The door to Ozpin's office swung open with violent force prompting both Qrow and Maria to draw their weapons and ready them. But Qrow just as quickly lowered his weapon before whispering to Maria to do the same, "It's fine it's Tock." Maria nodded and softly smiled as her former enemy walked inside, that was when Qrow made note of the gun Tock was now carrying, the same gun that their attacker had used. "So you kicked her ass and took her gun?"
"Please tell me you got that fly to say something," Maria quickly added.
"Yup, Ah did beat her bit sadly ah coudnae git much oot o' her. ."
Maria then asked, "Did you at least kill her?"
"Na. Bit she is deid. A Grimm git her whin she tried tae run," Tock walked over to Ozpin's desk and placed the gun on it without any care for whatever was already on the desk.
"That's a terrible way to go," Maria commented with a grimace.
Qrow took the opportunity to examine the weapon and gasped when he did, "I know that gun. Jimmy showed it off to Oz and me. It was one of several prototypes that were supposed to be a gift to Vale that would then be shared with Vacuo and Mistral."
"'N' whit's sae special aboot it?"
Qrow pointed at the box containing the Dust, "The gun itself is normal but the Dust it's using isn't. It's a synthetically created hybrid of Gravity and Hardlight."
Maria tried to imagine how such a thing would work but it only gave her more questions, "So it's a gun that shoots bullets made of light? But those already exist, single shot hard light rifles exist along with beam rifles. Why reinvent it?"
"Because sometimes you need rapid fire, there is also the problem of lasers lacking mass and weight. They don't have the stopping power of normal bullets but if you were to give them weight without actually giving them weight, then you are looking at a gun that gives you the best of both worlds with none of the downsides"
Maria understood what Qrow meant, her own weapons used Gravity Dust so she knew the potential. "The next evolution of the bullet…if it can be mass produced then this would make fighting the Grimm so much easier, so many people could be saved."
"It's still just a prototype but it is promising… which makes it extremely worrying that it somehow fell into enemy hands."
"Tis worse than ye think. Thare is a reason how come she wis targeting me 'n' nae Maria or ye, thare is a hit list 'n' fur some reason a'm oan it. She died afore she cuid tell me how come or wha ordered it or even wha else wis oan it. Ah hae her scroll bit ah dinnae think we're aff tae fin' th' list oan it. Bit ye'r free tae check."
She then handed the now deceased Belle's Scroll to Qrow before picking the gun off of the table and taking a step back towards the door which promoted him to ask, "Where are you going?"
Tock answered without stopping or even turning to look at Qrow. "A'm oan that list, thay wull be looking fur me 'n' that's whit a'm waantin'. Ye bade 'ere 'n' hulp defend th' weapon. A'm aff hoorin' thare 'n' helping a' body else beat thae assholes back."
Qrow wanted to say something, he wanted to try and reason with her but instead, he froze. He quietly watched Tock walk away and deep down inside she wanted to go with her. On an intellectual level, he knew what this conflict was about and thus knew that the smart thing to do was trust Oz… but his nieces were out there and that went beyond intellect. Yet he knew that the danger they were in now was laughable compared to what would happen if Salem won. He needed to stay here, he needed to follow Ozpin's plan not out of logical reason but rather out of love for his nieces. They'll be fine. They are capable, Tai is here, they have their friends with them, and Oz won't let anything happen to them. They will be fine. They will b-!
"QROW!" Maria's voice shook the man back into reality.
"What?"
"You were spaced out… or at least I think you were. You were weirdly quiet and unresponsive."
Qrow glanced around the room, Maria was standing by his side but Tock was gone. For a second he was upset that she just left like that but that was very quickly washed away by a sense of relief. He didn't trust Tock, not fully, he wasn't suspicious of her but he wasn't ready to have her brought into Ozpin's circle and frankly, he didn't think she would ever have his vote. She cared too much for her own to make the kind of choices that he and others had made. However, the same care that she had for those close to her made him trust her to go out there and protect people and perhaps that was for the best…
Truth be told, he was a bit jealous of her and of Taiyang. Following Ozpin's orders had led Qrow to many sights that his memories could do without and nearly made him miss out on being an Uncle. I need a vacation, a long one once all of this is over… "I'm sorry Maria, I have a lot on my mind. It's funny, Oz has spent years preparing for this sort of possibility but now that it's here, I feel like a newbie on their first mission."
"That makes sense but don't make a habit of spacing out. You have better things to do like telling Oz about those weapons and that list. And don't forget that we got the scroll of that chick who attacked us."
"Good point," Qrow took out his scroll and made the call but Ozpin didn't answer. "Tch, he must be busy. I'll try Glynda."
Her scroll rang several times and for a moment he feared that she wouldn't answer but she did and just before he gave up, "Please tell me you have good news for me." She sounded tired and frustrated.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but we got attacked by one of the Lost Boys who are now running around playing wannabe assassins while armed with those weapons Jimmy was going to give us," Qrow could hear Glynda moan in frustration. "I don't know if this was the plan all along or if they are making it up as they go but Tock found out that they were trying to fill out some kind of hitlist. The weird part about it was that she was on the list but Maria and I weren't."
"Tock was on the list but not you? Okay, so they're not after members of the inner circle but then who are they after? Can you capture your attacker and question them?"
"Sorry but the woman who attacked us is dead, the Grimm got her. The good news is that Tock was able to get the woman's Scroll and even recovered the stolen weapon." Qrow paused for a second to think of a good way to word the next part, Glynda won't be happy that Tock is going against Oz's orders but if I spin it in just the right way…
Maria helped him out by whispering a suggestion, "Tell her that Tock is taking advantage of the list to hunt down the other Lost Boys while we're keeping guard. Make it sound like this is a plan that we came up with together."
A smile formed on Qrow's face and he whispered back, "That should work." He then turned his attention back to the call, "Since Tock is on the list she went off to try and draw some of the Lost Boys away from Ozpin's office where Maria and I are. In the meantime we're going to try and find out what we can from this Scroll, maybe even sow some discord of our own."
"Good. Keep me updated and don't worry about Ozpin. Focus on yourself first, everything else can wait." Glynda then hung up.
A metal blade moved towards Jaune's neck in a cold calculated effort to sever it however it was too slow and too predictable. Jaune was able to duck under the swing, he wasn't fighting a Grimm but rather he was fighting an Atlesain Knight armed with a sword and rifle. The droid had been programmed well, and its movements were precise and appropriate to the situation, but it was also telegraphed and had a delayed reaction when dealing with something that wasn't covered in whatever manual was used to train it. This foe was just a soulless drone, it was incapable of learning or feeling fear. They were built to be expendable fodder, distractions so the heavy hitters could move in that regard they fulfilled that purpose brilliantly.
When Jaune ducked under the swing he also swiped his hook at the drone's leg but his intention wasn't to cut it. Rather he moved the hook behind the Drone's ankle and pulled it towards himself as he stood back up and shoved the Knight. This caused the robot to lose its balance and fall backward, the point of Jaune's rapier followed closely behind. The thin but strong blade pierced through the chest damaging and destroying the electronics and gears within. He then twisted his blade before pulling it out and the drone went silent as the damage became too great.
But Jaune couldn't revel in his victory, soon another Knight appeared before him and he had to raise his blade to block a spear strike from the automaton. "Shit, these guys won't give me a break." Jaune used aggressive footwork to move close to the Spear Knight as it tried to keep its distance from his sword but it was not ready for his hook to fly forward and take its head when Jaune swung his prosthetic arm toward it.
Before the severed head even touched the ground three more Knights moved in but a grenade landed at their feet and detonated in a pink explosion that consumed them as a familiar voice called out to Jaune, "We gotta get out of here! Fall back!"
He turned towards the voice and saw Nora running towards him, "The Professors want us to get inside and prepare."
"Prepare for what? Where's Ren and Pyrrha? What about RWBY?"
"They're fine but we won't be if we stay out here." There was a sense of urgency in her voice that felt foreign.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"A bunch of airships were spotted heading towards the Academy, the soldiers don't know who they belong to and apparently they aren't responding to any calls. Ironwood doesn't want to take any chances and I don't blame him."
Jaune was about to ask another question but never got a chance, a Beowolf skulking from the side saw an opportunity and leaped at him. The beast was fast, much faster than an unaware wannabe pirate talking to their equally distracted friend. It closed the distance in what felt like a blink of an eye and knocked Jaune to the ground, it scratched and bit him in an attempt to break through his Aura, gut through his flesh, and feel the fear as the would-be Huntsman realized that they were nothing but prey, and then snuff out the light of his soul.
Magnhild's hammerhead ended the monster's dream with a delightful crunch as Nora swung true into the Beowolf's side, utterly demolishing its body. "Are you alright?" She ran over to him and began to carefully check for any wounds.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. My Aura held," His voice was tinted with frustration aimed at himself.
"Let's get inside," Nora grabbed him by the arm and carefully pulled him up to his feet before leading him towards the front doors of Beacon Academy and as they moved he looked around.
The courtyard was in ruins. There was debris and broken machinery everywhere and among them were bodies, mostly soldiers who had the misfortune to be next to the now renegade robots but there were also a few students among them. None were people that Jaune knew very well, it was a small blessing that he took no pleasure in. It was a fact that those people had their own family and friends, it was even possible that members of Jaune's own team would be counted among those friends. And even if that wasn't the case, they still had family and friends, people that they would never see again… What if I never see my family again? Mom, dad, my sisters… Tock? When was the last time I saw any of them? Did I remember to tell them that I love them? Will I get the chance to do so? If Nora hadn't saved me back then… would I have died? What if there are others? What if there is someone who needs help and I run past them?
A burning bright feeling began to swell up in his chest, it was his soul and it was telling him to move. To help those who had fallen but could still stand up if only someone could lend them a hand. I can be that hand.
"Nora Stop! We need to help!"
"Help? Alright, what are you thinking?"
"We need to help others inside!" Jaune let go of Nora's hand and ran back but instead of running towards the fight, he ran around looking for anyone lying on the floor desperate for a hand to get them back up on their feet and he didn't have to look for every long.
"Jaune, wait up!" Nora followed closely behind both to help and to keep an eye out for her captain. She found him next to a destroyed Paladin that had been melted down by a professor and next to Jaune was a student in need.
The fallen student was a well-built man with dark skin, brown dreadlocks, and green eyes, who wore comfortable streetwear, his weapon was a pair of white gauntlets with saws built into them, and one of his legs was bent at an odd angle. Had they met under normal circumstances Jaune might have started a conversation with the man about those gauntlets, his friendship with Ruby had given him an appreciation for weapons, but that would have to wait until later, getting him out of here took priority.
"Nora, help me pick him up!" Jaune recalled the aid lessons that he learned in the classrooms of Beacon, he remembered how he was supposed to handle a patient with a potentially broken leg and mentally ran through the steps. "Hey, we're going to help you get inside. Are you ready?"
"Y-yeah, just give me a moment to brace myself."
"What's your name?" Nora asked to help distract him.
"Roy, my name is Roy Stallion of Team BRNZ. I was- UGH!" He yelped in pain as they carefully pulled him up but he didn't ask them to stop, instead, he balanced himself on his good leg and kept talking. "I got careless and a Nevermore grabbed me. I'd probably be dead if that thing wasn't shot down." Though the fall broke my Aura and my leg so maybe I'm not so lucky…
"Was it a teammate of yours?" Jaune asked as he carefully led Roy towards the main entrance.
"I thought so at first but May is a sniper, whoever shot me free was using a weird Gatling gun, it was shooting lasers or something like it." Speaking of weird, the pain in my leg is starting to fade, that's probably not good but I'm not about to complain.
Nora recognized the name, "May? You mean Mercury's girlfriend May Zedong?"
"Yeah, that's the one, though they're going through a bit of a rough patch." The pain is definitely fading and my Aura… I can feel it coming back.
The small talk continued as they got closer to the safety of Beacon, occasionally a Grimm or a Knight would attempt to attack them but they were always intercepted. Neither the remaining soldiers nor Huntsmen needed to be asked to help, they saw what Jaune and Nora and plenty of others were doing and they did their part to help them; Victory would be found in unity rather than individual strength and nothing demonstrated that better than strangers working together to help others in need just because they were there and had the power to do so.
Eventually, Jaune, Nora, and Roy reached the door of Beacon and went through them. The lobby was filled with makeshift barriers that were being manned by soldiers setting up equipment and students assisting under the guidance of an Atlas captain. It wasn't clear when they started doing this but the sight of some destroyed Knights off to the side suggested that they were preparing for this before the Knights went rogue, perhaps they believed that the Grimm would eventually break into the halls of the Academy or they just wanted to be ready if they did. But either possibility didn't matter, what mattered was getting Roy the medical aid he needed.
"We got a wounded here!" Jaune said loudly enough for everyone to hear him. "Where do we take him?"
A pair of medics quickly ran up to them and carefully took Roy off their hands, "We'll handle it from here, you did good. What are you planning on doing next?"
Jaune answered without hesitation, "I'm going to back out there and help out. Nora, will you help me?"
"You know I always have your back, captain!" She and Juane then walked right back outside.
Meanwhile, Roy watched as the pair left before muttering to himself, "I should be out there fighting with my team."
"Well you might just get that chance, your Aura is kicking in and kicking in hard." One of the medics answered as they led Roy to a spot where he could rest for a bit.
"What do you mean? My Aura broke when I fell, how could it be kicking in?"
"Look at your leg, it's already starting to straighten itself out. Your Aura must be really potent if it's healing that fast."
Roy glanced at his leg and saw that the medic was right, it was not nearly as crooked as it used to be and if he looked really closely he could almost see it moving itself back into place. "How is that possi-... wait a moment!" He recalled the weird feeling that he had when Jaune and Nora carried him inside, it was them or at least it had to be one of them. Damn, I'm one lucky sonofabitch! Or is it my Semblance? Do I have Luck? That would be so cool!
Pyrrha deflected a claw with her shield before reaching out with her Semblance and taking control of the metal inside of a nearby Knight's body. She forced the machine to twist its arm around and shoot the Grimm that was attacking her before turning the gun on itself and pulling the trigger. As it self-destructed, she shifted her spear into a rifle and fired off three shots, the first two found their mark in the head and chest of a Griffon about to pounce a fellow student but the third hit a wall… she wasn't sure why she had even made that third shot, she wasted the ammo for nothing. I'm off, I need to recenter myself. I need to get Glynda off of my mind… That proved to be harder than she would have hoped.
Despite her best attempts her mind kept wandering back to how Glynda had pulled her aside to continue a conversation that Pyrrha had thought was already concluded… Apparently, it was silly of her to think that telling them "No," would be enough. Glynda just had to try one more time… Miss Nikos I am personally begging you to please reconsider, you are by far the best choice.
You are asking me to alter the entire course of my life for a cause that you won't tell me anything about! And don't even get me started on how you and Ozpin pushed me to make that decision without talking to anyone about it except in the most vague and unhelpful way possible. That's the kind of behavior that I would expect to see from a sleazy businessman trying to trick someone into signing a contract without reading it… You're a Professor! You're supposed to be better!
I-I apologize if we made you uncomfortable but you understand the need for secrecy, the situa-!
If secrecy is such a big deal for you then why are you asking a first-year student to join your… weird cult thing? Why don't you do it? You're powerful, experienced, and already neck deep in this thing, why are you and the Headmaster trying to drag students into this?
I would if I could… There are requirements that I cannot meet but you can.
You said that I was the best choice, that means that there are others right?
Yes.
Then ask them because I will not let you dictate the rest of my life.
Is that your final answer?
It should have been my answer from the start. Now if you'll excuse me, there are monsters about and I have people I need to protect. Perhaps you and Oz ought to consider waiting until after the battle before distracting others.
Pyrrha's thoughts returned to the present and all around her were broken machines and slowly dissipating Grimm but she couldn't take all of the credit, "Thank you, Ren. Thank you for watching my back while I was lost in my thoughts."
"I had help." Ren turned his head to look at the members of team RWBY, Weiss was using Dust to create a wall of ice while the rest of the team were helping others fall back to the interior of Beacon. "We should help them, the robots are all but gone but the Grimm are just going to keep coming. They'll outlast us if we stay out here."
"And what about Jaune and Nora?"
"I saw them helping someone inside-!" Ren suddenly raised his Stormflower pistols and pointed them behind Pyrrha's head, she didn't flinch as he let off several shots before lowering them back down to his sides. "Sorry about that, there was a Creep behind you."
Pyrrha quickly turned around to see the Grimm's corpse disappear into smoke, it was a large lizard-like beast whose body was mostly a mouth supported by two legs. "But those things are a joke! How did one get here?"
"The situation must be getting worse if those things are breaking through, we shouldn't stay here much longer."
Pyhrra shook her head, "My talents are better served here, I can use my Semblance to help rescue people and build barricades at the same time."
Ren didn't need much convincing, there was a lot of good that could be done this way but only if it was properly directed. We need to find an officer or a Professor who can tell us what to do. "Alright then, let's find somewhere that needs us."
Pyrrha had the same idea as him, "Let's go over to where RWBY is, there's probably someone there leading the efforts." It might even be Glynda… It wasn't something that she wanted to think about but she couldn't stop herself from imagining the older woman trying to convince a different student to make the same choice she had wanted Pyrrha to make. The choice to take on a burden far greater than most people could imagine, a choice that would be made under duress and with very little information, it was a thought that made her angry.
But importantly it was a thought that made her distracted enough for a burning beam of light to hit her right in the back and knock her down into the mud.
"Pyrrha!" Ren shouted when he heard her scream out of surprise and pain. He turned around and saw to his relief that her Aura had held but that wouldn't mean anything if they couldn't do anything about an attacker who was out of sight. Even worse was that some Grimm had sensed an opportunity and were charging, which forced Ren to focus on them instead of whoever or whatever attacked her.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha's head was throbbing as a hot and uncomfortable feeling spread across her backside, she didn't need to check her Aura to know that it would break if it took another hit like that. As she pulled herself back up she could hear the Grimm coming and Ren trying his best to cover for her, I need to focus, I need to be faster.
Ren shouted "Pyrrha! I can see a light coming from a building, I think they're charging up to shoot again!"
Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance, took hold of her armor and began to pull herself up. It was janky, inelegant, and too fast for comfort but she managed to yank herself off of the ground just as a flaming beam of light hit the spot she had been and melted the ground beneath her. Her head was light, she was nauseous and dizzy, and her joints ached thanks to the jerky way she moved her body but she kept using her semblance until she landed on her feet away from the molten slag and facing in the direction of the shot.
On the third floor of the western wing of Beacon was a bright but rapidly fading light, it was the origin point of the laser and it meant that the enemy had already infiltrated the school.
Pyrrha aimed her rifle and opened fire in the direction of the light, she was pretty sure that she wasn't hitting anything but putting pressure on the shooter might force them to move. On top of that, she wasn't the only person firing. Everyone present had seen the laser, and everyone who could spare a moment was taking a shot in that direction. Amongst the bullets, explosives, and Dust being aimed at that building were some grenades leaving a familiar trail of pink smoke, Those belong to Nora!
It was a small silly and inconsequential thing, but seeing those bright pink explosions brought a sense of comfort to both Pyrrha and Ren. And that feeling only grew as a familiar voice reached their ears, "Pyrrha! Are you alright!" Jaune shouted as he ran up to them. "What was that light and why was it aimed at you?"
"I don't know," she quickly answered but that was only half true. She didn't know what kind of gun created that light besides a possible connection to Penny's weapon. But she did have a strong suspicion why it was aimed at her, Is it because Ozpin asked me to become the Fall Maiden? It must be… wait! Glynda mentioned that there were other choices, if they are aiming for me then what's stopping them from aiming for the others? What if Nora is one of the others?!
"Jaune, where is Nora?"
"She's just behind me, why?"
"There is something that I need to tell her, to tell all of you! And RWBY as well!"
Ren and Nora moved in closer and he asked, "Can it wait till we get inside?"
Pyrrha sighed out of frustration"Fine. But we need to tell RWBY and CFVY as well!"
Nora was getting concerned and confused by her teammate's anxious behavior, "Pyrrha, what's wrong?"
"Whoever was behind that light was aiming for me, I'm their target and there's a chance that you are as well! Salem is targeting us!"
Jaune, Ren, and Nora's eyes widened in shock, ever since the Breach they had become more and more aware of some kind of conspiracy going on behind the scenes. Conversations with RWBY and Tock only further confirmed this and when Jaune had been attacked by a man trying to get to Tock through him… only a fool would deny what was right in their face. But yet it was still hard to believe it, Jaune being attacked was one thing but the idea that some kind of assassin suck into a battlefield just to hunt down Pyrrha and possibly others… It was madness.
Pyrrha pushed past them and took a few steps towards Beacon before turning around to look at her team, "We need to find RWBY and tell them to be on their guard, same with Coco, Velvet, and any other team that had a noticeably strong female member on it."
"Why female?" Ren asked.
It was tempting to tell them right then and there. Already Pyrrha could feel the words forming in the back of her throat but they just couldn't get out. The more sensible side of her was screaming about the fighting going on around her and in the rapidly shirking distance she could see unidentifiable airships closing in… they made her nervous. "I'll tell you after we get inside."
Some of the Professors and Officers were using megaphones to make sure that everyone could hear them, "GET INSIDE! EVERYONE GET INSIDE!" Meanwhile, the other remaining Professors and Officers provided cover for everyone responding to the call.
Pyrrha led her team inside, RWBY followed soon after along with the other students and finally the Professors and Officers once they were sure that everyone was inside. Some people went seeking medical attention, some went looking for their friends, some went to find out how they could help, many took a breath of relief and everyone watched as the unidentified airships finally arrived and without warning… opened fire on the Academy.
From inside the building, they could see the explosions rocking the school, the buildings were built to withstand even the strongest of Grimm but fire and fury still left their mark. Plants were and some parts of buildings were set ablaze and anyone unfortunate enough to be caught outside suffered the full brunt of the vicious and cowardly attack, irreplaceable lives were lost or irreversibly altered in that barrage. And then airships landed, and from within emerged armed Faunus wearing military-esque uniforms and masks designed to bear resemblance to the Grimm. And on their uniform and the side of the airships was an emblem of a snarling wolf's head and claw marks, it was the emblem of the White Fang and they had come to start a war.
Back on Amity Colosseum, inside its medical bay were a pair of people who had stayed behind to break a shackle restraining their free will. They had succeeded but right now they didn't feel very successful, right now they felt like shit. There were many factors that contributed to the way that they were feeling and one of the two biggest ones was the fact that they had played a role in the tragedy playing out just outside, in fact, an argument could be made that all of this wouldn't have been possible without them… guilt was not a foreign feeling to either of them but this was burning a hole through them.
And the second big factor was that they had just cut some of their fingers off.
Emerald stared at her severed fingers with morbid fascination, the obsidian ring that had haunted her thoughts alongside her guilt was finally off of her. She should have been happy, but this felt sickly hollow like it was just a little too easy given the choices she had made to earn that ring in the first place. It was guilt that was keeping her from being happy or at the very least relief, and the guilt was right, she needed to earn that peace of mind… and she also wanted revenge.
"You're thinking about going to Beacon, aren't you," Mercury said while observing his partner's face to take his mind off the dull throbbing pain in his hand, I can't even begin to imagine how this would feel without painkillers and Aura Boosters.
Emerald glanced at Mercury, he was leaning against a wall and cradling his now fingerless hand, he met her stare and she saw the indecision in his eyes. "How can I not? We're responsible for this."
He scoffed halfheartedly, "Exactly, we're responsible which means if we don't run then we're going to be screwed when this is over regardless of who wins in the end." He looked at his severed fingers on the cutting table, the machine had cauterized the digits as it cut them off to prevent bleeding… The cindered stumps on his hand and lost fingers felt like a mockery and a challenge daring him to try and stand up to her… to Cinder. But standing up to her is what got me here in the first place… or maybe it was not standing up to her sooner that got me here? Damn, these painkillers are screwing with my head.
"Yeah… you're right, it's just a silly thought." Emerald slumped, she broke a shackle holding her back but the truth was that the cage was still there. All she really accomplished was learning just how big that cage was and that was infuriating, it was infuriating to learn that her actions and defiance meant so little in the end… It made her angry.
Meanwhile, Mercury pulled himself to his feet and walked up to the surgical table where their fingers lay. He stared at them for a second before using his good hand to pick up one of his lost fingers, "Should we take these?"
"What for?"
"So they won't know we were here."
"And what would that accomplish? They already knew that we were involved, taking the fingers won't change anything," there was open bitterness in Emerald's voice.
"Well… maybe they'll have a harder time finding us if we take the fingers? They'll be looking for people with ten fingers instead of six." He chuckled but it was empty and insincere, a desperate attempt for some levity in an atmosphere that was suffocating. He waited to see if Emerald would chuckle as well even if she was only faking it for his sake, but she didn't.
"I'm not in a laughing mood… but, thank you for trying."
He sighed, "Let's get out of here. I'm willing to bet that there are some abandoned personal flyers in the garage."
Emerald stood up, "And if there's none?"
"Then we'll follow the emergency routes, this place has escape vehicles just in case someone gets left behind in the evacuations. The problem is that they're short-range and programmed to head to the nearest city or-"
Emerald finished the sentence, "Academy… Beacon is closer to Amity than Vale is so the vehicle will head there, can we overwrite that with the virus?"
"Maybe, but Is that what you want?"
"I don't know," Emerald walked to the door of the medical bay and opened it as Mercury followed her. "But we have time to figure out what we want." She then walked through and he was right behind her.
The hallway that they stepped into was devoid of life, everyone had already left. Under different circumstances Emerald would have been thrilled by this, she lived as a thief before meeting Cinder and this stadium was a veritable goldmine. Earlier Mercury had mentioned the possibility of finding a personal aircraft and he was right, when the Grimm attacked even the most greedy materialistic person in the world would forget about their possessions and flee for their lives. This meant that there was now quite a bit of money to be made now as long as they could avoid the Grimm and that would not be a problem as the Grimm would have already left to find more prey and yet she just didn't feel like scavenging, neither of them did.
Instead, they just walked in silence towards the garage without giving any thought to the things they passed by along the way. And when they arrived they walked toward the nearest vehicle, a gaudy-looking airship that looked like it belonged to someone without taste, someone who cared more about showing off their wealth than trying to cultivate anything resembling class. It was the kind of airship that neither of them would have been caught dead in… but they just didn't care anymore.
A single kick from Mercury was enough to shatter the driver's seat window and trigger the alarm, not that it mattered since there was no one around to respond, the door was opened soon after, "Alright Emerald, do your thing."
She held up her hand that was missing fingers, "Can I borrow your hand?"
"Sure, but you'll have to show me what to do. I don't even know how to drive."
Emerald got in the driver's seat as Mercury got into the passenger's "No one taught you?" She used her good hand to get to work as Mercury leaned over her to see what she needed him to do.
"Well mom was never around, dad hated me, and you saw how far away my nearest neighbor was."
Emerald shifted to give him space, "Reach under here and look for a bundle of three wires tied together. When you find them I want you to pull them out but keep them in your hands." As Mercury did that she reached down and pulled out a different set of cables.
"Now what?"
"Now I need you to hold them steady. I'm going to use a knife to peel off some of the plastic." He nodded as she let go of her cables to grab a small pocket knife from her belt to get to work, as she did she asked a question that had been bugging her ever since she met him, "What happened that day, before we Cinder and I showed up."
"You mean, what led to me killing my dad and setting the house on fire?"
"Yeah."
"Sorry to disappoint but there wasn't some big fight that finally pushed us over the edge, it was a long time coming and we both knew it. The problem was that the asshole never once considered how making me do all the chores would backfire on him, it took a while but one day… I was ready and he wasn't. It was still the hardest fight of my life but in the end, you saw the result."
Emerald finished peeling the wires in his hand, "I'm going to hand you the knife and hold a different set of wires for you to peel. Okay?"
"Okay,"
As he peeled the wires she asked the next question, "What about the fire? Was that a part of your plan?"
"No. The stove was on when we started fighting and I sort of forgot about it, the sandwich I was toasting must have caught on fire and then spread. Thinking about it, it was probably a grease fire."
"You were using a stove to toast bread?"
"Didn't have a toaster. Dad thought it was stupid to buy a device that exists to do one specific thing when you already had something that could do the same." Mercury finished peeling and put the knife off to the side, "Now what?"
"Now we take the two cables and touch them together, if they are aligned perfectly then it should kick start the engine. But fair warning, this airship probably has some kind of lock-up system to try and keep us in place but you and I can brute force it with Aura."
"Won't that damage it?"
"Yes but it won't be a problem for us, we won't be keeping this ugly thing." She and Mercury then touched the cables together and just as she said, the engine came to life but as it did the controls locked up. "See what I mean? Time for a little force."
The lock-up system proved to be ineffective cheap garbage, something that was only included because the vehicle would have been considered illegal without it. They quickly overpowered it, expending little Aura in the process but damaging the vehicle in the end not that it mattered to them. Soon afterward they flew out of the garage but they still had to decide where to go. In the meantime, they chose to survey the ongoing battle.
"It's awful," Emerald said to herself as she watched Grimm continuously emerging from the Emerald forest without end. She saw the airships that the White Fang arrived in either landing or laying down suppressing fire and she took note of the Atlesian air fleet floating over everything and being utterly useless… "We, we…-"
"We should do something about it," Mercury said what she had wanted to say.
"But what?"
Mercury held up a bomb, it was one of the bombs that Cinder had told him to plant in a spot where he would have been caught. It was punishment for him daring to stand up to her, it was what had spurned this plan to cut off their fingers and free himself of Cinder. It was something he had carried out of a silly hope that he'd get to throw this explosive back into Cinder's face, it was stupid and he knew it… but he still wanted to do it. He wanted to do it because it would be so cool because it would feel so good, and because it would impress May.
"Mercury, what are you planning?"
"Emerald, you know that you are like a sister to me."
"And you're like a brother to me… what are you getting at?"
"If you wanted to do something cool but stupid, you know that I'd help you with it, right?"
Emerald sighed but revved up the engines of the aircraft as she guided it towards Beacon, "I guess if we're screwed no matter what we do, we should at least go out doing something cool. What's your plan?"
"Ah… um, well-"
"You do have a plan, right?"
"S-sure, let me just think it over-," SHIT! I DIDN'T THINK SHE'D GO ALONG WITH THIS! Maybe we can-!
It was at that moment that the hijacked Atlesian airship Blue-2 opened fire on another
Atlesian ship trying to do something about the White Fang. The sight of an exploding ship was a disturbing one for everyone including Mercury. But it was also a source of inspiration that gave birth to the start of a plan that was half-formed and full of holes but maybe just maybe it could end with them becoming heroes.
"Okay, hear me out… We take over that ship," He pointed at Blue-2.
"And then what?"
"I'll figure it out after we take it over."
Emerald groaned and rolled her eyes but instead of protesting, she turned the airship so that it was facing Blue-2 but she didn't hit the accelerator. "You do realize that you're asking me to go fight Roman and Neo while we're both missing fingers and are high as fuck on painkillers?"
Mercury gave her a shit-eating grin, "What's wrong? Are you chicken?"
Her eyes narrowed, "Nobody calls me chicken." She then hit the accelerator and began speeding towards the hijacked battleship.
Author's Notes: The last few chapters have been real downers haven't they? But don't worry, I haven't forgotten that this story is supposed to be funny.