresses", maybe you need to go back to medical school for an anatomy class?" she chuckled.
"When that kids out of you we can have a field trip to the bedroom and show you how well I actually studied." He said seductively. Pyrrah merely sighed with a heavy smile as she rubbed her belly.
"First lets focus on childbirth before thinking of another kid. Oh! Lets name it after one the girls if it's a girl, just not Nora." She said excited before asserting the last one.
"Why not Nora?" he asked confused.
"Because I don't want my kids smashing the place up or become too hyper like her." Pyrrah countered, but with a smile implying it was a joke. Jaune broke out laughing hysterically, almost wetting himself.
"Yeah, lets just name her Ruby if it's a girl. Yang or Weiss would give us too many tantrums and Blake would give us heart attacks playing all night in the woods." He said.
"Yeah, Ruby always was the best role model for us, I'd love a kid like her." Pyrrah warmly said.
The gentle atmosphere was soon shattered with shock as a nurse burst into the room, sweating profoundly and gasping for air, having run across the hospital looking for him.
"Doctor Arc quick! Turn on the TV, Atlas is under attack by a Grimm army!" The nurse yelled.
Jaune and Pyrrah's skins formed Goosebumps at this declaration and instantly Jaune's hand grabbed a remote on his desk and smashed the power button. As the small tv on his shelf, usually to play cartoons to sooth kids, played a special news broadcast. Jaune and Pyrrah's eyes widen in shock as they saw hundreds of flying Grimm heading towards the city, some already smashing at the ray shields covering the city and Mantle. It was unbelievable to see so many Grimm attracted to that rich city. It was Weiss's home, a city of refinery and class, so there was little reason for negativity to attract hordes of Grimm, maybe just a few at most.
"Oh my god… what is that?" Pyrrah softly asked her husband as he eyed the Giant Whale Grimm hovering slowly towards the city. It's horns smashed into the shields, instantly turning red to indicate its critical state.
"I… I don't know, but whatever it is it's powerful. Those shields aren't going to hold long." Jaune said solemnly, fear infecting him as he soon was overcome by a dread realization. He met his wife, now pale as a baby's bottom as she came to a similar conclusion.
"Ruby's team went to Atlas. They might still be there!" Pyrrah yelled, soon breathing heavily as her heart pounded. Jaune placed a hand on her chest, his gold aura seeping into her heart, which soon felt warm as she complied with his orders to steady her breathing. He too felt horrified, but knew he had to keep his wife calm lest something bad happen to her or the baby.
"I know it's scary, but we got to hope they evacuated or have a plan to stop those things. They are the best huntresses ever aren't they? Aside from you of course." He said as he smiled, though Pyrrah didn't stop frowning, feeling he was lying through that smile.
Jaune decided to grab his scroll and contact Ruby. Her voice right now and confirmation could really help sooth Pyrrah. But Jaune soon felt uneasy himself as he received no reply. Soon Pyrrah gasped as she pointed at the television, drawing Jaune's attention. He dropped the scroll, shattering it on the floor as he saw Atlas flying into the Grimm army.
Mantle
"Qrow get back here!" Winter hollered.
"Piss…off!" he yelled through heavy breaths.
Qrow, despite still feeling groggy from his aura being low, raced through the streets of Mantle, ignoring her calls. He had to pick up some speed to get off the ground as he transformed, wanting nothing more than to fly back up there and grab his niece. If he could just get there in time, he could be close enough to the communications towers and contact his sister as they descended. Raven could know when to teleport him and the girls back to patch and everything would be okay.
"I can't lose her too. I just can't." he thought to himself as memories of Summer's bloody corpse flashed through his mind. His arms trembled as he felt the weight of her lifeless body again, dragging him down as he jumped. He simply fell face first into the dirt, coughing as he felt his headache, but no worse than his heart as groaned in frustration that he failed to transform.
"Qrow!" Winter yelled with concern as she knelt down beside him. She tried to help him up but he simply swatted her hand away as he yelled in frustration.
"Damnit! Why the hell is it always like this!?" he yelled.
Winter averted her eyes, she didn't know what to say at all. She too felt powerless to save Penny right now. Despite being a robot, the girl was brighter than any girl her age Winter ever met. She always had a way of making the captain feel less stressed from her duties, even if she could be annoying at times. She understood Qrow's wish to rescue her and Ruby perfectly well, just as she understood the dreary sense of helplessness overtaking him as she had no idea how either of them could help the girls with no transportation or aura to get back to Atlas.
"Qrow… I know you don't want to chance things, but we got to have faith they'll make it." Winter bitterly said. She knew an explosion could easily decimate their Aura guard, but she also knew Qrow and his niece was unpredictable, the rules just didn't apply to them at times. If anyone could defy reality, she could at least. Winter recoiled as Qrow shoved her a bit away as he stood up, tears in his eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"Faith? FAITH!? All my life I have gone through nothing but loss. My parents, niece's virtue, her MOTHER! How can I ever feel lucky or trust anything will ever stay in my life when fate just keeps ripping anything good in my life away!?" he yelled.
Winter remained silent; unable to say a word as she pondered the immense losses she realized her ally had been through. Silence filled the area, despite most people racing past them to in panic aside from a few holding up scrolls and streaming the chaos. Qrow merely sat on the ground, clasping his aching forehead as he looked up, eyeing the ray shields flash between green and red.
"Why did I ever come here? Everything always goes to shit whenever I get involved." Qrow groaned.
Winter soon sat beside him, surprising the man as he noticed her white jeans get dirty. He couldn't resist quipping despite his heartache, if anything it was the only way to keep himself from exploding in anger right now.
"Never thought a rich girl would play in the dirt with rats." He said sarcastically. Winter surprised him further by not even giving him a stink eye, simply looking at him with a forced smile.
"It's thanks to you and your sister my own sister is alive. All my people are still alive because you raised such a thoughtful niece. We all still have a chance BECAUSE of you. Stop putting yourself down so much." She said.
Qrow looked confused at her uncharacteristically supporting tone, expecting her usually bitchy looks and snarks. He chuckled at this situation, before he saw a large shadow envelope them as they looked up to see Atlas, smashing into hundreds of flying Grimm as it descended onto the whale Grimm.
Ost ( watch?v=dZSOHoUvsq0)
Sacrifice
Inside the control room of Atlas, metal walls started turning red as the room grew hot. Ruby felt her forehead become drenched in sweat as she saw on the screen Grimm gunk splatter on the cameras as they descended closer to the Monstra. She eyed Penny, who was clasping her hands together nervously. Ruby felt nervous too, but she had to remain hopeful they could make it. She slowly walked over to her girlfriend and hugged her.
"Ready Penny?" she softly asked. Penny winced as she scanned her friend subtly, sensing the anxiety building up around her as her Aura flared. Penny cried a little, feeling a sense of fear within her for the first time in her life. Was she… afraid to die?
"I-I… I don't know. I don't want to leave you." The android said with fear.
"I keep running simulations… but we only have less than 40%-" before she could finish her fearful sentence, Ruby cut her off with a kiss to her lips.
As Ruby pulled away she gave a tearful smile that made Penny cry.
"Live or die, at least we won't be alone. Right best friend?" Ruby said.
Penny forced a smile as she hugged her head.
"Right best friend forever!" she yelled. Ruby then felt the heat grow in the room, her feet burning as the metal grew bright red as they closed in on the Grimm Whale.
Flaring up her red Aura that melded with Penny's green Aura as she summoned vines from her back to encase them in a cocoon. As the room was enveloped in a blaze of fire, these two ignored the immense pressure it brought to their shields and stomach. They kept their eyes close, focusing only on the warmth each other's hugs brought them before shaking heavily as the city crashed into Monstra, giving off a massive explosion that caused the Grimm to shriek as it crashed into the ground.
Meanwhile, Pyrrah and Jaune, and Blake, Yang, and Weiss were watching the impact on tv or their scrolls. They began to panic as they saw the power of that explosion, their hopes for their friends dwindling.
"RUBY!" They hollered.
Mantle's shields was barraged by a massive shockwave and dust cloud that mad it flare red. As it finally broke, Mantle's homes had their windows shatter from the impact as everyone ducked to avoid shattered glass, clinging to beds and couches to keep balanced. Winter formed an ice barrier around her and Qrow to keep them safe, though as the impact forced them onto the cold ice behind them, she couldn't escape a sense of panic invading her chest as she came face to face with the reality of the situation. Such shockwaves from the aftermath were so heavy, so such a powerful explosion wouldn't be easy to survive from up close. Did Ruby and Penny have even a chance to survive? She began pondering this as she eyed Qrow wincing in discomfort.
"If she doesn't survive, I don't think I will last much longer." She thought to herself, if she said such a thing out loud Qrow would definitely make sure that worry would be a reality.
As the shockwaves died down all that remained on the outskirts of Mantle was a flat layer of wasteland with a giant Whale Grimm lying down beside a massive pile of flaming hot metal. It had a huge hole going from its back to its stomach as it moaned in pain weakly. It was slowly beginning to fade from those wounds as it laid dying. But the whale was so massive it wasn't disappearing right away. Little did it know, the Monstra had someone beside it in a similar predicament.
An arm shot out of the pile of hot metal, flickering aura as it waved and pushed off heaps of scrap away to free itself. A girl wobbled out of the top of the pile and screamed in pain as she gasped for air.
It was Ruby! She had survived, but she grasped her left eye as she felt a burning pain on her face. She tried to open the lid, but felt nothing in her socket. She had lost her eye, her aura couldn't fully protect her from the impact. Her head began oozing a little blood, but this didn't distract her from a sharp pain in her gut as she clenched her stomach, which soon felt hot to the touch. She saw 2 shards of hot shrapnel lodged in her lower abdomen. They flickered red aura as her body tried to expel them but couldn't. She tried to pull them out, but they sent sharp jolts of pain into her as she fell to her in anguish.
But despite her own misery, Ruby couldn't be deterred from thinking of others, it was just in her nature as she abandoned to urge to pull out the metal and started looking around.
"Penny! Penny where are you!" she yelled desperately. She received no response aside from the moans of the Monstra which she ignored.
( life is mine ost) watch?v=TiWF_vmJyiI
She started rummaging through the hot metal, ignoring the burning sensation it brought to her arms as she frantically searched for Penny.
"Penny can you hear me!?" she yelled. Still no response, she was growing more worried by the second. She promised Penny live or die they'd do it together, she wasn't going back on her word. If she made it penny had too as well.
Her hands felt light as a feather as she felt a wave of hair slip through them. She teared up in relief as she recognized the hair as her girlfriends.
But as she pulled the hair out of the wreckage, she gave a thousand yard stare as all that was attached to it was Penny's upper torso, completely lacking arms or any light in Penny's eyes. Oil was leaking out from the bottom half, covering Ruby's legs. She began to breath heavily as she turned Penny around to check her AI chip slot on her neck. Ruby bit her lip as she cried seeing it was shattered open, the chip itself was half melted.
Ruby knew at that moment Penny was gone, no more chances to live unlike her. Even with a new body, without her memory chip it wouldn't be her, Penny was dead for real this time.
"Nooooooooooo!" she screamed as she cradled Penny's severed remains, crying her one good eye out.
"Why just me!? We said we'd do this together, why didn't you make it too!?" Ruby yelled in grief. She felt intense rage and sadness fill her over her failed promise to her lover. She didn't even know what else to say to her, or to Pietro.
"Oh god… How am I gonna tell him and the others?" she tearfully choked. She laid Penny down on the pile of metal tenderly, taking her hand and using it to close the open lightless eyes of her fallen friend. She looked towards the ground, trying to find a good spot to give her a proper burial. She soon got on her knees and started feeling the open ground, it was soft and easy to grab with her hands. She just needed a shovel to dig with. She instinctively reached behind her back and felt Crescent Rose.
She gasped as she quickly pulled it out to see it miraculously undamaged, just with some ash on it she wiped away.
She soon was enveloped by a wave of anger unlike anything she felt before. Suddenly she slammed it on the ground.
"Why did you make it instead of Penny!? Why did my dumb stupid scythe get to live while she died!?" she mournfully yelled. She would have gladly traded in that scythe for any of her friend's lives, even before this fiasco happened. She felt disgust fill her aching stomach as she threw up a little vomit mixed with blood. Her vision was growing hazy a bit, so she decided to ignore her anger and just dig this hole quickly so she could get back to Mantle before looking up in shock.
She darted her head towards the run down city, relief overtaking her rage as she saw the city alright, despite a few broken windows… well more than a few. She then finally heard heavy breath by her and instantly formed her scythe. She looked up to see in shock the massive Monstra bellowing quietly as it neared its demise.
She sighed as she noticed its state and decided to ignore it, digging up the dirt with her blade until it was a few feet deep. She then tenderly took Penny's body and filled the hole with it as she buried her lover.
Ruby cried as she put Crescent Rose on her back and folded her arms. She hated this moment, the moment she'd have to say her final goodbyes.
"Penny… I… I really wanted to…." She choked. She soon collapsed on her feet as she covered her blood covered face and cried. This was overwhelming her as she struggled to spit out her feelings.
"I wish we could have had one more night together! Just you and me, I wished I could have told you that you were more than a lover to me and Blake, you were my best friend and someone I'd trust with my life any day! I wish I could have said I'd marry you in an instant if I never met Blake, that's how much you meant to me!" She cried as she finished her painful eulogy and covered her with the dirt.
"I'll miss you bestie!" she cried as she hung her head in sadness. Soon she heard many footsteps approach her as she looked up to see hundreds of Faunus men approach her and the city. Her eye widened as she saw their uniforms, they were White Fang.
"Don't worry you human bean sprout, you'll see her again in hell." One rabbit captain yelled from afar so he could hear. He could hear and see her situation well with his enhanced senses thanks to Faunus traits and knew now was a good time to make do on that threat. He looked down at his aura meter and saw it was low though and then glared at the city as he saw a small group of people armed heading towards them and Ruby.
"Alright boys! I know were low but you still got the backups?!" he yelled as his fellow soldiers grinned as they nodded in confirmation. Though they maxed out their aura defending themselves from the shockwaves and sandstorms, some still spitting out dirt and patting their uniforms, they pulled out syringes from their pockets and injected them into there arms to remedy that problem.
Ruby recoiled as she saw their muscles bulge and their bodies jerk as the drugs caused them to foam at the mouth and roar in pain like a rabid animal.
"What are they doing to themselves? She asked out loud despite no one answering, it made her feel a bit sad she was all alone, before she was startled by the answer.
The white fang's armies Aura all shined, except for a few who dropped dead to the ground convulsing from the overdose before dying to her disgust and terror. The enemy had regained their Aura and soon looked at her with bloodshot eyes and drool hanging from their mouths.
"After we make a meal out you kiddo your city is next!" one deer man said.
"Yeah then you human trash will finally feel our people's pain!" a young fishman yelled as he charged towards her, followed by the remaining army members who roared in unison at this declaration.
Ruby glanced back at Mantle, her vision starting to ease as she focused hard and saw her Uncle and Winter approach the scene, but she only saw them with a few men brandishing their weapons like clubs and her mentors trademark scythe blade.
"That isn't going to be enough, their going to get killed." She told herself. No matter how good her uncle was, she knew since she took his aura he would not stand a chance against a whole army of drug enhanced warriors. He was going to get killed just like Penny. As she looked at her lovers grave, Ruby took a deep breath as she clutched her weapon and stood back up, getting an idea in her head she condemned herself for as crazy.
"Forgive me uncle, please." She sadly said as she petal burst into the sky above Mantle, whirling around in a circle or rose petals to everyone's confusion.
"What's your niece doing now Qrow?" Winter asked, but Qrow shrugged his arms, merely smiling with joy to see her alive.
"No clue, but knowing Ruby, its completely fucking crazy." He said with a smirk.
True to form, Ruby had grasped a quake dust crystal in her hand and injected it into Crescent Rose, which shined pure white. Qrow winced as he recognized the light from her blade, realizing what she was thinking.
"Everyone take cover! Winter ice shield!" He yelled as the latter complied, forming an ice barrier around them as Ruby generated a tornado of white energy that circled around Mantle, slicing off the tail of the fallen Whale Grimm and stopping the white fang in their tracks as they covered their faces to avoid blindness.
As the light faded around them, they heard the sound of feet landing on the ground and metal clanging as they gingerly opened their eyes to see rose petals scattered all around the ground. They saw Ruby breathing heavily as she appeared in front of a massive chasm encircling the entire city, cutting herself off from Mantle and vice versa
Ost ( watch?v=0Y3tmKzNDks)
"Damnit, this little bitch just cut us off!" one shark man yelled.
"We can't reach Mantle and those humans! What now!?" an owl woman screamed.
Qrow and Winter shattered the ice barrier with their blades to look in shock at the scene as well, they couldn't get over the massive trench to get to Ruby now.
"Kid what the hell are you doing!?" he yelled, but Ruby merely huffed in exhaustion from her attack and ignored him, increasing his worries as he noticed her injuries and lack of response. Winter took note as well and gritted her teeth nervously.
"You got to get back here, for Wiess!" she yelled but was still ignored.
Ruby simply gripped her scythe and twirled a bit as she motioned its blade towards the approaching army, who now had many amongst them staring at her with fear and awe.
"IF YOU WANT TO KILL A HUMAN TODAY, THEN COME! FACE THE CRIMSON REAPER IF YOU HAVE THE RESOLVE TO DIE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, coughing up blood as she did to Qrow and Winter's horror and to the delight of a few faunus in the army, who saw her injuries as reassurance.
The few that first charged at her gave a battle cry, inspiring the others to soon abandon their fear and follow suit.
Ruby shot a bullet to use the recoil to increase her speed as she jumped towards them before petal bursting into the middle of the crowd. In the blink of an eye, she twirled around to slice the waists of several men surrounding her, shattering their aura instantly from the sharp force and cutting them in half, before somersaulting to avoid a wave of bullets, which only served to hit the white fang and stagger them, giving Ruby enough time to load a quake dust bullet into her scythe. She glared at her ammo belt, seeing there was only a few quake bullets left, she had to make them count.
In her distraction, Ruby was soon slashed at in the face and arm by two swords, flickering her aura as she received minor cuts in place of huge gashes from some White Fang soldiers. She gritted her teeth in frustration, had Uncle Qrow been by her he would have ear raped her for dropping her guard in battle. She performed a backflip, but winced in pain as the shrapnel in her stomach made it throb, as she barely avoided a hammer from a large bull grunt and turned her arm into a vine. She was feeling exhausted and knew her aura wasn't going to last with her injuries. She was intrigued by the resilience of some of the White fang from those aura boost drugs.
"Well, Uncle Qrow always said it was okay to steal, but only from enemies." She thought as she jammed her vine hand into the ground, sprouting massive vines with thorns that stabbed nearby White fang and absorbed their aura into her. It was a good thing too, as she was soon hit with a barrage of bullets that put her shields to the test. Ruby grunted as she flung her scythe around to parry some of the bullets.
watch?v=-mW4BkOptR0
Qrow and Winter watched solemnly at the young huntresses predicament. Qrow could see her wounds beginning to increase, the smell of her blood that she spilled infecting the air. It was a stench he dreaded since her attack from Tyrian all those years ago. It was tempting to cease breathing all together as he felt extreme disappointment in himself for not being able to help his niece. Strangely, he also felt a sense of pride in her for her amazing display of power despite her wounds as she continued to cut through waves of soldiers on her own while barely getting hit and stealing their aura to recover from the ones she did.
"Your mother would be proud kiddo… just please don't leave me like she did." He thought solemnly.
Ruby parried some blades from soldiers that lunged towards her, stopping their attack as she delivered a roundhouse kick to them to send them flying back towards the crowd. She was ready at that moment, the enemy wasn't around her anymore and she was further away from mantle to prevent shockwaves. With a warcry she charged her scythe with the quake dust and sent a sharp wave of white energy that enveloped the White Fang army, causing them to scream in agony as they felt a force 10 times greater than that sandstorm that nearly engulfed them earlier.
Die Hard
When the smoke cleared, Ruby was the only one still standing. She was panting heavily as she felt her arms throb from the impact of that attack. The shrapnel in her stomach felt like a pinch compared to the soreness beginning to overtake her arms. She looked around to see the many corpses of white fang soldiers in front of her, most had their eyes wide open in death which disturbed her; she hated killing even them, but they left her no choice. It was either destroy them or let them destroy the people of Mantle and her choice had been obvious. She took a sigh of relief as she finally felt she could relax. Her mission was over, the white fang was certainly no more with all these soldiers dead or unconscious and would never recover from this loss. She'd fly back their and could return to her family with Uncle Qrow and Raven and tell them how awesome she had been in battle. She could also finally get to hug her son again after so long.
As she started to turn around to face the city she just saved, Ruby felt a sharp burning pain pierce her lower abdomen as she looked down and gasped in terror. A flaming spear had pierced her right kidney, and the pain raced to her mind as she almost screamed in agony, but she was just too shocked to let any air escape her throat.
Out from the ground popped a dirt covered arm and placed its palm on the ground and forced a black haired girl covered in blood, black ooze, and dirt out. She glared at Ruby with murderous red eyes that flared a small stream of fire as she gave off a sadistic smile at the sight of Ruby's plight.
"I may have missed your heart, but I'm going to enjoy ripping it out." Cinder venomously said.
Ruby staggered as she felt her insides burn heavily from the spear. She bit her lower lip as she focused her Aura into her thoughts. Penny told her she could manipulate her body at the expense of Aura, she felt so heavy she just had to do so now or Cinder and this spear would make do on that threat. Soon her aura flickered red as her body began vibrating to Cinder's surprise. The spear soon evaporated into thin air as Ruby's body expelled it and the shrapnel lodged in her stomach was replaced with thorn spikes and she began to seal her kidney wound close with a vine wrapped around her waste and glowed a bit from Aura, slowly healing her. Ruby gasped for air as she panted heavily from this limited healing, the pain becoming less heavy from the wounds being closed. It still took a lot of her aura, but she was honestly grateful she faced so many opponents to steal theirs to aide in her recovery. As much as she hated being a thief, it felt good to do so when she could disappoint this witch. Uncle Qrow always did rub off on Ruby more like Yang said, so she just couldn't resist rubbing her healed state in Cinder's angry face.
"Oh so sorry, did I spoil your fun?" she sarcastically asked. Her only response was a flame blade forged from Cinder's hand that she parried with the blade of Cresent Rose, still glowing a little from the leftover quake dust. The impact created a wave of heat and wind that enveloped Mantle, making Qrow and Winter cover their faces.
"Since your too stubborn to croak any other way, I will rip out your heart this time!" Cinder growled. Ruby merely laughed a bit in the witch's face at this declaration.
"Try it, and I'll rip that other eye out!" she yelled sarcastically, ignoring the pain in her missing eye socket that almost punched her for making that crude retort as she saw Cinder become enveloped by fire and swing a new fireblade from her other hand, leading to Ruby to shoot Crescent Rose to use the recoil to charge another quake dust slash that collided with the flames, generating a huge explosion of sand and fire around them as they roared at each other. Their glares made this clear, this would be the night they settled this for good. One of them at least was going to die here.
There we go, the final battle begins. The poll was in and White fang with aura drugs is the winner, yet ultimately the loser as they got their asses handed to them by Ruby (as if any doubt). Penny's death I know is redundant but I couldn't find any further use for her in story, it was her time. Next time, an old enemy emerges mid battle. Ruby's injuries, or Cinders hair trigger temper that makes her a fool like Yang, which will be the most hindrance in the next battle? Find out in ch 38: Final battle Part 2: Resurrection